Last night I learned to make ceviche and it was a really wonderful experience. I thank Lia (23) and Liz (32) for traveling to my home to teach me the art, and I will pass the skills on to those of you who would like to learn to "cook" what is arguably Peru's most famous dish. Usually Peruvians don't eat ceviche at night, and Lia and Liz were "devirginized" (we kept joking), for it really is totally nontraditional to eat the spicy marinated raw fish so late, but it was the only time they could come together. We went out afterward to some really fun clubs.
I am honored to have had the experience I had today, though I had to rise uncomfortably early to do so. I observed a wonderful, wonderful training session at La Casa de Panchita today.
Here is the organization's web site:
And here is the mission statement/history I clipped from the Internet:
La Casa de Panchita (LCP) is a meeting place for domestic workers of all ages. They can visit whenever they want and stay as long as they want to. LCP is open every Sunday and from Monday to Thursday from 10am to 7pm. LCP promotes the strengthening of the domestic workers' self-esteem, the realization of their rights and the fulfillment of their responsibilities. It promotes their empowerment and fuels their independence to help them make good decisions in all aspects of their life.
Most activities are free of charge: we offer tutoring in schoolwork, access to our library, English classes, employment and placement in domestic services, legal advise in labor problems and in formalities to obtain personal documents, consultation in sexual and reproductive health, guidance in emotional problems, workshops (self-esteem, duties and rights, dance, dynamic theatres, manual work, cooking and etc), karaoke, movies, cultural and recreational outings and, in some cases, contact with family members in rural areas.
We charge a small fee for computing classes, excursion transportation and lunch. Domestic workers are encouraged to support each other, to make friends, help each other in their homework, and teach each other to use public transport and inform each other about the resources Lima has to offer.
I won't relay to you all my field notes, but suffice it to say that the facility trains domestic workers to stand up for their derechos, and not just what their derechos ARE (Artículo 10 of the Peruvian constitution describes workers' rights), but also the self esteem to stand up for them.
Today, as a participant observing and learning from six domestic employees (students at the C de P) and two Casa de Panchita experts/teachers, I did silent meditation, danced and otherwise moved as a way to facilitate name-memory,and ball-throwing to maintain attention (it was particlarly fun when we added an additional ball!). That is how the three-hour workshop started out.
THEN the ladies role-played their rights, using common real-life examples (dueños who won't grant seguros or vacations, for example, or who ask for foot massages), and THEN we went over what to do if the employee made a mistake (such as if she burned a silk shirt with an iron or was babysitting when a kid fell and hit her head).
Finally, I observed as they paired up and held silent eye contact for a full minute. I don't think I could do that. The goal was to help improve self-esteem. Most of these ladies had been taught that they were so worthless that they couldn't hold eye contact with anyone, even their peers, for more than a second or two. I watched this, and their posture, and their vocalizations, change, over the course of a couple hours.
It is so cool to watch women and people in general remember their power. I don't like the term "empower," because it seems to imply that WE are "granting" them the power that they didn't already have, that we outsiders are superhuman, "First" Worlders while they are mere short brown Third Worlders. I don't find these to be unimportant semantics and I never have. Words creep in to our hearts and souls; they, with objects, bodies, and spaces, are the way we construct our realities.
So so true. Thank you for posting these observations!
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