I’m already comfortable here.  This is a good thing… it was never something I was worried about, but every day I am more amazed at the incredible family we have here—Casi and Yrma, Luz, her brothers, Leslie, Anna, our Zone D neighbors, Elena, the entire Board of Directors in Zone Z, plus all the kids and the volunteers to arrive in the future.  It’s a great place to be and truly only seems to be getting better with time.

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with a few local government officials and work directly with Zone Z’s Board of Directors.  Comprised of four women (one being Elena) and two men, the Board of Directors in Zone Z have been incredible people to work alongside.  It’s only the beginning of our relationship and I look forward to working with them to achieve all of our goals. 

Our volunteers head up to Zone Z every Monday and Friday to teach English classes and play sports with kids ages 6-13.  Recently, I’ve been really thinking about how we can begin to implement our first community leadership projects.  It seemed to come about very naturally two Fridays ago.

Leslie, Anna, Luz and I came up with the idea to get the kids involved in cleaning up/restoring their “canchita,” or soccer field. The field is located alongside the cemetery in Zone Z… it’s not a pleasant sight.  It’s very very dusty, filled with rocks and garbage, and to make it worse, combi buses and taxis invade the field to park their cars.  It’s not a great place for kids to play, however, it’s what is available to them and to us, so we use it for our programs as well.

We liked the idea of getting kids involved with a project that would immediately impact them.  We approached Elena and the rest of the Board of Directors.  They were thrilled. 

We began putting some ideas together over the next two days.  Yrma has a friend, Mr. Paz, who is very high up in the municipal government of Huaycan, so we approached him as friends of the community who were looking to assist Zone Z with community development project.  We are more than fortunate to have this connection—it got the ball rolling and morale was high when Yrma and I returned with the news that the local government would be willing to look at a proposal from Zone Z’s directors.

The board of directors and I returned within a few hours with a signed petition for bulldozers and other equipment to level off the field.  We held an additional meeting with Mr. Paz.  I have never heard such frustrations and pleas for help.  I realized half way through the meeting that this was most likely the biggest opportunity for the Board of Directors to express their frustrations directly to any government body. 

In the field where we will be working, there is a large drug problem at night.  Large crevices and rocks allow drug users and dealers to hide out.  There is no police presence in Zone Z, so there is no hope in calling.  The responsibility is left to the neighbors to control the drugs and violence, but it has become too dangerous.  I soon realized this became more than just a leveling and restoration of a soccer field for kids.  Not only will it give kids a safe and clean area to play, but also it will begin to solve a drug problem. It will also give more reason for hope to Zone Z… I realized this even more later.

After our meeting with Mr. Paz, the Board of Directors and our volunteers planned to meet the next morning in Zone Z.  Mr. Paz had informed us that they were willing to support us at least the leveling of the field.  A representative would be at the field the next morning to take photographs.  I was very impressed with their immediate response and got even more excited.

The next morning, we headed up to Zone Z.  When we arrived, they were already working on digging up some of the biggest boulders in the field, to show that this was not a problem to be solved with only shovels, but instead bulldozers and other machines.

Not surprisingly, the government representative was late to meet with us there, but his tardiness gave me more of a chance to hear the concrete plans, and hopes, for the area we will be working on.  The directors pointed out a space they hope for the new soccer field, which can double as a volleyball court.  Additionally, they want to put a playground and eventually, tennis courts.  I was excited to hear about tennis…

While they explained their plans, I listened and was amazed at their direction and ambition. This was exactly what I had hope for.  Community members themselves are leading their own development projects, and LLI is here to lend support and encourage the change.  It was incredible to see them ready to take the initiative on this project. I offered LLI’s help, in any way we possibly can.  They said thank you to us a million times—my response after the third thank you was to thank God instead.  They agreed, but they then said we must have fallen from heaven. I smiled and giggled a bit about that; I was at a loss for a response and their gratitude seemed to be never ending.  I couldn’t stop them!  I wish they could go to Chicago with me and tell all our supporters one by one how much they appreciate the support.  They have told me over and over that no one pays attention to them, but our presence was a sign of hope to them. 

As of now, we have to wait until July 15th to hear when the equipment will be available to assist us with this project.

I feel like I have lived so much in one month.  This was another good week.