Daisy
The experience of working at 3800 metres above sea level, the intimate contact with the comuneros, or the overwhelming mountain views while I was planting trees, is difficult to put into words. I worked with people that never saw a European before, was generously offered potatoes by people that have so little, and received an applause from the population for having visited one of the most remote communities…
There have been many truly moving moments, because it is just here that life shows itself in its purest form. My Spanish was by no means perfect, and to have a better contact with the campesinos it probably would have served me more if I would have spoken Quechua. With the help of Verediz, who works for PRONAMACHCS, communication with the campesinos improved.
One afternoon I taught English and sang an English song. In turn a quechua song was sung for me, and on another afternoon 4 ladies climbed a tree to pick “ginda”for me, which I took home in a bag. That same afternoon we ate potatoes that had been harvested just a few hours beforehand, something quite special as well. Another day we ate soup from a large pan, a kind of rice-soup with vegetables. I felt very thankful to be served a bowl of soup and feel one of them. For my camera there was always a lot of interest. After every shot I showed them the result. For people that have never, or barely seen themselves on photo, it proved fascinating. After, I sent a set of photos so these people can share in our memories. After two weeks I had the feeling to have been in Lircay 2 months. Lircay, a place I definitely will never forget.
Theresa und Franziska
By coincidence or destiny our travels through South America (Oct. 05- Feb. 06) lead us into the Peruvian Andes to the remote little town Lircay. We met Paul in the plane to Lima, and as he invited us, we had the pleasure to become his first volunteers.
When we arrived in Lircay after a four-hour journey from Huancavelica, through a stunning landscape in a taxi stuffed with eight people plus luggage, we were welcomed warmly and like old friends, everybody already seemed to be informed about the two “gringas”.
We could stay in the comfortable house of very nice Peruvian family- friends of Paul and very soon of us, too- who really helped us a lot with their uncomplicated way of seeing “complicated” things, their understanding and hospitality! We really needed this in the first time: As people are not used at all to tourists yet, it must have been a quite strange appearance for them to see us, two young, tall, blond women, walking around town and trying to talk to them. Often, we heard them exclaim surprisedly “Mira, una gringa!” and felt a bit alienated under all the dark- skinned, Quechua-talking inhabitants. That didn’t last long, however, and our voluntary job soon made us known and helped us to integrate ourselves.
Our main occupation was to help the farmers of Latapuquio, little village near Lircay, with the construction of an irrigation system for their drying fields. That was a project of the Dutch NGO SNV, and meant for us to work side by side with the indigenous people on over 4000 m above sea level, spade- and pickaxe-swinging, carrying rocks and shifting earth. In the beginning, that was really no easy job for us, especially because both of us suffered a bit from the [Höhenkrankheit], and we had to walk there two hours uphill from Lircay. However, the new impressions and the nice atmosphere of the working community soon made us forget all difficulties. Although they could not believe that we only came there to help them just for fun, they integrated us quickly. We enjoyed shared laughter (for those people work is not a heavy, serious burden!) and simple meals cooked on an open fire by two women. So we experienced that, despite our totally different cultural background, we didn’t differ so much from each other in our views of the world.
We will certainly never forget the deep impressions of that interesting time: Women in their traditional colourful costumes, with a baby in a woven cloth on their back and spinning while they’re walking… The mysterious, rough beauty of the high Andes, with their snow-covered, shining peaks in the distance, the fragrant smell of eucalypt and podocarp trees and the corn and potato fields surrounded by narrow stonewalls scattered on the steep slopes of the hills…
We also had the chance to give a “charla”, a short lesson, about our country and Europe in two primary schools in Lircay. That was a challenging experience for the two perfectionists of us! Due to the lack of materials (in one of the schools, they didn’t even have paper nor pens), we had to improvise a lot. We drew a huge world map, taught German folk songs to the children and showed them that material wealth and abundance doesn’t automatically mean happiness, that the industrialized countries as Germany have a lot of problems, too, not less than Peru.
Although it started with some chaos, especially in the first school where maybe 50 kids at the age of 5- 12 years attended our lesson, certainly also quite strange for the children to see two blond white women talking Spanish in their school, it was a great experience for both sides. The kids were really curious and had heaps of intelligent questions, and in the following time, we could often hear a little voice shouting “Buenos días, Franziska and Theresa!” when we went through the streets of Lircay.
After all, we must say that this time in Lircay was an unique and wonderful experience and that we’ve learned a lot from it. It also taught us to be more patient, not to judge and to take ourselves with humour. So if you want a really authentique insight into the culture and life of the Andes, we can only encourage you to visit Lircay as a volunteer! We hope, we can return one day, too!
Some personal advice for new volunteers:
· Consider the altitude of the Andes!
It´s quite possible that you work or go for walks on over 4000 m above sea level. Better take your time for a slow journey from Lima or wherever in the lowlands, so that you can really enjoy your time in Lircay and are not occupied with headaches or dizziness. You can e. g. spend some days in the old towns Cusco or Ayacucho which are really worth a visit once you are in Peru. Three days to one week and you are used to the altitude.
· Besides Spanish, which is essential to speak at least a bit, it’s recommendable to learn some basic phrases in Quechua. It really puts you on a more personal level with the indigenous population who doesn’t speak Spanish or prefers Quechua, and it’s great fun to learn the language of the Incas with the people in town!
· Some photographs of your family / town / land and some typical recipes of your country are always very welcome be the families you will get to know.
· Bring along a lot of patience and tolerance, also against yourself- Lircay is still a very authentic little town, unspoiled with tourists, and people are not used to foreigners yet. Many of them only know the stereotype rich gringos from TV-, which, as you can imagine, gives them a very narrow view of the “developed” countries. So don’t take mistrust or prejudices personal, talk to the people, play with the children, explain your views, and you’ll see that very soon everybody knows and respects you and you´ll have friends all over Lircay!
· Lircay-and the rest of Peru, too- is a paradise for those who like fruits! You can look forward to mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papayas, avocados etc. in abundance! 