Been reflecting a lot lately on my first year of service now that the second year is already flying by. It is amazing the power time has. Things are finally happening and coming together and my perspective toward my service has been changing for the better. There are still tons of frustrations and sometimes I feel I just want to be done with this place and these people. But then I remember how much has changed in the last year-ish.
As many of you know, "my first year" and "easy" or "piece of cake" will never be found in the same sentence. Much of what I felt was confusion, lack of purpose and loneliness. There were some amazing, memorable times as well, but those aren't what stand out. It is not a bad thing, though. I fought and fought from my American mindset accepting that things weren't as productive as I'd like them. But if I had to define the year in a phrase, it would be "character-building." I think I've grown more in the past year than many earlier years combined. As the only solid, stable, familiar thing I had, I clung to the Lord like I've never had to before. He held my hand/carried me as I navigated life and work. I also reached out to people in a new way. I learned its okay to be vulnerable. Its acutally correct...we are vulnerable. Maybe I just needed to be in a situation where I could see that for myself.
The rocky path of my first year also makes me appreciate the recent months more. If my whole service was smooth sailing, I wouldn't appreciate the small successes and blessings God has provided me.
Ok I also want to give some work updates:
1. Artisans- We brought a teacher in to help us learn to dye wool/fabric and use the big wooden weaving machines that we have in town (see below). Its going well and the ladies who are really interested are picking up on a lot. We have participated in another regional fair and our clothes will be featured in a fashion show in the capital city. The consortium of NGOs that works in town wants to train the ladies on computer literacy/internet skills, create a website and blog for us, and give us a computer and printer to use! What a praise! Last night we celebrated our 1 year anniversary as a group and it went so great...we played volleyball, soccer, games, ate a great meal and danced the night away :) Sometimes it is still super hard to work with a large group like this (25ish) and we face issues with irresponsability and poor attitudes, but we have great leadership so I believe we can keep moving forward.
2. My farmers- I've been working with an associasion of rural farmers- first with the business plan/entrepreneurship class I teach, and now with a government-run program that offers to fund businesses in their endeavors to improve the implementation of techonology. The guys want to start a cuy (guinea pig) farm since they are a delicassy here. Last week my bosses came from Lima and Cajamarca and were able to give the certificates to the guys for completing the business plan class. The guys were so grateful and motivated by the visit and they all gave little speeches. Later my Lima boss Alfredo told me he had was super inspired by what he saw and it made him remember why he does Peace Corps. What an honor!
3. Chamber of Commerce- This project had been started years ago by a former business volunteer but unfortunately never held the momentum strong. Recently, we changed presidents and the new one is doing great. We are going to put an office right in the main square so we can have a presence and hopefully motivate the local merchants to work together and come to use the resources. We are doing a raffle of a baby bull...yes I did say bull...to raise money for the office. I am excited to see what will happen. We've even talked about startuing an annual business plan competition with a cash prize. We'll see.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my life here...my next post will be about my time home and brother's wedding!
Love and Peace,
Me
