And Now For My Next Trick: 05/08/11

Day 60

I went camping last night with the other volunteers on an isolated beach cove about 20 miles south of Pisco, Peru. The desert landscape continued down the coast but the rolling dunes were dense with salt almost like sandstone. It looked great for ripping around on with a motorcycle, but I decided to leave the bike stored. So many people wanted to go that we rented buses - about 45 of the 70 volunteers came. We cooked, hiked, and hung out late into the night. I got up early and had a pretty amazing two hour run through the desert and along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Since the ground was so firm I didn't have to stick to a trail and could just sort of run wild, weaving through the dunes.

My two weeks of volunteer work at Pisco Sin Fronteras have flown by. I have had the opportunity to work on several different projects, mostly doing carpentry and masonry work for local families in need of basic shelter and sanitation. The days pouring concrete have been some of the most difficult but also the most satisfying.

The project I have worked on the most is one for a 19 year old mother named Marchit whose home is located in one of the shanty towns left from the 2007 earthquake. The homes in this neighborhood are built with woven bamboo panels called astera, plastic tarps, compressed cardboard (masonite), and thin wooden poles with nails and tacks holding it all together. Our objective is to provide a level of security from thieves and rodents, install running water and toilets, and generally improve living conditions.

My first reaction is to want to build the family a house exactly as I've seen and worked on in the US - with 2x4s and drywall, etc. This is not an option for many reasons. Basically, we are trying to build the best home we can for people in need and use materials that they can service and maintain on their own.

On Thursday I am taking off, but I would like to come back for a longer stay. This organization is well structured and open to anyone with initiative to drive projects forward. Former volunteers have started community development initiatives to address domestic violence, to teach english, and to provide computer access/instruction. They have also started to make biodiesel from used cooking grease collected from the local restaurants. It's a grass-roots org and they don't have the funds or the infrastructure of the big aid orgs, but they provide food and lodging at very low cost to volunteers ($2/meal, $2/night for lodging). I would encourage anyone interested in volunteering abroad to take a look at this place.

www.piscosinfronteras.org

Biodiesel Home-Brew Setup

Building wall panels for homes from donated pallet wood.

Concrete pour.

School.

Mural near PSF.

PSF work truck - runs on home-brewed biodiesel.

Marchit home - just after concrete was poured. Next we put up walls and ran electric and lights throughout.

Bottle cap washers and masonite panels at the Marchit house.

Asa (Volunteer from Israel) and Darien, Marchit's 4 year old son.

Marchit's new security wall built with recycled pallet wood from a local steel company. You can see the improvement compared to some of the homes nextdoor.

Marchit's neighborhood in Pisco.

Francis, a rescue that lives at the school house where I'm staying. We're good friends.

Morning meeting before heading out to jobs. Typically 7 to 10 jobs are running concurrently. I've been told the queue for newly approved jobs is over 45 and growing.