Saturday, October 3, 2009

Week 4, my final week and return to Canada

The fourth and the final week was spent finishing the student interviews and other administrative tasks, such as finalizing the fellowship details. Ashley and I have discussed and agreed on almost all aspects regarding the fellowship program, and set ourselves a deadline to complete everything so that we can start advertising the position soon. If anyone is interested in participating in a similar (but longer) adventure as Education Generation’s next fellow in Peru, check out our Education Generation website in December.

During my last few days in Peru Ashley and I decided to make a little trip and visited the coast of Peru, the Nazca lines, the sand dunes of the Huacachina oasis, checked out the wild animals and numerous birds in Paracas and Islas Ballistas. It was a well-deserved break for Ashley, and a chance for me to see other parts of the country. The places that we saw and visited were absolutely incredible!

I have since returned to Canada, and things are now busier than ever. I am currently working on translating the videos to turn them into student updates, which will be posted on Education Generation's website. We are also working on editing the footage and creating a video which will include the student interviews. Keep visiting our website regularly for the video and student updates.

I have been in touch with the students and Raul; Ivanhoe and Rolando sent me some emails sending their thanks to all the donors and supporters. Here’s what Ivanhoe wrote in his email: “hola zaya primeramemte grasias por ayudarnos a todos nosotros y a todos ellos que nos apoyan y espero que estes bien de salud…y tambien a todos los que me poyan los quiero cuidense” (“hi zaya, first of all wanted to thank you for helping us and thank everyone who has been supporting us. I hope you are in good health … would like everyone who has been supporting me to take good care of themselves”). The students are doing really well, continuing with their studies and work, and I’m hoping to continue to stay in touch with them over email and facebook.

It’s good to be back, but I definitely miss Peru and all the people, the students, the relationships that have been formed. Hopefully I will get to go back soon for a visit or just relive the experience vicariously through our next fellow!


Some pictures from the last week:



Ashley and I during our travels on the coast of Peru

Jonathan Guevarra







Ivanhoe











Dina Alvarez and I












Jonathan Medina





4 comments:

  1. after seeing only passport style photos of the students, what a pleasure it is to see all of your blog shots of teens being natural teens. I have followed your blog with great interest, but I have especially enjoyed the many photos that have brought the students, villagers and culture of the Sacred Valley to life. I look forward to seeing the videos and the next group of students on the EdGen site. Carolyn

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  2. Zaya,
    Your work in Peru sounds amazing. I am definently interested in becoming a fellow for next December. I've been a part of Global AFC since 2008 when I rode with the crew down to Tijuana. As a human ecology major focused on journalism and community service learning I think my experience is quite related to this sort of work. Perhaps we can chat about the logistics of the work sometime? As I read you are quite busy so I'll ask about it when I go to the Global AFC meeting this weekend as well.
    Cheers, seems like a beautiful experience, hope you have many more!

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  3. Hi Carolyn,

    Thank you so much for all your messages and your continous support. It is because of amazing donors like you the students that you saw in this blog have an opportunity for a better life and the success of our work and our organization depends on our supporters like you!

    Best regards,

    Zaya.

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  4. Hi Ben,
    Thank you for your message and your interest in becoming the next fellow. We will be posting more details on the program in December - in the meantime, feel free to contact me by email at zaya@educationgeneration.org if you have any questions or if you simply would like to chat about it more.
    Regards,
    Zaya

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