Rachel and James (my fellow YAVs) are in Huanuco and Moyobamba, respectively. Therefore, today I went to the Joining Hands Office (RED) in Lima. I am going tommorrow as well to pass the time until I move to Ayacucho on Wednesday. Debbie thought it would be good to spend some time there with the staff, pitch in and help out. At the same time I am getting to know them better. Jeny, Jed, Conrado, Koki, Maribel, and Michelle are great fun so I am glad it was suggested. After a meeting on the Youth and Young Adult Congress on the Environment that RED is hosting in Lima in January we went to lunch.
When I got back Koki (remember Jorge?! See photo) put me to work. There is a back room that looked like a moving van had thrown up in it. There was the start of a shelving unit and there were comercio justo or Fair Trade products all over the place. Stuffed animals - monkeys and llamas, hand made socks and bags. It was like a tornado of fabric had landed in that one spot.
Koki looked at me and smiled really big and said "We need to straighten that." It looked insurmountable, but Koki and I worked together. He said we needed to finish putting together the shelves and move them into place. That would be our task for today. To do that we had to unbury the shelves that were in pieces on both sides of the room. We basically put alot of the loose items in bags and moved them into the hallway. AHHHH! A clear space.
When we were about to start Koki took out a bucket of tools. A pair of pliers, a hammer, and some nuts and bolts. He asked me as we positioned the next peice of the metal shelving (you know like those ones in your garage that you put motor oil and paint on?) "Do you know how to use these?" I answered "Si, mi papa se ensene a mi porque el quiero me ser una mujer mas independiente." Koki chuckled. I told him yes, because my dad taught me so that I could be a more independent woman. While we were working, because I know Koki speaks a little english, I asked him what they call the different tools in Peruvian Spanish (because I know what they are Central America), and then I told him what they were in English. A little cultural exchange.
It was a dirty job because Lima has a lot of dust that blows in off the streets, but we got the shelves put together and in place and then I cleaned them off. The only problem is I couldn't reach the top shelf, even while standing on a stool. I asked Koki and when he stood on the stool he said "Look we are the same, ha ha!" He was no taller than I. He said "It is good, we will just put bags and boxes up there, no handicrafts." Koki is going to bring his drill to attach them securely to the wall. Good day, Bob Vila has nothing on me, Koki, and our bilingual hardwareisms.
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