¡Que vivan los derechos humanos!

By Alisha & Micah

In commemoration of this month's 60th anniversary of the UN's Human Rights Declaration, we had a parade! There is a NGO in Chota that works to promote human rights and access to the justice system in rural areas. This organization along with other organizations in Chota sponsored the parade.

The slogan on the poster (pictured above) is "I can't wait 60 more years for my rights," so we wanted to share some information about human rights in Peru.

• The country as a whole is still coming to terms with the violence of the internal conflict between the Maoist terrorist group Shining Path and government military forces. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found evidence of human rights violations on both sides of the conflict.
  
• Access to quality public education, especially in rural areas, is severely lacking.
• 15% of children and adolescents don't have any form of identification documents .
• Indigenous communities are constantly marginalized and ignored by the government, especially in terms of land rights as mining is taking on more importance in mountainous regions. This is a very controversial issue because while mining creates economic opportunities and stimulation, many rural and indigenous populations argue that the mines are detrimental to the environment and traditional ways of life.

Boys Meet World

By Alisha

The world map is complete! Micah and I started this project the beginning of October with 12 students and two professors at the largest high school (over 1400 students) in Chota. While the group dwindled down to 5 boys and the professors disappeared, we managed to finish up with a great looking map. Along the way we did presentations on the continents (students here are taught that there are five continents: America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania). The process was tedious at times, but I really feel like the youth that stuck it out learned a lot.

Patron Saint of Chota Day

By Alisha

For the past week or so Chota has been celebrating its' Patron Saint, Mary the Virgin Mother. The streets are decorated and people set up small shrines outside their homes that are lighted at night by candles and Christmas lights. Today is the day of the Immaculate Conception, which is a national holiday in Perú. Micah and I went to check out the celebrations this morning.



Decorating the streets
The view on our way to the church
We arrived a little bit early
Almost two hours latter and everyone has arrivedGetting ready for the procession following the mass

Reconnect & Thanksgiving

By Alisha & Micah

Last week we headed down the mountainside to the beach! We spent three days in Pacasmayo, a beach town in the department of La Libertad.
We met up with the volunteers from our training group for Reconnect, which is more or less a conference that occurs three months after swearing in as volunteers. We had workshops in which we talked about our experiences thus far in site and all of us had the opportunity to present about our communities. It was great to see pictures of the other volunteers' sites and see their different work opportunities. We even had a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and pumpkin pie.

After Reconnect we spent a few days in Trujillo (capital of La Libertad) and Huanchaco (a popular beach town close to Trujillo). We spent time with friends, relaxed, and ate to our hearts content.
Ruins at Chan Chan outside of Trujillo

Now we are back in Chota and are gearing up for summer vacation projects. School will be finishing up here in the next couple of weeks, and we are planning to have some youth groups as well as sports and arts workshops.

Beginning to take form

By Alisha

A quick update on our world map project. Things are beginning to take form and the group is doing a great job. We thought we might be done by now with all of the painting, but there is still some work to be done.

We will be spending next week on the beach so stay turned for pictures!

Update in Photos

By Alisha


Chota celebrated its 456th anniversary the beginning of this month. I headed out to the parade to take part in the festivities. Since the Plaza is still under construction the parade was held near another park on a street that had almost no room for people to stand and get a glimpse of what was happening. Additionally, the parade "route" was literally only one block long. Luckily I am an almost a foot taller than the average Peruvian and was able to see over the crowd that had gathered to watch the parade. Above is a picture of one of our community partners, Carmen, and her daughter who had just participated in the parade.
Micah and I continue to enjoy our time spent at the children's shelter. We feel like we are getting to know the kids and plan to develop some more formal workshops and activities to do with them during the upcoming summer vacation. One of the younger kids, Ana, loves animals and had me take a picture of her with every dog and chicken she could get her hands on. Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day at the shelter for the baptism of three of the kids. It was a really nice ceremony and the kids were really excited about their big day.
After the ceremony we ate a serious amount of aji de gallina!

In about a week we will head to the coast to our three-month (in site) conference. We will meet up with the other volunteers from our training group to share our experiences thus far and have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving together. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone, to enjoy some time away from the rain, and to check out the beach.

World Map and Cocina Pictures