Peru: the final chapter

The last leg of Project WET’s Bolivian and Peruvian adventure took Julia to the central region of Junín, Peru. At the airport in Jauja she was warmly welcomed by a group of people from the municipal government of Junín, members of the UNDP and the Agua Saludable program (a program focused on providing safe drinking water to communities in Peru). They immediately took her for a traditional central Peruvian breakfast of mata (sweetened hot milk with local grain) with a choice of an egg or cheese sandwich at a street corner stand. It was a perfect welcome to central Peru!

The crew then continued up into the Andes Mountains to visit the town of Jaujailla and see a successful healthy community development project. The community welcomed Julia into their homes, schools, and community center. The morning was one of the most rewarding experiences for Julia during the entire trip. As a farewell and thank you to the Project WET, the UNDP, and the Junín government visitors, the community provided a traditional lunch of potatoes, meat, large local legumes, guinea pig, and fresh local salsa. Guinea pigs are source of protein for the community, especially for the school children, and Julia was honored to share in their well balanced traditional lunch.

With full bellies and inspiration from the successful healthy habits program in Jaujailla, the visiting group headed back down the mountains to the city of Huancayo, the capital of the Junín region. After a brief meeting and warm welcome to Project WET by the president of the Junín region, Julia facilitated a three hour Writing Development Workshop with approximately 15 participants from the UNDP, the education department of Junín, teachers and representatives from Agua Saludable. Julia led the participants through several Project WET activities then divided them into groups in order to collect suggestions for the adaptation of the Healthy Habits, Healthy Water, Healthy People educators’ guide in Peru. The workshop was a success; participants are very excited to have Project WET materials introduced into the Junín region and Julia collected insightful and helpful suggestions for customizing Project WET’s materials to Peru. Julia returned to the US on June 19, and will begin the customization process on the Bolivian and Peruvian educators’ guides as soon as possible.