It will be impossible to describe in words all that transpired today. We left our cottage "Shangri La" to a soft rain which would follow us throughout the morning. At Umasbamba Javier and Gary directed us to the house we would be working on and then showed us another home and the completed projects there from a prior group. The second home had a garden built inside a courtyard and another structure built to house a guinea farm. The local delicacy would be grown and sold to restaurants in Cuzco. It was necessary for EF that the family assistance include some income-generating project. In this way, the family had to create a way to grow their income and build the community. Our project would include painting, constructing a garden, and plastering an exterior wall designed to become a guest quarters for tourists.
First, however, we marched through the rain to the primary school where the children in grades 1-6 were just starting recess. They sang for us and danced with us before we shared hot chocolate and bread in one of the classrooms. The teachers, who are employed by the government, live in Cuzco and Chinchara and commute to the school each day. The hours run from 8:15 to 1:15 daily and the school year runs from March till December 20. (Students "summer break" includes Christmas.) We presented the principal with Ball High lanyards and could only stay a short while due to government regulations. EF has helped the children who want to pursue 'high school' (our secondary) in Chinchara which is six miles away by providing bicycles to students who pass the sixth grade and enroll in the next level.
Back at our project home, we divided into three teams and began working. The paint was clay-based and the family had mixed in local soil to create the desired color. One group of students grabbed rollers and began spreading the runny solution onto the adobe walls. A second team grabbed muddy plaster and literally threw it by handfuls onto bricked walls. The plaster was them smoothed by the men of the family who are builders by trade. A third team set to work measuring and cutting wood for a garden fence. Fence posts had to be selected and cut from a pile of limbs and then post holes were dug with crude tools in the rocky soil. When we broke for lunch at noon, the painting was mostly done and the plastering was finished. We ate more quinoa soup and had a vegetable medley coated with a mushroom-based sauce in the community center where the mamacitas regularly meet. Afterwards, seven students chose to stay on the bus. The cumulative effects of altitude, hiking, manual labor, some sunburn, and a strange diet had taken its toll. The rest of the group finished painting then helped with the garden project which was the most complex. The plastering team broke apart mud bricks to create the foundation for future plaster made of mud and straw. They looked like a prison work crew slinging pick axes!
The garden came together at last as students took turns hammering and sawing. Everyone helped turn the soil and add potting mix. EF had purchased flowers for the matron of the house and she directed the students as they each took a turn helping plant them in rows. She almost cried as she delivered her thanks to us in Quechua, and the students responded with equal emotion when they gave her a congratulatory hug to conclude our time together.
The day had been a huge success. Peru is now more than just llamas and Machu Picchu to these students...it is a nation of gracious people who demonstrate 'reciprocity' as a way of life. The village of Umasbamba will hold a significant place in our memories.
With the red clay soil of the village baked to or clothes, shoes, and faces we drove back to Cuzco for our final night in Peru. Dinner was at a restaurant overlooking the main square. The night lights and ambiance of street vendors facing the majestic cathedral took everyone's breath away. We are scheduled to return in the morning for a walking tour before starting our long journey home to Texas. The students miss their families, but they will also miss Peru.
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