Meeting with the Organization - In Puno at last!

So first off I want everyone to know that I feel a lot better this morning and exceedingly more excited about the work I will be doing. We met with Padre Juan last night and he outlined the organization and what he was expecting from us. So first I will dive in and describe what he said and then I will go into what I know so far about my living situation.

The organization has offices in Puno and in La Rinconada. In LR the main thing that goes on that may be causing a lot of the poverty and disfuction is what they call the Mina, Mina, Tina, Tina effect. The men go from their Casa CalaMINA (Calamina is the type of material they use to build their houses and casa means house), to the MINA (gold mine), to the CanTINA (bar) and this is their RuTINA (routine). So basically they spend all the money they make in the mines at the bar. And when Padre Juan and others ask them why they are in LR they say because of the opportunity it provides for their family. They can find gold and make their lives better. So then when asked why they spend all the money they make in the bar they have no answer. There also is little community pride or anyone investing in LR because they all see their stay there as temporary, even though there are some families that have been there for 3 generations now. So the organization works with these men to try to get them to work together as brothers to build a new Rinconada.
The organization also works with women in Puno and in LR to help them develop things like textiles, to become artisans. They are also looking constantly for anyone to buy their products in bulk. They are actually going to Lima this week to try to find buyers and the organization has another volunteer from Europe that is trying to find them a buyer there. I told Padre Juan that I would look into how 10,000 villages finds and buys their products. That may be another option for them.
The organization also works with children to help educate them. Since LR is not recognized by the Peruvian government as a district, they do not get a lot of the resources they need. So not all the children there are in school. The motto of this part of the organization is Nunca Niño in La Mina Sin Educacion (No child in the mine without education).
Finally the organization has two main focuses in all these programs: Techical skill development (so enabling people to produce income in some way other than the mine) and Social skill development (which is conflict resolution skills and the community working together for a common goal).
One overarching goal the organization has is for LR to be recognized as a Distrito (District). Right now they are seen as a population center. Normally in Peru when a locality is a population center they have about 5,000 inhabitants. LR has 20,000. So you can see that the need is there for them to have more resources and a higher level of recognition. The problem is the people have to want to be recognized as such and certain institutions need to be in place. These are the things the organzation is working for. And we will learn more about their progress in this objective in the coming weeks.
Padre Juan also explained the worldview that people in LR have. They see the world divided into two parts: the poverty stricken people (them) and the developed world (us). And as long as they see this they see now hope in the two every interacting or any movement occuring from people in the poverty stricken part of the world. So finally another goal of the organzation is to change this world view and get people working from both sides to make a world that is better for EVERYbody.

As far as our involvement. The organization is starting a language component for the first time. Dillon, Lauren and I will be teaching English. Padre Juan will be teaching Quecha (the language of the indigenous population) and another lady with the organization will be teaching Aymara (another indigenous language). They value knowing English because they see it as the door to opportunities as English is the main langauge of the developed world. In addition they value Quecha and Aymara because they don't want the people to loose their cultural, Andean identities. In the future they would also like to find someone or some people to teach Chinese. Padre Juan said there are an alarming amount of Chinese tourists in Puno and Cuzco and knowing Chinese will open doors in the field of tourism. So I will be teaching English as my main priority, as I had previously thought, but he said that we are allowed to get involved in any way we think we may be able to help. He's open and flexible to us using our professional skills in any way that may benefit the populations the organization serves.

So the living situation:
Both offices in Puno and La Rinconada have beds on the second floor that we will be able to stay in. So we will not be staying with families after all as I had previously understood. Honestly I am a bit relieved to learn this. Once I have my laptop and internet, I will be able to come home at night...call my family for free on skype, stay connected with those I love, watch The Office and Ugly Betty on tv, lol...blog, respond to e-mails...whatever. I will just feel a lot more connected and probably a lot less exhausted to have that time each night to myself. I can't wait until my laptop gets here :) As far as will I be staying in Puno or LR? Padre Juan said at this point its pretty open and we're just playing it by ear. I just want to be where I can have internet so I can stay connected with my family. The beds we are in now are pretty nice...the mattress is very soft so I hope I don't start getting back pain. I just want to get comfortable somewhere so I can get a good night's sleep. I haven't slept through the night since I've been in Peru. Also it helps to be able to unpack my bags and feel a little more organized.

Padre Juan said he would try to find me someone that could help tutor me with my Spanish and he also said that there are gyms in Puno! So I am going to try to find one today so I can keep up with my workouts..that will help my stress level immensely as well! Also we are going grocery shopping today so hopefully I can stop eating out every meal. Not only is it expensive but its not very healthy. Puno is a pretty big city, very poor...but we are staying near the touristy stuff so that probably makes it a better part of town. If you go to the roof of our building you can see Lake Titikaka, its pretty amazing to think that I'm really living here to be honest.
In addition, Padre Juan mentioned that if we want to get out and interact with other communities the organzation sometimes works with other than in LR and Puno, he is open to that as well as long as we talk about it and plan for it in advance. He wants us to get the full cultural experience I feel which is amazing. I think on my way back to Lima when I come home at Christmas I will go through Cuzco and see Machu Pichu!

So I'm excited, this is an extremely long post so I'ma wrap it up now. Until next time!!

LOVE