My Adventure

So it occurred to me that maybe I should explain to some people what exactly I will be doing in Peru. I applied to be a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) last January and after a few interviews was selected to go to Peru for a year. I will be living in Huánuco which is a town/city of around 75,000 that is inland and north of Lima, approximately a 9 hour bus ride. There I will be living with a host family in which I will have chores and responsibilities. I will be volunteering at Paz y Ezperanza (Peace and Hope) which is an organization that provides needs for sexually abused children or other children in need. I don't know all of the specific details yet, but I am under the impression that I will work under a psychologist and basically do whatever they ask me to do, which could include helping with therapy sessions or summer camps. That is all that I really know so far about my future year. I do have six other YAV's going to Peru with me, but four of them will be in the Lima area and one with be in Huancavelica. I posted their blogs on my page if you look to your left, I would encourage you to read theirs because a) we are all doing wonderful but different things and b) they are much better writers than I am!

Today was a very interesting self reflection day. We took personality tests to help us express what we have to offer our groups and what things are going to irritate us that need to be addressed. We also did a very interesting exercise in which we had three people yelling at us about our fears/worries and one person, acting like God, and telling us everything was going to be okay. I found that I really got into the exercise and that it was very easy for me to be to come up with negative comments. While I would never actually say those to someone and mean it (I hope) I found that they are comments that I would be willing to tell myself. So Shane (another Peru YAV) and I had a side conversation about how sometimes the most optimistic and inspirational people can still have very negative thoughts when it applies to themself. Just something for me to ponder and try to address throughout the year. Oh the things you learn at YAV orientation!