Why am I a volunteer at Yanapanakusun?

Giorgio: Impressions of travel, people and children of Peru

There are many encounters that have remained recorded in me from the time I was working on replacing the old and battered roof of the kindergarten of Perccajata.

There have been many funny, moving, intense scenes that led us to reflect on their situation and ours, and that undoubtedly had an impact on us. There were several occasions when the townspeople - always willing to help despite the limited means available - showed us great hospitality and availability. For example, with few and simple ingredients, the children's mothers took turns preparing the lunch that they then shared with us.

Another aspect that caught my attention, coming from a society based on consumption like ours, is the capacity for reuse. While our ecological platforms or garbage cans are full of almost new products, in Perccajata no one throws anything away, therefore, the old roof tiles were piled up for new uses.

It was above all the children who impressed us, because despite their young years, they showed a strong inclination to share and fraternize. In another case, it caught our attention when they broke some slices of salami into small pieces, a food they had never tried, or also when they took turns without arguments on the swing (built by Severino, another of the volunteers) to give everyone the opportunity to swing, an activity that apparently excites children from all continents. great fantasy and imagination, and they have fun, perhaps more, than the typical Italian child who, sometimes, does not enjoy their toys. And then, a piece of wood becomes a horse, and the roll of plastic that wrapped the roof sheet becomes a sword. In short, they have a great imagination, which does not lead to boring and sad games, quite the opposite.

Como es imaginable, estos niños tienen pocos juguetes, pero suplen las carencias «materiales» con gran fantasía e imaginación, y se divierten, quizás más, que el típico niño italiano que, a veces, no disfruta de sus juguetes. Y entonces, un trozo de madera se convierte en caballo, y el rollo de plástico que envolvía la chapa del techo se convierte en espada. En definitiva, ellos tienen una gran imaginación, que no da lugar a juegos aburridos y tristes, sino todo lo contrario.

His initial shyness did not last very long, and perhaps our reputation as "Italian" helped us, when the director of Yanapanakusun introduced us to our nationality, all the children present were enthusiastic... a moment of almost patriotic pride for us.

The sad moment of the last goodbye was full of hugs. The affection of the girls and boys was undoubtedly the best recognition of the work done, and their laughter and smiles are still alive in us.

Alvino: I always feel a strong desire to return

I met the Yanapanakusun Center during two trips I made to explore the Peruvian Andes by bicycle. In one of them, I was able to notice that many structures, built by Vittoria Savio and her collaborators, needed improvements and maintenance works. I decided to support, which is why I traveled 4 more times to Peru as a volunteer, making my job and experience available.

In all the places where I went alone or with other volunteers I felt comfortable, always warmly welcomed. The emotions I felt when observing the inhabitants, especially the simplicity of the girls and boys who play without toys, or walk up to 5 km to go to school alone or with other classmates, awakened a lot of tenderness in me.

Surely if I consider these emotions and the passion I have for Peru, I always feel a strong desire to return. Every time I return to Italy I feel happy and bring with me the memories of the good times spent as a volunteer and as a tourist.

Claudio: the sounds, colors and faces of Cusco still haunt me

Although six months have passed, it is still difficult for me to fully describe the experience I had in Peru last fall. A large number of images, sounds, smells, colors and faces chase each other and intertwine inside me. It is not easy to restore the order of emotions because memories are still alive and intense, almost violent.

It could begin with the disorientation caused by nights spent south of the equator: unknown constellations for those who are used to searching in the darkness for the familiar presence of the Big Dipper or Cassiopeia. Nights darker than tar that suddenly descend at six in the afternoon. Or I could try to translate into words the feeling of bewilderment I felt in the Andean highlands: undulating horizons that, like desert dunes, alternate with expanses that border on infinity. The vertical sun, the white clouds running fast against a blue sky so close that you can touch it by extending your hand. Or, even, a sample of the Amazon jungle found in the valley of Machu Picchu: an impenetrable and wild environment, so imposing that it seems inhospitable to those who usually live in a nature tamed by man.

The encounter with Pachamama shook me intimately because it awakened sensory suggestions in me before mental ones. In the Andean highlands, nature is the owner and is, rather than tolerant, indifferent to the presence of man.

And then, the towns and their inhabitants. Faces weathered by the sun, wrinkled hands, hunched backs. Colorful and noisy children, adults who already look old. Daily rhythms governed by habits consolidated by the sun and the rain, by the passing of the seasons. Men and women rich in history and ancient knowledge, but deprived of opportunities for growth and resilience. I do not want to use words about the dignified poverty of these people so as not to fall into the rhetoric of those who, like me, have approached them and observed them with the eyes and prejudices of well-being. I retain the flavor of encounters and cautious exchanges, of mutual curiosity, of the pleasure of sharing some moments of life.

I think about children and their future. During our stay in Peru I spent more than twenty days working in the town of Perccajata, dedicating only one week to traditional tourist excursions. Well, more than the evocative archaeological sites of the Inca civilization and the exciting climb to the mountain of Los Siete Colores, what I carry most fondly within me is the memory of the people I met in the Andean towns, as well as the precious friendship that Alvino, Giorgio and Antonino, my three adventure companions, have managed to give me.