Sierra2Costa: 55 Kids, Parents and Ancash Volunteers Head to the Beach

 

It all started, and I know I've said this before—with a casual conversation.

Beth and I were talking in Chavin about what type of field trip we wanted to take the DREAM kids on... Ideas were tossed around—glacial lakes, archaeological ruins, etc. Nothing was that inspiring—our group's name is Sueña (DREAM)—and would any of these trips help kids dream bigger? All right—archaeological ruins are cool and all but do you stay up at night thinking about them?

Glacial Lakes are neat but common here in Ancash.

No, we needed a trip that would lengthen the horizon, push people's limits. Beth said it, and as soon as the words were out, the decision was made. The Beach.

Ancash has its very own beach: “La Playa de Tortugas”--Beach of the Turtles—oddly enough there are no turtles there I know of, just a statue of one. So the idea was hatched (just like a turtle)--we were going to take 20+ kids and their families to the Playa Tortugas.

If I've learned one thing in Peace Corps (and in my Peace Corps Reading)--a great idea needs even better execution. The Brooklyn Bridge took 14 years to complete. Colin Diver hit the wall working for Mayor Kevin White trying to implement too many progressive ideas (this is a reference only Duffy will probably get). Anyway—we had the great idea, we just needed the execution now.

Luckily, a year and eight months in, we have great friends. Liz and Miguel are our two Huaraz DREAM Mentors, and their committment to the program is nothing short of impressive. As soon as they heard about the trip, they were pumped and ready to attack the details—permission slips, bus rentals, food prep, meetings etc.

Beth and I started putting the financial resources together—our Kids2Kids Grant (thank you the wonderful sponsors back in the US!), Money from our “Taste of Huaraz” fundraiser we did last July, and volunteer donations to put us over the finish line.

Together, we haggled prices, wrote the oft-hated document the solicitude for free entrance to a museum on the way to the beach, held meeting after meeting with parents, reminded people they had to wake up at 4:30 a.m to leave, coordinated combis, readied lunches, and then let the dice fall as they may.

We started the day heading to Chavin at 4 a.m to go pick everyone up. EVERYONE (about 45 parents and kids) was perfectly on time, ready to go.

We got on the combis and headed down in the dark. Arriving at the bottom of the hill, one of the kids, full of excitement asked, “Is this the Beach?” Along with the parents, I laughed about this beautiful question.

We picked up our tour buses and the rest of the Peace Corps Volunteers at about 6:00 and the journey began. The trip from Sierra to Coast is a beautiful one where you get to see the Cordillera Blanca mountain range (see above). I sat next to my best friend Emily an 8 year old, told her that no, Huaraz wasn't the final destination :), and woke up when she poked me to tell me “quiero vomitar”-- “I want to throw up.” I've never gotten a bag quicker in my life. Fortunately no one got too sick and we made it down to the coast in a few hours.

We breakfasted in Pariacoto—and then headed to the Sechín ruins—I know I ripped on them earlier, but archaeological sites are awesome-especially when you're heading to a beach after. On the trip between the ruins to the beach I was asked the spanish equivalent of “are we there yet?” “¿ya llegamos?” fifty-eight thousand times. I answered happily each and every time “almost! :).” I'm not sure who was more excited, the kids, the parents, or myself. For many of the parents, this was their first time going to the beach, and their excitement was equally palpable.

One kid the whole way down, kept exclaiming “mango, WOW, mango” whenever he saw a fruit tree. The change of landscape was exciting—and the trip had just begun.

We got to the beach and the kids immediately rushed to the water, everyone dipping their toes or getting surprised by a wave doing that for them. Smiles came on, and people started ditching their warm-weather clothes to get a taste of the salt water. Our knees only safety rule was followed for the most part.

Hugo and Alex, two ten year olds stayed in the water for about 4 hours each. At the end of the day, the ever confident Hugo thanked me, saying, “Now I can swim, thanks for teaching me earlier.” I honestly didn't know I was that effective of a swim instructor haha. Everyone packed lunches—rice and chicken, guinea pig and potatoes—and I was lucky enough to be invited to some—that was a first for me—eatin guinea pig on the Pacific Ocean :). Kyle and I escaped for a plate of ceviche as well—even my stomach was excited to be at the beach and digested ceviche on top of guinea pig.

At the end of the day we gave out t-shirts and prizes to each member of team Sueña and thanked the parents for the support that made this trip, and this group possible.

I've never seen these kids so happy. Most of them had never swam before and thoroughly enjoyed their first experience. I hope the trip showed them that when you participate in something positive—when you learn about health, educate yourself, and unite together as friends (the nouns and adjectives that make up the word SUEÑA) –your horizons get bigger. I hope they learn that when you participate, things happen—as dad always says “you never know what will happen when you leave the house.”

We didn't meet a single Peace Corps Goal yesterday. There aren't any numbers to put on our tri-annual report for Congress. We didn't train anyone to do anything. We didn't capacitate anyone in nutrition, sexual health or hygiene. We didn't give a charla. We didn't teach a lesson. We didn't form leaders. We shared. We formed circles, holding hands, jumping up and down in the waves. We threw the bigger kids into the waves, we held the littler ones on our shoulders. We had fun, we ate, we smiled, joked, celebrated the kids' achivements. In short, we had a beach day, together. Just a casual day, that we'll never forget.