The Tarnished Path

I hate it that I never followed the news. When I was growing up and even when I was in college – when I should have cared a little bit – things were going on all over the world which barely made a dent in the grey matter of my brain. Even today I don’t follow the news like I should; I guess because it is all rather depressing.

Back in the late 1970s, in central Peru, a professor by the name of Abimael Guzman organized a group called the Shining Path and tried to take over the government. Into the 1980’s his followers destroyed or bombed buildings and murdered many innocent people. When the government stepped in to put an end to things, many more people were murdered, whether followers of the Shining Path movement or not. In total over 50,000 Peruvians died.

I think I may have heard about it on the news, but it didn’t make much of an impression.

Ayacucho, Peru, was one of the hubs of activity at that time. When I volunteered there in 2009, we toured the Museo de la Memoria and learned about this dark time in Peru’s past. Marisol, the young woman who worked at Cross Cultural Solutions in Ayacucho, had been a young girl at the time and shared with us some of the horrors of the 12-year stretch that Guzman’s followers terrorized the country. She remembers being in class and men dressed in army gear would come into the room and randomly call kids out. She never saw those classmates again.

And I know the same kind of stuff has been happening around the world for years and years. When are we going to learn? When is it going to stop?

The memory wall outside of the museum

Ayacucho is known for its retalbos, boxes of varying sizes in which are figurines in scenes, which are usually Biblical in nature. This retalbo, however, shows the bloodshed of the Shining Path.

The Orphanage

On Thursday, while I was volunteering in Ayacucho, Peru, with Cross Cultural Solutions, we went to the orphanage. After that day, we decided that the organizers of our stay started us with the easier placements and worked up to the hardest ones. The first of the week wasn’t too bad, but by Thursday, we were feeling more stressed and challenged. Meg, Tina, Gayle and I became nervous for Friday, our last day there. How could it be more stressful than an orphanage of 150 boys and girls, some orphans but some just dropped there by parents who couldn’t afford to raise them.

We worked with the infants and toddlers. The youngest baby, a month old, had lost his mom and been brought to the orphanage when we was five days old. The infants went down for their naps around ten. The one year olds were not so lucky.

They were fun, a little sassy with each other, demanding our attention and not sharing their limited toys very readily. But by eleven, a few of them were getting sleepy, and the woman who worked there let us know that they were not to nap. Though we didn’t speak Spanish well enough to understand her, her gestures clearly told us that the toddlers had to stay awake. She even took one to the sink and splashed water on his face. It was heart-breaking.

Close to noon, another woman came in and they started taking the little ones, two by two, to feed them lunch. After they ate, they went down for their naps, whether they were tired or overtired. And, in somewhat of a daze, the four of us wandered downstairs to wait for the bus to pick us up.

One of the courtyards on the orphanage grounds.

Meg and I surrounded by the orphans and their toys. The window was their own contact with the outdoors. They loved it when we held them up to the window so they could watch the world go by.

Lahe, one of only two girls, waiting for lunch.

Jaime and me

There's more than Incan Ruins out there

When you think of ancient civilizations that lived in Peru, the first - and probably only - one you think of are the Incas. Before that time however, the Wari civilization thrived in central Peru. The capital city, which at one time supported a population of 10,000, lies in the mountains between Ayacucho and Quinua. Between the years 550 and 900 AD, this culture flourished, and though the Incan culture is much more famous, the Wari lasted longer and made their only contributions to the world.

Due to lack of funding, these ruins have not been completely excavated and are not totally understood.

But the ruins definitely have their own beauty and allure.

Need some good luck?

The beautiful village of Quinua, an hour’s drive from Ayacucho, Peru, is known for its pottery.

One of the specific types of pottery that is especially popular are figures of houses and churches. The tradition is to place these on the roofs of homes and other buildings for protection. They are supposed to bring good luck to those inside. Even the church in Quinua had these cute replicas on its roof.

Now, I may be wrong here, please let me know. I certainly understand that everybody needs good luck; I know that I sure do. But instead of counting on an inanimate object to supply that luck shouldn’t I be praying to God instead. If I think that putting something on my roof is going to help me out, isn’t that idol worship? I shouldn’t be turning my attention to a cold piece of pottery. Instead, I need to turn my eyes to my Lord and Savior.

So be careful not to commit the sin of worshiping idols. Don't make idols to be worshiped, whether they are shaped like men, women, animals, birds, reptiles, or fish. And when you see the sun or moon or stars, don't be tempted to bow down and worship them. The LORD put them there for all the other nations to worship. But you are the LORD's people. Deuteronomy 4:15-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Quaint Quinua

On Wednesday afternoon, while I was in Peru in 2009, Rudy, the director of CCS in Ayacucho, took us for a ride into the Andes Mountains and the small town of Quinua. Quinua is an absolutely adorable little town, right on the edge of the cocaine trade. That just doesn’t seem right, does it?

Above the village, is the site of the Battle for Ayacucho, which won independence for Peru in 1824. In 1974, this obelisk was built in commemoration of that time in South America’s history.
After Rudy told us all about this victory, as well as pointing out the trails out of the mountains where cocaine was trafficked, we walked into town where we purchased the delightful pottery which the town is also known for.

Crazy can be in any country

On Wednesday, Angelina and I volunteered at the medical clinic in Ayacucho. She had been there already a couple months and knew the language, so she was actually productive. I watched a few exams and helped weigh and measure a few babies.

At the appointed time, we went out near the front gate of the clinic to wait for the van from Cross Cultural Solutions to pick us up. An elderly woman approached us. She seemed lost and confused. Angelina directed her to the registration desk and assured her that they would help. The woman went inside for a minute but then came right back to where we were sitting. For some reason, she seemed to have adopted us.

The van from CCS came about that time to pick us up. We greeted the driver and started to get in. The old lady went ballistic. She started yelling at the driver, that he was kidnapping us, and tried pulling us out of the van. We tried our best to communicate that everything was ok, that this was our ride, that we knew the man. But she just kept hitting the van and trying to hit the driver through his open window. Finally we just yanked the door shut behind us and told the driver to floor it.

I felt so sorry for the old woman; she was so upset. The poor little thing. I think I have a patient or two just like that at the clinic where I work back home.

A Look at the Clinic

When I first signed up to go to Peru with Cross Cultural Solutions in 2009 and they asked if I had any special areas of interest, I told them that I worked in a clinic, so would like to experience their health care. On Wednesday, I had that opportunity.

Angelina, one of the students who was staying in Ayacucho for several months, took me to the clinic that day and showed me around. Wow, it was a hodge-podge of buildings and rooms, all run fairly efficiently it appeared, but just very different from back home.

The back side of the clinic. Hmm? Looks different than what we are used to, doesn't it?

The minor procedure room. I watched one of the students debride a leg wound here. Nothing fancy, he did it the same as any of the surgeons back home would.

This is where the post-partum women stay for a few hours after delivery, before they go home.

This poster just cracks me up. Even with my very limited Spanish, I easily figured out what it was saying. In case you don't have a clear enough view of it, it is basically promoting breast feeding, comparing it to dining at a fine restaurant.