Update from Peru by Monya Lemery

PERU

Next stop, Lima, Peru.   In Lima, spring had yet to arrive.  It was much colder than Santiago and Rosario.  People were wearing coats and boots.  They said the weather hadn’t changed yet. Lima is a large, polluted, humid, and chaotic city of about 8 million people. It lies right on the Pacific coast and is well known for its museums and gastronomy.  It is also the gateway to all of the interesting cultural sites that people want to visit in Peru. In the upscale neighborhood of Miraflores, you can find a modern mall right on the oceanfront with shops, cinema, restaurants, etc.  There is also a beautiful waterfront park.

 

While in Lima, I visited the U.S. Embassy, as they have an internship program with several museums in the country.  The internship is set up for graduate students in museum studies to spend a couple of months in July and August working on art restorations projects.  I hope to have this listed on the IE₃ website very soon.

 

I wouldn’t say that Lima was the most interesting place I have ever been, but I did get a chance to visit the best restaurant in Lima – Astrid & Gaston; and I did splurge and buy a pair of nice, leather boots J

  

 

Ayacucho, Peru

After a day in Lima, I took the 5am flight on a tiny 18-passenger plane to a community in the highlands called Ayacucho.  Ayacucho is home to the Finca Peru Huamanga-Ayacucho office and Finca Peru Exports. The first day, I felt light-headed from the altitude.  The locals serve “tea de coca” which helps with altitude sickness and I have to say that it seems to be effective.

 

Ayacucho is a growing town of about 120,000 inhabitants, but it feels much smaller than a U.S. city that size. It is set up in a traditional colonial style and was clearly founded by the Spaniards in the 16^th century. It is known for its many churches and the fine work of its artisans.  There is not any industry per say in the region, other than agriculture, so it is a rather impoverished area.  However, there is a main street with many shops, including internet cafes, cell phone vendors, shoes and clothes, tourist agencies and banks.  There is an ATM in the main plaza and just around the corner, is the Western Union. The food that I ate in Ayacucho was delicious!!  I had some great chicken and I even tried Cuy (guinea pig)!  Fresh fruit and fruit juices are wonderful here. It is probably not a great location for a vegetarian or vegan – you would probably end up eating potatoes and fruit.  The people are so warm, friendly and affectionate.  I was blown away by how “special” everyone made me feel and how the people at Finca Peru seemed to treat everyone like they are “special.”  Finca is such a positive environment to be in.

 

I arrived at the very beginning of the rainy season which runs from late October through March or so.  The rainy season means that for an hour or two a day is rains hard and the streets flood, then it dries up and the sun comes out.  Everything was dry in the region. Very little vegetation.  The locals grow potatoes, corn and a variety of vegetables. They speak Kichwa as a first language and Spanish as a second language.  It is fun to listen to the Ayacucheños speak with each other in a mixture of Spanish and Kichwa.

 

Finca Peru has a microfinance program and they work with about 5000 women in the Ayacucho region giving them small loans in order to assist them it setting up micro-businesses in order to improve their lives and the lives of their families.  Finca’s motto is “credit with education” so they focus on self-improvement and education for the women who are receiving the loans.  Because of this, they have noticed the women benefiting beyond simply economic improvements in their lives.  They are learning to have self confidence and to be able to be self reliant.  Finca believes this situation has helped many women stand up for themselves when they are in situations where domestic violence occurs.

 

Something really interesting that was going on while I was in Ayacucho is that many groups of women were having discussions about the de-valuation of the dollar.  They receive their loans in dollars and everyone was worried about what was happening with the exchange rates and whether or not they should switch to Soles (the Peruvian currency). 

 

I met Dr. Aquiles Lanao, the president and founder of Finca Peru.  He is now 86 years old and less involved with the day-to-day functioning of the organization.  He is a super charismatic person who clearly has a lot of passion for the work that he does and has done.  He was the director of Peace Corps in Peru in the late 60’s and early 70’s and thus has a great understanding of how to work with young people from the US.  He lived through the Shining Path era which was predominantly in the area around Ayacucho. Thus, simply sitting and talking to him for a few hours is an education in and of itself!

 

One of the former IE₃ interns set up what is now called Finca Peru Exports.  This is a part of Finca Peru that is focused on organizing the artisans together as a cooperative and working with them to export their products abroad.  Finca Peru Exports is primarily run by 2 full-time international volunteers who come for 6-12 months at a time.

 

I can’t say enough positive things about Finca Peru and Ayacucho.  Both made a huge impression on me and I would love to spend more time there.  For anyone who is interested in International Development work and has very good Spanish, this would be a great place to learn and contribute.  Life isn’t easy in Ayacucho.  There are not a lot of the comforts of the Western world, so flexibility and patience are keys to success here.  I think to sum up the kind of internship experience a student will have at Finca would be to say that it is like a short-term Peace Corps experience.  Interns are part of a very dynamic organization that supports mostly women.  However, there is very little direct supervision.  Thus it is an opportunity to learn to rely on your own resources and strengths and weaknesses and to learn to be responsible for your own ideas and work products (much like the “real world”).