Gringos
Gringos - the moderately offensive term for white people, but one that is said through a cheeky grin and with the loving eyes of the old ladies at the San Martin community. The people here have been so kind to us, even though they have so little. San Martin is a small of community of approximately 70 people, lying about 1 hour out of Lima centre. The conditions are terrible, with no electricity or running water, and no real houses, just what can be made from the scraps of wood and materials found in the government rubbish dump that these people have settled beside. We have been in the community every day since I last updated... helping them out practically with the work in the community hall. We have been laying a floor there (our new area of expertise) as well as fixing up the play park, and having some time with the kids. It really is a priviledge to meet these people every day and see the smiles on their faces. Despite being a very poor place, there really is a sense of peace there, possibly due to the more mountainous location and the relaxed way of life. The work has been tiring, but also rewarding today as we saw our first signs of progress. The Peruvian way of working doesn´t always make sense to me... but we have to go with their flow, even if it does means continously shifting rocks from one place to another! I will be back in UPC university tomorrow, with a few of the students that we met last week, while the majority of the team continues the work in the community. I hope that we will be able to complete the work here before our time is up, in an effort to try and make the lifes of these poor Peruvians a little brighter.
