Pictures from Peru

I have a better internet connection and can post pictures from my trip.  I was not allowed to take pictures at the sites where I volunteered.  Understandably, this was to preserve the dignity and privacy of very vulnerable individuals. 

 

This historic district of Lima

 

Main cathedral in the plaza



 

 

The presidential palace, which is next to the cathedral on the plaza.  Imagine the next three pictures right beside each other like a panoramic picture.

If you look closely you can see the guards of the palace.

San Francisco Cathedral - home of the catacombs

Views of Villa El Salvador, the neighborhood in Lima where El Martincitos is located.

 

 

I see so many things on motorcycles in countries that I visit.  Pigs and coffins in Vietnam; families of six cruising in Guatemala; a lawnmower in Peru.

 

 El Martincitos.  Everyone is inside eating breakfast.

I took this from in front of the car where we parked to visit a young man (really, a kid), who is paralyzed from a construction accident.  We could not drive any further because he lives on such a steep hill that you have to walk up steps to get to the houses.  The most marginalized people live at the top of the hills in most neighborhoods.  For obvious reasons, a person with a disability that results in limitations in mobility such as a spinal cord injury, stroke, or other neurologic disorder, is essentially homebound.

 

I forgot to mention the park and zoo!  In the middle of our home visit morning, Tony, the director of El Martincitos, took us to a park and zoo!  He shared a lot about the history of the neighborhood of Villa El Salvador.  Tony grew up here, which is why he has such a heart for los abuelitos.  He recalled the time when one of his teachers brought his class to the desert area a few blocks from the school.  They each planted a tree.  The teacher told them that the trees would grow and good things would come of it.  The rest of the year they carried water jugs to the trees to water them.  Tony says that the kids thought the teacher was crazy.  Later, more trees were planted, and the spot in the desert became a park with a small zoo, a lake, small amusement rides, a tent camping area, and an ampitheater.  The teacher actually founded the park, which is an oasis for this district in Lima.  These are the exact trees that Tony and his classmates planted.

 

 

 

I spent my last evening contemplating my trip at the Pacific Ocean.  I actually spent most of my time down on the beach, but didn't take any pictures from there.  I just enjoyed the sounds of the ocean.

Old time surfing mural on the way down to the beach

 

Peru - Day 4

Dear Evan and Nathan,

The drive to the airport was not the most harrowing I've been on in Peru, but it was close!  The fun part about the drive, though, was that my driver, Javier, asked if I spoke Spanish.  I told him I spoke a little, but needed practice, so he told me that he would practice with me.  We visited the whole trip, which was about 1 1/2 hours.  First, he told me about his trip to Cuzco last month, and even showed me pictures on his phone.  He also decided that I should learn to appreciate Peruvian music, which he knew a whole lot about.  He switched through at least 50 songs, telling me what type of music each one was and what region of the country it was from, and what social or political impact the type music had on society.  We'd listen to about a minute of each song and then he'd switch to the next one.  It was fascinating.  It was fun to spend my last hours in the country with someone who was so interesting and who was intent on sharing his language and his culture.

I'm looking forward to seeing you!
Mom

Peru - Day 3

Last open letter to Evan and Nathan.


Dear Evan and Nathan,


Today was a very interesting day.  I found a local park to run to in the morning, which was very pleasant.  My work day started by driving to the worst part of Lima to the Madre Teresa in La Victoria (The Victory) district.  This is a ministry started by Mother Teresa after a visit to Peru and run by nuns.  To this point, I have been in some severely impoverished area in Lima, but this was beyond anything I had experienced yet this week.  It was in the downtown, so it was a very busy area.  People everywhere, working in the street.  There was garbage everywhere I looked.  Unlike some of the other areas I've been in, which are poverty stricken with some crime, this area has a very high crime rate.  Up to this point, I've thought that driving in Lima (like Guatemala City, Mexico City, and Hanoi) is an act of faith, but driving in La Victoria was CRAZY!  I cannot even describe it, but am happy to have survived.  Madre Teresa is an order of nuns who house 100 children with severe cognitive and physical disabilities and 150 men with neurologic disorders.  There is one physical therapist and one speech and language therapist for all of the kids and two physical therapists for the adults.  They see 6-9 patients at a time and I can't believe how hard they must work every day. 


Next, I went on several home visits with the director of Marincitos.  The home visits are designed to check in on seniors that haven't attended lately, seniors who have known histories of being abused or neglected by their families, and seniors at risk of losing their home or belongings to neighbors or families (to let the neighbors or family know that someone is checking in on them).  We visited a young man who had a spinal cord injury from a construction accident and has very little support from his family.  The young man is homebound due to living on a hill that was so steep we could not drive up it and his home being only accessible by about 2 blocks worth of stairs.  A local donor is paying for a physical therapist to visit the home twice a week, but the man is depressed and is not participating or doing his home exercises.  Our visit was to encourage him to participate so that he can continue to get rehab.  I encouraged him to do his exercises - this is a person who, with the right resources, could live independently and support himself, but circumstances do not allow him to do so.  I also suggested an evaluation to see if an antidepressant would work for him, but I realize that the family has no ability (and possibly no family support) to purchase medication.  Sad situation.  Antonio, the director of Martincitos, has invested so much effort in trying to get this young man the support and training he needs.


I won't try to describe the homes.  We visited a couple who live in a one-room home with a patchwork roof that covers only about 3/4 of the house, and the woman was cooking over an open fire.  I have no idea how they cope when it rains.  The only furniture was a bed and makeshift table.  The poverty today I saw was astounding, but so was the apparent level of contentedness that I witnessed in the people we visited as well as others at Martinicitos yesterday, who all live in the same impoverished district.  Something to learn from.


We don't eat until 7:00, so I walked to the Pacific Ocean.  It took me an hour to get there.  I made it through the Circle of Death, frogger-style.  That is an insanely busy roundabout with eight 2-3 lane roads going in/out and no lights.  I had to cross four of them.  In Peru, you can turn right or left from any lane and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.  The rest of the walk was less exciting.  I spent two hours sitting on the beach feeling the spray of the ocean (and getting soaked twice when I wasn't paying attention to the waves).  There were a lot of surfers that were fun to watch.  Then I walked home and survived the Circle of Death again.


See you tomorrow!
Mom

Peru - Day 2

Another open letter to Evan and Nathan.


Dear Evan and Nathan,


Today I volunteered at Marincitos, which is a day center for 150 severely impoverished seniors.  They arrive for breakfast and are also served lunch.  In between, they have crafts, games, literacy classes, social time.  The long term goal of the program is to meet the daily living needs of the elderly, to provide companionship and community, and to promote respect and dignity for the for the for the aging people in Villa El Salvador, Peru.  Most of the seniors have no access to healthcare, so they also have an area for rehabilitation, but no physical or occupational therapist now.  There was a massage therapist and a reflexologist.  I spent a little time with the masseuse.  When I introduced myself to the reflexologist, she was very happy that I was there.  She brought in four people to have me evaluate so I could teach her how to help them.  One lady had the most severe scoliosis that I've every seen and a the worst case of neurofibromatosis that I've ever seen.  (Don't look that up for them, Adam.)  Another man had a traumatic brain injury (probably severe based on his presentation) and had not had any medical care.  She described his mobility after the injury and they showed me the exercises that she did with him and she had specific questions about how to help him further.  She had done a fabulous job with him.  He was so lucky to have her.  I showed them four new exercises, but wish he had some follow-up.  I also saw two people who had strokes.  All-in-all it was a good morning.  You would not believe how happy everyone was to be there.  It was like Disneyland for elderly people.  So many genuine smiles. 


In the late afternoon we went to the Inca Market to shop (way too much time shopping) and then to Miraflores, which is a neighborhood on the Pacific Ocean with a great park and path overlooking the ocean.  I saw a lot of surfers.  We spent way too little time there, but I might try to get back there tomorrow afternoon.


I love you and miss you!
Mom

Peru - Day 1

An open letter to Evan and Nathan.

Hi Boys!
My internet connection is too slow to upload pictures, so I will write about my trip so you know what I am doing and will show you the pictures when I get home.


I arrived in Lima at 4:30 this morning, and arrived at the house I am staying at by 6:30.  Our morning consisted of a orientation to the program and to our work sites.  I will be at two sites this week. One is a senior center for extremely impoverished and vulnerable senior citizens.  I will work at the center and do home visits for them.  The second site is a nursing home-type setting that houses 150 children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities and 100 adult men with severe physical and cognitive disabilities from acquired neurologic injuries such as stroke, brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.


We spent the afternoon on a walking tour of old Lima. Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro.  That's a long time ago!  I saw beautiful architecture at three cathedrals, the president's palace, the mayor's home and city hall, and other downtown.  The most impressive spot was the Plaza Mayor.  We also went through the church and monastery of San  Francisco.  It was built in the 1600s.  The architecture was Spanish with a lot of Moorish influence and was incredible.  We also toured the catacombs under the church, which is where they put people after they died.  It is said to contain the remains of 70,000-90,000 people.  I saw thousands of bones - mostly femurs, humeruses (or humerii?), and skulls.  You know I loved all those bones!

Tomorrow I will go to work.

I love you and miss you!
Love,
Mom
P.S. Tell your dad I've heard more Lionel Richie today than I did in the '80s.

Happy 9th Birthday, Evan!

Happy birthday, Evan!  You are growing up to be such a good kid.  This year I have received several messages and emails from people I don't even know (parents of kids in your class) to tell me what a nice kid you are and how you have shown kindness to their children.  There is nothing that could make me prouder.  You are a sports fanatic.  You play on a team every season.  You're killing it (your words) on the soccer field these days.  Your friend, Tavis is always by your side on every sports field.  You don't like to lose, but you are a good teammate and always give credit to the kids who are playing well and trying hard.  We play A LOT of backyard baseball, and Miss Pat goes outside every morning to throw back the balls that we hit into her yard.  You are killing it (my words this time) in school, too.  You are a voracious reader.  Yesterday we went to the library at 5:30, and you had your 236 page chapter book finished before you went to bed.  You tell me that you don't enjoy math, but you spend your days spewing out facts and doing division, multiplication in your head for everyday conversation that amazes me.  Your grandpa is also impressed with the amount of history you know, which ought to make Uncle Joe pleased, too.  You love to tinker with legos and cars and you build very involved creations with intricate details.  You don't miss a thing in your observation of people, behaviors, and things, and it shows in your creative play, art, and conversations.  Can I say it again?  You're a great kid and we are so proud to be your parents!

First day of school!

Evan - 3rd grade

Nathan - 1st grade