Where to begin, I don't have the words to express all the emotions I felt this day. I have planning this day for months, and the excitement was building.
We woke very early and met Claus with his crew and some vans he had rented for us (our bus probably couldn't make it). We crammed in the vans with our school supplies and strapped the wheelchair on the top of the van. I went with Claus in his SUV. We drove through the city of Ica- which was in pretty bad shape still from the earthquake years ago. There was so much poverty in all directions, it really made me appreciate what I have. We are very spoiled in America.
We took the windy dirt road up into the mountains. The mountains are devoid of any vegetation, with the valleys very lush due to the intricate irrigation canals. We finally arrived at our destination- Huamani. We first walked up on the mountain, overlooking the village. It was much as I expected (I had also seen the pictures, and was partially prepared). I could see the etchings in the dirt of a basic rake- these people were very excited to have us here and host us for the morning. We learned about how the village will take place from Claus's associate Vicente- with a member of our class (Jose) acting as the interpreter.
We then walked back down to village and went to the school. The professor I had been in communication with was there to greet us. We took the bags of supplies in to the school and placed them on a table (the only table in the school). It was absolutely overflowing with goods. We took out the soccer balls, inflated them and passed them out to the children. One of us actually brought a football (he must have misread my email to bring a futbal!) and was soon showing the boys how to throw a perfect spiral. It was very overwhelming for the children... they didn't know what to say or do.
After we met at the school, it was time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We walked down to the south side of the village where the adobe bricks were being constructed. There we had a quick overview on the construction process. Before I knew it, I was rolling up my work jeans and helping mix the adobe mud with my feet, stomping around like we were making wine. The adobe then was soon brought down to the forms and we then helped make the bricks. A few bricks were broken- but hey, we're rookies.
We cleaned up as much as we could and headed to the central meeting area of the village, which essentially is just a large concrete slab. We had a formal presentation of giving the mesh to the villagers. I spoke a few words (translated via Jose) and thanked the villagers for the opportunity and thanked Claus for assisting us in this process. The village leader spoke a few words back to us- she talked about how fortunate they were to have us come there. She said that since the earthquake, things have been very hard, as many of the homes were destroyed. She thanked us for helping them at a time where everyone else has forgotten about them. They expressed that anytime we wanted to come back, we would always be welcome with open arms. We concluded the ceremony with a toast.
It was just starting to drizzle, in an area that gets absolutely no rain. The villagers were smiling, we were smiling but we had one more important duty. We got the wheelchair for the girl and went to her house. You could tell she was nervous, yet excited. We presented her with the wheelchair. Her mother was there and the tears streaming down her face touched everyone in the group. She was picked up and placed in the chair, and you could see her trying to hide her smile. It was overwhelming for her to have 26 Americans staring at her in her new chair. She spent much of her time in a plastic chair, she now was able to get out and move around the village almost like any of the others.
From this we all went back to the vans and squeezed back in. The villagers lined the streets and waved to us as we left the village, smiles from ear to ear.
Adios gringos!!!
Adios, Huamani.
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