Often times I find myself writing about the major events that happen to me here, but that leaves a lot of my life here shrouded in the mysteries of monotony and routine, meetings and waiting, pressure and time (Shawshank again). I tell you about the trainings where I see my friends, the vacations I get to enjoy, and the thoughts that dawn on me when I’m alone with my thoughts, but today I will tell you about a day, a long day, and through that, hopefully, let you know a little bit more about my life here
My day began a bit earlier than usual and much earlier than I would prefer. Around 7 a.m. I was awoken by a knock at my door from the engineer. Today we were to head 4 km out and up to Sanchez Cerro, a caserio of about 25 houses, for a meeting about a new water system and a latrines project. Sanchez Cerro is difficult to get to, with winding rock paths through the forest and switchback ascents straight up the mountain, because of this some of the houses there are without the basic necessities of water and electricity. The municipality, with me helping, is going to build a new water system that brings potable water to all of Sanchez Cerro, seven of these houses will be receiving water in their house for the first time. On top of this the municipality is building latrines for each house, which I have the enjoyable job of training the people on the usage and maintenance of said latrines.
Around 8:30 we arrive to the caserio and begin our day in earnest. The first step is to gather a group of the men to help us and have a quick breakfast. Once this is done we head up, straight up, to find the intake for the new water system. This involved finding two places, close to the top, where water is coming up from the ground and is uncontaminated by the animals and humans that live nearby. As we search we pass houses and continue onward, we pass chacras and we move past beaten paths. At one point while filing through the trees I realize, I am at the complete mercy of the people I’m with, if something happened they would be the ones to carry me down and if for someone reason they didn’t want me found, I wouldn’t be, but at no point did I feel worried. If anything they seemed happy I was there, excited to have a tall gringo interested in their town and their water.
After seemingly hours of hiking we found the first intake. Seemed to me a good possibility that this was the fabled “Fountain of Youth”, the area seemed remote enough. When we arrived we talked about the capacity, took some pictures, and the engineer took a drink, he didn’t seem any younger after but maybe it takes time to take effect. I abstained from drinking to the dismay of all my companions. I’m sure the water was clean, but worst case scenario, I’m a three hour hike from town.
We paused for a few more minutes and then continued up. The going got tough and we lost a few men, but we continued on. OK we actually didn’t lose anyone but you can’t fault me for adding a little drama to the scene. We came across another possibility for the intake. This option wasn’t quite as good as the other, there was evidence of cows around and the water was above ground for an extended area, but it seemed to meet their requirements despite my objections. We took some more pictures, that’s me pointing there (great beard, I know), and set off back towards civilization.
On the descent we measured from the intakes to the houses, 20 meters at a time, taking GPS coordinates at each interval. Needless to say this slowed the progress a bit and took us well off the beaten tracks. At each house we would stop and explain what we were doing, get them to sign the informe, and find out where they wanted their latrine to go.
I never felt very necessary to the process, everything we did could have been done without me slowing the group, but being a part of it was a great feeling. Each person was excited about the project and the realization that it would actually happen. Each family was so excited, in fact, that they gave us fruit. These families with no running water, a hole in the ground for a bathroom and very little else were offering us what they had in appreciation. This hospitality and graciousness of the people here often astounds me. I have found that the people I work with will share what they have, whatever it may be, and will take pride in “compartir”ing.
We continued down through the forest, measuring and recording. In some places we found fruit trees; grenadillas, cherimoya, platanos, limas, and at each place the guys would always give me fruit first. Always looking out for me and generally making me feel very welcome. Around 2 p.m. some women from the main part of the village showed up with lunch for the engineer and I, tamales, eggs, and rice. We shared our lunches with the group and offered to pay but they were having none of that.
We continued working for a few more hours and then finally reached the last house. At this we were offered some very strong liquor made of caña, just the pickup we needed for the long hike back to Faique. On the way back we ran into funeral service, where again we had shots of cañaza and headed off. Finally making it back around 5. I can’t say I have yet been that exhausted in my time here, nor have I hiked that far in my life, but upon getting back I felt good.
This was one of the first days where I really felt like I was doing my job here. Instead of being frustrated at the pace of things here, we were out laying the ground work for a project that would bring clean water and latrines to families that needed them. With all the meetings and run-arounds and municipal bureaucracy, things can get frustrating. It’s easy to get down on yourself and what you’re doing, but days like this, days where I can see the help I can provide, the difference I can make, days like this make up for all the other days. Well that and a couple shots of cañaza.
And the last picture is of Faique, where I live, and further to the valley heading to Piura. Not the worst view I've come across.
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