Lima Mission - dentist for a day

15/7/13

Ever since I went to East Timor on a school trip in 2005, I have desperately wanted to go back there again to do mission work, but mostly due to my own laziness, and prioritising of other trips I haven't made it back there.

When I found out we were doing mission in a village school in Lima, the longing to go back to Timor grew. I love exciting holidays as much as the next person... my cruise last December was amazing and I'd love to do that again too, but I've

This day we headed out early to drive to a shanty town in the outskirts of Lima. The whole time we were driving and before we left the volunteers kept warning us there would be bad traffic, so I was prepared for the worst. Turns out that the absolute worst peak hour traffic in Lima is nothing compared to Parramatta road in the morning, and would probably only compare to a busy 3pm school pickup, only with crazier drivers and more busses.

As we drove further and further out of town you could see the standard of living decrease... The streets were no longer immaculately clean, the houses were less neat, and there was generally more dirt and rubbish everywhere, with all the household rubbish thrown onto the median strip in the middle of the road.

As we arrived at the school I was surprised by the conditions. Compared to some poor schools I've seen in East Timor, but also in documentaries, this school was quite established, and they had a school uniform.

As we walked in there was a boy named Felix there to greet us. In his best English he said "I'd like to say welcome, welcome to our school... Welcome... Welcome to Peru." We caught on to the fact that he didn't know much more English than that so we all cheered and followed him into the school.

After we put our things down we went into the classroom of the school council reps and heard about how they were elected and what they did. Their system runs rings around Sydney schools. They elect their leaders after campaigning and they represent the school at a council level and have regular meetings with the council members discussing what ways they could improve the school and living conditions for all the students. In this way they have achieved a number of initiatives including providing milk and bread for any children who need breakfast, and setting up a garden courtyard where they are all responsible for a small patch.

I was so impressed with everything they have set up and the ways they are working to improve their situations, and it makes me so annoyed to see the current generation of primary school kids in Australia acting so entitled with their iPads and their Xbox's and for the most part with a total disinterest in their education.

Once we had finished there we split into two groups and went to give catechesis to the kids. Since we didn't speak Spanish, and we wanted to make it more interesting we turned it into a play and acted out the parable of the five talents, with the "lord" handing out stones to us which we then went "to market" with and traded for more, thus fulfilling the story of the parable with the main message being to invest your talents and not hide them hoping you will be rewarded.

We also sung a few Australian songs for them and they sung a song for us which involved putting up or out a different limb or body part and singing "choo choo ahh choo choo ahh choo choo ah ah ah." I think the kids had more fun watching us try and dance than anything else we did.

We then sat with them as they coloured and attempted to talk to them, only because they were in year one and didn't speak any English we struggled. Fortunately one of the guys with us, Carlos is originally from Chile so speaks Latin American Spanish and could act as our interpreter. All the kids were gorgeous but there was one kid in particular called Luis who had the most gorgeous smile and I a little bit tried to follow him around before realising he was completely disinterested in me and wanted to hang around the Spanish speaking pilgrim.

After the catechesis we took our first class into our "dental room" and started the dental hygiene program. We split our half of the group into a few smaller groups and had a few on teeth brushing, a few on fluoride application and a few on hand washing. I was one of the ones on teeth brushing.

Lined up with their toothbrushes ready to be brushed

Fluoride station

Washing hands time

Each time I would open a new toothbrush and move onto a new child I would feel so bad because the toothbrush was bigger than their whole mouth, and their teeth were small and n a lot of cases had giant holes in them. Not one of them cried or got upset or refused to have their teeth brushed though, and every single one of them was so excited to be leaving with their very own toothbrush and toothpaste that I was so glad we had been there. These kids were all about six years old, and the rotting and holes in their baby teeth was worse than I'd seen anywhere, worse even than the images of mouths on the back of cigarette packages in Australia. After we had taught them how to brush we would send them to get fluoride put on their teeth and then to wash their hands before giving them all a koala and pencil as a parting gift. We then geared up to do the whole thing again in another year one classroom.

When we entered the second classroom we could tell instantly it was going to be different. There were only about 12 kids in the class, and of those 12, two of them were rolling around the floor and jumping over the desks. The poor teacher was standing in the corner, and from what I could tell had given up on trying to get them to settle down, and we posed as a welcome distraction. We did the play and the songs again, but the kids were not interested and kept talking to each other, or watching the two boys who were chasing each other around the room over and under the table. I'm not sure how nobody was injured in the time we were in the room, but I'd be pretty willing to bet we had landed in the A.D.D room!

Another thing I noticed as soon as we walked in the room though was that there was a kid that looked very much like Luis from the first classroom, so in the basic Spanish I knew, combined with the word for brother that Sarah knew and discovered that this boy, Miguel, was the twin brother of Luis from the other room. Since I had no luck with his brother I tried making friends with Miguel, and he was much more receptive, but that may have also been because I let him go wild with my camera and take pictures of everything. At one point it was at risk of being broken when the other kid who had previously been chasing him around the room tried to wrestle the camera off him. By the end of the day I had hundreds of photos of his classmates, my fellow pilgrims and the school. He was actually very good at taking pictures, and could frame a picture better than a lot of people I know! I've put a few below so you can see the master photography skills at work.

Miguel's Best friend with his school given breakfast milk

The teacher with the patience of an angel!

The back of the school where they are growing things

After the A.D.D class we had some lunch and then did the same again for one more class in the afternoon, before a thank you from the school director and some teachers, and then headed back to the retreat centre for mass and dinner.

I was reminded this day in the school of how much I love working with kids. I have always felt drawn towards teaching and working with kids, even though my passion is media, so I love it when I get opportunities to tutor or help in schools. I also felt even stronger the call to go back to East Timor, because as much as the day in Lima was rewarding and it was a great opportunity to give of myself and my time, it reminded me that there are so many needs in the world, and where the need is stronger. As someone pointed out after our debrief that night, there are stronger needs in parts of Australia and even Sydney too, I just need to work out where my help is most needed, whether it is here or abroad.

Miguel and Me

Lima with the locals

14/07/13

After a full day of seeing all the churches in downtown Lima I was so excited to be getting picked up by the family who met me at the airport; Elmer, Miriam, Christina and Francisco. They picked Sarah and I up from the retreat centre, and the two of us squeezed into the back seat of their car with the two kids who are 12 and 14. It mustn't be a highly punishable by law offence in Peru, as the fact we weren't in seat belts didn't phase anyone. We were packed in tight so wouldn't have gone anywhere even if there was a crash!

The first thing they asked was whether we had time for a tour before dinner, which was a resounding YES! So we drove for about half an hour, hearing about their schools and upcoming exams, as well as some local information.

We eventually ended up near the beach and got out at the top of some stairs where below there was a beautiful bridge called the Whisper Bridge. It is apparently a place where couples go to get their wedding photos taken. So all the females hopped out of the car, Sarah, Mirium, Christina and me, and went and had some romantic pictures on the bridge and then quickly ran back up to the car that was holding up traffic.

Whisper Bridge

We then drove further towards the coast and in the distance could see a radiant glowing cross. I asked what it was for and Elmer explained to us that after the terrorists attacked the electricity plants about forty years ago, they used what was left of them to build a monument to remember the hard times. I found this really beautiful and made the glow feel so much more important for what it represented, not only was it a symbol of the faith of the country, but a celebration of the life lost in struggle. It reminded me of the memorials at the 9/11 site in New York, and I think in both cases although life must go on, it is really important to always remember those who have come before us.
Because it was such a bright light this was the best photo I could get - the cross is the glowing thing in the distance towards the right at the back.

We then pulled up at the shopping centre that we were going to for dinner, which compared to other buildings in the city was new and modern. It was right next to the Marriott Hotel and was therefore a popular tourist stop. On our way to the restaurant, which was a chicken place, I found it awesome to see, that even though each individual shop was enclosed, the common areas were open air, and the breeze was beautiful. The downside of constant cloud cover is of course never seeing the sun, but the upside is nobody needs umbrellas, and more time can be spent outdoors in any season. I think I'd always choose sun over overall convenience. I like Summer too much!!

We had dinner in the chicken restaurant and had our first taste of Inca Cola. Inca Cola is such a popular drink in Peru that Coca Cola couldn't even beat it in sales, so they bought it and now own it so get all profits from the sale of both products. Definitely a smart move from Coke. If you're wondering what Inca Cola is, it kind of tastes like a cross between creaming soda and Mountain Dew, and is really sugary but really nice. If you're ever going to try it though I would recommend you don't have it anywhere near a time you're going to sleep because that night I woke up at least twenty times unable to sleep.

For dinner we had some grilled chicken and super tasty chips, and tried some Yucce which were fried and are like a potato only not. Whatever they were they were really good! For dessert they brought out a tray of desserts and we had to choose... There were the usual things like lemon tart and cheesecake, but we decided to try something new and had the something leche which was a little tart thing with cream on top which was great except I could only eat the cream on top because the filling at the bottom was a toffee caramel which I can't eat.

After dinner we were walking back to the car when Christina ran into a music store and came out with a Big Time Rush album... Apparently they're big in Peru. I decided at that point that I wanted to buy some Peruvian music to take home with me, so I went in to have a listen. My friends acted as my interpreter, and so I asked for Folk music, not realising that that means something different in Peru, and so I was listening to a CD of pure instruments... Not quite the same as Australian folk music. I then asked for something with words and my friends as well as the shop keepers were confused as to my initial request, but then kindly took me over to the pop music section and pointed out a Cd of the biggest Peruvian pop singer at the moment, so I had a quick listen and it didn't sound terrible so decided after the effort everyone had gone to I should buy it!
Working in Coles for eight years I have spent a lot of time in supermarkets or complaining about bad ones, so I was very excited when Elmer said he was going to take us to have a look at the local products in the supermarket. We saw the fruit and vegetable section first and I was so excited to see that in this tiny supermarket alone they had at least ten varieties of potatoes. I was I'm potato heaven! They also had white corn, and really big papaya among other things. I couldn't take any fresh fruit with me so I settled for buying a local pack of potato chips that were all in different colours inside.




Over dinner we had been told about the local "cocaine" plant that was used to make tea, and did not have the same effect as the drug, so when Elmer and Miriam pointed it out to me in the shop I had to buy a pack. Now I just have to wait to see what Sydney customs have to say about it. (they let it through)

After we left the supermarket it was sadly time to head home as we had an 11pm cutoff until the gates of our retreat centre were closed and we wouldn't be allowed back in for the night. We did get to drive past some ancient inca ruins on the way home though, and I found it so strange that they had been gated off and lit up with buildings and houses built all around them. It was really cool to see something so old though in the midst of a normal suburban landscape.

We had so much fun on this trip, and I am so glad we had the chance to see the coast of Lima, and get a local perspective and tour where we weren't confined to the limits of twenty people and a bus. I will definitely visit again some day and see more of the wonderful and different city that is Lima. Who knows, maybe I'll come back for the concert of Pedro Suarez-Vertiz, my new favourite Peruvian singer!

To top off the night they gave us a box of chocolates each. "Princess chocolates for two princesses." Awww!

A long day learning a lot in Lima

14/07/13


Prior to coming to South America I honestly hadn't done any research into the country, or even the places I was visiting, minus googling my accommodation in Argentina to see what the pool looked like. This was all in line with my take it as an adventure, no expectations, go with the flow approach to the trip. What I did know about different places was based on what people at work told me based on their knowledge and personal experience. So going into the trip one of the few things I had heard was there was a dichotomy between the churches and the rest of the country. I expected therefore for there to be some fancy churches, but was not prepared for the extent of what I saw.

As soon as we arrived in the city centre I knew it was an important part of the city. Every centimetre of grass was well cut, every scerrick of rubbish was removed, and there were cleaners walking around everywhere with their eyes peeled for people making any mess. The paint on half the buildings surrounding the square was a brilliant shade of yellow (that I want to use someday) and in the middle was a fountain made in 1650, also in immaculate condition.




Each church that we went to got more and more extravagant. We visited the cathedral too which was an extra level on top of that. The most distinctive feature common to all the churches was the use of gold and gold leaf almost everywhere. Each church also had within in several chapels on the sides, all with a completely different style. There was a lot of European influence on the architecture and decor, with a lot of paintings, tiles and furniture imported hundreds of years ago from countries like Italy and Spain in particular. The architecture of each church was different too, with influence from the baroque and colonial periods as well as the Incas. Nothing seemed to match necessarily with anything else, and it appeared to me in some cases like a church themed episode of hoarders. Every nook and cranny that could possibly be filled was filled with another statue or column or painting.
Don't get me wrong I saw some amazingly beautiful places, all with but I couldn't help but feel it wasn't a little too much, and couldn't help but wonder if it was helping anyone's faith experience. I had a discussion with one of the priests traveling with us, telling him my thoughts about it and he said: "what you need to remember is that it is a completely different culture to ours... In the history of South America there has been a lot of problems and the people have always had the church as their constant support, so because the church gives them identity they want to give everything to the church, and that is why they have grown and grown in extravagance because the more people receive from the church in the faith, the more they want to give back."

Suddenly it all made sense, and even though all the chapels seemed unnecessary to me, without fail, while the masses were happening (it was a Sunday so they were going all day no matter where we were) there were two or three people praying at each chapel. Living in my own little bubble sometimes I forget that everyone has a different experience of faith, and that varies based on a variety of things, but what I loved, was regardless of what the church looked like, or where someone was standing in a church, and despite my inability to speak Spanish, every so often I would hear a word I recognised, or feel a familiar pause and felt at home.The church of San Francisco was the first place we visited and surprisingly my favourite part was the roof. It was a rich orange/pinky colour and I loved that I could see puzzle pieces in the roof. I did feel awkward though walking around taking photos while people were in mass, but I kept the flash off and made sure I didn't point the camera at any people.






I was surprised when I walked down one side over a grate in the floor and saw some stairs littered with bones that led down to what looked like a small chamber filled with more bones. At closer look I could see that on the very top step was sitting a skull as well. Not having been to many big churches other than St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, I wasn't exactly used to seeing bones under the ground so I had no idea what they were there for. I found out that they were catacombs of Catholics who had died when they didn't have access to a cemetery.



After this we went to the San Domingo Monastery where I fell in love with the courtyard and could imagine having it as my personal backyard. It was so neat and had so many different rooms and areas everywhere you looked.





I don't know if anyone remembers the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, but the scene where Charlie and Uncle Joe sneak into the bubble room while the rest of the group move on, but that was me when I found a room full of relics... There were a variety of relics of the saints including clothing and parts of their houses and in one corner there was a chair that was the replica of the chair used by Saint John Macias in the doorway of the Dominican order convent of Santa Maria Magdalena de la Recoleta. The original is held elsewhere in Lima, but this one contains a fragment of the original, and rumour holds that women who sit in the chair who have had difficulty conceiving recover their fertility after sitting in the chair praying.

Figured I had nothing to lose so I sat in the chair, said a quick prayer, and got my friend (the uncle Joe of my story) to take a picture. If I'm particularly blessed with an abundance of children after I get married I'll know who to thank!





Once I rejoined the group, sneaking in the back of the next room (which sadly I missed the description of and have no idea what it was) we said a quick prayer and then moved down the corridor to where there was a thin doorway leading down some steep stairs where the headroom got smaller and thinner the further you went down until you were eventually in a room with an alter down one end and a large tiled box with a grate on top of it behind you/adjacent to the door.

Even though I knew the space was limited I still managed to whack my elbow on the way in, raising an alarm to the priest who thought I was seriously hurt, and my head on the way back out again. I trip over my own feet walking a few metres on flat ground though sometimes so it was hardly surprising that I was the one to injure myself twice.





Once inside though, and over my elbow pain, It was a really special place. There was a whole lot of empty space with a small altar at the end that contained the body of Saint Rose, (but not her head) and had a small cloth over it. One of the priests traveling with us then offered to bless rosary beads on top of the tomb. This was an exciting prospect to me, as without knowing anything about her, or knowing I'd ever travel to the place where she was born, lived, and died, I had chosen Saint Rose as my confirmation saint, completing my name as Natalie Pauline Rose Viset. I was twelve years old at the time and while others chose their names based on what they were the patron saints of, or what their parents names were, I chose the one that sounded the prettiest.



Being the always switched on and never absent minded person I am... I had left my rosary beads in my suitcase back at the retreat centre, so couldn't get mine blessed, but my bestie had hers with her and offered to swap with me and so we got hers blessed and swapped them when we got back. In terms of the rosary It has never been something that has been a hugely spiritual thing for me. I get distracted easily and so repeating a prayer many times I find it hard to not think about other things, or let my words rattle into each other. I understand that it is a powerful prayer for many people and like the idea of it but every time I try I don't feel as though I'm any closer to God. Who know, maybe I'll have a different experience on this trip. Despite this, I was very excited to have my rosary bleeds blessed.
After we came up the staircase we had seen the last of the rooms and went in to the church that was adjacent to the monastery where the skulls of Saint Rose, Saint Martin de Porres, saint Juan Mathias have their skulls presented up high in a special shrine.








This was a little bit eerie, because they weren't originally preserved to be put in a shrine, so they were quite dark and looked like what you may see in a scary movie graveyard scene. The juxtaposition between the skulls and the shrine they were encased in was crazy. The shrine was ornate and decadent, and because there was so much to look at, if you didn't look really closely you wouldn't notice them. There was a mass going on at the same time and a huge crowd of people praying I'm front of the skulls so we didn't stay too long and moved on to our next stop. Not before I got a shot of the roof though, because again it was my favourite thing. This one had a beautiful dome in the roof at one end with moulded icons or carvings of saints and angels in it. I can only imagine how hard that would have been to put together!!




Oh and I bought my first South American souvenir from a man on the street outside. A beautiful hand painting of what looks like the backs of some heads in a marketplace... I'm still not sure exactly what it was, but it was rainbow and colourful AND well priced, so I had to buy it.



The next place we visited was San Pedro. If I thought the first two churches were fancy, this one upped the ante! The roof was amazing! I must have spent a good five minutes taking pictures of it before looking at the other parts of the church. I look back on the day and all my photos and wonder why I was so attracted to the roofs, and I think it was because even though we have some fancy churches in Sydney, and I've seen some nice altars in my time, I have never seen such care and detail taken in something that to me is only there for practicality of keeping the elements out.





The rest of the church was spectacular, and I was starting to get overwhelmed by the ornate chapels everywhere. They were beautiful, but they were just so fancy and detailed that you could stand at one chapel for days and not stop noticing new things. It was also a beautiful time to be there as our visit coincided with the children's mass and so we could hear the beautiful sound of children singing in Spanish, and, although I'm not a Spanish speaker, what sounded like very articulate reading for a child. Seeing kids involved in mass is all kinds of cute and heartwarming.









The most beautiful thing I saw though was near a simple (though a little scary if you looked at the face close up) statue of Jesus carrying his cross. Usually Jesus is portrayed on the cross or as a baby, but not often have a seen a sculpture like this one where I saw a man reach up and hold onto the cross for some prayer. I watched him from a few metres back for a few minutes, thinking it was so beautiful that I was witnessing an important moment for him, and took a photo just as he begun bringing his hands down.






After this we got on the bus and drove a block to the next place which was the birthplace and house of Saint Rose of Lima. While we were there we found out more about her life and how she had a nail in the roof that she tied her hair to so she would always be upright for prayer even when she was tired. We also learnt that despite not being part of an order she wore Benedictine robes and was allowed to do this even though it was not usual because anyone was allowed to wear it. We also got the chance to write a prayer to Saint Rose and throw it in the well. I wrote my prayer, and wasn't sure how to sign a prayer/letter to a saint so signed it xoxo Natalie, and was ready for a special moment as I threw my prayer into the well. In true Natalie style, there is no such thing as graceful, and even though every other person managed to get theirs in, mine landed on the tiny ledge up the top and it took two other people using a notepad and a pen to throw it in. Not quite the poetic graceful spiritual moment I was expecting, but I'll take what I can get!



I bought a medallion from the lady near the well to take home with me, and then we headed to lunch. We walked into what seemed like a chicken chain restaurant. It was two floors of tables and was full to the brim so half of us went to find somewhere else. We took with us our Spanish Volunteer Himena, who misunderstood that we wanted a restaurant that served wine, and led us to McDonalds. Since we had crossed the globe to be there we did not want to go into McDonald's so eventually found a restaurant and sat down to lunch!

After lunch we visited the Lima Cathedral. You'll be pleased to know though that I found something I liked even better than the roof in this church. When we walked in we saw the most amazing mosaics... I'd try and explain them but the pictures will do it more justice. It looked like a painting and was different to all the other churches and had used gold in a way that I didn't hate.





On the other side i discovered one of many chapels that I fell in love with so badly that i actually have fifteen photos of it. It was ornate, but not in the same way the gold altars were. Since I've never been a fan of gold, and love blue, this was amazing to see. It was a blue and copper chapel dedicated to Mary from what I could tell. I couldn't really tell you much about the rest of the cathedral once I saw that. It was empty when we went on the tour, so I was able to get a close up of the altar this time, but it was nowhere near as grand as the previous church. There were some awesome sculptures though in the museum part of the cathedral.









The last place we visited before heading back to the retreat centre for mass was the Nazarene church of miracles. In all honesty I was pretty churched out by then, but I got off the bus and had a quick look in and out. It was also nice but it was a shame it was last as it was hard to measure up to the cathedral and Sam Ignacio. We did have a lovely moment outside though where our guides have us some little pins with the icons of Jesus and Mary on them to wear.


Once all this was done we got back in the bus and headed back to the retreat centre for mass. Then before you could count to a hundred, I was ready to be picked up for my nighttime adventure through Lima with my local Peruvian friends who were coming to pick Sarah and me up for the night.