Mes de Misión

A deep breath.

I had heard of the infamous Mes de Misión for a long, long time. At least since orientation back in July. Stories about how horrible and difficult an experience it is. Volunteers dropping weight all over the place. Breaking your hand. Stuff like that. At some point someone decided that all the new Andahuaylillas JV's would go to Tanca first, and as a part of this transition and learning, go on Mes de Misión with the Tacna volunteers. Dun dun dunnnnnn. Well, now Mes de Misión 2011 has come and gone, and though I did lose weight (and Rose broke her finger), it wasn't so bad in the end.

A little background. Mes de Misión started in 1972 after a big earthquake in '71 had wiped out an entire town up in the mountains. I think it was Father Fred or one of his companions who had the idea of going, taking some students, and working for earthquake relief. The tradition has continued ever since. Students who have just finished their 3rd year of secondary (equivalent to about freshmen in high school, 14-15 year olds) leave Tacna for an entire month of their summer vacation to do service work in a place of need. The two Father Fred schools participate in this: Miguel Pro and Cristo Rey. Myself, Seamus, Mo, Ashlen, Rose, and Mallory went with the Miguel Pro group to Ticaco, while Greg, Mateo, and Sam went to Puerto Grau with Cristo Rey (if you are wondering why the split, well, Cristo Rey is an all-boys school and it was deemed a very bad idea to send female volunteers there. Thank God.) From what I heard about Puerto Grau so far, it was burning hot, there were no toilets, and they only showered 3 times the entire month. I think I showered 11 times in ice cold water, after washing my hair in a sink. Sucks. But I'll let the boys tell their own.

First of all, Ticaco is a beautiful, beautiful place. It is a small mountain town some 3200 meters high (like 10,000 ft) with a large farming community. It is hot and sunny in the morning and then pouring rain and cold from 2pm onwards. Many of the people I encountered there were either very old (like in their 80's), or very young children. The young adults of the town seemed to have all moved out to Tacna to find better jobs. The work that we ended up doing there was simple: We kicked rocks. No really. We cleared the caminos that go up and down the mountains of the rocks that make those same caminos difficult to walk though, especially for the older generation. We spent day after day digging out boulders and shoveling or kicking smaller rocks. Occasionally, some groups would get to go pick ava beans in one of the chakras to help out the señora who was cooking for us. And we also had to gather our own leña, or firewood. That involved hour long hikes through rivers to get to the leña, and then climbing up the mountain again with the wood on your back. We had to do it, or we wouldn't have eaten. The time I went, I fell into the river, and one teen in my group, Leo, helped pull me out. It wasn't as bad as that sounds, but Leo is a real rock star and I was very appreciative. We also alternated doing catechesis lessons for the children in town, which was a nice break and really cute, though the children stopped coming after a while because they were needed to help work on the farms.

The work was boring most of the time, but it did help the community. Sometimes service is boring, but you gotta do it. The people who would walk by were very appreciative. One 80-year-old woman told us that a year ago she had broken her foot on a rock, and now she can walk so easily. It was beautiful to hear, and I think powerful for the students to witness.

That's not really what is difficult about Mes de Misión, though. The work is tiring sometimes, but its everything else that is difficult. Because for the kiddos, well, its easy what that month meant. It was their first time away from home, a chance to see another reality, to do a little good, and bond with each other. For a JV, it means something else. It means doing a lot for children who wont notice and wont care, will take advantage of you, and will whine about it all. Working harder than all of them, making sure everyone works, keeping groups together. Working out individual problems. Spending your free time teaching the kids who failed math, english, communications. Talking to individuals and being a role model. Being the nurse or treasurer. Making sure everyone will eat. All this to teen who will lie to your face, cheat on games, and steal food that is for the community. It means staying behind for stragglers, learning how to motivate them. Most of the kids will only work for points. They want rewards and avoid castigos. You cannot work that way. There is no reward apart from your experience. You work, you must work, because you believe that the little you do can help. Because you believe that we must help. Because you believe. Truth is not only what one believes but what one does.

For me, Mes de Misión also meant being present to the person right in front of me, though I will leave them soon. I'm not a teacher at Miguel Pro and I never will be, but I was asked to be an acesora on this trip and journey with these teens for one month, and so I tried. For some reason, the kiddos thought I was cool. I'm not sure why. But they liked me. I think it was because I would play basketball or soccer with them. One time I played soccer and completely shut down this one kid who was cherry-picking goals in the corner. I think the boys thought it was cool that a girl was playing well. Whenever I needed one kid in my group to work, I would take the shovel or pick and do the work that he was supposed to be doing. He would suddenly go, "No, Miss! Yo puedo."And he would work. I got a lot of "The Miss is strong" comments, haha. I guess I felt comfortable just being myself and just talking about the things those kids liked talking about, even if for me they were boring, or were only really about what boy or girl they liked, or simple things really. I was even "friends" with the Mean Girls... yes, there were definitely a small group of mean girls, like the movie, who actually talked to me about stuff. They also made fun of me relentlessly, and sometimes it frustrated me, but I've got the self-esteem to hold my own, at least. It was a special opportunity for me to help these girls see how their actions affected others, and though I don't think I got through to them, it was a start. I hope.

I had a couple very good conversations (in my broken spanish, though it is getting better) with one girl, Rebecca. She asked me about my life, I responded honestly. I asked her about her's. I asked her one day how she felt I could better motivate her peers to work, and she had some good ideas that I think worked. And then, there was an incident of theft. Someone had stolen food straight out of Mo's backpack. We later found out 5 students were involved, and well, Rebecca was one of them. I was pretty disappointed. But she asked me if I would talk with her, and we did. It was difficult, because I was very sick that day, and it was a heavy conversation, but she was asking herself the big questions of her actions, and I was asking her even bigger questions about who she is and who she wants to be. There were a lot of tears. It was very good. And I think I saw her grow in that moment.

I did get sick again during Mes de Misión. The sanitation during the month was, well, minimal. We used the same knives to cut everything, including the raw chicken. We also used laundry buckets for everything, food, laundry, carrying water down from the canal. I got something, and had diarrhea for two weeks. I missed out on a lot in the last week from illness. And there was almost nothing for me to eat apart from bread. The kiddos were gifting me their water. And we ran out of toilet paper. One day all I ate was a piece of bread and a potato. I got pretty weak. But I'm better now. All is well.

I dare say that I did well on Mes de Misión. I learned pretty quickly. If I had a second chance, I'd work harder, be a little more patient, and my spanish would be better. I would always motivate specific individuals based on their personalities, rather than making blanket statements to everyone. I would do a better job getting to know each of them, asking them more questions about their lives. I would seek out more opportunities to help without being asked, a current goal of mine right now. But I think I did well, especially for a first try.

Let me back up a sec. I felt comfortable just being myself. In fact. It was the first time I felt really comfortable being myself in this country. With all the experience of culture shock and getting incredibly sick all the time, I had felt for so long just dampened. The peruvians thought I was serious. I don't exactly know what it was, probably just the beauty of time, but I felt comfortable, alive, and able for the first time in country. And it was really good, really good.

I am very grateful to be back in Tacna now, with running water that doesn't get cut off all the time, food, drink, a shower, a space for myself away from children. I am incredibly grateful for the JV's with whom I have journeyed so far. I know Mes de Mision would have been much more tiring and frustrating without them. I am grateful for my host family and the ability to talk again with my own family back home. It is kind of bizarre, feeling like Tacna is a home to me, when I am on the brink of leaving this place for Andahuaylillas. But that is the reality of a JV, as Seamus reminded me. You are asked to build relationships, though you will leave them. Plant seeds that one day will grow, as Oscar Romero said. Now I just hope and trust that something, and someone, will grow.

Amen.