Peace Corps Highlighted in Trujillo Newspaper

The following is an article featured in the main Trujillo newspaper, La Industria.  It highlights the work of Peace Corps in the region, focusing on our recent youth camps. I translated most of the article below.

Hundreds of Youth Share a Unique Experience

Peace Corps: More than a Vocation

Organization Founded by John F Kennedy Works in 8 Provinces of La Libertad

“Don’t wait for change, be the change.” Peace Corps promotes this motto to hundreds of youth in 13 regions of Peru, one of which is La Libertad, where 25 volunteers can be found working in 8 provinces: Otuzco, Sanchez Carrion, Santiago de Chuco, VIru, Gran Chimu, Ascope, Pacasmayo, and our own city.

The story began to write itself 51 years ago when the president John F Kennedy founded Peace Corps, a development agency supported by the United States, which provides American professionals who work on social development projects in communities who solicit their support.  The members of this organization are currently working in 79 different countries.

Within Peru there is an initiative with Peace Corps volunteers working in environmental management, water and sanitation, youth development, small business development, and community health.

The regional coordinator of Peace Corps, Sandra Rivasplata, explained that there have been many years of intense work in the design and implementation of projects based on the reality of each community with a strong emphasis on community inclusion.  “Our first efforts were focused on combating chronic child malnutrition, which led us to become authorities on the theme and allowed us to expand our lines of action.”

Peace Corps works prioritizing interventions benefitting children, women and small businesses, focusing on workshops and educational sessions.  Annually, the volunteers facilitate two camps with student leaders from the region, one named ALMA (Leadership Activities for Young Women) and VALOR (Leadership Activities for Young Men).

In these camps the youth spend four days learning about diverse topics including; leadership, self esteem, youth entrepreneurship, goal setting and life planning, vocational orientation, and health (sexual/reproductive health, teen pregnancy prevention, etc.) sharing experiences with other youth from the coast and mountains from the region, converting the camps into a great space of sharing and learning amongst the youth.

This year the first camp was held with young women with the principal focus of vocational orientation, including a vocational tour where youth visited four different institutes and universities and listened to presentations about scholarship opportunities, motivating them to continue their studies for a better future for themselves and their families.

The Facts-

There are 8655 Peace Corps volunteers in the world

240 Peace Corps volunteers serve in Peru

33 Volunteers are in the La Libertad Region

Escuela de Padres

For the last two years I’ve been working extensively with the youth of Poroto on everything from health promotion to environmental education, cultivating meaningful relationships and trust between myself and the adolescents of Poroto.  However, the amount of time students spend in school or personally with me is minimal.  Our root values and beliefs stem from our families and homes.  Despite behavior-change attempts or educational programs, if we don’t reach out to families and parents we’ll be fighting a losing battle against promoting positive lifestyle habits and practices.  

The thought of working with parents seemed overwhelming at first; not only am I 24 years old with no children of my own, but I also come from a very different culture, especially when considering familial trends and parenting styles.  What did I have to offer to these parents? Furthermore, even if I did have valuable information to share, who would listen?  I had planned on doing an Escuela de Padres series in my local school since arriving, but it took several personal encounters to give me real motivation to organize the project.

 A little over a year ago, I was working in the health post when one of my favorite teenage boys comes in.  He was crying and inconsolable, which was extremely atypical from his usual cheery demeanor.  I spoke to him in private with the nurse and after calming down he confessed he had misplaced his phone and his mom was going to hit him again tonight if he couldn’t find it.  He expressed this happens on a regular basis and he was terrified of going home.  On the outside, this boy seems well-adjusted, happy, at the top of his class; someone who I expect to overcome many of the obstacles in his life.  However, if he’s battling continual abuse at home, what long-term effect will that have on his self-esteem, confidence, and abilities? This is just one small example, but it helped me realize that no amount of sessions or education with youth can change the way parents communicate with their children.  I couldn’t leave Poroto without trying to engage actively with parents.

After this interaction and several similar encounters, I decided to coordinate with my local school and health post to organize comprehensive parent-education workshops for parents of both elementary and high school. Peruvian schools are technically mandated to have Parent Education sessions, but like dozens of other programs, they conveniently ignored this requirement.  I started by meeting with all the teachers and principal of the school to determine relevant issues and concerns that affect parents and their relationships with their children in Poroto.  After extensive brainstorming and planning we launched our program. Working with parents and captivating their attention isn’t easy, and I’ve heard a long list of failures with parent-related activities, so I was determined to ensure parents’ attendance and participation.  I solicited the support of teachers, the principal, and the health post to encourage parents to take advantage of these workshops, and we began about this time last year. 

Working with the nurse and psychologist from my health post we’ve been able to facilitate discussions on everything from adequate disciplinary practices, talking to your children about the changes of puberty/adolescence, preventing teen pregnancy, alcoholism, promoting nutrition, and dealing with domestic abuse.   The three of us have worked really well together, complementing each other’s knowledge and skill-set.  Johan’s professional knowledge of psychology and familial relationships gives credibility to our programs while my enthusiasm and non-formal education activities help parents feel comfortable to share and express their concerns.  I also know most of their children by name, so they’re more open to comment on personal anecdotes.  I’ve found myself smack in the middle of dozens of bizarre conversations with parents, tackling taboo topics and laughing through uncomfortable situations.  Never in my life did I think I’d be in a room full of Peruvian parents facilitating a session about talking to your kids about sex, but I’ve put aside my verguenza and jumped right in.  The Escuela de Padres program has not only allowed parents to learn new parenting techniques and diffuse tough familial situations, but also provided an outlet to share experiences and advice.  This program has also served to bridge the gap between the health post, school, and families, which I hope will make families feel more comfortable to seek out professional help and assistance when necessary.

Our attendance has been consistent and participation is active after a bit of encouragement.  The opportunity to work one-on-one with over 100 parents from my town has provided insight into a whole new realm of the community and its dynamics.  I may not have children of my own, but somehow these Peruvian parents have come to trust me and together we’ve shared many memorable moments.