I heard about WAVES for Development through a Peace Corp News letter in 2011. It only took two long years of anticipation for me to finally arrive in Lobitos this January 2013. I have been anxiously awaiting this trip and pondering what it would be like. I can say that it has surpassed my expectations on so many different levels.
Hanging out on the stoop
When I read about WAVES I expected some surfing, some teaching, and little cultural exchange. I knew that with two weeks of volunteering, « some » was all time would allow. I did not expect Dawn Patrol (5 am surf sesh) to be a part of the routine. That’s just too much fun to be had on a volunteer trip. I thought it was wonderful that Seth, the volunteer coordinator, would get up early with the volunteers to take them out for Dawn Patrol and experience the sun rise in a foreign ocean. I did not expect that there would be so many opportunities built in the schedule to enjoy surfing with the staff, volunteers, and the children in the community.
Now that I mention children, another thing I did not expect was to grow relationships with the locals like I have done. The Peruvian children I met through English & Environmental classes welcomed me with open arms and smiling beautiful faces. They are polite, well-behaved, creative, & loving children. The first day I met a group of girls during the beach clean up that immediately welcomed me into their group. The little sweethearts grabbed my hands and made me feel like I belonged. They spoke Spanish quickly and I was embarrassed that I could not understand everything. I would just smile and say Muy bien, alot…oh, and Como se dice *point at something* just so I could continue some sort of conversation. The children caught on quickly that I had a bit of a learning disability here and worked with me to understand them. I was amazed at their ability to communicate through the language barrier. The local guys that work in the surf shop & for WAVES have been just as warm and kind to me. I’ve gone on some great adventures and now have wonderful memories with them: with Junior surfing in many spots, Pepe in Mancora/el dia ultima, Henry on his moto/ sunsets, & Luis playing guitar/ hacky sack! If you are reading this, hopefully you will meet them and have great adventures too.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the development work I helped with because that is probably one of the reasons you are interested in WAVES and reading this blog. Dom, who everyone calls Bob the builder, has an amazing vision for WAVES land. I won’t give too much here because hearing him explain it with such passion is an experience I don’t want to spoil. Basically, we did some landscaping and assisted in small tasks to get the land ready for an Earth bag shipment that is probably still chilling in Lima. We also completed this nifty garden piece in the picture below. This was Tali’s (the local project manager) idea. It will have WAVES garden growing along the wave formation and look totally bad ass one day. Another part of the development work we did was led by Oscar. He helps plan and organize concrete floor installation to protect local families health. We mixed concrete and helped prepare it for placement in a family’s home. Very cool stuff for me, as my knowledge in this area is zero. It was fun to learn what it takes to get something as simple as a concrete floor orchestrated and implemented.
All in all, I claim that Lobitos has a special place in my heart now. But it isn’t really Lobitos… what is special is all the stuff I mentioned in this blog that WAVES led me to experience. I am so grateful for that. Sorry for all the cheesy-ness, but it is true. Now that I am home I am already looking for my next flight back. This time to Ecuador because it’s cheaper and closer to Lobitos, alright! See you guys January 2014 if all pans out. Cheers!
