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Published: June 16th 2010
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I've been here four weeks now, which is kind of hard to believe! Yet so much has happened in these weeks that it makes sense that a month has already passed. I continue to LOVE life with my Peruvian family. Spending time with them is a priority of mine, so I'm downstairs in the dining/living rooms for part of most evenings and during the weekends. Nights during the week are filled with giggling, playing, fighting girls running through the rooms with Pinina the puppy on their heels. Or sometimes Pinina's jumping on my lap...or trying to dance with little Marisu...or swallowing marbles (which end up eventually coming out one way or another...). Weekends are full of other family members coming and going. Mimi and Marcos are usually here, as are their parents sometimes and another uncle or two. Watching telenovelas isn't as easy to do with so much commotion in the house, so I've traded this interest in for time singing songs in Spanish with the girls or lingering around the dinner table until we've fully discussed just how "grande" Liz is. That's this week's joke anyways (For those of you who may not know, being 5'8" here means I'm taller
than most people (male and female), sometimes even by a full foot). For two weeks the joke was that Liz is basically "not combed." Cute four-year-old Marisu said this at least once a day, referring to my hair that airdries in a seemingly humorous way. I can only laugh at that and agree with them. I'm not as combed as usual these days, haha. That thought brings me to the update on the weather. It's definitely winter here. It's COLD. My little room opens to the outside and my single pane of glass does little to help the situation. So getting up in the morning and walking outside to the shower never sounds appealing and so it has become a rare occurrence. Every night I put on four shirts, two pants, and two pairs of socks. Last night I even added a scarf to the mix and luckily, under my sheet, bedspread and blanket, I slept like a baby. Every day is grey now and so the occasional glimpse of sun is much appreciated by all. Everyone knows though that when it's actually warmer in the day, it'll be super cold that night. This is life in the desert. I'm sure this weather report sounds dreary to everyone and yeah, it's a bit of an adjustment, but there are so many things happening here that warm my heart and keep me smiling!
The biggest thing going on right now is the project in La Oroya. I now go to La Oroya on Wednesdays with Jed and Joe (one of the YAVs who's been working on the project) and so last week I was able to attend their afternoon CAMIBALO meeting. It's such an honor to get to work with these kids. They were busy reviewing the footage from the Day of the Environment activities and we worked with them a bit on how to get good footage. The kids have been using two flip cameras to film everything they do. They LOVE working with the cameras and so we continue to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to capture things and conduct interviews. This footage and additional things they're going to be filming (with the help of the two new flips, thanks to some kind souls in Iola!!!) will become a part of the curriculum we're developing for schools in the US to teach about La Oroya and CAMBIALO. We were working on a two-month timeframe to complete the curriculum, but as of Sunday we're working to have it together by next Friday. CAMBIALO has had a partnership with an Eco-Tech School in Brooklyn and so with the help of a teacher there, we should hopefully have something together by next weekend, just in time for the airing of a special on ABC on June 26th!!! (stay tuned for more details!) The ABC program will report on La Oroya, CAMBIALO and the partnership with the school in Brooklyn. This is super exciting because it's such a good way to have the stories of the CAMBIALO kids heard beyond the borders of Peru. La Oroya has been mentioned in TV programs in the US in the past, but this is different. CAMBIALO is all about kids making changes and kids speaking out. The voices of these kids are what need to be heard. These are the voices that aren't being heard in the midst of negotations between Doe Run and the Peruvian government. It seems a little absurd that the voices of the very people that are being poisoned by the corrupt negotations are being ignored. Will you listen to them? Please listen to them!!
I am incredibly encouraged by this project, by these kids. They have amazing stories to tell and it's awesome to see them become comfortable behind the cameras as they find their voices and claim their right to speak.
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CJ
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I will listen to their voices!! The Oroya kids have precious voices that should be heard ALL over the world. Thanks for helping them to be heard Liz.