Where are Ron and Ellen?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron and Ellen (and llama) at Machu Picchu, Peru, December 2008
Quiquijana, Peru, November 2008
A night at the convent
To see photos from Quiquijana, click on the thumbnail at the left.
3 December 2008
Cusco, PeruDear Family and Friends,
Saturday afternoon we met Laurie and Steven at their apartment, then all took a taxi to another part of Cusco to meet Hermana [Sister] Nellie, the nun Laurie and Steven knew from work in Sipascancha in 2007. It was at her children's shelter in Quiquijana, a bit over 2 hours from Cusco, that they build one of their first two model stoves in 2007. Hermana Nellie had come into Cusco to bring another nun for an eye doctor appointment, and the four of us rode back to Quiquijana with them, squashed into the back seat of Hermana Nellieīs 4 wheel drive Toyota pickup truck.
The childrenīs shelter has dormitory space for 100 children, although at the moment they only have resources (food, support, etc) for 50. As we understand it, most of the children are there only during the week, living there and going to school. They walk multiple hours to/from their villages to be at home helping families on the weekend. Some, maybe 15, are there full time, either because their villages are too far away or for other reasons. Parents come to the sisters to ask for their kids to be there, and pay in various ways, either 20 soles per month, or the equivalent of 20 soles per month in food (potatoes, meat, etc). There is also a government program that we are a bit uncertain about, but as we understand it, families get 100 soles per month, of which they pay 20 for the child to be at the shelter and the rest is used for some other project (like starting a store), but somehow there are strings attached that we arenīt sure of. Anyway, the smaller group of children who were there over the weekend were engaging and enthusiastic, and seem happy and healthy and well cared for. There seems to be a fairly steady stream of volunteers living there and helping with the children, currently two young people and a family from Germany. The children help with the cooking (we helped unload 50 kilo sacks of flour and sugar and beans from the back of the truck, as well as large quantities of apples, pumpkin, and other foods) and they also bake bread.
We had tea and bread and excellent local cheese at the shelter, then went to the convent several blocks away where we would be spending the night (Steven, Laurie, Ron, and Ellen in a room with two sets of bunk beds). Pave arrived a bit later via the bus from Cusco, and we got some eggs and fruit from a little shop across the street and had bread and eggs and fruit salad for supper, with lots of discussion (in Spanish, with us following varying amounts) about buildng stoves in Usi, a village about 40 minutes by truck from Quiquijana, the site of Pave and Steven and Laurie's work beginning in January. They will be staying at the convent during the several days per week that they are working in Usi, driving to/from the village in Hermana Nellie's truck. Sunday morning we had planned to get up in time to leave at 7 for a visit to a pumice mine where Laurie and Steven and Pave hope to get pumice to use instead of metal as the rocket part of the stoves this time (the rocket is the right angle part where the fuel goes in the front and the heat comes out the top). We were up in plenty of time, blasted awake at 4:50 am by the live broadcasting of music from the convent's pirate micropower radio station!
Hermana Nellie drove us to the mine, about 40 minutes further from Cusco on the main road. The mine was closed because it was Sunday, but we walked in past the log blocking the road so Laurie and Steven could see it (Pave had been there). Different grades of pumice (for different purposes) are pulled out of the side of the mountain in different spots. No machinery, just picks to free the pumice before lifting it into trucks. Laurie and Steven and Pave each carried back an armload of the grade they hope to use, and will experiment with cutting it. Steven and Laurie brought special hacksaw blades with them from home!
Then we all piled into the truck again and went back to Quiquijana where the Sunday market was in full swing. Aside from the visit to the pumice mine, the market was the main point of this trip, since folks from Usi come to the market, and Laurie and Steven wanted to make initial contact with them. They had talked with the village president last year about the stoves, and wanted to let people know that they had actually come back, and hoped to start work in Usi after Christmas.
We asked around the market, but were told that the people from Usi had to walk and weren't there yet. Pave got the man running the music to make an announcement that we were looking for people from Usi and they should come to the [tiny] main plaza at the edge of the market to talk. We sat and waited, and eventually the vice-president of the village appeared and he and Laurie and Pave and Steven had a long discussion, with Hermana Nellie arriving and participating at the end. There is a new president/vice-president from a year and a half ago, but Laurie and Steven think this will not be an issue. The plan they worked out is that Laurie and Steven and Pave will come for the children's Christmas party at the shelter on the Saturday before Christmas, and then on Sunday morning the Usi peope will come for market and a meeting at the shelter about the stoves. They can see the model stove at the shelter and even cook on it.
Just as we were getting our packs and leaving the convent, several more Usi people appeared, and there was more talk about stoves. Then we all took a taxi to Urcos, a larger town nearby, and from there we took a bus back to Cusco.
Monday Ron and I spent organizing logistics for our trip to Machu Picchu (next Monday-Tuesday) and other places we want to visit. Yesterday afternoon was the tour of the Cathedral and of the smaller but still impressive sites/ruins immediately outside Cusco: Saqsaywaman (huge foundation walls in a zig-zag form representing lightning), Tambomachay (channeled water streams that remain constant no matter whether it is rainy or dry), and Q'enqo (an underground altar and worship area carved into the rock).
Laurie and Steven went to Sipascancha on Monday and will return today. We are eager to hear how the first round of medical testing went and what conclusions they have come to on handling the payment/non-payment for stoves.
Love to all,
Ellen and Ron
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Last updated: 2 January 2009
