It is encouraging to see youth who are enthusiastic and committed to imroving their role in their communitiies; this weekend I atended a Youth Congress in Trujillo that was sponsored by Ceprocut, a Peruvian NGO that promotes youth engagement. We left Poroto bright and early and the 30 youth piled on two packed combis headed to the department capital. Youth from the surrounding districts of Laredo and Simbal were also in attendance to share their opinions and visions for the future and listen to a series of lectures and workshops from local leaders. If I’ve learned anything about Peruvian events it is that they wouldn’t be complete without balloons and loud noises. Of course, this was no different; shortly after arriving we were all armed with whistles, balloons, noisemakers, and balloon animals as we were led out to the Plaza de Armas in Trujillo to participate in a parade promoting youth involvement and informed voting. We circled the center of the city as video cameras captured our marching and chanting. Of course, if you give over 100 teenagers balloons and noisemakers, you can only imagine how their concentration will hold for the following 4 hour series of lectures. Anyway, the information presented was interesting and the youth had a chance to conduct a workshop to brainstorm different suggestions and objectives they had for the current electoral candidates. They presented these proposals to the audience and will seek to obtain the signatures of the candidates to indicate their commitment to youth initiatives.

This weekend was also the Festival de la Primavera in Trujillo, which is referred to as the city of Eternal Spring. Although the foggy weather in Trujillo seemed somewhat ironic for this festival, it was still a cool spectacle to observe. The highlight of the festival was a huge parade encircling the city that featured elaborate floats carrying the “queens” of different countries. Each queen wore an elegant gown and waved to the crowd as they passed by, pulled on their float by a tractor and carefully observed by military personnel or security guards.