Trujillo, Peru (part 2)

Every morning in Trujillo was spent preparing lessons (printer issues led to walking to sites which would print for us, then we walked to the photocopy shop, then to the internet cafe to prep my next trip, etc.). In the afternoons we did lessons in Barrio 6 A, then in Libertadores and got home in the evening.

A lesson on how to make oral rehydration serum in the home, for when children have diarrhea.

One evening on our way home we stopped by the town square. Above you see the beautiful cathedral in downtown Trujillo.

Check this out! My last day there I got to go see some amazing ruins. This is called the ruins of the "Sun Temple," since it is guessed to be a monument to the sun god -- although that is hotly debated, and some say it is only thought to be to the sun god because that's how they do things in Mexico (just a little ways away). Only 25% of this building is left intact, and it's still gi-normous! Excavation hasn't yet started.



This is one of the painted walls of the "Moon Temple" (again, see controversy above). This was painted some time around 400 AD using charcoal, calcium, and some plant extracts. These constructions pre-date the Incas; they were built by the Moche people whose civilization had disappeared by 800 AD.

Here is the facade of the Moon Temple. See the different stories? Every 80 to 100 years they completely filled in the story below with bricks and built a new one on top. Only the top two have been excavated so far, the rest are awaiting experts to tell them how to do so safely in an area so prone to earthquakes.

The rent in the center of the facade was caused by people who ransacked the temple for treasures centuries ago.

On our way to the airport my hosts drove me through a fruit market. Mmm... olives. I currently live in an olive-free zone and so my hosts said, "Let's stop and you can take a picture -- take it like you're selling the olives!."

Then my zany new friends said, "Pretend you're eating them!" So, here goes!

Marco and Vilma, my hilarious hosts, next to an incredible variety of fruit.

Trujillo, Peru (part 1)

I had the opportunity to go to Trujillo, Peru to do some trainings. Marco and Vilma, CHE trainers, have started CHE programs in two urban neighborhoods. Here I am with Vilma, posing in front of the boats that have been used for centuries there. Cargo (or a tourist) goes in the hollowed out portion and the rower kneels in the front!
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One of the lessons we did was "Nutrition: 3 x 3." We separated food into three groups: protein, protectors (fruits and veggies), and carbohydrates. We discussed the importance of having all three groups at all three meals (hence 3 x 3).

The lessons I facilitated are usually done by trainers; I don't usually teach the Community Health Evangelists directly. In this instance, since Marco and Vilma are the sole trainers there in Peru, I went to provide a bit of back-up.

Marco and Vilma,Mmm, the Libertadores group made picarones for us this day -- the batter is made from wheat flour, sweet potato, and squash then fried and covered with syrup. My co-worker Marco tells me that this is a really big deal -- a few years ago there was an organization that provided food and/or money for every training. People only came when things were provided, and didn't contribute anything of their own. Now that they are truly implementing the CHE model the community members have started making treats and coming to trainings on their own initiative!


Tee-hee, this picarón is in the form of a dog!

Peru is known for its varied cuisine. Here I am with Marco and Vilma's family about to enjoy a traditional ceviche.

The day after our "3 x 3" lesson the "Barrio 6 A" group made ají de gallina for us all. They very cheerfully noted that it met the 3 x 3 standard: chicken, potato, and lettuce!

This is the drive between the two target neighborhoods. Marco and Vilma are both taxi drivers, so we had their (rented) cab for transportation. The neighborhoods are new, built over the past ten years on land which formerly was used as a garbage dump. The drive between the neighborhoods is through the current dump site.

There is no dirt here, only sand -- to grow anything you have to lay dirt down first. Many people cleared away the garbage first and then built a solid foundation for their house, although several sections were clearly built more precariously and without removing the trash first. Marco jokes that either way, they aren't showing wisdom because there are building their houses on sand! ;-)

Events Far Away

Phew! There's been a lot going on these past few weeks! But first, a few definitions important for this post:

A vision seminar is a one- to three-day event for people interested in CHE to see if we have a common vision for holistic community transformation and if they want to commit to sending people to a week-long Training of Trainers 1 (TOT 1). After trainers apply the principles they learn in a TOT 1 they participate in a TOT 2 which enables them to form and train a committee and Community Health Evangelists (CHEs).

In October alone we've got two vision seminars (Grand Goave and Leogane, both in West Province), a TOT 1 near Jacmel (Southeast Province) and a TOT 2 on the island of La Gonave (West Province). Our office is in North Province. I'm won't actually be present at any of those events but I've been involved in most of the planning since we are organizing them with other NGOs and the communication has mostly been in English.

Last Saturday the vision seminar was held in Leogane. During the starter for the first lesson everyone was given a piece of paper and told to find the "match." "Soccer player" and "ball","hair stylist" and "scissors."

One woman got "door" and found "key," who just happened to be a pastor. The assignment was to exchange information about each other - why they came to the seminar, where they were from, family info -- and then present each other to the group. She decided to tell this pastor about her faith journey -- she had been considering Jesus for a long time but continually felt blocked at the point of making a decision. And then she decided to follow Jesus! They shared this decision with the larger group and everyone prayed together and welcomed her into the family. We rejoice along with her because of God's persistence, mercy, and love!

This month we're also celebrating International Handwashing Day with activities throughout the month, not just on the day. In addition to all of this Osse -- the director of Medical Ambassadors Haiti -- and I will be traveling to Argentina for our Regional Council. We'll stay afterwards to facilitate a TOT 1 and 2. All told, I will be traveling from October 28 to December 6:

• Continuing medical education conference in Orlando, FL

• Regional Council (Caribbean and South America) in Cordoba, Argentina

• Facilitating a TOT1 and 2 in Cordoba, Argentina

• Travel to Buenos Aires to see friends!!

• Trujillo, Peru to facilitate a training of CHE workers

• Lima, Peru to meet a contact interested in working with CHE

A day in the life

Wednesday, September 14

Woke up looking forward to my breakfast, chiefly for the caffeinated portion of it since throughout most of the night it was 88 and humid. I breakfasted with a woman from France who has come to work with the music school (at which I volunteer) for the year. Conversation in French and Kreyol, hah!

At the office we spent time in prayer and singing as we've been doing every day lately (yay!). We have a lot going on these days and it is so good to recognize the hand of “Gran Mèt la” (this is how the Kreyol Bible translates “LORD God”, but it literally means “the great teacher/master”). Some of our day's activities:

• Look up flights – I have to go to Orlando for a medical conference next month, then straight-away to Argentina and Peru for meetings, trainings, and follow-up. My co-worker Osse will be going to Argentina, and since he doesn't speak Spanish or English should really travel there with me or our Dominican co-workers. Since we have internet today we start to look up flights, but are stalled by not knowing if he will be able to pass through certain countries without a visa. We try to call consulates but the phones aren't working – it is suspected that the new internet company is combining with one of the major telephone companies and their work has interrupted service.

• October 15 is Worldwide Handwashing Day! UNICEF has supplies: soap, buckets, posters. We work on filling out a request (in French, ouch) for these materials. In addition to our usual house-to-house teaching we'll be doing some local radio spots and events in schools and churches.

• Solencia, a trainer and friend, comes to the office. She's had an abscess on her leg that she would like advice about. I examine her leg. She also tells me about her godmother's uncontrolled asthma, Solencia is worried about her. I give her suggestions for her godmother to take a preventive medication regularly, along with a list of steroid inhaler options (I don't know what's available here).

• A team of four is coming from Detroit next week to make badges for our volunteers and see the communities where they work. We discuss again which communities we'll be going to on which day and make a few changes to the schedule.

• Dina, a woman who recently moved here from Nicaragua to marry my former co-worker Enoch, comes in the office to discuss a lesson she needs in Kreyol, one of the basic ones we do upon starting to train our trainers to work with perinatal topics. We don't have this lesson in Kreyol yet and had quickly translated just the supplement for a training last Saturday, but Dina would like the entire lesson today for a training she's planning in a village tomorrow.

• We fill out a report for the Ministry of Health on last month's activities. As much as possible we try to work together with the government authorities.

• Osse and I will be going to Port-au-Prince at the end of the month for a meeting with the Association of Christian Health Organizations. We contact those in Port-au-Prince that we've trained to see if they would like to meet.

It's late and my co-workers Evelyne and Osse are getting ready to go home. Anias, another trainer, comes in the office to collect his things and start his 1 ½-hour motorcycle ride home. We hear raindrops starting on the tin roof. He pauses, and it starts pouring. Anias says, "Well, I could leave my bag here, with all my life in it. And my shoes so they don't get wet." Osse answered, "And your clothes!" Anias: "Great idea! All the other vehicles would move aside: get out of the way, there's a crazy naked guy on a motorcycle coming our way!"

Anias leaves (clothed) and Evelyne and Osse decide to wait a little to see if the storm will subside – they are leaving by motorcycle too. We have to shut the windows because the rain is streaming in and it's steamy hot. The internet stops working due to the rain. We go into the second room of the office because it has a ceiling which muffles the sound of the rain. A group for which we will be doing a training in the south next month has sent us an old lesson they would like to use if we think it's appropriate for CHE work in urban settings in Haiti, since that's where some of the participants will be working. Up till now the CHE work in Haiti has primarily been in villages. Since I'd downloaded it before the internet went out, I verbally translate it from the English for my co-workers to see what they think. Nope. I translate another lesson that we have used in South America as an introduction to how to do CHE in urban settings – it's a go. Written translation of that will have to wait, though – the rain has slowed down a little and my colleagues leave.

I meet the woman who prepares my evening meal and take her blood pressure, since I also act as her doctor.

This morning I'd loaned the woman who washes my clothes some money – her son broke his leg and a few days ago she asked me for help. Tonight her brother – my mango supplier – comes over to thank me. He tells me that God also gave me a gift today – the rain made it cool enough that I should sleep well!

Unedited and Unbridled

Tonight I'm reading Fil Anderson's "Breaking the Rules":

"For most of my adult life I've believed that nothing was more important than delivering the good news that God is in love with every person in the world. And through his sacrificial death Jesus has earned for us what we could never earn for ourselves; God has provided unconditional forgiveness for all of his creation.

"However, pondering the mystery in Jesus' declaration 'I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her' (Mark 14:9) has caused a deep shift inside me. The gospel is meant to produce in me, just as it did in that woman, an unedited and unbridled response to Jesus."

During the past couple of years I've been struck by this woman. She went up to Jesus while he was at someone's house having dinner and poured expensive oinment over him. If I'm called to imitate anyone (other than Jesus) I think it's this woman and Peter. To me they represent two people who really saw Jesus, recognized that he was the pearl of great price, and risked everything -- in fact, saw nothing but truth, reality, and LIFE before them in Jesus and pursued him.

Update from Arizona

So, I'm still in the United States, and since mid-July I've been in Arizona. Here I've gotten to meet and get to know lots of wonderful people from Epic Christian Church, my main sending church. The past few weeks have been full of lunches and dinners and coffees and frozen yogurts with people from church, as well as formal presentations at community groups. I've actually been gone four years now -- and even though I've come back for a little while each year there's still a lot of catching up to do! I'm staying with a lovely family in San Tan Valley, Arizona. Their middle child was in my two-year-old Sunday School class back when I was living here. It's been fun to hang out with him and his sisters: talking about their school day, sharing Bible stories, and even spotting them as they do pull-ups (they like to keep me company as I do P90X).

I also continue to work with our team in Haiti from afar. We communicate via text and telephone -- and thankfully I finally found a reasonably economical phone card. Our office in Cap Haitien hasn't had any reliable internet for the past several weeks, though. The cable internet is not working and our neighbor finally put a lock on his wireless account.

Some of my latest projects?

• helping plan trainings with other mission organizations in Haiti
• detailing plans for a Canadian missionary couple that will be coming to join us in November for nine months
• next year's budget

I get back to Haiti at the end of the month. Some of my goals before returning:

• two-year supply of contacts -- done
• source for contact lens solution -- sort of done
• piano books for the music institute kids -- started
• new passport -- done
• appointment with a dentist -- done and in tip-top shape
• virus-free netbooks running Linux -- done
• purchase electronic items my co-workers (from Haiti to Argentina) have requested -- started
• Hepatitis C test (I got stuck by a dirty needle last fall) -- done and clear
• work on CHE lessons for our CD in Haitian Kreyol -- not even going to start
• send pictures of ministry in Haiti to our co-worker in Finland for future website use -- not started yet
• a cleaned out e-mail inbox (I'm really far from this one)

Back in the US

With my lovely friend Sara, near her home in Seattle. Our other beautiful college friend, Eva, snapped the shot.

So, I've been in the US for six weeks now. I've only lived in Haiti for eight months, but some newly-learned ways of thinking are dying hard (and some of the following were picked up in my travels in South America, so they've had more time to become ingrained).

I adjusted to the following after a couple of weeks:

• recognizing electricity will always be present, so I can wait until phones and computers have less charge before being sure to plug them in
• tossing toilet paper in the toilet (not in a wastebasket) when out and about

I still have to remind myself it's okay to drink the water from the tap. Frequently on my way to brush my teeth I think, "Ooh, I'd better get a water bottle to take with me."

Here are some items I packed that I completely do not need in the US:

• wet wipes for bathing "in case there's no running water at some point"
• washcloths (in the countries I've been in the past four years, their presence in other's houses is not a given)
• bandanna to keep dust off hair while travelling
• cloth to wipe sweat off of face
• toilet paper

Now, while packing I did know that I wouldn't need the last three items while in the US, but I thought they would be so critical for the two days (in three months) I would be in Haiti that I should carry them around the rest of the time. Yikes.

I'm still not used to the fact that we can alter the temperature at will in cars or houses. I use hot water from the tap every chance I get. And I get really covetous at grocery stores with the immense variety of produce and fiber-filled grain products. Mmm...off to eat some Mestemacher bread and an apple!

With Niki, another phenomenal woman from college, and her daughter.