At the District Conference...

The conference for Rotary District 4450 was held this year at the beautiful Las Dunas resort in Ica, where your beloved GSE team spent the weekend.

The conference represents the pinnacle of a district governor's year, celebrated together with a special representative of the President of Rotary International. It provides an opportunity for discussion of key needs in the community and larger society as well as the projects the various clubs are working on -- and of course a chance for Rotarians from different clubs to become better acquainted.


We arrived on Friday in time to relax a bit before the opening dinner, where we heard from Rotary leaders at many levels as well as a representative from the nonprofit group Agua Limpia, which works together with governments and other groups to ensure the sustainability of their water projects.

On Saturday, we took advantage of both the local industry (Ica is wine and pisco country) and terrain (sand dunes, desert) as we visited a local vineyard in the morning and went sandboarding at sunset.

There was quite a bit of wind up at the top and the sand curled in waves and burned a little as it hit our skin. But we had an incredible view from up there (see our hotel below) and had a lot of fun learning the ropes of sandboarding and getting some practice in.
It was tough to get all of the sand off our bodies, but we managed to clean up for the "Cena de Gala" that night, where we danced all night with the Rotarians to the sounds of the famous Orchestra Espectaculo de Joselito.


And then Sunday morning we woke up to make another presentation, pack up our things, and head back to Lima to meet our new host families... And now begins our last week. Incredible how time flies.

GSE visits Mamacona

Sunday morning, the beginning of week 3, the the GSE Team arrives at Mamacona Horse Ranch, bright-eyed and the horses were bushy-tailed. Gladys de Rojas de Odar of the San Francisco de Borja Rotary Club accompanied us during this adventure. Mamacona is a private horse ranch. Gladys owns two award-winning horses at the ranch, which we were able to ride. Some GSE members found this adventure to be a little more than what they expected...



The team spent the afternoon in San Pedro. San Pedro is an urbanezaceon located on the Pacific Coast. Scattered along the coast are approximately 15 seafood eateries. We indulged in Peruvian Seafood dishes at Zoilita, the locals favorite place for lunch. Quincy and Pablo played soccer with the children on the beach sand. Final score 5 to 4, the children win!!!

Cuy = Guinea Pig

They warned us not to eat it but we did...

CUY FRITO


It has a beautiful, crispy golden crust - like fried chicken, but with claws intact. And it's a bit more moist and stringy. Apparently, given that the animals breed like rabbits and can be raised in an urban environment, selling them is a profitable business.

Andean peoples have been consuming cuy for centuries, though initially it was reserved for special occasions or ceremonial meals -- like the Last Supper, of course.

No, really. Yesterday we visited the Monastery of San Francisco in the historic center of Lima and saw an interesting rendition of Jesus's last meal with the apostles. No photos were allowed inside the walls of the monastery, but you can see the painting here.

If the thought of guinea pig at the dining table makes you uneasy, I invite you to spend a few minutes thinking about dessert instead... for instance, the last morsel of "pye de limon," with its decadent touch of meringue on top.

Until next time...

GSE Gets a Lesson in History

Our team started the day at the Municipalidad de Pueblo Libre, where we were greeted by a member of Pueblo Libre's Rotary Club and the Mayor's assistant. We then walked across the street to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia Del Peru in Pueblo Libre.



Founded in 1822, the museum is the largest and oldest state museum in Peru. It covers Peruvian cilivization from Prehistoric times to the Colonial and Republican periods.
Over 100,000 artifacts are housed there, including ceramics (from 2800 BC), carved stone figures and obelisks, metalwork, jewelry, and textiles.









After the museum, two Rotarians took us to the local primary school in Pueblo Libre, Colegio Madre Loreto. Since the state delayed in getting the funds to build the school, the Pueblo Libre Rotary Club started the process and began to build the school until state funds finally came in. The children were delighted to see us and greeted us at every opportunity, practicing their English with their "hellos", "good byes" and "good mornings." Some of them even asked us for our phone numbers and addresses.





While some young students surrounded Kristy and Madeleine, the "Quincy Perkins Fanclub" jumped at the opportunity to take a picture with their favorite group member.





The Pueblo Libre Rotarians continue to support their local school with materials as state funds unfortunately arrive inconsistently.





After our visit to the school, we had a delicious lunch of lomo saltado (see Madeleine's post on food below).....yuuuuuuummmmmmmmm!!

Evening came quickly and it was time to visit another Rotary Club, this time Club El Rimac. The dinner was held at the 5-star Hotel Novotel in downtown Lima, and it turned out to be another splendid night with our new friends. The team's fifth presentation was very smooth and the dialogue we shared with Club Rotario El Rimac reassured our convictions that although we live may live in different continents, the mission of The Rotary Club is still the same. El Rimac, the club of Governor Hildebrando Bustamante, is led by Marcela Ventura de Noel and supports and funds many projects throughout Peru.

El Peru

GSE GOES GREEN

The GSE went completely green on Tuesday as we visited San Borja, which is a district of Lima known for its environmental initiatives and promotion of healthy living. The town, known for the location of Peru´s Pentagon and Defense Buildings, now boasts of the most modern self-sufficient irrigation system, water management, and recycling programs in all of Peru.





The focal point of the town´s green movement is the park which sits directly in the middle of the town. The town has 2 small canals (no larger than 2 feet wide at any point) that crosses the town in the shape of an X. These canals carry non-potable water to the town´s foliage. The water is treated in the park by way of biological, physical and mechanical processes. Below are photos of the rocks that pull different minerals out of the water, ponds that contain specific lillies that pull other chemicals out of the water, and a large holding tank that supplies the canals.




The park also has 3 different jogging paths (3km, 12km, and 21km) that are clearly marked and wind around the city and Pentagon. There are also small outdoor public gyms that pepper the city.



In a stroke of irony, we found out that the reason why the park could exist was because of the large POWER LINES that run through the town and cannot be developed around.



Among the minigolf putt-putt course, the health center, the outdoor gyms, and rest areas is the park´s Christmas Tree which is lit by 10 cycles below, where spinning classes are held each morning between 6am and 9am. The electricity that is generated by the cycles and stored in a large battery park is used to light the tree as well as provide electricity to the speakers that play music throughout the park and also some of the lighting.





All in all, it was a fascinating experience and we are thankful to the city of San Borja for giving us the opportunity to share ideas.

Lima from La Universidad Ricardo Palma

Villa El Salvador

On May 5th, the group visited the shanty town of Villa El Salvador on the outskirts of the municipality of Lima, Peru. In the heart of this Peruvian slum is a small school that hosts extremely poor children and teaches mothers how to read and write. To say that what we experienced there was earth-shattering is an understatement.



The city itself, in its broad reach, rests in what looks to be the far side of the moon. The earth is brown dirt. Everywhere. Not a tree in sight and the dusts rolls up onto everything that passes through it.



The school is comprised of 9 rooms. Each with minimal supplies. Teachers not only teach reading and writing but wear many other hats. They act as nurses, therapists, chefs...teaching the children how to take care of themselves, wash properly, eat properly. Meals are served in the classrooms and prepared by the teachers themselves.



Rotary Santiago de Surco took in us in a small bus to the town and we arrived as the school was preparing to celebrate Mother´s Day. Mothers who attended classes there were given roses and a raffle was held where each one was presented with a simple gift. Like a wristwatch or a picture frame.



We walked through the streets of this barren town, past nailed-together homes some of which held more than 20 kids under one tin roof. It is a town of mothers. The fathers have left, sometimes out of desperation or sometimes in search of work. We were invited into the home of one such woman who wakes at 4AM each morning in order to make milk which she then sells at 6AM from the front door of her home.



We were all brought to tears at some point by the experience. Some by the dispair, some by the optimism. There was quite a bit of silence as we all tried to process the emotions that flooded in...

GSE team enjoys another full ROTARY day

The GSE team started their second full week in Lima with a very long but fulfilling day, accompanied by their friends from the Brena Rotary Club. The day started at the local zoo, El Parque De Las Leyendas. The park, founded in 1964, is unique in that it was built around Huacas (pictured below).



The Huacas were used by pre-Inca civilizations like the Limas (0-600). El Parque is home to 2140 animals from over 260 different species, representing Peru's 3 main natural regions: Coastal Zone (Costa), Highlands (Andes o Sierra), and Eastern Lowlands/Jungle (Selva).
After another great lunch, the team visited 2 projects with the Brena Rotary Club. The first, Los Ninos de la Calle, is a program established for kids who live in the streets of Lima. The run-down, two-story building currently houses 22 children from the ages of 8-22. The children have been abandoned, dropped off there, or have parents who are drug addicts or alcoholics. They are there voluntarily and may leave if they choose to. However, if they choose to stay, the only requirement is that they attend school everyday. After school, the front of the building (pictured below) serves as a restaurant that the children run, operate, and administer with the help of their 2 adult counselors.



The children cook and serve the meals to the local customers. The Rotary Club of Brena hopes to help the program by providing them with new cooking materials and equipment, as well as uniforms for their restaurant.
The team then visited El Centro Educativo Beatriz Cisneros, a center that specializes in meeting the basic needs of children with physical, mental and emotional disabilities such as mental retardation, down-syndrome, autism, etc. The Brena Club hopes to help the center by providing equipment for teachers and therapists as they work to help the children.
The Brena Club welcomed the group at their weekly meeting, and the night ended with traditional Peruvian Chinese food called Chifa.



The team will visit the Rotary Clubs of Nuestra Senora de Gracia, Pueblo Libre, and El Rimac to close out their busy week.

Recap and Overview

The Miraflores District is one of the main tourist attractions with its stunning views, beautiful restaurants, and rocking nightlife. El Parque del Amor (Park of Love) is pictured above and El Faro(The Lighthouse) is pictured below. You can walk along the cliffs which rise out of the ocean at a height of around 300 feet giving you a beautiful 180 degree view of the coast of Lima.



We have presented to 3 different Rotary Clubs so far including Rotary Sunrise, Rotary Breña, and Rotary Santiago De Surco. Our presentations are given in Spanish with the exception of Rotary Sunrise which has members from all over the world and was presented in English at the Marriott Lima Hotel.



Our daily schedule includes trips to universities, museums, restaurants, Incan ruins, more restaurants, Rotary Clubs, and of course Rotary projects. We will be posting more on each of these excursions in the coming days. Stay tuned!