The Sacred Valley Project

While in Peru, I spent some time volunteering at The Sacred Valley Project, a non-profit organisation, in Ollantaytambo. This project was started, because there was a need for accommodation, educational resources and meals  for young girls, who were in danger of being raped and abducted on their long journeys to school. The Sacred Valley Project provides about 16 girls with a safe space and they don't have to walk hours from their remote, mountain communities to school every day.

The Sacred Valley

Unfortunately, the girls only have 2 small bathrooms, so, we built them another one while we there and also painted their walls. The new bathroom will have 3 new showers, one new toilet and a big sink, and there will be room for more than person at a time. We met each girl, learnt their names, played games with them and even got to help them with their homework, so, this project has a special place in my heart.

At the inauguration of the girls' bathroom, we hung a bottle of champagne from the door frame and Rolando, our leader, broke it - which is seen as a blessing of the bathroom, and always used to be done with chicha, a local drink of fermented corn. It was really sweet; one of the girls said a few words and they were so appreciative. After that we said our goodbyes and hugged each other and the cook, who also said a few words, went around hugging each one of us and putting confetti in our hair. Nayda, one of the girls, shyly approached me and thanked me for helping her with her English homework.

 

The Sacred Valley Project is important, because it is ensuring that young, indigenous girls in Peru have the right to education and equal opportunities to boys from the same communities.

You can learn more about the project on their website: http://sacredvalleyproject.org/

It's Christmas tomorrow and in the spirit of giving, I decided to start a fundraising page for the Sacred Valley Project. Any donation, big or small, will go a long way toward improving the educational prospects for these Peruvian girls. If you can't make a donation at this point, help me reach my goal by sharing the link to my page on Facebook and Twitter! Or, even better, send an e-mail to friends you think might be interested in contributing and include a link to my page! Here's the link: https://impact.rusticpathways.org/fundraise?fcid=581090


Photo credit: Rustic Pathways

A year of saying yes!

As the longest chapter of my gap year comes to an end, it's time to reflect on the lessons I've learnt over the last 3 months, with 16 new siblings.   

At Machu Picchu 

I've learnt to say yes, whether it be to singing on the bus at the top of our lungs or dancing on an aeroplane, where noone else can hear the music we're listening to. A quote comes to mind: "Those who were seen dancing were thought to be crazy by those who couldn't hear the music." I definitely think I've got a little crazy in me now!

I'm convinced that I've faced my fear of heights after rappelling down a 150ft waterfall and ziplining across valleys in Costa Rica. Glass elevators seem like child's play after that! 

I've learnt not to take life so seriously and to go for the more adventurous options - like crossing a stream on one wobbly plank instead of finding a safer route, or trying strange foods like guinea pig and alpaca.

An adventure? Alpaca my bags!

I've learnt to go with the flow - this is a hard one for me as I like to be in control, but when you don't know where you'll be in 5 days time or how you're getting there, it's hard to be. 

                                       

I've learnt to sleep with the noise of 12 adopted sisters in bunk beds (a very useful skill to have), and learnt to do so whenever I have the opportunity, because you never know when you may need to get up at 3am to hike Machu Picchu or catch a boat to the Amazon. This lesson was challenging for me too. I remember struggling so much with sleep in the first 2 weeks, because of the jetlag. Back then, I couldn't even fall asleep with the lights on!

Sunrise on the Amazon

I feel like I've come a long way since my first few days in the Dominican Republic, and even though I'm sad to leave Peru, I'm excited to go home and start 2016 with a bang, and saying yes to more things.

Sunset over the dunes in Huacachina, Peru

Café del Canasto

In my last post I mentioned that I learnt how to make coffee, from the plant to the cup, on the farm I was staying at. Here's a sneak peak into the coffee-making process.

The coffee plant

First we picked the beans. The basket (canasto in Spanish), you see below, inspired the name of the coffee produced and packaged on Finca Bella Vista. Café del Canasto has been around for 20 years and is a family business which sells organic coffee. 

The yellow, orange and red beans are ripe

After skinning the beans and soaking them in water, the ones which stay on the bottom are ready for the next step!

The beans need to dry for 10 days.

Alexis explaining the coffee process 

Beans drying

Once they've dried, the beans are de-shelled. The shells are used as compost on our farm, but on other coffee farms they bag it and sell it. It could be used to make paper and bags (see below).

Then you roast the beans for 60min and grind the finished product, if you desire.

Here you can see Alexis manually roasting the beans

Roasted beans

Alexis takes so much pride in making his coffee, from picking the beans to sticking the labels perfectly onto the bags. You can certainly taste the love! 

Que Bonita Es la Vida

When you wake up singing "Que Bonita es la Vida" (How beautiful is life), you know you must have had a good few days. And how could you not when you get to wake up to watermelon smiley faces?

Today is my last day at Finca Bella Vista, a farm which uses an integrated system, which means that everything is recycled and there's almost no waste. Even the cow poop is collected and put into a biodigester - a contraption which converts it into methane gas, that runs through a pipe directly to the stove in the kitchen.

On our first day on the farm, we felt like we were on a reality TV show: four city-slickers thrown into farm-life, getting stuck in muddy fields, herding cows (and losing one) and being chased by chickens. We've come a long way since then, with help from a lovely couple, Hilda and Alexis, and a little granny.    

Herding  cows

                                       

When Alexis tried to tell us that the neighbour's cow had fallen into a ravine and broken its leg, it was one of those lost in translation moments, where we weren't quite sure who had the broken leg (the neighbour or the cow). Nevertheless, we followed behind like sheep, bringing another cow with us to guide the injured one, who had pretty much given up, out of the ravine. We managed to save the cow, much to our own surprise! 

In four days, I also managed to conquer my fear of horse-riding, and to ride one by myself. I actually thought that Alexis was on the horse with me, and was talking to him, but when he didn't respond, I peered over my shoulder and realised that I was alone.

New skills to add to my CV include milking cows, making cheese, compost and coffee from bean to cup. Compost is literally a "steaming pile of shit" (excuse my French!) when you move it around, because of the energy created by the microorganisms in the soil.

Living on a farm is hard work and there is always something to do, mix, feed or clean. I'm not sure whether it's the life for me, but I'm really going to miss this place - the quiet, the endless games of rummy and bottomless cups of homemade coffee.

Life is beautiful!

Finca Bella Vista 

¿Que lo que?

"¿Que lo que?" is a greeting used by the Dominicans, and is similar to the South African "Howzit?". It's normally followed by "tranquilo" - "it's calm", "chilled", or "no worries", kind of like "hakuna matata".  I learnt this and other Dominican peculiarities, during the last few days of community service in Manabao, when we were working side by side with the locals (see my post). 

Our worksite in Manabao 

Although my Spanish is coming along in leaps and bounds, it's sometimes quite difficult to understand what people are saying here, because Dominicans like to drop the "s" from certain words. So, they say "¿cómo tu ta?", for how are you, instead of "¿cómo estas tu?" And, depending on where you live on the island, random i's, l's or r's can also be added in.

One afternoon, near the end of our service session, it started raining. An elderly woman started scolding a boy from our group, who continued to work, instead of taking cover. She was worried that he would get sick, going from hot to cold temperatures so quickly. (So, our cold showers the last 10 days would have been a big no-no!) I've heard that in other Latin American countries, like Nicaragua, they believe you must avoid the cold, even water and ice, if you are hot. If you're cooking, you cannot fetch anything in the fridge or freezer. You have to ask someone else to get it for you. And don't even think about walking around barefoot!

Samo seeds: if you have diabetes and keep them
in your back pocket, they'll  keep your blood sugar low. 

Another thing that is very important here, is showing respect by dressing conservatively. Even when it is 1000°C outside and you're sweating out of all of your pores, us girls have to wear long pants and T-shirts to community service. But otherwise, all is "tranquilo".

Mountain views on the way down

Sorry for the big gap in posts - we haven't had Wi-Fi. More soon, I promise!

A Letter Home

Hola Mamita! 

I hope that you're having a great week. It was really lovely to speak to you and hear all about the matric dance. I feel like we could have spoken for much longer, if only we had the time! I feel more settled this week and I haven't been feeling as homesick as before. Now just to get my sleeping patterns in check!

I've taken your advice and have been putting my feet up in between our morning and afternoon community service sessions. Yesterday, after lunch, we were all so exhausted that we just collapsed on the floor of the balcony and most of us fell asleep. It looked like we were doing one of our First Aid drills - eight corpses spread out on the floor, face down, waiting for the rescuers.

Wilderness First Aid Training

WFA Training: V giving a thumbs up
 after saving her patient

I do have cashews in my snack bag. So, will start eating those for protein. One of the big problems with the food here is that the Dominicans love to fry it. So, for breakfast three of the mornings we've been here, they've served us a tray of french fries and a 2 litre bottle of Coke! (Insert emoji of monkey covering his eyes!) ¡Que malo! Fortunately, I've been able to stick to the fried eggs and tropical fruit: delicious, juicy pineapple, watermelon and mango. 

We're off to explore some caves tomorrow and then off to the beach - it's a much needed break! Today I put in my 5th concrete floor and started building a latrine...

Mixing cement for a concrete floor

Abrazos y besos

Tu Hija

Ps. Check out this sunset!