Out of Town

I just wanted to give you a heads up that I will be MIA for a while. Today I leave for another field-based training (FBT), which will last for ten days. I’ll likely be quite tired when I get back, but I’ll try to post about my trip as soon as I can.

So where am I going? This time around I’ll be heading to the province of Ancash. Affectionately called the Colorado of Peru, Ancash is known for it’s stunning beauty. It’s very mountainous and the land is supposedly lush and green and, sometimes, capped with snow. I’ll be there for about five days while facilitating sessions about early childhood development and nutrition amongst various communities. Afterwards I’ll spend the night in Lima only to head out the next day to my site.

That’s right! I now know my site, where I’ll be living for the next two years. I will be placed in a community in Huancavelica called Aurahua (pronounced “ow-rah-wah”). It’s a regional capital, so it’s slightly bigger than the other towns I visited in Huancavelica. The region has about 4,000 people, but the town itself only has a population of about 600 or so. I’ll be working closely with a health center, which is staffed by a nurse, an obstetrician, a doctor, and other various technicians. In addition, I’ll be living with another homestay family. My mom works in a general store located on the bottom floor of our house, my dad tends grazing animals, and I also have a 14-year-old sister and a 12-year-old brother. Two other volunteers are located quite close to my site, so we’ll likely be consulting and working with each other on and off for a long while.

I hope you are all doing well! Take care and check back soon!