Florian Grenier Volunteer Blog. Lobitos, Peru.

Surf, cement mixing, and ceviche

A volunteer experience with WAVES at Lobitos is really a special experience. I had been considering taking some time off work to do some volunteering but I couldn’t really find a place that ticked all the boxes of what I wanted (somewhere I could surf, improve my Spanish, use my business skills, learn about a new culture and give back to the local community). Then I found out about WAVES in the North of Peru, who proposed a program with exactly all this.

It is impressive to see the work that has been done to date by WAVES in Lobitos and to see their great reputation within the community.

In my time here, I have had the chance to participate to a wide range of WAVES programs:

Education for 6 to 12 year old local kids

It was great to assist the local teachers for the summer classes: Junior for English classes and Sonia for Environment classes (including the weekly beach cleanup). Who would have thought that during this trip I’d have to dance the chicken dance in Spanish, sober… (“el baile de los pajaritos”) with a bunch of 6 year olds!

Protecting our beaches WAVES style!

There were also the Surf lessons with Seth, the volunteer coordinator from England and Pepe, the local surf instructor. I was really glad to help them in the water and it was such a great feeling to help some kids take their first wave.

Giving the stoke and sharing the ride!

Construction

Working under the supervision of the man that the locals have named “Bob the builder”, aka Dom, I helped build/renovate part of a new house on the WAVES land, learning techniques about nailing bamboos sticks, fixing a roof, screwing plaster boards and much more.

Sand, sweat, sun and shovels equals SALUD AMBIENTAL!

I also had the pleasure to take part in the most demanding yet rewarding physical activity in Lobitos: building a concrete floor by hand! This is where one can really realize that there are so many things we take for granted in our own countries, like living in a house with running water and a concrete floor. This is part of a relatively new microfinance program from WAVES, aimed at improving basic health needs within the community (there are still families living in houses with a dirt floor where parasites grow and affect the health of families).

Another thing we take for granted is that to make cement, you use a cement mixer… Well, this is where the reality is different here and you learn to adapt and mix it by hand. Luckily you’re not alone and this makes for a great example of team work with Oscar the Panamanian leading the show under a scorching Peruvian sun.

Business stuff

Used to deal with large stock exchange listed corporations as part of my job, it was an interesting change to come back to some basic business running and help the local surf shop move from a paper based environment to a computerized one, able to track their daily sales, inventory and also to produce various weekly reports.

It was great to work with the local guys on this project (Pepe, Frank, Fidho, Henry) and see that they were quick at moving to this new way of working.

Florian turning the surf shop staff into excel experts!

Surfing

Now that’s one of the main reasons people come to Lobitos obviously. And despite Seth saying that “all the sand banks were all f**ked up and that we should really see the place when it’s pumping off its tits and going like CRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHHH”, I was actually really impressed by the consistency of the waves here. Been surfing almost every day, often twice a day, and sometimes in some secluded spots with no one else than people from WAVES.

The best memories remain having Henry, the local photographer, coming with us one morning and taking amazing professional pictures of us surfing and also going for dawn patrol sessions with the whole WAVES family.

Florian on a good one at the point whilst its ‘not working’.

Writing all this I realize that there’s so much more but I’ll conclude with some quick other great memories that include going cooking with local families, learning how to make a ceviche and spending time chatting with the local guys who made me feel welcome from day 1 and helped me improve my Spanish and feel more confident with it (gracias a todos los bandidos: Pepe, Luis, Junior, Christian, Fidho, Henry, Frank, the princess Karen and all the other ones that I forgot…). Cheers!

Posted in: News

Tags: 2013, Cement Mixing, Christian, concrete floor, Fidho, Florian Grenier, Frank, henry, Junior, Karen, Lobitos, Luis, microfinance, Pepe

About the author: WAVES Volunteer

WAVES is only possible because of volunteers who come from all walks of life. Here, they share experiences and perspective from their time as volunteers.

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