Submitted by Meredith O’Neal on the 2017 summer session program in Peru sponsored by the School of Nursing…
On Tuesday, June 27, we were on our second day staying in the indigenous village of Q’eros, located at 14,000 ft in the Andes mountains. Q’eros has no electricity, so we woke up with the sun at 6:30 in the morning after spending the night sleeping in the town’s community center. The temperatures were in the 30’s so we spent our morning drinking tea and sitting outside trying to warm ourselves in the rays of the sun.
After a fantastic breakfast of eggs and fruit, we started our first project of the day – making reusable feminine hygiene products for the women of Q’eros. We moved the tables from the community center out into the warm sun and got to work hand sewing the reusable pads. Women from the community are very shy, but they slowly started coming to see us and helped with the sewing. I thought it was super amazing to see the men help. They were extremely excited to help make pads for their wives and daughters, which I thought was very different from the attitudes surrounding the menstrual cycle in the United States. In the U.S., many men are disgusted by periods and have no interest in issues surrounding feminine hygiene, so it was super inspiring to see these men so passionate about helping the women in their lives. We took a break to eat lunch and didn’t stop sewing until dinner time.After dinner, the men asked us to attend the baptism of a young baby who’s father had recently passed. The baby was the youngest of six and the mother was on her own to raise all her children. In Q’eros they believe that the best qualities from everyone involved in the baptism will be passed to the baby, so we each took turns using the symbolic carnation flower to place water on the baby’s forehead and whisper prayers for a good future into the baby’s head. Being able to take part in such a meaningful ceremony is something I will treasure for the rest of my life! We ended the night staying in home-stays of people in the community. I was so impressed by the hospitality of the villagers and how welcomed they made us feel. Getting to spend time high up in the middle of the Andes mountains with the last indigenous people of Peru was such a special and incredible experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.