Louise's Experience: How volunteering for OCN lead me to drill a screw into a piece of wood for the very first time in my life

Let's face it, I am definitely not the female equivalent of Bob the Builder. Never in my life have I driven a nail into a wall or changed a light bulb, and even building an IKEA shelf remained a mystery to me.

So, I arrived in Huanchaco, full of good intentions, and started working for Un Lugar Skate Ramp in El Cerrito de la Virgen, a poor, desert area where most of its inhabitants moved after the giant and devastating El Niño disaster of 1998. When Najin, OCN's manager, told me about this project a couple of months ago, I had found the idea amazing. What could be better than a skate ramp in this helpless area to give some dream and ambition to the children, and take them out of the streets for a couple of hours a day? I signed up immediately.

On my first day at the ramp, I did not really know what to expect. We were walking up the sandy pathway from Huanchaco's church to El Cerrito, and Jan, the volunteer in charge of the project at the time, was trying to explain to me the situation and describe the place. Honestly, I could not picture anything in my head. A little after, we were finally at the blue door of the ramp. Jan opened it, and here it was, this wooden dark blue skate ramp, surrounded by sand and rocks. He showed me the dusty office, in which were stocked few hula-hoops, a couple of frisbees, knee protections, helmets, and the three beloved skateboards. We took all the material out, and very soon, the place was full of children. Two of them jumped on the knee protections, grabbed a helmet, and within two minutes of entering the skate park, they were already focused, practicing hard on the ramp. The rest of the children were doing hula-hoop competitions, hanging around the monkey bars, or simply watching these two boys show off with their skateboarding skills. I was amazed to see all these girls and boys from 3 to 16 years old playing all together, sharing the skateboards and the time on the ramp. They were all really curious, asking me where I was from, if I could speak English or Spanish, and especially if I could skateboard. I was completely honest with them. My only skateboarding experience was watching The Lords of Dogtown and Paranoid Park, not enough to deal with a mini half pipe ramp without killing myself. But it did not really matter to them. There were plenty other things to do anyway.

Once the excitement of the first time at El Cerrito passed, I started observing the place, and the ramp. It was pretty obvious that a lot could be done to make it nicer. But, what got my attention was the ramp. The two middle parts were already quite damaged. It did not take long for the external parts to present the same defects. After I had been there a month, Jan left Huanchaco, and I ended up in charge of the project, with a lot to do. I decided to work by progressive steps. First, make the place nicer, by painting the grey and dirty walls, and cleaning up the skate park. I organized a painting/cleaning party at the ramp on a Saturday afternoon, with a “wear your dirtiest clothes” dress-code. A lot of volunteers showed up, and it made the garbage pick up much nicer! A good amount of children from El Cerrito also came as they saw the doors open, and their help was really useful. Once the work was done, we all – children and volunteers alike – shared an ice cream sitting on the benches, admiring our work, tired and dirty. We ended the day watching the sunset from the hill next to the skate ramp. It was a really nice and efficient day. The children enjoyed it and were looking forward to the next painting party!

But this was only the step one! Then, came the important part: changing the first layer of the ramp, as it was clear that the ramp would not be skatable in a couple of months. It appeared to be a bit of a challenge for me. Construction work is not my strong point. Neither is the skateboarding environment. So, I cried for help to Najin. She put me in contact with Oliver and Hannes, the two volunteers who built the ramp in the first place. Right away, these two answered my email, sent me the plans of the ramp, and a detailed explanation of how to change the top layer. It was perfect. I just had to prepare a budget, have the agreement of Najin, Juany and Peter, and find strong and competent men to help me do the job.

But, in the end it was not so easy. The main issue was that we needed to plug-in the drill and it is quite hard to find a power point in El Cerrito de la Virgen, where the majority of inhabitants have no access to electricity. We had to use three different extensions and ask the neighbor if we could use the plug in her kitchen. Luckily, the people of El Cerrito are extremely nice, and helped us with everything, especially providing us with construction material such as saws and drill keys. With these technical details solved, everything went quite fast. The guys were really efficient on drilling, and an hour later the ramp was already looking better.

Leaving El Cerrito that day, I had three satisfactions. Firstly, I knew the children would now be able to skate on a nice, freshly painted ramp, practice hard, and enjoy their time at the skate park. I also knew that I would look less stupid the next time I face an IKEA shelf. But, finally and most importantly, getting involved in this project and fixing this ramp made me realize that you do not need much to give a couple of hours of happiness and amusement to children who have nothing.

Louise Vieussens from France (Un Lugar Skate Ramp, Las Lomas and OCN Office: March - July 2011)

Realizing Chantal's Dream

My dream was to live and work in a Peruvian community. I wanted to get to know the culture, the people, and to see and feel how they live. To contribute to the community and help out where they needed my help, I was sure that volunteering was an effective way of doing this, as I always like to jump into new experiences, and commit myself fully to whatever I do.


I contacted Otra Cosa Network because one of my best friends had worked as a volunteer with them. She highly recommended the organization. Indeed, from the first contact, I had a good feeling about it. For me it was very important that the volunteer organisation is honest and personal. After a couple of conversations they offered me a new project, which suited me very well. That’s why I chose this new project. I was the first volunteer! I felt privileged to explore, being the first one to start contributing at Casa Hogar in Rodriguez de Mendoza. The contact I had with Najin, Operations Manager of the organization, throughout my stay at the project really supported me.


Casa Hogar San Fransisco is a warm home for children from 12 to 16 years old whose families live far away in the mountainous or jungle regions of Peru. This place offers these children the opportunity to go to school. Without Casa Hogar, the voyage to school would have been impossible. It usually takes around six hours of travel (each way!), combined by bus with trekking, for these children to get to the nearest school.

The children live together with ‘El Profe’, a local history teacher who runs the place very well. Like a father figure for the children, he was loving and caring, but he can be strict as well. He teaches the kids discipline and makes sure they complete their tasks well.


Although the church has been supporting Casa Hogar as much as they can, it is mostly self sustainable. There is no money from the government or any other fund to run this place. There are vegetable garden and some animals at Casa Hogar. The kids worked for a few hours a day after school to help out in the garden. The lettuce they grew was a well sold item at the market, a good illustration of how the program works.


I was amazed by the responsibility those children had at such a young age! They cooked by themselves on the weekends, and they washed their own clothes. They worked in the garden, and they went to the market to buy and sell food - all of this other than all of their school work! The days were long, but the kids had a lot of fun too! They played volleyball and soccer while listening to music from the radio during their free time. They are like a big family together.

When I arrived on the 3rd of July, the Padre Lolo welcomed me. He is the priest of this little town and the coordinator of Casa Hogar. Mendoza was a very nice, friendly little village. For me it was like walking into a movie. The people lived like half a century back in time compared to the Netherlands. Imagine lacking hot water, washing machines, TV, refrigerators….often water or electricity. This was very different to me.


My task was to teach the kids English. Because of the busy schedule the kids had, the evening was the best time for them to attend the English class. So every day from 8:00-9:30 pm all fourteen kids participated in the class. This, after the full days the children had. 6:00 am wake up, feeding of the animals, 7:00 am breakfast 7:30 go to school, 1:30 lunch, time for home work and then they worked in the garden until 17:00 pm, some free time, 19:00 pm dinner, and then English!


We had a lot of fun together! Because I was living with the children at Casa Hogar, I could manage to build a positive relationship with them in a short period of time. They were all very motivated, and enthusiastic to learn! Being a teacher in Holland, I have had many different groups of students of all ages but, this group in Casa Hogar was very special and unique. Kids in my country are much more spoiled with toys, computers and the protective love of their parents. Without similar amenities, these kids were very happy! I saw that in their eyes. When I was teaching them English, they taught me, without even realizing, that you can be very happy even if you don’t have much.

We sang English songs together, like ‘We are the world’ by Michael Jackson. I tried to play as many games with them as I could. Any attempt to make the learning more fun and easy was enticing.

When you live with the children in such a home, you are not only there to teach English. You become a mother, a friend, and a role model of the children as well. The girls often came to me to share moments, to ask questions about my life, to listen to music, and to talk about their lives and boyfriends. Of course they were young teenagers! It seemed that girls there don’t talk with their mother about sexuality or anything emotional. It really touched me, the trust they had in me to talk so openly about these things.


Highlights of my tasks at the project for me were teaching English and the contact I had with the children. It was not just about teaching them foreign language, but it was the interaction you have with them as a foreigner, as a role model - someone they can trust, which is very important for people at this age. For these children, it is also making their world a little bit bigger, and it also gives them an opportunity to grow. Giving them the ability to study and to make other choices for their own future is highly rewarding. I wish I had been able to extend my stay there, because the contribution you can make as a volunteer at this place is really big!

I hope the next volunteer will come soon to continue this beautiful work!

• Find out more about how you can volunteer with Casa Hogar in Rodriguez de Mendoza, teaching English, conservation work and more.
• Learn more about all of volunteer opportunities in Peru with Otra Cosa Network

By Chantal de Jong (Casa Hogar in Rodríguez de Mendoza, from July - Aug. 2010)

¿Sόlo la Educaciόn Salvará al Perú? how about compost? - James' Volunteer Experience

Padre Tumba believes only education can save Peru. I have a different view. I believe only compost can save Peru.


Morgan and I started a composting project at the CEP school. We built two compost bins, out of recycled adobe bricks (it looks like a mini Chan Chan). Then we filled one bin with food scraps and garden waste and taught the kids all about the wonders of composting. This was our contribution to a greater Peru.

One of Padre’s visions for CEP is to be self sufficient. That is, to have a thriving vegetable garden within the school grounds that provides fresh, healthy, nutritious produce for use in the school lunches. This is an extremely practical idea and one that deserves merit as well as further volunteer attention (hint), but as you all know, the soil in Huanchaco and Trujillo is little more than sand and pebbles. This is terrible soil for growing plants. It holds very little moisture, or nutrients, both of which are essential for plant growth. That’s were compost comes in.


Compost is a free, natural source of additional soil nutrients and general all round garden improver. With compost the garden soil will be nutrient rich and grow lush, healthy vegetables. Using these nutritious vegetables in school lunches will lead to healthier children better able to concentrate and absorb knowledge. This will ultimately lead to a better educated Peru.

Without compost the garden will falta, lunches will be sparse, kids will be hungry, the famished students won’t learn, Father Tumbe’s thesis will be disproved and ultimately Peru will suffer. So for the benefit of Peru, Compost! Compost! Compost! For only education can save Peru, and only compost can save education.


Please save your food scraps, bag up garden waste around Huanchaco and give them to a CEP school volunteer. If you are a CEP volunteer, don’t be embarrassed, haul the bags of composting material on the bus and tend the pile with love, take the time to visit the compost pile, add the scraps from the school kitchen and keep the pile moist. Better yet, help the kids do all this.

• Find out more about how you can volunteer with C.E.P. School teaching English and helping with Eco-friendly projects.
• Learn more about all of volunteer opportunities in Peru with Otra Cosa Network

Un Lugar Skateramp Project

Situated in Cerrito de la Virgen, a small town roughly a 30 minute walk from central Huanchaco, a new project – The Skate Ramp - has been put in place, with the help of Otra Cosa Network Volunteers with the aim of inspiring the local children of the community. The Skate Ramp was set up in 2010 by two volunteers - Johannes from Germany and Oliver from England – as part of the Un Lugar Surf School project. Un Lugar’s owner Juan Carlos agreed to have the Ramp built on a piece of land he owns in Cerrito, and with his co-operation the project was started. Johannes and Oliver personally raised the money needed to buy the materials needed to construct the ramp by running a blog and asking for donations in Europe. Once the money was raised these two (with a bit of help from other volunteers) set about constructing the Skate Ramp which was completed six weeks later. The Skate Ramp is used in the afternoon by children who live in Cerrito de la Virgen.

Cerrito de la Virgen is very different from what you will see if you stay just within Huanchaco. It was initially established by the Peruvian government as a town for those who had lost their homes and livelihoods due to the El Nino weather pattern which strikes The Americas once every three to seven years.

About 12 years ago this event had severe consequences for the population and infrastructure of Northern Peru. There were heavy rains inland in the mountainous regions of La Libertad which produced obstructions in the upper part of the Rivers. On this occasion the rivers flooded. The case of “la quebrada del León Dormido”, (The Ravine of the Sleeping Lion), the ravine that leads to the town of Huanchaco was one of the most critical.

The population there had worked in small farms and quarries, but the water washed away their homes and livelihoods. The Office of Civil Defence provided tents and food for the population but then had to relocate them. One of the places chosen was Las Pampas of La Virgen Cerrito. After a few weeks however support was cut off and the population were left to their fate.

Many of these people, considering that the place a desert location lacking in vital services - it was without water, sewage facilities and electricity - abandoned the idea of setting up homes there and left. Others sold their possessions and yet others took advantage of the circumstances and walled off two or three plots. This has resulted in the area being a mixture of families. There are environmental victims from the time, alongside new residents who have been acquiring land and who come from many different places. You can find there today people from the Peruvian mountains, the valley regions and the jungle. There are foreigners who own plots of land without living there alongside Peruvian people from different social statuses.

Having faced such hardship it is hoped that the efforts of various local groups, along with the community themselves, can improve the lives of those in Cerrito de la Virgen. Mike, a current volunteer at Cerrito feels that “the introduction of the skate ramp has served as a catalyst for community cohesion”. He continues, “The introduction of an activity for the community to develop around very quickly provided a reason for the children of the community to come together and play. This in turn led to parents of the children coming along and now local mothers can often be found teaching the younger children how to make bracelets and other items, while some of the older children are already developing into great skaters”. The community does work together in regards to improving their town, and are currently trying to find a solution to the lack of access to water, however The Skate Ramp would not have been possible without the external input of Otra Cosa Network Volunteers. Nevertheless, in a very short space of time it has become an important part of the community, which has taken an active interest in the benefits of maintaining the project. In an area where there is very little to do the ramp has provided the opportunity to form new friendships and meet new people. Working at the Ramp provides a great opportunity to become more aware of what life is like in a real Peruvian town, away from the tourists.

The aim within this community is clear. A local man explains, “The poor live here permanently. They survive in difficult conditions. They think about how, one day, they can convert this human settlement of the last century into a town worth living in today.”

• Find out more about how you can volunteer at the Un Lugar Skate ramp project.
• Learn more about all of volunteer opportunities in Peru with Otra Cosa Network

Otra Cosa Network - New Name, New Faces

Otra Cosa Volunteer Agency is getting a new name, Otra Cosa Network, and is welcoming some new faces to our management team. The new shorter name reflects our main purpose of connecting up willing and capable volunteers with worthwhile projects seeking appropriate volunteers and developing a network for the future. We also have a new e-mail address, otracosanetwork@gmail.com, although the old one will continue to function.

The new team includes Najin Kim who has joined us from South Korea as our new Operations Manager and Miguel Fernandez from here in Huanchaco who has started as Assistant Operations Manager. Between them they will be running the local operations here in Peru from this December when Peter and Juany leave to go back to England to live, via a six month round the world tour with their three boys. Any ex-volunteers interested in meeting up with Peter & Juany during their world tour or with any good local contact for recruiting volunteers (e.g. your University) just send us an e-mail at the usual address. As well as Asia we'll be visiting Australia (including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide), New Zeland, Canada (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal) and the USA (California, Seattle, Colorado, Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington DC)

Peter and Juany will still devote themselves part-time to Otra Cosa Network from back in England, but more to developing the organization, including contacts in the UK, Europe and elsewhere and providing general guidance to Najin and Miguel, leaving them to run the day to day operations and develop opportunities here in Peru.

Otra Cosa Network has recently been approved as a Peruvian registered NGO with great help from Laura Gutierrez, a final year law student from UPN University in Trujillo. We have also applied for UK Registered Charity status. This is quite a paperwork process but we’re working through it with help from Peter Reynolds, an Irish ex-volunteer and trainee solicitor in London. We hope to be officially registered on both sides of the world by year end. Peter and Laura have agreed to work with us as Trustees (’Asociados’). Maribel Cancino from Santo Toribio School for Special Needs Children, one of our most popular and worthwhile projects, has agreed to join us as a Trustee and Emma Platt, an ex-volunteer currently studying for her Master's in London, has also agreed to be a trustee.

So from Peter and Juany running something small and informal, Otra Cosa Network is quickly growing into something bigger and more official with more of a management team to look after things. As Peter says, “It’s an exciting new phase for us. We’re delighted to have the new team in place. As we’ve grown and continue growing we want to have a more professional team whilst retaining the friendly, personal approach and I’m sure we’re now well placed to do this”.

Juany sees it a bit more personally, saying “The Otra Cosa Volunteer Agency was our unplanned baby but now it is growing up and we’re leaving it safe in someone else’s hands, but we’ll still be there from miles away keeping an eye on things and helping and no doubt interfering from time to time.”

Either way, things seem to be in place for an interesting new stage of growth and development for Otra Cosa Network.

Las Lomas Library Project - Imara Gray

My first day at the library project at Las Lomas School was a first day like no other. Timo (the volunteer who works alongside me) and I arrived to find that we were locked out of the school compound.

Moreover, it turned out that no one inside the school had the key to let us in! I began to wonder whether we were actually going to be welcome at our project or not.

After climbing over the school gate by step-ladder, however, I quickly knew the answer to this question. Immediately, a swarm of small children ran across the yard and jumped on us with such enthusiasm they almost knocked us over! With children hanging from every limb we greeted the smiling headmistress and teachers, and made our way over to the classroom to teach our first lesson.

We have now been teaching at Las Lomas for two weeks. Some things have changed very little. The children still have as much energy and enthusiasm as on the first day, which is fantastic to see. A lot of our work has been about trying to channel this energy into learning English, which we have achieved using a variety of techniques including lots of interactive tasks, games of Bingo (which the children love), and a bit of constructive bribery! It is a process we still struggle to keep on top of every day, but I hope that we are getting a bit better at it.

Some things have changed a little more. Recently, Timo and I gave two of our classes exams (yes, we are that evil!). Some of the children did very well, some of them a little less so, but I can honestly say that when marking the exams, I was proud of every one of them for what they have learned so far. I hope that Timo and I will be able to help the children further expand on their progress. They are a great group of kids!

CEP Mural by Amy

To be faced with a dirty 50ft wall that has yet to be cleaned, cemented, designed, painted and treated, and which you have promised to turn into an uplifting array of colour and happiness can seem just a bit daunting - especially when the only help at hand is Miguel, the contractor, who is also Miguel, the builder, painter, gardener, handy man and expert napper who disappears every day around 11am whilst you are left up a ladder trying to hold the rungs together with one hand, scrubbing away the itchy plaster with a tooth brush with the other, occasionally clapping a hand to your forehead overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task at hand.

Proposing to design and paint a mural at the CEP school originally began with a simple straightforward idea – I would paint a pretty picture through the hidden walkway to the office and young children’s classrooms. This seemed to quickly escalate to painting one corner of the play area, and then suddenly the entire 50 ft length of the wall stretching right down to the 5 year old’s classroom. Dawning comprehension followed and suddenly my palms weren’t so dry.

***

CEP school is a wonderful project but is often referred to as ‘the dumping ground’ amongst some volunteers. Arriving at the school I quickly realised that this was a fast moving project and it was very easy to get lost, forget why you are there and then succumb to the dreaded wave of ‘I’m not making a difference here’ uselessness.

After a few weeks of gluing and sticking and working with my forehead banging on the table I found myself considering a variety of options: early onward travel, changing projects, becoming a Huanchaco burger expert and even enrolling at the school with the 5 years olds, because no doubt I would be learning and giving more than I was at that moment. But after trying to think about what I could do for the school one afternoon, I leant against a giant wall and suddenly the sun came out, a choir sang a chorus and I had an idea.

Designing and painting the Mural was pretty straightforward and though I had a few complications and a few hiccups, such as the Padre changing his mind about the design after I started to draw it, having to wait 3 weeks for the cement to dry and a visiting volunteer telling me the design didn’t have enough diversity (A boy from Ghana dancing with a boy from Finland- what more do you want for crying out loud!) I suddenly found myself living at the school, spending more and more time with the teachers, not to mention talking and dreaming about the wall so much it was bordering on unhealthy.

But the long hard work paid off, and together with a group of truly fab-tastic wonderful brilliant volunteers who simply exude greatness, the mural was finished. The actual drawing of the wall didn’t take much time, and I then proposed a ‘painting day’ to get all the volunteers to come and help out with the bulk of the painting in exchange for snacks and beer. I simply could not believe the brilliant and enthusiastic turn out on that beautiful day, and together with perhaps a little too much paint going on ourselves rather than on the wall, we made great progress.

It felt UNBELIEVABLY good to finish that last saved bit of green, and I could not believe it was finished. After spending so much time at the school, having problems with the paint, with progress, with damp and dirty walls and turning my back for ONE minute and then seeing little red handprints miraculously appear at the bottom of a wall next to a tiny child staring at me innocently with their hands behind their back; after everything - it was done.

In my time working at CEP, I could not believe how much my perceptions had changed. From seeing the daily struggles that the teachers handle to the extent of work that has gone into the school with the blood sweat and tears of the parents, I began to realise a few things.

A lot of the time with volunteering it’s hard to see the big picture. We work for only a short time and in that time we expect to be able to help out, make things seem worthwhile and generally offer our aid when we can. Sometimes, the work is incredibly boring, or difficult, or monotonous, or simply not what we expected. I started at CEP working with the 5 year olds, and although the classes were fun and the teacher was the epitome of awesomeness, I started to find the endless task of sticking papers in homework books rather tedious and I simply wanted to do more.

Although the Mural allowed me to do this, working with the teachers all that time showed me just how much effort and work they do every single day. They have no photocopiers, no printable worksheets and handouts - everything is done by hand. They need someone to help do that. Or two hours of their precious four, are spent hastily preparing homework whilst the children run amok. If they have to do this because of lack of help, they don’t complain. They don’t get angry; they simply get on and do it themselves.

So when a volunteer can help out simply for an hour of their day - the teachers get some extra time they need, the children get just a bit more attention and the homework gets done. There are many ways that a volunteer can help out at a project like CEP. Start your own project, build a classroom, paint a wall, or help stick things in books. You will have problems along the way, but your help is needed and appreciated so very very much.

***

To Jon, Marti, Dan, Sion, Caitlin, Christina, Abdarahim, Ludo, Hutton, Andreanne, Jack, Mitchell, and especially Ellie and Garen.

I still can’t thank those volunteers enough; without them, it simply would not have happened.

Cep Construction

There’s been a boom in construction projects at CEP school during the national holidays. Without school in session, volunteers have worked to construct a roof on the new dining area, build a panaderia, reconstruct the roof on the 3 year-old’s classroom and complete a mural in the pre-school playground. Thank you, volunteers, for all of your hard work. On-going construction projects add to the quality of education at CEP.

CEP - Garen

I just turned to Liz, a volunteer from Australia, and commented that sometimes when I’m at school I feel like I’m herding cats. She gave me a look and said, “You feel like what?” Apparently “herding cats” isn’t an expression in Australia, but after confirming the phrase, she agreed it was an appropriate description of the scenario at hand.

Lunch is late and there are about 45 children between the ages of 3 and 5 who are waiting to eat. The teachers and other volunteers are in the classrooms with other kids and I seem to be one of the few monitoring those waiting for lunch. I hope I’m not doing something culturally inappropriate by trying to keep them from climbing all over the desks they use for lunch. My Spanish seems to be improving as I’m able to get the point across that I’d like them to stay in their chairs. This doesn’t mean they’re staying put, but they know what I’m asking…

Each child has brought a container to school that the women in the kitchen will use to serve their lunch. I know this is called a tapel. Each child also has his or her cuchara (spoon) and taza (cup). When the food is ready, we’ll try to make out the names written on the tapels and then match those w/ the kids. It’s an imperfect system, but most days we get through it without incidence and everyone gets fed.

It strikes me that language is only half of what you use to communicate. My Spanish is limited at best and I’m convinced that half of what I say doesn’t mean anything, or at least it doesn’t mean what I hope it means. But we manage to communicate through gestures and context and tone. A question still sounds like a question, a cry like a cry, a plea like a plea. I can get a little girl to take a few more bites of her lunch by saying, “por favor” and pouting a little, like it makes me sad that she’s not eating, which it does. And a smile helps when neither of us understands the other.

-Garen May 7, 2009