Completion of my second month in Peru!
Posted by Chiara on November 6th, 2009
Hola!
Today is the completion of my second month in Peru! To be honest I am torn between saying that time flew by and saying that I feel like I have been here forever, because I truly feel at home.
As I have mentioned in my earlier post, I have been working on a project on Violence and Sexuality with Women and Children. My work has been extremely interesting and even more so motivating. I happen to be working on a very important project that helps develop women’s rights in Peru, while empowering them. Although my job is concretely in an office and consists in working with legal papers and reports, I could not be more motivated because I have been seeing these women fight for exactly these freedoms in Lima’s streets. At the moment in Peru, its Congress has decided to reevaluate its penal code, more specifically the laws related to abortion. The right to abort when raped or when pregnant with a fetus with malformations is now being considered for the first time. You can only imagine how divided the country is in regards to such a strong topic… on one side you have more open-minded Peruvians who believe women should have this right, while on the other hand you have the more traditional Peruvians who are constantly told by the church that abortion is a crime, no matter its context. These events have only made my job more interesting and encouraging.
Peru has proven itself to be a truly phenomenal country. I have been very lucky to get the chance to travel around the region of Ica, visiting Huacachina’s oasis and I actually went sandboarding in the dunes! I also went to Paracas to visit the Ballesta Islands where there is a very strong concentration of birds who produce a very large amount of excrements. These excrements, here called “Guano” have actually been one of Peru’s big exportations, as it is used as a fertilizer. My most amazing experience though was by far Machu Picchu! This was truly breathtaking and most definitely under-rated!
I hope everyone is doing great, whether back home or in their respective internships! Time flies so enjoy every minute!!!
Chiara
Your comments are confirming the validity of programs like this. I am proud of what you are doing Chiara, keep up with the good job!
Teresa