El Porvenir
From and that was lima in Iquitos, Peru on Sep 24 '07
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El Porvenir
The object of my projection....project...affection.......i know its my dad´s fault.
I am here in the name of Cuso to work with a Peruvian NGO – Association Kallpa, a group that works in 4 regions of Peru; Lima, Cusco, Ayucucho and Iquitos. The mission of this group is to help create healthy communities – comudidades saludables - through partnership, democracy, respect and creativity. The Kallpa team in Iquitos consists of 5 people; 2 wonderful facilitators from Iquitos, a magnificent administrator also from here, an indispensable regional director from Cusco, and me - an artist from St. John’s.
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The neighbourhood that we are working in is called El Porvenir. It is in the barrio of Pampachica, which lies on the outskirts of Iquitos. El Porvenir is a small sandy road of houses and a community centre, a couple community based organisations, church, bar and wee market; it has a population of about 600 people and becomes an island in the high water season. The houses on the far ends of the street stand on stilts and most have thatched roofs. It is a very tranquil place with beautiful children and smiling adults. The water for all of Iquitos is collected at the banks of the river behind the houses yet there is no water system for El Porvenir, the sewage empties into small streams and mingles with garbage that is not picked up by council. There is much potential in this small neighbourhood, and we are here to help find and facilitate it.
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So far I have met the youth group, Juventud en Progreso – Youth In Progress. They are active, attentive and adolescent; I am sure there will be very good and frustrating results from this alliteration. I cannot wait to get going, but for now I must keep my patience until I find my voice, it will be a great journey with them as we work to find theirs, from the meeting we had the other night I do not think that will be too hard.
We have also met with the adult community and committee to begin the work of diagnosing the problems. A wonderful fact about Kallpa is that they are in the business of putting themselves out of business. We are charged with providing the tools to build and create, not to build and create ourselves.
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A final note I would like to share is that St. John’s is officially a part of this journey. This passed week a fundraiser was held at the Provincial Courts in Atlantic Place, and I am overjoyed to say that amongst food and fun those wondrous folk helped raise $500 for our project. This money will go towards building a structure in El Porvenir, for the youth group, so they have a safe and beautiful space to hold meetings and keep materials. Thank you to all who helped, as well as to a few others I know of who heard of what we are doing and gave of their own volition, you are amazing!
An incredible bridge has been built from one island to another!
ps. please visit the CUSO website for details on CUSO Open Jobs and/or donating to the work CUSO does globally...it is worth it! www.cuso.org
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