Project Preview: Pisco, Peru

As wonderful as it is to hostel hop, chat with travelers from Germany, Australia, England, Brazil, and explore the many wonders that Latin America offers, it does get wearing after a while. Estoy paseando - I am passing through Latin America, I tell locals in my broken Spanish, to get to know other cultures and to see the world before heading back to school. That is the short, Spanish version. But the longer English one? It is the journey not the arrival that matters . . . or something similar that has been plastered on the back of countless graduation tee shirts. Isn't that what they say?

So then, what is my quest? What is my reason for heading out on this trip? To learn Spanish, to get to know others' customs, to help, to leave a mark of good behind me . . . to . . . Perhaps, I still don't know.

But I keep coming back to the words of a friend I made on the plane flight from Guatemala City to Cancun, Mexico in December. His skin was dark black and his accent thick. And while his wrinkles and high rise slacks gave his age away, his perfect English and his profound thoughts came unexpectedly. So much for first impressions. He was from Trinidad, raised in a rural poor village, who had found his way into the M.I.T. Engineering school and had continued on to be a successful contractor in Boston. In his spare time he traveled the world, gracing every continent; and while he wouldn't tell me how many countries he had set foot in, I wouldn't be surprised if it was close to them all. We spoke about my trip, my dreams, my goals, and a lot about my confusion towards the meaning of it all. He told me: "As long as you leave something good behind in every place you go, you have a purpose to be living."

So with that constantly ringing in the back of my mind, I present you with our next project that we have serendipitously come upon by word -of-mouth from some fellow Danish travelers:

Pisco is located 160 miles from Lima and received the brunt of the 8.0 earthquake that swept through the southwestern coast of Peru in 2007. 80% of the city was destroyed in one day, leaving the town of 130,000 residents homeless, void of any sanitation facilities or medical care, and without food or water. 430 Pisco residents died, 148 of whom were attending mass inside the main cathedral which completely collapsed when the tremors hit. The initial response was chaotic, but teams from Peru's Government, world-wide NGOs, and the UN swept in with $37 million in relief aid.

And now? 18% of the population has fled the city, and while restoration efforts are continuing, more and more citizens are becoming frustrated with a situation that is still in shambles over 3 years later. Good article here if you're interested.

We are heading to Pisco tomorrow to volunteer with an organization called Pisco Sin Fronteras that has been working since 2008 to help rebuild the city little by little through the efforts of volunteers and travelers. After reading about the destruction and hearing horror stories from neighboring regions, it will certainly be interesting to see the devastation first hand and to be able to extend a helping hand; to leave a bit of good behind, even if for only a few weeks.