May 30 Monsefu

Today was the water conference in monsefu! We got up at 5 to get to a 6am bus to 
chiclayo then to monsefu from there. The event was at the church building in monsefu. So 
I know I've explained before, but just to be clear, the outlying neighborhoods around 
monsefu did not have any water until the church dug 41 wells for the people there. The 
way these Peruvian cities are set up I've noticed, is that the poorest parts are on the 
outskirts. They are usually squatter homes built out of random pieces of wood and metal, 
all just thrown together. These are the areas that received the wells. I don't know if I 
fully understand the impact these wells will make in that area. There were about fifty 
people at the event today, mostly women and their children (Peruvian children are so 
cute!). The mayor of monsefu was there and there were a lot of speeches and plaques and 
thank you letters read and also two marinera performances, which were wonderful. Marinera 
is a Peruvian dance that basically encapsulates flirting. If you put flirting into a 
dance form, you would get marinera. It's really amazing though. 
After all the ceremony, we were finally able to do our presentations. We just taught them 
how to sanitize the water, boil it so it is drinkable, clean fruit and vegetables, and 
the importance of washing hands and brushing teeth. I'm sure they all already knew it 
all, but it was just a good reminder, since they were receiving these wells, and I guess 
you never know. 
My group taught brushing and flossing teeth. Cepillarse y usar el hilo dental. It was 
really scary, because it had to be in Spanish, and I am sure we sounded so gringo they 
couldn't even understand a word that came out of us, but they humored us anyways. Ours 
was the only group without a Spanish speaker. But I think we did ok. It was more informal 
than I was expecting, since we did it outside and everyone was on the grass. But it was 
way intimidating. 
During the speeches and everything at the beginning I was just looking around at everyone 
who came, and I just realized how much I loved them and how happy I was for them to have 
water. It was the strangest feeling ever, I started to tear up a little, especially when 
some of the ladies came up with their little children and kissed our cheeks and thanked 
us for something we didn't really have any part in. But I could just tell how happy they 
were! And it made me happy. It was a nice feeling. 
Anyways, that's about all that happened today, it was a really long day, long bus rides, 
but it was worth it to see those lives made a little bit better. 
I love you all! 
Amber 

Marinera Dancers

Cute Peruvian Children

 I really love these girls. It's crazy to think I've only known 
them for two weeks!