Peru – Reflections
Two years ago, I printed out a big colour map of South America, stuck it on my office pinboard and put a large pin through Lima. “Someday”, I told my work colleagues and manager, “I’m going to go there and teach chess to the kids.”
My daily workplace mantra was met with the scepticism it deserved by most of my peers, and if nothing else, I thought, at least my map made a colourfully unconventional decoration to the Australian Treasury workplace. But a lot can happen in two years, and a series of unlikely events (to misquote Lemony Snicket) pushed and prodded a path to Peru en route to my new home in Amsterdam. When I found a grass-roots volunteer organisation in Lima that had just started a chess program but was in need of a teacher – well, seriously, what are the odds?!
My pro bono experiences to date had been pretty mainstream: various fundraising events, charity drives and the odd gratis chess exhibition here or there. Nothing down and dirty, so to speak, and certainly nothing outside of my comfort zone. To be honest, I wasn’t sure the Light and Leadership Initiative would live up to the high expectations I’d set for the experience, nor whether I’d be able to cope with the lifestyle after being conditioned to quite a cushy set-up in Canberra.
I was not only proven wrong, but the experience completely surpassed my expectations. It was not without its hurdles, to be sure, and there were times (particularly in the early days ) when I became a little disillusioned with just how much tangible ‘good’ I was making on the kids’ lives, occasionally accompanied with a “What on earth am I doing here?!” moment. It’s all well and good to make a dozen kids laugh and enjoy themselves for an hour of sports, but how does that make a long term difference if eleven of them will still never finish school?
Eventually, though, I came to terms with the fact that small, grass-roots organisations working ‘on the ground’, while not making the macro impacts of multilateral bodies, play a critical role for closing the poverty gap. Towards the end of my stay, there was something quite heartening about watching a beloved student finally get the hang of long division, hold a basic conversation with me in English, or start teaching their neighbours how to play chess.
Still, despite flying to Peru with a strictly giving mentality, I took far more away from the experience than I could have predicted. Starting with the small, the living conditions, surprisingly, proved not only easily tolerable but surprisingly enjoyable from day one. It showed me that I can live without comforts and materials and be more than happy (though, clearly, blogging still seems to be a basic need). I also seem to have changed from one of the lightest sleepers around to someone who now, bizarrely, sleeps better with roommates. Teaching sports to children for hours each day not only taught me a useful skill, but also made me ridiculously fit. My Spanish made dramatic progress, to the point where I even added “Knows some Spanish…” to my Facebook profile – and if it’s FBO (‘Facebook Official’), it must be true.
Moving to slightly more serious spheres, Peru gave me a better idea of my priorities and what I want out of life. I’m now more certain that I’d like to use my behavioural economics education to focus on development economics in my future, and I’ve got more of an inkling where my career might be headed.
And finally, as I eluded to in my last Peruvian post, the relationships I made in Huaycan, both with the locals and with fellow workers from across the globe, are perhaps for me the single most valuable thing I’ll take away with me. Particularly regarding my fellow volunteers (and housemates), I was fortunate to meet an incredible bunch of young individuals with boundless drive, energy and selflessness.
I’m very lucky to be part of this positive network, and I have no doubt that these good-hearted people will go on to do amazing things in their future lives – and who knows, maybe I’ll get to help out in some way. After all, living and working with these guys really inspired me. I’m sure these relationships will carry on post-Peru, and I’ll get to see all of my new friends at some point in the future. For some, I very much hope to see them sooner rather than later.
All in all, of the dozens of trips I’ve taken to almost forty countries, this was by far the most enriching, enjoyable and edifying experience I’ve had. I can’t recommend it highly enough, as I’m sure is all too painfully obvious for those of you who’ve slugged your way through my innumerable Peruvian photos and dozens of emotive hippy-drivel posts. Congratulations and commiserations for indulging me over the past few months.
And don’t worry, we’ll be back in familiar chess territory soon enough. Adios, Peru. Hoi, Amsterdam!
