Pisco Update #2 - Plaza del Parque

Hey guys thought it was time to fill you in again with a little bit of information on Pisco Sin Fronteras at the moment. Things are very busy here and i have taken on a few extra responsibilities since arriving so that is keeping me busy in the evening and weekends as well. So i'm sorry for the delay in getting to you sooner.

A few weeks ago i took on the administrative position of project manager, which has kept me particularly busy in the office as well as out on site. Things are settling down a little bit now i have my head around it, but there are still many exciting things to learn that will keep me busy long into the nights after work. The position of project manager is one that i'm very excited to take on board, and one that will see me really have a positive impact on the future direction of Pisco Sin Fronteras. Working alongside the director, i am now responsible for coordinating the daily projects for all the volunteers and ensuring that everyone is supported and working productively in their projects. As well as managing the volunteers i also have the coordinating responsibility of finding the next projects and doing the background research to get new projects up and running. This means taking applications from new families/communities for help, conducting site assessment to check the requests, organising materials and budgets and deciding whether certain projects are in line with the current vision and mission of Pisco Sin Fronteras.

Apart from the new responsibilities as project manager i have also been involved in many other exciting projects in the last week weeks. A huge community project that has taken a lot of my time has been a new park a few blocks away from the volunteer house.

Mid way through March PSF started work on a park like no other that has been completed in PSF's history. Through the hard work and constant perseverance from the administration at PSF and at the Municipality of Pisco, PSF was able to secure some land in the district of Vista Alegre, San Pedro to build an enormous community based project. In conjunction with a lot of planning, and contributions of ideas from all volunteers, PSF has seen the development of Plaza del Parque sky rocket in the last three weeks. With a total land area of roughly 2300 square meters to work with, PSF has been carefully sketching out the plans to help maximise the space to best meet the needs of the local community. After researching what the community are after we factored many exciting projects into Plaza del Parque that are going to see this project run for at least the next couple of months.

It started off with marking out and preparing the site, and then straight after it getting stuck into the beginning stages. Stage one was pouring a 6m X 8m concrete slab to place a community centre modular on. This modular will be used in the future, in cooperation with the municipality, to run a program similar to 'Vaso de Leche' where the government provides employment and resources for a team to give out free milk and bread to children around the area. As well as constructing this modular a team of volunteers came through and designed some amazing murals to go on the modular and wall behind it, which is a truly spectacular showcase to the community with tradition cultural creations making the basis of the design.

While this was all going ahead many other things have started, and also been completed in the process. A big shade area with 4 picnic benches, made solely from recycled wood, now sit outside the community centre as a place that the community and children to sit and enjoy the park. Right next to the shade we made a volleyball pitch with sand from the local Pisco beach, which is regularly used everyday and afternoon that we are working in the park. These are some of the completed projects that are already up and running in the park and being utilised all the time.

At the moment an enormous playground is underway. There are currently 2 swings, two see-saws and the beginning stages of some grand platforms connected with bridges, ladders, poles and all sorts of fun things to keep the local kids amused and out interacting in the community.

In the next couple of months this park will continue to grow with more work going into the playground, an adult/adolescent fitness station area, more shade areas and a plaza area for everyone to enjoy as a public space to rest, relax and socialise. Something for everyone! Build it and they will come! That is the motto! Everyday we chip away a little more at the park, and everyday we see more kids, more families enjoying the space and more friendly smiles from the community members.

In my next update i will fill you in with the earthbag construction that has been underway and also the community development projects that we are steadily implementing such as; compost toilets and the educational programs that are running.

Take care and i hope this email finds you all happy and healthy. Don't forget to spread the word!

Welcome to Pisco!

Hola amigos... and welcome to the first monthly edition of the Pisco Sin Fronteras updates. Since arriving here 4 weeks ago there has been so much going on that it's been difficult to find time to sit down and take a breather. The emotional roller coaster that was my return has started to settle and now it is back to business like usual. After arriving in Santiago a month ago i spent the minimal amount of time there getting adjusted to the jet lag and time zone and then i was back on the bus and making my way to Pisco. The decision to take a bus directly from Santiago to Pisco was something i anticipated as being treacherous, but i definitely underestimated how draining it would be. All up the journey took me 50 hours after leaving Santiago Saturday morning and arriving back home in Pisco Monday afternoon; with only a small hour break at the Chilean/Peruvian border for a quick dinner. The whirlwind of emotions has been so indescribable that it has somewhat put me off sitting down to write about it because i don't know where to start. How do I describe finally arriving at a place that I have dreamt about every night for 14 months since last leaving? How can i describe coming home to a place that has seen me laugh, cry, bleed, sweat and make some of the most incredible human connections in my life? A place that has set me free and showed me a way of life i now try to embrace daily. A place that keeps me grounded and shows me the important things in life.

Well I'm finally back now and it feels great. It was quite a surreal feeling being back in a place that feels so familiar after such a long time of waiting. Initially upon walking through those big blue steel gates i had an overwhelming rush of emotions as i was greeted with the familiarity of Pisco Sin Fronteras, but the unfamiliarity of the new volunteers who has already formed their close bonds and relationships. I didn't feel that much of an outsider though because i know as well as anyone that this is just how PSF is. You become tight with the people that you bond over experiences with. Working hard, helping families and helping the community gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride, and you grow with those who you experience it with. I was very conscious of not coming back in full stream ahead and being the 'new guy' that knows everything. I cruised back in and reminisced about the old days when it seemed appropriate, but kept myself level headed and grounded when necessary. I'd explain the history, the story and the memories for those that were interested; and there are always people keen to understand how PSF has evolved and transitioned over the years. And transitioned it has....

Pisco Sin Fronteras has definitely changed in some ways, and stayed exactly the same in others. The vibe, the operations, the connections and the volunteers have not varied much. Those sorts of things constantly fluctuate depending on the type of vibe the volunteers bring with them. Over my last 5 months here in 2010 there were many constants, and many fluctuating variables that you just become used to. Immediately the difference i saw was in the number of volunteers. Although typically this time of year is classified as the quiet period, i was shocked to see only around 45 volunteers. But over the next couple of weeks i looked back and appreciated 45 volunteers as only just recently we have picked up our numbers from 29 back to 40 with a sudden influx of volunteers over the weekend.

Apart from the volunteer numbers there is definitely a visible change in the type of projects that PSF is heading towards. There are much less projects that work solely to assist families, and more that are directed at community projects and initiatives to support long term sustainability. This is a good thing, and something that PSF needs to focus on if it's going to be a viable resource for the community in the years to come. Don't get me wrong, there are still people who are in desperate need for assistance, and PSF still endeavours to help them when it can. There have been house projects on the board, but there is a lot more of a balance that leans towards the community initiatives. Compost toilets have been something big for PSF that is starting to build up a lot more momentum. An initiative that sees compost toilet structures going up in community areas that don't have access to sewage or water. This stops families from using buckets as toilets and decreases the unsanitary practice that spreads diseases such as Typhoid and Hepatitis. Along with compost toilets there has also been a lot more work going into community centres made out of earthbag construction processes or modular centres made out of recycled wood from the local steel factory.

My first day at PSF was a half day and i took myself for a solo cruise of the town to check out how things had been getting along since i was last here. A few more paved roads, a couple of new buildings, but apart from that there really hadn't been a lot of change. The biggest changes will be determined once i have the opportunity to get out of the main district of Pisco and into the areas that were really struggling last time i was here. The first working day back at PSF i was straight back into the mix and taking the reins as project leader on a modular house project.

The project was Felix's House, and it was a project that came with a bit of history for PSF. Felix is living in a modular house made by PSF after originally being moved from his terrible living conditions. This time he was being moved yet again. Unfortunately the land that he was assured and moved to is now being sold and this leaves poor Felix with absolutely nothing. What makes this even more difficult for Felix is that he is no longer able to walk after an accident many years ago, and he also has a colostomy bag with the unfortunate medical complications that follow. The project started like most projects do; we had to get our head around the logistical nightmare of how we were going to take down a man's house, move it, move all his possessions and move him in a day. As Felix is bed ridden it's not like he could walk out of his house to a friends for a couple of days while we worked, so we needed a plan. As we were moving his current house to a new location we needed to get everything ready at the new site. The first job was trying to find the new location as we heard a few different stories as to where the location was. We met a guy in Pisco who took us in a moto-taxi to a random patch of dirt just out of Pisco. He marked out the boundaries of where we could build with his technical equipment (rocks) and then said we were good to go. For a few days we were out at site clearing the rubble and levelling it to get ready for a concrete slab to go down. After getting the site prepped and setting up the form boards we put all our material orders in and were good to go. The next day didn't go down as smoothly as I'd planned my first concrete slab being poured, but in the end we were left with a pretty decent slab. Definitely not my finest work, but I'd certainly seen a lot worse in my time. A combination of the mixer stuffing up before our pour, not having access to running water and having to run around to neighbours with buckets throughout the day to secure it and also the fact that we started a little late in the day at the highest and hottest point. All in all though the job got done and we were now set to get our move on!

The first couple of days back at Felix's house were spent cleaning up things, getting his house organised and packed up, taking apart and loosening some parts that would make it faster for us to make a quick dissemble. The day before the big move we took his roof off. Up on the roof for a few hours in the blaring sun chipping away the tin concrete roof and moving it off to the backyard. Then we had to take apart the split bamboo that supports the concrete and then take out all the bamboo support poles. The whole time Felix lays in his bed underneath keeping his spirits high and chatting away to us.

The day of the move was an epic moment. It started a little slower than we'd planned but we basically had Felix ready to go in the morning and his house just about set to take down. We started dissembling the panels from the back of the house to the front and when we got a truck loads worth we transported them across to the new site where we had a team working to reassemble. This happened throughout the middle of the day and we had to take a small recess as we waited for the availability of the truck. After that things ran pretty smoothly and by the end of the day we had pretty much reassembled the modular walls. While we finished up some work at the new house another group of people got together and went back to Felix's house to pick him off the plain concrete slab that was a shadow of it's former self. By this stage it was getting late and we were moving him in the dark with our portable torches. As the truck came past the PSF house we grabbed a few more helping hands to assist with the move and we were off. It was a great end to what had been a really productive day, but it was also a little sad to see that the whole contents of Felix's house, which included Felix in his bed, could fit into the back of our truck. Felix, however, was high spirited as usual and was chirpy as we rattled long the bumpy back streets of Pisco. When we got to his new place it was a quick transition of his possessions and then we called it a night. Over the next couple of days we returned to Felix's to work on reassembling the roof and getting some of the smaller things organised. At the end of the week, and what had now been a great two weeks at work, we poured the concrete roof on his house and restored it to it's former glory.

That was just the construction side of the project, but there are still many things that can be done to help assist Felix. At the moment we are trying to work out his electricity situation and do a couple of little things to make his stay a little more comforting. It's hard to know there is so much more we could do to help Felix, and all the other projects we have assisted back in the day, but there has to be a line that we draw before we move onto the next project. With limited resources and volunteers, if we're to get work done, sometimes the tough calls need to be made. Having said that, i have kept the occasional eye on Felix as the weeks progress just to show my face and give him a bit of company.

All in all it was a great first two weeks being back at PSF. Since the completion of Felix's modular there has been some enormous developments into a big community project that I've been leading from day dot. That story in itself is worthy of a separate blog so you might have to wait another week as i get that organised. It's fair to say that it'll be one of the biggest projects that PSF has taken on board and i couldn't be happier to come into it at this time and know I'm going to see it through over the next 3-4 months. Take care for now and I'll be in touch!

Hasta luego!