Project Mochila

Project Mochila is a summer school programme for primary ages, focused on literacy and numeracy for children in areas where education may be poor.  At the end of the week the children who've participated receive a rucksack (mochila) with school materials.

We (AIDIA, accompanied by several volunteers, and a team of puppeteers from Lima) ran the project in one of AIDIA's focus districts near Abancay.

As well as teaching maths and communication we also gave health-related workshops which I coordinated - topics of water, hygiene, dental care, the environment and nutrition.

Day 0 - preparations

We loaded up all our luggage for the week, lots of food to contribute, sleeping bags, teaching materials, rucksacks for the children, and lots of puppets.  There was barely room for 3 of us to travel as well, but we squeezed in (including my guitar - thanks to frequent childhood practice).

Arriving 2 hours later we unpacked and carried everything into one of the classrooms at the school, and then proceeded to blow up about 100 balloons and tie them onto sticks ready to make an arch in the morning to welcome the students.

We hadn't sorted out accommodation yet, so stayed with one of the couples from the church - 3 of us sharing a mattress on the floor of their room.  It was very cold but we slept well under 5 blankets.
 

Day 1




About 100 children came, along with the school director, ministry of health representatives, and people from the mayor's office.  There were speeches, we sang the national anthem and raised the flag, and then everyone was off to their classes.

 

 

My first class was with the parents, teaching about hygiene.  I really appreciated how the teaching is focused on visuals and group contribution, because I was conscious that some of the parents didn't speak Spanish.  I could help a little in Quechua but it was great to have them working together and explaining to one another. 

After the break I taught 3rd and 4th grade about water.  It was a disaster!  Well, I thought so at the time.  I used a story to tell them about the water cycle, and actually they listened quite well to that part.  But they were far too hyperactive for the activity I had planned for them afterwards, wanting to play, run around, shout, look out of the window, fight, or ask me questions about where I am from.  I have an increased respect and appreciation of teachers.  Always before when I've worked in schools, I've been visiting but the teacher has always been present - this time I was in sole "control"!

We spent the afternoon preparing our next classes but also borrowing various mattresses and blankets from the mayor's office and setting up our sleeping arrangements (a room for the boys and one for the girls, with 8 mattresses and 18 blankets to share between 13 of us - and a cold shower!).

Day 2

Today I was teaching 5th and 6th grade about the environment after the break, but had nothing scheduled first thing. So I asked if I could help with the morning literacy classes - so that I would know the students and they would know me by the time it came to my classes.  This worked far better than yesterday!  I also enjoyed being able to help the children while they thought up adjectives to describe the different animals in their district (a slippery fish, or a thieving weasel).

In my class we talked about how God created everything, and how we as humans are both dependent on and responsible for the natural world.  Then we looked at different types of waste and how long things take to decompose - there were quite a few surprises, mainly that "disposable" polystyrene cups and trays take perhaps forever to decompose.

In the evening there was a church service - usually a prayer meeting on Tuesdays but tonight was full of "specials" - songs prepared bu different groups, including us.  I led "Alelu alelu alelu aleluia" complete with standing up and sitting down - I even know it in Quechua because there are only 3 other words!

A musical interlude...

Food in the school canteen

Day 3

It was my turn to lead our morning's devotions today, so I talked a little about Samuel growing up in God's house surrounded by his influence - and how our hope is that we can contribute to building this positive environment for the children here.  We spent the rest of the time praying for the week.

At breakfast I had a lovely surprise.  One of the boys from Monday's horrendous class came and recounted to me the story I'd told them about the water cycle - and there was I thinking I hadn't been able to teach them anything at  all!

Board game to learn the vowels

I repeated yesterday's strategy of getting to know my next class, so helped with 1st grade in their numeracy and literacy classes.  I tried to teach a little boy to do sums on his fingers, but I don't think he got it.  But I did successfully manage to help a little girl to write the letter "o" - we went from tracing to independent writing :)

Then I was with 5th and 6th again, teaching them about hygiene.  This is one of my favourite lessons as it's very picture based and very interactive.  I basically don't teach much but get the class to tell me everything. But it's very hard to get people to admit that they don't already do all of the "good behaviours".

In the afternoon I came back to Abancay to pick up some more materials from the office and go to my Quechua classes (they are every night but I'd said I would go to one this week).

 

 

Day 4

I got an early car back and this morning I had another teaching session with the parents.  I wasn't actually teaching but generally facilitating and I wanted to observe the nutrition teaching because it was based on the materials I'd prepared.

Noemí taught about child protection and prevention of sexual abuse which seems to be quite a new topic here but definitely something that is needed.





Gianella who is a student from Arequipa taught about nutrition.  She included some extra elements in her teaching was were very helpful and I'll be noting for the future.  It was great to see the mothers using the cards we'd prepared to plan meals containing the 3 food groups, and to hear a lady from the church explaining our illustrative 3-legged stool in Quechua - both showing that she'd understood, but also effectively translating for those who hadn't.








Luis taught about dental care - focusing not on what you can and can't eat but on how important it is to clean your teeth.  Since seeing his graphic illustrations I have been cleaning my teeth even after lunch! 

Then I had my lesson with grades 1 and 2.  Again it was really helpful to have met them yesterday and got an idea of their learning level.  My story was very successful and they enjoyed retelling it to me. (It works with every age group! It's based on a book I had when I was small.  A child wants to say thank you for his drink, so thanks first the glass, then the tap, and the pipes... and so on as each one tells him where the water came from.  It finishes with him discovering that God made, or helped us make, all these things and so he prays his thanks to God.) Then we went outside for some water-carrying games.

 

Day 5

They needed help in the kitchen today (we've been preparing mid-morning snacks for the children) so I learned how to make humitas (although there is some debate as to when it's an humita and when it's a tamal - it depends on the freshness of the corn but also on whether it's sweet or savoury). 

Then my final class, teaching grades 5 and 6 about water.  Because of the other classes happening today, this time the two were combined which meant about 60 children!  It was chaos, but they still listened attentively to the story.  Afterwards, I got them together in groups depending on which village they came from, to draw a map of their community including the elements of their water cycle.

  
We also had a class teaching grades 3/4 about hand-washing.  This was also a combined class and as I'd had such trouble with them I figured I ought to help Luis.  We used an idea I've been wanting to try out for ages - mixed glitter with vaseline and he went round shaking everyone's hand to get them good and coated.  Then we demonstrated how you have to wash your hands properly in order to get the glitter off.  It's great to know how well this works - I shall be using it again!
 

Day 6

The closing ceremony! There were lots of contributions from the puppets and lots of speeches.  Even I made a speech, first learning to correctly greet all the various personages (this time the mayor came) and then congratulating the children as I can't imagine British children voluntarily coming to lessons in their holidays!

 

 

The mothers had prepared a special surprise for us - which of course turned out to be lunch: fried trout with potatoes and a chili sauce.  It was delicious.

When we'd packed everything up we hired a couple of minibuses to take us up the mountain to the lakes at the top.  We posed for lots of photos and tried to throw each other in (sort of).  It was beautiful and very cold because it's so high.  Coming back down then it was a long and squashed journey back to Abancay with all the luggage. 

 

 

An accidental mountain walk

Yesterday we went back to Pampallacta.



The plan: get the 4am bus, arriving at about 7am.  Visit various houses, chat to people, teach God's work, do a kid's club and church service in the evening, stay the night.  Get the 7am bus back to Abancay.

It didn't happen quite like that!

The last flat part of the walk to Pampallacta

We'd arranged to get a taxi together to the bus stop, but Dina overslept.  We arrived only 5 minutes late, but the buses are the only exception I have found so far to Peruvian timekeeping, and they leave on schedule.  Fortunately there is a system - other cars come around to pick up people like us!  So we got a lift, but only as far as the junction with the main road, leaving a 1400m climb to reach the village.

We started walking, but keeping our eyes and ears open for anyone coming up the hill.  In Chapimarca (the district capital) they are building a new sports field so lorries deliver materials several times a day.  Sure enough, after we'd climbed about 200m, we were glad to hear a truck, so flagged it down and were given a lift to the Pampallacta junction.  From there it's a couple of miles, but at least it's flat.

It's the growing season...

Once again we found that many people had gone to their "cabañas" for the maize-growing season, so there weren't many people around, and almost none of the children.  So we decided to visit the Christians one by one, rather than waiting for an evening service, and then also visit some of the non-Christians to explain God's word to them.  This is where the AIDIA materials are really useful - the Quechua New Testament, the oral teaching book (pictures to prompt telling of Bible stories), and various other booklets.  Here they are very new believers and don't necessarily understand much of what the Bible teaches.

One of the families we chatted with

I often feel like a spare part on these visits, because when everything is in Quechua, I can´t contribute (much).  But a couple of conversations in Spanish on this visit were very encouraging, particularly talking to one lady who said "so what I need to do is stop sinning and be good and then God will accept me".  Well, no... I was able to explain to her that God accepts us as we are if we give ourselves to him, and only with his help are we then able to change.

 

Lunch

We also visited a young family who are not Christians... asking for 10 minutes of their time.  To start with they weren't paying much attention but soon started listening, coming closer and asking questions.  There are a lot of different "religions", often just meaning different denominations, who come emphasising different things, and many people are confused.  Our answer was always "if their teaching is from the Bible, then what they say is true.  We can't necessarily trust what people say, but the Bible is God's word, and he is trustworthy."

You can see the road zigzagging down

 

Once we had finished our visits, we decided to head back down to Abancay.  We figured we'd probably meet one of the returning lorries on the way, or some people who we'd seen earlier who'd come from Abancay selling mattresses.  So we set off back down the mountain, on the shorter track used by the people who walk rather than the long zigzagging road.  We did see a few cars descending, but we were always on one of the short-cut sections, so never managed to flag one down.

At one point we took a path which ended up not being "the" path, but the track to someone's house.  We armed ourselves with long sticks (to persuade the dogs to keep their distance) and stood our ground.  It ended up being the house of the Pampallacta president, who I had hoped to meet - so worked out well in the end!













Journey stats:
Starting altitude: 3600m
Finishing altitude: 2200m
Distance walked: 7.5 miles
Time: 3.5 hours
Top speed: 9mph (we were running to reach the bend in the road before the car did)
Blue route: the road
Red route: the path we walked down

Once back at the main road a bus to Abancay came past very quickly.

Fortunately my general visiting rucksack is not too heavy, and generally contains the same things as a walking-in-the-mountains rucksack.  Although next time I'd probably choose my walking boots.

*A note on hitch-hiking and remote mountain paths - mostly for my mother

 For those whose safety alarm is going off at this point, a few clarifications.

So few people have cars in this area of Peru that everyone is reliant on either walking or shared transport.  Those who have cars offer lifts to people who are going in the same direction, and their passengers share the cost of the journey.  These are often families, and the car is usually full of varied passengers.  It's well-known and well-used system.  Peru is also a very community-based culture, which means people rarely travel alone, but also means people will usually know someone you know.

Mountains are also a very different concept from in the UK.  While at home changing weather and remote locations can make mountain walking very dangerous especially for the unprepared, here the routes to the places we visit are populated areas of farming land, usually with small houses dotted around and people out working who are very happy to show you the way, and even invite you to share their meal.

After a very long time I go back to Mariscal Gamarra

When I visited Peru in 2013, one of the areas we went to was Mariscal Gamarra (about halfway down this post, if you want to see a map it's about 5 miles north of Palpacachi, which google can find).  They were very keen on having possible water projects and seemed very proactive.



However, when I came back in late 2014, it transpired that the AIDIA team were no longer focusing on that area - the villages having graduated from their training programme they were now focusing elsewhere.  That was fine as "elsewhere" there are also a lot of opportunities!  But recently various new churches have expressed interest so I went back with Cicilio who has been visiting the area since the year I was born.



This, like so many, was a "building-relationships" visit, rather than specifically water-focused. But it also gave me a good opportunity to talk to Cicilio about my plans for water-related teaching.  He was very positive and suggested I be involved with a training visit he'll be doing later this year, to include water-related teaching.  He also pointed out that people are more likely to be motivated if they know what they are drinking is of poor quality, so I might also coordinate with the Ministry of Health (it's their job really) and get some samples from various points in the water systems to be tested.  Usually the source is clean, but contamination occurs within the system so it's good to pinpoint where this is in order to target a project.



From Abancay it's a 6 hour bus ride to Mariscal Gamarra. We got off at a bridge over the river and walked up the side of the mountain to a few villages.



It's not ideal visiting season, partly because the heavy rain at night often means the roads are blocked in the morning, but also because it's the maize-growing season, and many people take off up into the mountains with their animals so that they don't eat the growing corn.  But many people were around, and it was great to visit them.
 


Anastasia has been a Christian for about a year.  We visited her and her husband to talk, to pray, to encourage, and to teach.  This was almost entirely done by Cicilio, because it was all in Quechua! Every time I visit with him I am motivated to carry on improving my Quechua... but I found I could pick up the gist of what they were saying.  Anastasia´s husband, Sebastien, had a bad fall recently up on the mountains looking after his animals, and has damaged his leg and can't really walk.  This has led him to evaluate his life a bit more, and while we were there Cicilio led him through a prayer giving his life to Christ.  Then it was lovely to be invited to pray for Anastasia - in Spanish, so she may not have understood the words, but God did.  And as we were kneeling together on the dusty ground I am sure she understood the love that prompted my prayer.




Walking up the hill afterwards I was "meditating on God's wonderful works" (from Psalm 146) - the amazingly beautiful and huge creation that we were standing in - and his continuing miracles in transforming lives and hearts.  Both glorious to be able to see.



Then we visited the pastor's family.  Again, most of the talk was in Quechua but I could mostly follow it.  We prayed for the pastor's wife, who has been having trouble sleeping, and encouraged the pastor that although he is untrained and very daunted by his role, God has chosen him and is entirely capable!  We stayed for a service in the evening - amazingly about half of the community are now Christians and it was certainly a crowd inside the pastor (right) 's house.

 

Next day, and the walking continued.  Cicilio is very impressed by my walking ability ever since I proved myself willing and able to get up at 4am and still keep up with him!  But I really enjoy this part of the journeys - the Apurímac region is like the most beautiful parts of the UK, but bigger.  And I have always had to save up my holidays for time there - but here, walking on the stunning mountains, I am working!

Betty, on my last visit.  This time we were
too busy chatting to take photos!

More visits today, and a higher Spanish content!  We were mostly in Paccaypata, the village I had visited before, so it was wonderful to meet up with old friends.  Juana and Mateo are brother and sister, each with their own families.  Last visit we stayed with Juana and I found here very bubbly and talkative - quite rare in the introverted culture.  Her brother is the same, and I stayed with his family and his daughter Betty who I had met previously - it was great to be reunited with her.














Juana's son is now in Abancay preparing to go to university to study... Civil Engineering!  He has to sit an entrance exam for the state university, so there's a lot of work to do.  I talked to her about the Christian student group here (CBU) so she passed on his details to me.  Since then I have discovered one of my CBU friends also runs preparatory classes in the evenings - so have also managed to link him up with that!