ORIENTATION
Almost two weeks have passed now since I left home to embark
on this adventure of being a YAV. August 19th – 26th I
was in Stony Point, New York for a week of orientation. There were 68 YAVs in
attendance; this was a mixture of national and international volunteers.
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| We got picked up by a limo at the airport! Not expected. |
We went over many topics during the week to help prepare us
for what lies ahead. We also spent a lot of time reflecting on our own
strengths and weaknesses, studying the Bible, and praying. One lesson that stood
out was a basic summary of globalization. We began to look at how the United
States has gotten involved over the years in the economy and politics of other
countries and how that has affected the way these countries function today. It
was only the beginning of what I know will be a large part of what I learn and
see this year, but it began to put a weight on my heart to do what I can to
right these wrongs and to bring justice in this broken world.
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| I was commissioned at Central Pres in Haverstraw, NY. |
TRAVEL
We left Stony Point at 8:00am on Monday morning and didn’t
arrive in Lima until 4:30am on Tuesday morning. The travel wasn’t supposed to
take as long as it did, but our very first flight out of New York was delayed
and we missed the next two legs. The airline got us another flight direct to
Lima that left at 11:55pm. When we tried to check in for this flight, though,
we were told that we could not board the plane without having a return flight
within 6 months (the one we had was 7 months). We tried calling all of the YAV
staff, but they were all on a flight back to Louisville together and couldn’t
receive calls. We were able to get in touch with the travel agent and she
worked hard to get us return flights. It took a long time, and we
camped out at the check-in counter for 4 or 5 hours. Finally, we made it and
were greeted by Jed and Jenny’s smiling faces!
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| 4:30am in the Lima airport. Lookin' good! |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
These first days in Lima have been a rush. Everything is
going so quickly, and I am doing what I can to not let anything pass me by. We have been busy getting to know the
city a little bit and learning how to ride the buses and taxis here. You would
be amazed at how crazy the traffic is here. Drivers are totally crazy and any
driving laws we have in the U.S. probably don’t apply here. Even things I
thought were a given – like driving in your own lane – are totally ignored in
Lima. I’ve begun to figure it out, though, and could get where I wanted to go.
I have been lucky this week to get to meet my host family
already and many of the people I will be working with at a little commissioning
service that we had at the office of the Joining Hands Network. I met Davis and
Jesús from CENCA, Daniella from Bridge of Hope Fair Trade, and my host mom
(Ada), brother (Chente), and cousin (Davíd).
Thursday we went out to the edges of Lima to an area called
Las Torres. We visited one of the artisan groups called Ima Sumacc that I will
be working with this coming year. They are a group of five women living close
to each other who learned to knit and sew in order to have a way to make money.
They primarily make children’s hats, scarves, gloves, and stuffed toys. I was
incredibly impressed by the quality of what they make! However, it was shocking
to see the conditions in which they live. It is very much a shantytown. As we
drove in the taxi out there, there was a striking difference between the
Miraflores district we drove through that has a big mall and wide streets and
beautiful houses to this mess of tiny dirt roads full of trash and stray dogs.
All of their houses are built on steep sandy hills that could slide at any
moment. Peru is known to have earthquakes, and even a smaller scale earthquake
could take out their entire community. The women were also telling us that they
did not even have electricity or water until two years ago. I cannot imagine
living like this, yet they assured us that they were happy with what they had
because some people had it worse. I wanted to share this brief story now, but
there will be a lot more coming about what Bridge of Hope is trying to do in
communities like these.
We also have done some fun things to get to know the history
of Peru. We went to the anthropological museum and to the St. Francis of Assisi
Catholic Church. At the church, we got to go into the catacombs beneath! What a
crazy and fun experience. My theology brain was nerding out a little bit… I
could have stayed in there for a long time exploring and reading old books in
the library and learning more about St. Francis. The tour guides were scooting
us along though, and I don’t think anyone else found it as great as I did!
Jerry Sittser… You have officially converted my into a theology and church
history nerd forever.
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| La Iglesia San Francisco |
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| The front doors of the church. |
I am looking forward to spending more time with this wonderful group of YAVs and our incredibly loving and welcoming site coordinators! They have already become a little family down here, and I can't wait for more adventures.
