Pisco Sin Fronteras

Is Pisco a beautiful place? If beauty is defined by the amount of fancy houses and expensive cars a suburb has; by the high class restaurants and shopping centres; or maybe even the amount of nice parks and gardens that can be explored during quiet afternoons; then no it isn't. But if you measure beauty by the character, the comradely, the good will and the unity that this town produces day in and day out in desperate times of need; then Pisco is amazingly beautiful. This place is a roller-coaster of mental, physical and emotional challenges. You have your days when you feel on top of the world, and you have the days where you want to cry. But at the end of the day it's the smiles, the laughter, the tears and the efforts from volunteers all over the world ready to make a sacrifice and commitment that make this place unique.

Pisco Sin Fronteras is a place where the expression 'blood, sweat and tears' is taken in its most literal sense. People often use this saying to describe a time when great mental, physical and emotional strengths are pushed to the very limits, and extraordinary results are produced. This expression epitomises the non-profit volunteer organisation Pisco Sin Fronteras and the work from all the volunteers that come through the doors and make this place amazing. Volunteers come to PSF with the intention of only staying for a couple of weeks, and they end up staying for months and months.

For people who are unaware of the situation in Pisco, Peru, here is a bit of a back story. In the evening of August 15^th 2007 Pisco was hit with a catastrophic earthquake measursing 8.0 on the Richter Scale. As a result, 80% of Pisco was destroyed and over 500 people perished. However, for Pisco, the long-term damage far outweighed the short-term crisis. For the local people of Pisco this earthquake took away not only family, friends and houses; but it reduced the community to nothing.

Some of you may remember reading or hearing about the devastation in Pisco 3 years ago; or some of you may have never heard about it all. Whether you had or hadn't heard about the devastation in Pisco is not the problem; the problem is that Pisco is still a place in desperate need of assistance. And this isn't just a problem with the troubles of Pisco, this is a problem with many large scale tragedies around the world. At the time they are the buzz word amongst newspapers, people, organisations and sponsors getting on-board to help out the cause. By no means is this assistance without appreciation, but what many people seem to forget is that once the media buzz leaves these places for the next tragedy (think Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, etc) the former place is often forgotten in their wake. The reality that people need to understand is that the work is far from completed in these areas of need. Pisco received support in the beginning of the rebuilding stage, but by no means a feasible amount to make this city a minute percentage of it's former self.

What the people of Pisco Sin Fronteras are trying to do is get Pisco operational again. This does not always mean clearing rubble, digging trenches, pouring concrete, laying bricks, constructing roofs, hanging doors and making windows; even though we do all this work. PSF tries to make Pisco sustainable and able to self manage. PSF cannot be here forever. Everyday we overcome obstacles to remain here as long as we can and support the people of Pisco, but it doesn't come easy. Lack of funding is our primary concern; next is a shortage of professionally skilled labour.

Now, after two years in operation, Pisco Sin Fronteras is about trying to make Pisco sustainable. At the beginning it was all about getting in and helping where they could, however now a lot of the work at PSF is not just about helping to rebuild Pisco, but helping the people and the city help itself. Whether it's perfecting the bio-diesel project so locals can learn how to make their own fuel from left over cooking oils, whether it's teaching people how to make their own soap to enhance their hygiene with the possibility of turning it into a profitable resource, whether it's teaching English in the community to help expand the possibilities of employment or maybe it's passing on some skills to local volunteers who can now take these skills back to their communities and carry on the rebuilding process. What ever the project, PSF is here to help.

Pouring concrete for a new floor

From Torquay i work as a high-school teacher in the outer-metropolitan suburbs of Melbourne. I was never good when it came to construction and building. A lot of my friends are in trades and amongst them i became quite a running joke when it was considered i could be capable of skilled hands on work. However in the last month at PSF i have learnt some amazing skills that I'm putting to use for the people of Pisco. I'm being trained in the finer arts of concrete mixing and pouring (this includes pouring floors, roofs and columns), I've built roofs out of traditional sugar-cane, laid bricks (somewhat unsuccessfully in the beginning) and refined my power tool skills. Everyday i get the chance to learn new skills and help pass on my skills to those around, however at the end of the day everybody is here to help and is equal. Whether you are a professional in your field or a first timer; everybody has the opportunity to contribute to this fantastic cause. Even the people who make up our administration (all initially volunteers themselves) continually emphais how anybody who walks into PSF has the ability to make a difference and step up to positions of responsibility and leadership. This is not a bureaucracy, this is a family.

Modular Home Project

Since being here i have been witness to some amazing stories and examples of these highs and lows. Upon my first week i was unfortunate to have missed out on one of the most amazing projects to date in PSF history. It was called 'Extreme Make-Over: Pisco' and it involved building a new house for a family who, for the past three years, have been living in a tent that the immediate disaster relief supplied. With the work of 2 dozen volunteers, over the course of a single week, PSF were able to construct a house for a family for a little over $500. This process is done with a little bit of hard work and a lot of resourcefulness. PSF receives shipping pallets from the local steel factory in Pisco. From there they dissemble the wood and reuse it to build wall panels. Once they have enough panels for a house they pour a concrete floor and pop the panels together like a jig-saw puzzle. An extremely straight forward project and now a family is left with a house and an opportunity to improve their standard of living. This should bring home some reality for a lot of people. Before i left for my global travels i could waste this amount of money over the weekend with a good night out, a bit of shopping and some irresponsibility. Now i look at the amount of disposable money we are privileged to back home and can't but help feel guilty when i know how far this can go for people in need.

Get out there...and get it done!

This remarkable story is just one of many. In my short time here i have seen many special people enter this magical organisation, I've seen many people leave and i know in the times ahead there will be plenty more similar stories. Most people don't leave this place without a teary eye, without a heartfelt story or without some experience that will change their perspective on life forever. I have not set a date for my departure, and to be honest i don't want to think about it. This place is hard work, but being in this environment makes me feel privileged to be a part of it. The hard work does not come without the rewards. Para los niños! 

* If anyone is looking for further information or wants to donate please go to the website http://www.piscosinfronteras.org/