Where Are Steven and Laurie?
Peru, 17 November 2008 - 17 March 2009
Steven and Laurie in Peru, 2007
Cusco, Peru, January 2009
15 January 2009
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
How could one resist a subject heading of "Tapdancing in the Post-Colonial Minefields"? I'm sending the latest installment of Steven's and Laurie's adventures in Peru, which came from Steven with that heading.
Ron, George, Bharbreh, and her Brazilian friend are all scheduled to meet today in Salvador, Ron coming from his several days on Ilha de Boipeba, George coming from Afton, and Bharbreh and her friend coming from somewhere else in Brazil (I'm not sure where).
It will be extra-cold here in Afton through the weekend -- I have both wood stoves going strong.
Love to all,
Ellen
Tapdancing in the Post-Colonial Minefields
14 January 2009
Cusco, PeruWe have learned more lessons this week. The day after I left off last time (i.e. Saturday the 9th), we got a call from Victor and Juana, the president and secretary of the Mandorani association in C'Orao. They said they wanted to come into Cuzco and talk to us on Sunday. Well, sure, we said, although in our hearts we were thinking "what now?"
When they arrived we were expecting maybe some changes in the numbers of people who wanted stoves. But no, they presented us with a different design that they said five of the 25 families wanted. There were several obvious and immediate problems. First of all, the design they presented came complete with shower and hot water system, and cost 300 soles just for materials (ours is around 65). Secondly, they wanted Victor's cousin (insert alarm bells here) to build them, when we asked how much it would be he told us 150 soles each (we are paying Tomas and Andres 50)!!! We politely said NO FUCKING WAY. Then they started in on how they didn't want Tomas to build their five stoves (but that it was perfectly OK with the other 15, who also supposedly do not want this fancier design). All of their arguments were dubious and unconvincing. After three hours, we came up with a compromise: we would only buy them the basic stove, no extras. We would buy them the same stuff we buy for the other 15 families, and they would have to buy the extra rebar for the design (another ten soles). We would only pay the cousin 50 apiece to build them, the same as our builders. Finally they left, but we were still bothered by the whole thing.
I think the most frustrating aspect is that there is this constant scheming, backstabbing, and manipulation among the rural poor. When you introduce what are basically gifts, it is amplified. Reminds me of my stepfather's story of a Peruano he knew who bought a large plot of land and tried to establish a commune type situation with some campesinos. They constantly plotted against each other and refused to work together, it eventually broke the guy's heart and spirit. In addition, there is the depressing feeling that nothing we do is good enough, that people are always going to act put out because you aren't giving more. Just like the little kid in the shelter who kind of guilt-tripped us because he didn't get a remote controlled car like some of the other kids (the nuns distributed our 50 presents at random). I have no doubt that this is a legacy of colonialism, but that doesn't make it any easier to work with in the here and now. If we were like your typical NGO and didn’t treat them as equals, there would be fewer problems. But since we are working directly with people, we keep encountering this kind of behavior.
So, last night, we consulted our expert in all things NGO-related, our friend Jorge (http://www.hampy.org). He told us to take back our offer and insist that either everybody accept our design and plan, or not get a stove. He also told us to put it down on paper (fortunately, we already have). So when we go to C'Orao for our next meeting this Friday, we are going to say to the five families "sorry, either you take our design and our builders, or you can take your extra money which you obviously have and buy one of your own, since this guy is supposedly charging 100 soles more." Also, since it turns out that this cousin was a guy we met in C'Orao and told about our project, we unfortunately feel like we have to keep our mouths shut about what we are doing from now on. It seems clear to us that this guy saw a business opportunity and moved in on it. Plus, he isn't even part of Mandorani! Double plus, they gave us all this talk about how unfair it was that we divided the community by only giving four stoves before! Yet apparently it is totally OK for these five families to further divide things. OK, rant over.
This morning we met Jorge again so he could take us to a dentist friend of his (his dad is/was a dentist also, so he knows lots). Laurie and I are both getting some work done, I am getting (finally) a replacement crown for the one I got a temporary of almost ten years ago in Duvall, plus four fillings. Total is about $185 USD. Laurie is getting a bit more, two crowns plus whitening. We made appointments for, like, this week. Very efficient.
While we were waiting we got a call on Laurie's phone. Somebody had been trying to call us all morning (and not leaving messages, of course), so we were on alert. I couldn't understand it and Laurie was with the dentist, so Jorge translated and said it was Juana. At first we thought this was Juana the secretary of Mandorani and had the same "oh god, what next?" response. But after we left we were called again, and it turned out that it was Pedro's mom Juanita. She was waiting for us at the bus station with Pedro's pregnant wife-to-be Paulina. Neither of us can understand Juanita because she talks in rapid Quechua like we can speak it, and only speaks a little bit of Spanish in response to direct questions. Paulina speaks no Spanish at all.
When we arrived at the station they had a note from Pedro. Paulina had an infected tooth. Well, we just turned right back around and marched back to our new dentist with these two campesina women. Laurie gave up her appointment tomorrow when it turned out the tooth would have to be pulled. It also turned out that instead of coming on Saturday, Paulina was here for a pregnancy checkup that was scheduled for 7 AM tomorrow. Right now, Laurie is at the hospital with them in the hopes that she can get checked up today, since the dentist is at 11 AM tomorrow. It will cost 30 soles to pull the tooth, which of course we are paying. We will also put them up at our place tonight. Just another normal day for Vidas Mejoradas....
Oh yes, we also bought all of our baskets for the retention cookers, you can read Laurie's account of it at http://www.pencilsforperu.blogspot.com.
For your amusement and edification, let me present an example of phrase construction in Quechua:
wasi = house
wasicha = little house
wasichayki = your little house
wasichaykikuna = your little houses
wasichaykikunamanta = from your little houses
wasichaykikunamantachu = from your little houses?The rule is: suffixes, suffixes, and more suffixes. The accent is always on the second-to-last syllable.
Love to all,
S
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