In-Service-Training

This past week, all of the Health Volunteers in my group met up for our last training! This time it was in a beautiful region called Ancash and we all brought counterparts to participate in the training with us. So it was very different from any of the other trainings we’ve done, and my favorite one because of that!

            Ancash is a really cool and different region from Amazonas. The culture is very true to the “olden days.” The women all wear beautiful poufy skirts and tall full brimmed hats. Their “mantas”, or shawls used for carrying everything from their babies to their groceries, were beautiful with amazing textures and bright colors. The women in my site have the same shawl things but are either black or navy blue. I wish I took a pict

ure; I’m kicking myself that I didn’t! The altitude is more than we have here, so when there’s sun it’s baking hot and at night it’s cold. I’m always comfortable in my jeans and sweatshirts here even when the suns out. There I was uncomfortably hot in a T-shirt. The sun was soo strong. The hostel we stayed in had a great view of Huascaran, a famous and beautiful snow-capped mountain. It’s a great region, I’m a little jealous of the volunteers who live there!

            This training was especially interesting because we spent it with Peruvian counterparts. It was fun to see them get really into what we were learning. All of them came out of it with a lot to take back from technical knowledge to confidence! Some had never left their homes before, so it was a real once in a lifetime experience that most really appreciated. Although, for some reason, our four Amazonian counterparts were quite divas! The four of them bonded through our long travel days and developed an “Amazonas is better” mindset. It was actually quite funny and us four volunteers had some good laughs talking about it after the fact! They complained about food the whole time, we didn’t have water the first day and they never got over it… One lady threatened to stop eating and another told me she’s “willing to suffer because that’s how we learn.” Mind you these women are from poor communities where they often go without water, work long days in the farms, and have limited variety in their food that they cook. They were NOT suffering in a nice hostel with a delicious and varied menu of meals provided for them every day. Oh and did I mention it was all free for them!?

We as volunteers got a kick out of it. It really puts “suffering” into perspective. For people who’ve never left home, they are used to their beds, their routines, and the same 3 meals they cook everyday, even if, to us, those conditions are not ideal. For them, doing something new and different out of their comfort zone is overwhelming. Unlike them, I was fortunate enough to travel a lot growing up. Seeing new and different places teaches you not just how to tolerate living in a new place and eating different food, but to enjoy it! I love going to new places and trying new things because, from experience, I’ve enjoyed them! That’s probably why I decided to join the Peace Corps ;)