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Published: November 26th 2005
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Karina
This is a photo of Karina taken as we were watching the march. You can see some of the orange ice cream stains on her pink dress. I´m the one at the back holding on to her. Buenos Dias mis amigos!!
Was up and ready to leave for the prison today at 8.30am sharp -despite my hot date with Tom Cruise which lasted until 1am this morning!!
Eleven of the volunteers and Marisol headed out to the prison this morning. That made thirteen of us in a twelve seater minibus (including Alejandro the driver).
There were a lot of journalists and reporters there today. Apparently some guy who is a head honcho in the cocaine trefficking business has been transferred to the Ayacucho jail, and there is a lot of media interest.
We passed the first checkpoint where I got an ink stamp and something written on my right arm, and my ID (passport) checked. Once inside my passport was checked again and retained until we left. I also got another ink stamp and some writing on my left arm. We then had our bags checked and were body searched (female guard for the girls and male for the boys).
Not allowed to take any photos inside the prison, so you´ll just have to use your imagination!
We passed through a locked door and along various passage where there were lots of
Women´s rights march
Some of the ladies involved in the March. male prisoners. They were all very polite and all said hola or buenos dias. The passages bordered a large courtyard where they can play volleyball (very big over here) or football. A lot of them were working with wool.
We then passed through into the women´s area. Again, a large courtyard all set up for volleyball. Most of the women were making mantas or doing embroidery. The women were a broad range of ages, although difficult to guess exact ages as women in Peru generally look much older than their actual years!!
The children started to arrive and I was allocated Karina, who is fourteen months old and has just started walking. She was dressed very prettily in a pink dress which (with hindsight) was tempting fate!!
There were twelve kids in total to take out. We took them in the minibus - one on each of our laps. That was great fun - the bus has no seatbelts and the road we were travelling on was pretty rough ground - again like the rocky road to Dublin!!!
We were taking them to the main Plaza where there was to be a march in support of
Lesley´s new belt
My beautiful hand embroidered belt!! Might start a new trend in Glasgow!! women´s rights.
First of all we went to Gringo Plaza where each of them had an ice cream (kind of like an ice cream lollipop). Karina absolutely loved hers which was orange coloured. Needless to say her pretty outfit didn´t stay clean very long!! No photos of the ice cream consumption though as I was actually holding the lollipop in an attempt at mess minimisation!! Thankfully I had a bottle of drinking water with me and Vicki had some tissues, so I was able to do a reasonable job of cleaning her up!!
Whilst in Gringo Plaza, Nick (Marisol´s charge) relieved himself exatly where he stood!! He must be somewhere between 1 and 2 years old. One very wet child to deal with, but - for a wee change - not mine!!
We then went to the main square to see the march. There were lots of groups involved. Wendy participated with some of the girls from her school and Alicia (one of the other volunteers) was also involved with MIMDES, the organisation she has been working with whop organised the march. There were lots of community groups and women of all ages, some with their babies. What was also really good to see was that some men participated. Given the nature of the march (women´s rights and non abuse of women) it appears that there are similar social/relationship type issues everywhere in the world!! Good to see that the Ayacuchans recognise this and are not prepared to tolerate it!!
When the march ended, we were picked up by Alejandro in the van and headed back to the prison to return the kids to their mums. Most of them fell asleep in the bus on the way back, which meant we had to hold them extremely carefully to avoid all the various bumps and shoogles!!
I had asked the ladies in the prison to embroider a few bits and pieces for me (they are paid for this) and got my belt back today (photo attached) all hand embroidered for the grand total of 3 pounds. It´s absolutely gorgeous!!
After that we headed back to base for lunch, after which I fell asleep for two and a half hours!! Don´t know how I manage to cope on approx 6 hrs per night at home - I´m averaging 9 hrs per night here!! Blame it on the heat and the altitude!!
After updating my diary, I headed back to base for a roasting hot shower!! Was so hot I was able to shave my legs and moisturise properly - something I take for granted and do almost every day at home!!
Wendy, Vicki and I decided to head into town for dinner. We found a lovely restaurant that we hadn´t been to before, and I enjoyed a beer, mushroom and cheese omelette and - wait for it - chips (or papas frittas) with tomato ketchup!! It was delicious and almost felt like home. It was a great night all round!! The restaurant was lovely and appeared to be patronised by some of the upmarket Ayacuchans. The whole cost of the meal for me was 20 soles - approximately four pounds!!
The food at the house is good, but for the veggies, mainly consists of soya meat and rice. If I never see another piece of soya meat after my time here I will be extremely happy!!
Karen - thanks for the e-mail. Holiday idea for next year sounds great!! Definitely up for a weekend at Glenshee when I get back (just need to sweet talk either Fiona or mum to cat sit!!). Will send you an e-mail to your hotmail account.
Esther - sorry I made you jealous re the Irn Bru. I´m still trying to find some concentrate for your drinks maker that I can send to Switzerland. Failing that I will send you some small bottles when I get home in January.
Anyway - that´s all for today. Take care everyone!!
Lesley x
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Alison
non-member comment
Hi! Just catching upon your reports. Love the belt - don't forget funky bags!