“We Make a Living By What We Get; We Make a Life by What We Give”

Coming to terms with the reality of ending my volunteer program has apparently left me with mixed emotions. The excitement of waking up early in the morning to prepare for school, the rides from the house to the Pumamarca School, the exchanges of stories shared in the dining table as we savor the delectable meals that Santuza prepared for us, the daily interactions with the kids, and the creative pedagogy will all surely be missed.

Attempting to recap my 4 weeks with Peru’s Challenge is an inevitably rich of unforgettable experiences.  Although I had a fair few struggles and down periods, given the altitude sickness and flea bites, the whole trip has been an invaluable experience, and one which will stay with me for a lifetime.

As I write this article, I still can hear the echoes of the kids calling me ‘Hola Amiga, Michelle,’ and the lucid picture of their faces and priceless smiles.  The connection I made with the kids was genuine.

Tuesday, 1st of February, was our last Art Class for grades 3 and 4. Alex and I decided to do self-portrait sketching.  The kids worked in pairs.  This time, I joined the class and paired with Alicia. I realized that learning how to draw a self-portrait can be challenging, but it’s a great exercise. At the end of the class, we collected all the drawings and asked the class to guess and identify each of the sketched portraits.  Everyone had a great time guessing.

We ended the evening by going out to Cuzco via a mini Suzuki taxi-Peruvian style (2 seated at the front and 4 seated in the back) for a chocolate cake treat. There were 9 volunteers from the Sydney Macquarie University group who joined us along with Nico from Ultimate Tours.   When we reached Cuzco, happy hour was still being served. We decided to take advantage of the time, and went to a bar next to Tunupa Restaurant. It’s an upper level bar located at the Plaza de Armas square.  It was indeed a good three hours of “happy hour” of sharing our experiences with the program as well as our post- Cuzco plans.

After the stop at the restaurant, we went to Los Perros at around 11pm for our most awaited chocolate cake treat, but only to find out that they have ran out of desserts.  We then decided to walk to Cicciolinas, also popular for their mouth watering and immaculate desserts, but only to find out as well that they were already closing and can no longer take orders.  We ended up eating at Mc Donalds, located in the Imperial city of Plaza de Armas. To be honest, having a Mc Donald on this historical site was not quite right.  To preserve the Cusco historical heritage and the architecture of the city, the restaurant is keeping a relatively low profile, even with its logo, which is typically a bright yellow “M.”  Instead they have a discreet brown “M” out front.

Wednesday, 2nd of February was the official last day of our group to work at Pumamarca School.   After lunch, my co-volunteers Alex and Mark, Jane Gavel (Peru’s Challenge Founder), JT and Angelene, both volunteers from the Sydney Macquarie University group, and me visited two community houses at Pumamarca. This was the day that I have been waiting for and was very thankful that we got to do these visits on my last day.

We first visited Lucia’s house and met the rest of her family.  I have observed that Lucia’s condition has improved dramatically in over 3 weeks since the first time I met her.  She is now able to speak and recognize her family. We also visited Sebastian, another recipient of the Project for Life program supported by Peru’s Challenge. Sebastian is only 16 yrs old, youngest of 6 kids and the sole breadwinner of his three other siblings. They are living by themselves and looking after themselves without their parents.  It was really devastating to witness the living conditions and hardships of these two families but it’s a bit of a relief to know that the program has been supportive to them.

On Thursday, 3rd of February was the farewell event for Alex and me.  At 10:30 am, around 45 students grouped by class were gathered and lined up in the school ground.  There were 22 students who were holding flowers that were obviously freshly picked from the community garden.   The program started off with the Director speaking for a good 15-20minutes and followed by the teachers, Ofelia and Linda.  Then a representative from each class gave a speech, rendered a song and read a personalized farewell card.

After Jane (Peru’s Challenge Founder) spoke, each student lined up to exchange farewell hugs and kisses, and offered us the flowers.  It was the most amazing and moving farewell ceremony I have ever received which uncontrollably brought tears to my eyes.  I left the school fulfilled and rewarded.

The awe-inspiring and breathtaking sites I visited have indeed shortened my bucket list in the past 4 weeks.  However, the volunteer work has truly opened my heart and mind, giving me both a humbling and a growing experience.  I am forever grateful to Peru’s Challenge, the ultimate host to surpass my purpose.  This brings Winston Churchill famous quote “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” to life.

After the farewell event, we had a nice 15 minutes walk to Quilla Huata to witness the farewell party for the Sydney Macquarie University group.  It was akin to a mini Olympic award ceremony as everyone was wearing the same red t-shirt.  They were 19 of them and the ceremony went on for nearly 2 hours.  Most of the community members of Quilla Huata were present to bid their affectionate adieu – mothers, fathers, children young and old.   Even the dogs made an appearance.

At night time, we all went out to Cuzco to celebrate all the great work we contributed to the program.  We started off at the Frog Bar for a happy hour drink and finished at Mama Africa, a bar/disco/restaurant frequented by tourists and locals. Mama Africa is located in the corner of Plaza de Armas main square. The 2nd level bar has a stunning view of the Compania de Jesus church on the opposite side of the square.  It was indeed a huge night and also marked my first ever night out since my arrival in Cuzco.

The next two days were spent to simply relax in preparation for our trip to Puno for the Festival Virgen de la Candelaria.  The festival is apparently the 2nd biggest event celebrated in South America.  Overnight bus from Cuzco to Puno was 6 hours.  One thing I noticed was that each passenger was photographed when boarded for safety purposes.  This time, I traveled with Steph from the Sydney Macquarie University group.

We arrived at Puno around 6 am on Sunday, 6th of February and stayed at Gran Puno Inn, which is located along Jr Arequipa No. 130, few blocks away from Plaza de Armas.  The hotel provided free Wi-Fi and the hotel staff was very helpful and friendly.  After a few hours sleep, we went for a walk towards Candlemas Virgin Sanctuary and attended a Candlelight mass serviced by two bishops.  The church was packed with locals, tourists and media spectators.

After the beautiful and long mass service, we positioned ourselves outside the church to watch the thousands of dancers and musicians gathered up in several groups, taking to the streets of Puno. This is one of the most important religious festivals in Puno.  It was amazing to watch the folkloric dancers in their beautiful, traditional and shiny costumes, and grotesque devil masks in different forms and shapes – absolutely colorful and eventful exhibits!  The statue of the Virgin was taken out at 2 pm for a procession and within few minutes, the afternoon seasonal rain poured.

There was a moment when a group of dancers pulled one man from the crowd to dance on the street and the next thing I noticed was all the media camera crew followed his movement.  Later I found out it was Luis Castaneda who is running for the upcoming Peruvian Presidential election.

Lunch was at Hua Sapata Restaurant, 3 shops away from the hotel. For 7 Soles we had a nice meal with meat, rice and salad.  We also had dessert at Mercedes Snack Café, next door to Sao Sapata Restaurant.

At 8.30pm the parade continued. Another spectacular must see event. We watched the night parade at Puno Main Square (Plaza de Armas) opposite from the Cathedral.  It started to rain but the parade continued on and spectators put up with the rain with their umbrellas and ponchos.

On Monday, 7th of February, at 8:45 am, we were picked up at the hotel for our visit to Lake Titicaca, a boat trip to the floating islands. The place is quite a unique tourist destination.  For 20 Soles (additional 10 Soles to visit neighboring island), the tour included return transfers, English speaking guide and entrance fee for 4 hours.  These floating islands are the home of the Uros tribe, one of which pre-dates the Incan civilization. There were approximately over 40 floating islands that were made of totora reeds (cattail type rush growing native in the lake) providing home, sustenance and transportations for the inhabitants.  The islands reminded me of fairytale movie scenes.  It was certainly worth a visit but a relatively touristy area.

On our way back to the hotel, the festival was still at its peak. And because of the busy streets, we were dropped off 3 blocks away from our hotel.  In order to get to the hotel, we had to follow he street dancers in the parade.  I have also noticed that there were more spectators and group dancers than the parade the day prior.  We had lunch at Chifa Nau Hua Chinese Restaurant along Jr. Arequipa.  For 7 Soles we had soup then followed by a noodle dish.  After the sumptuous quick lunch, we went to Rico’s Café, a well-known bakery, to buy some cinnamon rolls for 50centavos. In fact, few minutes later we went back for another purchase.

The tourist bus that was supposed to take us to Copacabana, Bolivia was cancelled. We then decided to take the local combi to Kasani Local Terminal for 10 Soles and another taxi-ride to the border.

Looking back on my very first day in Cuzco and to this day, as I packed my things for my next journey, I started to think that all these experiences will not just remain as memories to me but will live in my heart and be used in certain ways:  as sources of awareness, learning, and wisdom;  I may come upon something I have known in my entire life but now understand in a new way.

I am on to my Bolivian adventure and looking forward to sharing this with you in my next article.

© 2012 by Michelle Riel, retains sole copyright to her contributions to all the contents of this site.