Ollantay

Reportaje numero 6, 27-29 de octubre



I know you’re all asking yourselves. Same story? Again? Benito goes to the island, has great fun with the children, loves life and comes back to Puno counting down the days until his return? Not! Okay, maybe. But, I promise that this blog entry has all the elements of a great story. Stormy weather, treacherous situations, and a happy family—what else could you ask for?

Once upon a time (as in, Monday the 27th of October 2008), there set out a boat from Puno, the folklore capital of Peru (http://www.punoinfo.com/). This boat was racked by powerful waves and drops of water larger than the tips of your index finger. When the character in question, Benito, arrived to the island everything had improved. Besides the fact that he had to walk 1.5 hours across the top of the mountain to reach the beautiful and secluded village of Santa Rosa, the sun had come out, he felt alive and excited to teach, and much hope for this week's lessons. When Benito taught that afternoon, more than a dozen children came to the library. There were big children, little children, and some children's moms.


Perhaps the fact that children's moms are coming to utilize the library has me has me more excited than any other recent developments. I mean, if mothers are coming to observe and participate, it means that they're learning how to make the project a sustainable one for their community. On top of that, most of the mothers who are coming to watch their children on top are also attending the adult language skills class. We read together, played a new name game, and found a bunch of pictures we could color. If it weren't for the moms, the best part of this Monday was the excitement with which the kids ran to the library after school let out.

On Tuesday morning, I went on a cleaning spree. You see, one of the library's windows was broken and birds have been getting in to the space and defecating. Not to be deterred a little dirt, I don't want the library patrons, either the kids, their families, or tourists see an unclean face as the project's. So, I went to work scrubbing windows and tables, sweeping shelves and floors until everything shined. (I know I promised a treacherous situation along with stormy weather and a happy family and picking up broken glass outside of the building definitely qualifies as the treacherous situation). That afternoon, when the kids arrived following school, we went together up to the top of the community building to read a traditional Quechua story: Ollantay. Ollantay tells of the love story of Inca Pachacutec's daughter with a young warrior, the ensuing problems, and the happy ending. The kids loved it. After Ollantay, we played a modified version of "Duck, Duck, Goose," in which we switched up the animal in place of the "Goose" and if caught had to spell out the animal in Quechua and in Spanish. I think it is of the utmost importance that the children of Santa Rosa seize the gift they've been given of being born into a bilingual community and be proud of their heritage--that includes stories like Ollantay and the Quechua language.











My time on the island always flies in a whirlwind of smiling children and great food. Now, I know I promised an edge-of-your-seat thriller and I really meant Ollantay, but...I'll just say that Tuesday night I got to rock my host's 9-month old child to sleep while singing lullabies to knock out the noise of the giant hail on our corrugated metal roof. How's that for stormy weather and a happy family?