Please help promote literacy in San Clemente, Peru

Hello Friends! As you may know, my big project for 2011 is the improvement of the community library and the creation of a youth center. Fortunately, the municipality has provided a great building and some help with furnishing, but we need help filling our library with books! I am in contact with several NGOs and Tucson schools that are willing to help with books donations and book drives. The International Book Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that will provide the books; they only ask that people donate to fund the cost of shipping, which works out to about $200 for 32 pounds of books.

Please consider donating to this cause.

1) Here is the link: www.internationalbookproject.org

2) Please include "Elizabeth Salerno, Peace Corp Volunteer" in the notes section.

Thank you very much on behalf of the children of San Clemente.

Summertime and the livin's easy

These are the little babies that hang out outside my window. At any time of the day, I can hear "Senorita Libby! Un ratito..." (give me just a minute of your time). They come to borrow the basketballs that Lee left or to play puzzles or to borrow a book.

It is summer time in San Clemente and I think I could fry an egg on the pavement and then put it on a flavorless, styrofoam-like piece of bread with a bit of avocado and salt to spice it up. Breakfast anyone? But seriously, HOT and with no relief because air conditioning just doesn't exist. I have a little fan that I carry from room to room with me. The women say it will get cooler by the end of March and I am counting the days. For the first time in my life, I am wishing for winter and scarves and sweaters and layers. Despite the heat, I notice that this place comes alive in summer. The heat keeps people inside their homes from 12 to 5 pm, but then everyone comes outside and people sit in front of their houses chatting until 10 p.m. Ice cream men come with their obnoxious horns and women set up little snow cone tables. They have parties every weekend with "junses", which are an activity where someone pays to have plastic products like bowls and tupperwear hung from a tree and the kids come and climb the tree to take the prizes back to their mothers. And no... I haven't quite figured it out yet. In March begins Carnival with water balloon fights and paint smearing competitions. It is all anybody talks about. I'll report back as soon as I find out what all the fuss is about.

Like I said, summer time is party time. I was a invited to the 46^th anniversary of the town of Bellavista, about a 20 minute walk from my site. The night was celebrated with entertainment for the entire community, which included singers, dancers, and artists from the region. Two clowns came and told nearly harmless dirty jokes to the crowd. I was proud to note that I understood about 90% of the jokes, a long way from the blank stare I used to wear when I watched Chilean movies or saw comedians when I was first learning Spanish in Chile; and even later in Guatemala and Mexico, I had trouble with jokes and troublesome cultural innuendos. Now, I can understand a lot of the babble over the town loudspeakers and on the radio. I remember thinking “I’ll REALLY know Spanish when I can listen to it on the radio or watch the telenovelas on TV and understand.” Well…I’m there!

Anyway, back to Bellavista. After the clowns came the famous comedian. He spoke in voices, imitating perfectly a small girl child, a silly little boy, and an angry housewife. Being the only gringa for miles and sitting in the front row I knew instantaneously I would be part of the show. Sure enough, in less than 10 minutes, he’d plucked me from the crowd and started asking me questions, swearing to me he’d marry me one day and off we’d go to the United States. He set me up in a little skit with other participants from the audience. I was to be the wife who finds out about the other woman. He whispers for me to slap him when I find out, and I do exactly as instructed. With exaggeration he stumbles away from my “slap” and blubbers to the audience that he had told me to simply push him and that I had slapped him. The crowd is delightedly shocked by the gringa’s crazy antics (are you noticing a pattern here?!). For days all I’ve heard is “Senorita Libby is it true you slapped the comedian?!”

I had a really hard time after Lee left. I thought I’d be fine, but being that my host mom and brother had left for the south indefinitely and my host dad is always in the city, I’ve been left alone in this little house to fend for myself. For a girl from a family of 8 who lived in a sorority house with 50 other girls and has had multiple roommates at a time, living in a little house in Peru with myself was quite an adjustment. Worse yet, it is summer here and without school in session, I had very little to occupy my time. Thankfully, I’ve more or less adjusted and things have picked up a lot. I’m working in the summer school program in 2 other communities, plus San Clemente, teaching little kids how to like themselves (self-esteem building). I’m also facilitating a youth group.After trying my hand at different topics and finding my teenagers incredibly bored, I tried the sex topic. Within seconds, I had my kids on the edge of their seats and hanging on my every word. Needless to say, I think I’ve found our niche. These kids are anxious to learn about puberty, menstruation, STDs, and birth control. I will gladly facilitate that learning if it means keeping these girls and boys from being teenage parents or getting venereal diseases.

Despite missing my host family, it is nice to be able to cook for myself. I haven’t eaten rice in weeks! I cook with lots of different vegetables and I’ve been filling my extra time with cooking experiments. I know how to cook with eggplant and pumpkin now J I’m also teaching a local woman to bake and sell cakes; call it my own small business project. Being lonely has pushed me out into the community even more. I’ve been visiting more families and making new friends. I still hang out with my same little kids. I really adore them. I swear 10 year olds are my favorite. They are just discovering who they are and they love to participate in activities and answer questions. The girls are still willing to fight with the boys, aka they haven’t succumbed to that machismo inferiority complex as yet and they don’t care if the boys like them or not.

I'll be home in May! Ticket is officially purchased for May 9th through the 19th. Please feel free to take me out to breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. I prefer Mexican food. Just kidding, but seriously, I want to see everyone! Love you all

El tiempo se va volando (Time flies)

AY Yay Yay… it has been quite a while, hasn’t it?! Take it as good news that I’ve been soooo busy that I have been unable to keep up my blog. I’ve been hanging out here in San Clemente, Peru for about 4 months now. In that time, I have eaten pounds of raw fish (ceviche), watched little kids poop in the street, seen a woman breastfeed her baby on the back of a motorcycle, and fed a starving dog one quarter of a raw chicken in front of 3 women (which means that within 24 hours every single inhabitant of San Clemente had heard the story about the crazy gringa who loves animals more than people, because if she didn’t, she’d have given that chicken to a human…not a lowly mutt). But to be fair, that dog is actually a puppy who has the biggest, droopiest ears, and I just couldn’t watch him starve to death. To add to my list of cool things I do in Peru, my students and I used clay to mold female and male genitalia and stick it to the chalkboard.

My children’s English class and I got in front of the entire town (2000 peeps) during the annual Fair del Senor de Los Milagros and sang the hokey pokey, head shoulders knees and toes, and A Tootie Ta. Again, the crazy gringa is caught making a fool of herself. But you all must understand that there is a method to my madness. Every day I encounter timid, embarrassed young women who don’t want to participate in class or jog around town in front of other people. They let men talk down to them and truly believe that men are strong while women are weak, that men are more intelligent than they are, and that they have been created to serve the men in their lives: fathers, uncles, brothers, and husbands. It does not matter how many workshops I give on gender equality, these things are intrinsic in their culture and I can say little to change that. BUT I can DO plenty: I can run for miles and show my strength. I can give my opinions and back them up. I can tell them about all the goals I’ve met and the dreams I aspire to achieve. I can look a man in the eye. Most importantly, I can give these young women a good example of a woman that is strong in every sense of the word. Is that enough feminism for one day? I think not.

Another thing that I am supremely proud of is my community’s World AIDS Day activities. 2 months of planning and stressing culminated in one hell of a show. The entire school had a parade around town, singing and carrying their signs declaring the importance of condom use and HIV prevention.

Then we all came back to the school for a competition between the high school classes. Each grade had to present their HIV/AIDS theme in a creative way in front of the rest of the school. We saw VIH (HIV) and SIDA (AIDS) spelled out with bodies, social theater about condom use, and a choreographed song regarding discrimination. It was awesome! But what made it even more awesome was that the marketing team from Kimberly Clark (makers of toilet paper and menstrual pads) came to give the Hora Loca party. The kids sang and danced with balloons and confetti. It was an unforgettable experience for them and for me.

Currently, I am in the process of writing my work plan for 2011. Top priority is a library and youth center. The building is there but my dream is to fill it with books and chairs, bring internet to the computers, and paint a nice mural on the wall. This project will most likely continue until the day I leave Peru. Let me know if you want to donate books or dinero to further my project. I’m extremely excited about the coming year and all the great youth I get to work with.

Important update: Lee arrives in exactly 1 week and will be spending 3 glorious weeks with me, first in Lima, then the beach for New Years, and 10 days at my site. We’re planning a hand washing campaign and some other exciting adventures.

The Gringa Show

Hello there! 3 weeks since my last post and I’ve been busy busy busy. I teach 3 hours a week in the schools on themes such as alcoholism, communication, drug addiction, and family violence. I attend a baking club with 4 teenage girls. I’ve been teaching 2 English classes, 3 nights a week with kids ages 3-14. The kids really enjoy it and always come back. By now, they all know my name; I can’t walk outside without getting a mini parade following me. The little girls love to hold my hands and play with my hair. The women around town now recognize me and typical of Peruvian culture, we always greet each other with a Buenos dias, Buenas tardes, or buenas tardes.

Elections are being held October 3 and I cannot freaking wait for them to be over. Because our town is so small, we don’t have a newspaper, but instead, 6 loudspeakers are set up at the edges and center of town. These loudspeakers start around 5:45 am and continue off and on throughout the day. When it’s not election season, the loudspeakers are used to make announcements about town meetings, the various sales and specials at the tiendas (stores), talks and seminars, and fundraising lunches (families will make lunch and sell them to the community to raise money for family member with medical problems, etc…). During election season, those hated loudspeakers blare with political propaganda from the various political candidates for hours. Loud, obnoxious, and they interrupt my naps. I hate them. HATE is the word. That coupled with the ridiculously loud radio and TV in my house, I’ve come to realize that Peruvians do not appreciate the value of silence. When anyone else is in this little house, something is always blaring. I cherish my quiet, alone time.

I went to my capital city of Piura this weekend. We have the choice to come and relax and see other volunteers twice a month. I've already eaten a cheese burger and a brownie today :) The food at my site consists of differing variations of rice, chicken fish, potatoes, and some veggies. No cheese, no coffee, no pizza, and very few options. I just spent a large portion of my monthly salary on snacks to bring back to my site, like roasted peanuts, golden raisins, gummy bears, and (SCORE!!!!) granola bars and (OMG!!!) Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix- yes I paid the equivalent of $6 for that bag lol. But totally worthy it because sometimes you just really need to feel good in a strange environment, and nothing does that more than food.

Yesterday I went to to visit my fellow volunteer Juliane in her site of La Paccha. Her family was incredibly warm and welcoming. Much like every other Peruvian I know, they offered me everything in their kitchen, the most comfortable chair in the house, and sent me off with a snack, a big hug, and an invitation to come back whenever I want: “this house is your house and you are part of our family.” I always feel so blessed when I leave a Peruvian household.

Anyway, so the whole family and I went off to the Agua Marina concert, a famous Peruvian cumbia band. About 2000 people were present, but we were the only blond women and the only women over 5’5”. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this yet, but it seems wherever we go, we get what Peace Corps calls “star power.” We stick out like sore thumbs, and the attention can be overwhelming at times. The Agua Marina concert was the perfect example of this: 2 American girls spotted dancing at the edge of the crowd, near the stage. Band members invite the “girls from the United States” onto the stage... over the loud speakers. 2 American girls approach the stage apprehensively (what the heck are we going to have to do up there???). Agua Marina begins a song and urges them to dance “manos por arriba, arriba… por abajo, abajo.” Yes, 2 blushing American girls go with the flow and dance (more than a little uncomfortably) on stage in front of 2000 people. THEN, it becomes apparent that these 2 American girls are participating in a dance contest. 2 Peruvian girls are invited up to show the Americans “how it’s done” and booty shake their scantily-clad booties all over the place. The Americans looked like church girls up there on stage with their shuffling feet and barely moving hips. They rushed down from the stage after the contest (clearly having lost) only to have a crowd rush them to take pictures.

Projects are popping up all over the place. As I mentioned before, I’ve been running 4-5 per week since I arrived. People stared at me like I had 14 heads. Those who had never seen it would approach me and question me if I was actually running (rumors fly around this little town). I invited people numerous times to accompany me but no one took me seriously. The mayor also commented on my running and proposed a community run. We sent out the announcement over those hated loud speakers and over 25 women came that Saturday morning at 6 am. After the 30 minute run, I asked them if they’d like to do it again. The overwhelming response was “YES! Every day!” I was more that a little surprised but it seems many of the women in town want to get healthy and lose weight. I had noted that one of the more obvious health problems in the town is obesity, so I quickly jumped on this opportunity and offered to provide nutrition talks with tips on losing weight. We’re also going to try a Biggest Loser Competition.

For nearly 2 weeks, between 12-15 women, teenage girls, and kids run 4 days a week at 5:45 am. I gave the first nutrition talk on Saturday and it was a huge success, though I was saddened when I realized most of these women had never heard of the most basic nutrition facts, like how many calories should be consumed per day, or how the body uses food. Even the food pyramid was new to a few of them. I asked the women what has been the hardest thing to adapt and they told me it was getting their kids to eat vegetables. Peruvians eat very few veggies, eating mostly rice, potatoes, corn, and meat. One woman in particular said that her kids didn’t want to eat their broccoli until her 10 year old daughter said, “Senorita Libby says broccoli is good so it must be!” and they all ate their broccoli. How incredible is that?!

I’m really excited because this seems like this will be a sustainable project and can really make a difference in their lives. The running not only gets them moving and gets them healthy, but it gives these women something for themselves. So many of them sacrifice everything to their children and husbands and have nothing that makes them feel good. I can already tell a difference in the way they feel about themselves. They are proud! Part of Youth Development Goal #1 is promoting self-esteem and healthy lifestyle. I’ve only been here a month but I can see this is exactly the kind of work I’ve always wanted to do and I’m feeling very motivated and happy.

A few announcements:

My host mom is 5 weeks pregnant and we are all super thrilled. Lee is coming for Christmas and I’m literally counting the days (92). I got really sick one day and my host mom blamed it on the kitten that I had played with the day before. Peruvians think that cats are relatively evil creatures and never touch them. They think their fur has the ability to make you violently ill, even going as far as to believe that breathing too much of it could make you stop breathing. But that doesn’t stop me from running after every cat I see and playing with it. They gawk at me. That gringa girl and her crazy antics.

I miss home a lot. I’m missing all of you and I would greatly appreciate it if you got on Skype more often. My name is libbysml. Much love,

Libby

my new life: week 1

Exactly one week ago, I arrived in San Clemente, Peru. Let’s just say, it feels like a lot longer… Since I’ve been here, I’ve met with the mayor, the school principle, the women from the soup kitchen, taught English, attended 3 sexual health seminars given by a Spanish NGO, met swarms of children, read fairytales to little kids, and helped lead over 100 kindergarteners through the streets of San Clemente while carrying posters proclaiming the importance of breastfeeding.

I’m continually asked if I’m adjusting well to the climate, to the food, to the people. If all of this is “agreeable” to me. My fellow community members are so caring and welcoming and they just want me to be happy. They are very proud people and they love their community. I tell all of them that I’m fine, that I’m adjusting nicely, and that I love the food (true most of the time) and the weather (true all of the time!). To those of you who know me, I’ll tell you the truth. I was a little overwhelmed at first. I have 2 years to work here but it doesn’t really feel like that. I feel like there is so much work to do and I can’t wait to get my hands dirty. When I’m relaxing or napping, I fee like I should maybe be doing something else far more productive. Speaking of napping, apparently, it is normal for PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) to sleep A LOT that first week. Well true to form, I slept over 9 hours per night and would still walk around all day feeling utterly exhausted. One day I took 2 naps! But things are leveling out now. I’m feeling much more active. I think my body was just trying to acclimate. Apparently, moving to a new town in the middle of a foreign country away from family and friends and anything even remotely familiar is DIFFICULT. I must comment here, though, that I’m quite happy.

Probably the coolest thing I’ve done since I’ve been here is hold children’s reading hour. I was helping kids with their English homework in the community library (think 1 room with 1 small bookshelf), when I noticed the little ones fighting over some ragged children’s stories. There are only a handful of kid’s books for this entire town! Anyway, I offered to read to them. Over the next few nights, my little group of 4 or 5 turned to about 20-25 kids circled around me for 30 minutes while I read aloud, changing up the voices and getting silly. They absolutely love it. Now I just want to make it a little more official. I’m going to start asking them interactive questions and maybe provide some incentive for attendance, like gold stars and cookies. I need to get some more story books because we’ll breeze through the ones in the library really fast. Also, I’m going to ask the municipality about buying a carpet to roll out, because we’ve been reading with their little butts on the concrete. I’m thinking this will turn into a great little literacy project.

Today someone hosted a party after mass. A typical event, it goes a little like this: the family spends a whopping amount of money on food enough to feed the entire community for a whole day. Scores of women show up to cook all day long. The men come and eat the food and start in on the drinking of chicha (a kind of moonshine made of fermented corn). First they prepare soup to be served before lunch, then lunch is served, and then the women just keep on cookin’ and serve up dinner! They’re like the freaking energizer Conejas (bunnies)or something! To get all kinds of involved in my community, I offered my superior serving skills. I made rounds serving food, collecting plates, distributing spoons, and being the random Gringa serving girl. The women were merely amused, but the men whistled at me the minute I turned my back on them after collecting a stray spoon from the ground. All the women were parading their sons in front of me, the potential “candidates” for the position of Libby’s novio. They were more than a little saddened when I informed them that I already have one. Long story short, this is going to take some getting used to.

Friends and family, I just ate a huge avocado mashed into my rice for dinner. Meanwhile, there’s a fiesta outside my house and the band is playing so loud they could be sitting in my living room, if we had a couch.. which we don’t. A few hours ago they set off a huge tower of fireworks, jerry-rigged between two posts, in the middle of town, . This is my life J

A little blurb on HIV prevention

As far as HIV education, Peru offers quite a few challenges. First of all, it is a culture dominated by catholicism and machismo. Catholicism looks poorly on any kind of obstruction to baby-making, because children are a "gift from God," even if they are brought into the world by a single 14 year old girl without education or the hope of getting a job that would secure the future of her child. As far as machismo goes, men hate condoms and men control the world down here. So.. most men won't wear them, are embarrassed to wear them, and criticize the woman that expects them to wear them. Well the woman will bow down to that man being that he is superior to her and she is obligated to obey. Also, most men will get enraged when you question their cleanliness, i.e. no one gets tested because they are convinced they are clean or because they are in denial and don't want to know one way or the other. Entonces... no one wears condoms.As far as fidelity goes, it is quite the interesting oxymoron. Despite the fact that Catholicism promotes the sanctity of marriage, the concept of marriage is a little different here than in the states. Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating when I say that almost all men cheat on the their wives. It is a natural course of events, especially in the rural areas, for a man to create a family, then leave his family to start another one in the same town or neighboring village. Or, men will maintain their families and cheat with other women. The women know, and contributing to a vicious cycle, let it slide. So, if you pair that with the absence of condoms, you can see why STDs and HIV are on a steady rise here in Peru. In Peace Corps, we opt for the ABC motto to deal with HIV prevention: Abstinence (for the Catholics but we all know kids still have sex), Boda (wedding in Spanish, meant to mean Fidelity), and Condoms. We get groups together and give interactive talks about HIV prevention, crossing our fingers that it sticks. There is also an option to get a youth leadership group together and teach them, and in turn have them become health promoters who go into their schools and teach their peers. Let me know if you any questions!

Site Visit

Friends and Fam,

I´m writing from San Clemente, Sechura, Piura. I arrived Sunday morning in Piura City, the capital city of the department (think State). Piura was beautiful, warm, and welcoming. I dont know the exact population, but it is a fairly large city with a department store, 3 large supermarkets, a mall, and movie theater. I got to see Inception (great movie, by the way) for less than 3 dollars! I´ll probably be going there every 2 weeks to catch up with other volunteers, eat delicious ice cream, and shop at a real supermarket... that sells peanut butter!!!

However, the best part of Piura is the hostel that has hot water, great water pressure, wireless internet, and the best peace corps library known to man. The library has some awesome reads and I cant wait to get started. The peace corps library is typical of all capital cities. It is a place where peace corps volunteers exchange books. You might not know this yet, but whereas they say our job is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the typical Peace Corps volunteer has plenty of free time on her hands. I was told to bring many, many books. I opted for the technologically brilliant option and brought my Kindle, a very special birthday gift from my dear Leeward. In the weeks leading up to my departure, I downloaded 87 books to my Kindle. Ive been hoarding them and havent read even one, knowing that I would be desperate for them once I arrived at site. BUT now i have the peace corps library!!!

Anyway, back to business. On Monday, I arrived at my site. San Clemente is a darling little town... all 6 blocks of it. The population size is only 2000 people. There is one restaurant, no grocery stores or markets, and some of the kindest people I´ve ever met. Tuesday morning, there was a celebration held in my honor at the town hall. They had announced my arrival on the radio, over the town´s loudspeaker, and the town bulletin board. They sat me out in front of everyone. The mayor, school principal, town doctor, and the director of the soup kitchen all spoke in my honor. I was then asked to give a speech... in front of the whole town. It went well... I almost peed myself out of nervousness. Then, the kids dance group performed 2 dances. Afterward, the whole town was treated to a sandwich and some nasty purple corn drink. After a two hour nap, I was then escorted by two 10 year olds on a tour of the town.

I cant wait to start working with everyone. The kids are the most welcoming, of course. They just cant wait to play with me. Ive already been asked to teach english, hold a homework hour, plan the Day of the Childhood, and hold youth group 3 times a week. There is a lot of work to be done here. I´ve only been here 3 days and I already the adults are telling me about all the problems that need to be worked on: HIV prevention, teen pregnancy, malnutrition in children, slef esteem in children, goal achievement, leadership, etc...

Today was another crazy day. I was told to be at the town hall at 11 am with virtually no explanation. I was then taken to nearby Sechura, the district capital. Sechura is 20 minutes from my site and much, much larger. Melissa, one of my fellow trainees is placed in Sechura. We will probably be doing plenty of work together. The city council of sechura invited me to Melissa´s ceremony. I was also greeted within the ceremony, presented with two books about the province of Sechura, and fed a typical peruvian lunch of escabeche de pescado. On that plate lay every kind of starch you can think of: corn, sweet potato, mashed potato, rice, yucca, and banana... oh and a piece of fish. Next we were taken on a tour of all the special places in and around the city of sechura (Sechuranos are very proud people and I love that) with staff from the city hall. We started with a museum depicting the history of Sechura, followed by the beach (lovely!!!), then a huge, unexplainable sand dune in the middle of the desert, about 4 miles from the coast. The sand is beautiful and fine, just like beach sand, but the location just doesnt make sense. We climbed to the top, which was quite a challenge. Then we slid down. Now comes the crazy part. as you slide down, there is a rumble that come up from the sand that sounds like a plan is taking off. NOt to mention, there is a rumbling under your butt. The weight of all that sand shifting at once makes it seem like you are inside a drum! The next place we went to was a kind of zoo, with animals from all over Piura. There we were interviewed to be on National Public Access Peru!!! I´m going to be on TV tomorrow! AHHHH

My site is just beautiful and I´m so excited to be here. I thought it would be more like a desert, because SEchura is known for being a hot, dusty desert. However, apparently San Clemente is located in a valley and it looks more like San Diego. There are grass, plants, and trees everywhere. It is not as hot as I expected either, although this season is considered winter. The temperature right now ranges between 65 and 80... quite pleasant really. I´m so pleased to be living so close to the beach as well. I thought it was an hour away because of the information I recieved, but the beach is really only like 20 to 30 minutes from my site. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS