I often have the thought that Peru is like the States was in the 90's in a lot of ways. A lot of social issues that are prominent here right now were prominent social topics during my childhood in the 90s. I think Peru is on it's way. The way I see it, they are developing and things are getting better. But even though the rate at which things are happening here seems to be a couple decades slower than the rate at which the US is coming along, sometimes I can't help but think about how similar things are in both places.
This general theme popped into my mind yesterday, as it often does, while I was at the high school. I was in a teacher's office at the end of the school day discussing plans for the school year when 3 young men came in timidly begging for their cell phones. Cell phones are prohibited at school, and if students get caught with them, the phone is taken away. The first time is a warning and they get their phone back at the end of the day. If it happens again, the threat is that they won't get their phone back until the end of the school year. With school having started on March 1st, the unlucky gents whose phones were in jail today just screwed themselves if they ever want to bring their phones back to school. I couldn't help but think of high schools in the States and how cell phones + teenagers is a problem everywhere. The other thing about this that felt a little familiar was that the cell phones these kids were looking to rescue were really nice phones. All three were smart phones that made my tiny little Peace Corps-issued mobile nervous to even show it's face. I joked with the kids and told them if it happened again and they lost their phones for good, I'd take their phones and let them have mine ;) They didn't like that idea so much. Anyway, it was cool to see this system at work. The teacher I'm working with is a new community partner for me and I'll be doing a lot with him throughout the school year. He is great with the kids, as was obvious in the cell phone encounter, and should be a big help in the projects I'm planning for the school year. The cell phone thing isn't the only occurrence this week that has me comparing Peru and the States, though.
Monday I was invited to an event in Trujillo with my community partner from the school district and one of the local nurses. This event was a launch for a program to promote healthy kiosks in the schools of La Libertad. Because the school day ends around 1, the kids eat lunch at home. Even though there is no public lunch plan, every school has a kiosk that sells snacks. Typically, the kiosks sell a lot of really bad food like soda, chips, candy, fried food, noodles, etc. The Healthy Kioks (Quioscos Saludables) initiative aims to change the food that is sold in schools to fruits/ vegetables, healthy sandwiches, fresh juices, etc. The presentation given on Monday not only included the President of La Libertad and actors dressed like super healthy super heroes (which the kids loved), but also the vice ministers of Health and Education who had come from Lima to be a part of this event. Watching all of this and hearing the stats on children who are overweight or obese in Peru sent my mind on another ride on the "this sounds familiar" train.
The whole world has problems, and it seems to me like they are more similar than we realize.
This is a subject I could yammer on about for hours, and it's a theory of my that gets reinforced almost everyday. I just thought I'd touch on it for today and share this link on Monday's event for anyone who is bored and likes reading articles in Spanish. I forgot my camera that day so this is the best I could do ;)
http://www.noticiastrujillo.pe/?q=trujillo/exitoso-lanzamiento-de-programa-quioscos-saludables-en-trujillo
Very Important Peruvians: The president of La Libertad shaking hands with Peru's Vice Minister of Education (sitting) and Vice Minister of Health.
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