There was a light at the end of the tunnel

hot chocolate...there were 2 of these monsters
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There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and its name was Sunday the 21st of December; Christmas vacation.

We, my team and my teenagers, have been working diligently (most of the time) in bringing this year to a close, having completed all that we set out to do. Many, or various times, certain events and goals were put off and given different months. But December falls upon us and there are no more months. This is it, do it or admit to defeat, we had until the day of the Chocolatada, the 19th. Never being very good at the whole defeat end of the spectrum I was ridiculously starting to think that I would have to concede. The last portion of our microproject (the youth group must complete 2 to 3 per year in certain themes…this one being environment) was a theatre show and 2 performances.

chocolatada...community event
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Said nightmare was begun way back in the end of September and had been haunting us ever since. We had a wonderful workshop which taught the kids clown and theatre techniques, which I fear I did not blog about, and am truly sorry. But yes, starting with said workshop, we went on to choosing a story written by two of the ladies in the group; a story about friends trying to better their homes, basically what they have been doing. With this story we chose actors and started rehearsing lightly. A harsh reality when working in an area such as Peru is that the kids work, moms and dads don’t worry about rehearsals in order to make sure child is attending, kids get tired, bored, attention span is a spit in some cases, and well the truth is that it is hard to make them believe that a result will follow. For this I hold know blame or resentment. Although, after 3 months of trying to make one small show come to life with gusto, having to change roles each week depending on which kids felt the need or had the time to show up, I was at the point of giving up. I admit it.

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I can also admit that going through this while dealing with my own life, and the fact that there was now a baby sapping my vital life source, made “not taking it personally” hard. There are many things that we learn through our jobs, volunteering, and experiences such as a CUSO placement, without our own life making waves. When we are forced to start to handle both realities, it is a very hard thing to do. A job such as this one is daily devotion to the project, it is the bible. Having always been a very single person, now coming to grips with how much I wanted to devote myself to this work, and how much I actually could, was proving hard. But I have. I am here to work, but not to live without a life. I have a family now, and I will see them, I will rest and put my feet up. But first I had to make this show happen. Luckily for me I had a partner in theatrical crime, who to my amazement not once…well ok once….suggested that maybe this show wouldn’t happen.

world debut...La Excelente Idea
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We struggled through, I fought with workmates and supervisor about my handling of the activity; as we all know that those not involved can always do a better job and know exactly how to execute your work better than you. There is sarcasm in that sentence and I do not apologize for it. I have, though I am supported on the whole, had to take much questioning, criticism and crap during this position. I do hope it makes me a stronger person, but some days I do want to give up and go home. That being said, I get over it, I look at the kids faces, sometimes I cry in front of them….I like to think of it as part of their life skills…it is ok to cry and be honest with friends. I have not and did not give up on them. We pushed through, ignoring the doubts being shouted in our ears and bought costumes, continued rehearsals and painted our sets. As with every single theatre production I have ever experienced, it happened. Lines were learned, sets were finished, music was played and we made theatre happen in El Porvenir Friday December 19.

final show....years over
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I almost couldn’t believe it was happening, neither during nor after. But it did and we got grand applause. Besides the completion of the theatre piece was the execution of it, twice. As luck would have it, or divine intervention as is known to happen with theatre, a parallel mini project by Kallpa came to an end the 20^th of December…piggy backing never hurt anyone. After the kids finished their first performance among their own we suggested that they spread their success and enthusiasm and bring the show to another project and area of town. They incredibly said yes without another word. Saturday morning we packed the kids, 6 trees and one rock onto 5 mototaxis and made our way to Primero de Enero to finish out the year and microproject. There were a few nerves and a couple dashes for the door but the kids got over their fear and on with the show. Except for some minor problems from the sound team, we made it through.

backstage....where she is happiest
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What did I learn from this; once more to trust myself and why they sent me. Regardless of how many times I am questioned, head up. That theatre always happens if you keep going…it should be some new law of physics. That it is for the kids, not about us and our disagreements. And that there is always light at the end of the tunnel you just have to make it to the end.