Day 7: And just like that, we were done.

Today was our fourth and final community in the study.  We arrived at our location with plenty of time to setup before people arrived at the meeting, only to realize that no one was showing up (except one woman).  So, Nick, Susan, Ruben, Javier, John, Kety, their daughter, and myself packed up our equipment and sandwiches and started going door-to-door to recruit participants.  We managed to find our way into 15 homes, distributing our sandwiches to our would-have-been community meeting attendees.

The sampling itself seems to be less interesting to write about each day, since it’s exactly the same.  So I’ll write about some other interesting things instead.  We met a little boy named Jason, who walked into the area were sampling, pulled out his mathematics books, and started studying all by himself.  Absolutely adorable kid, and he was so motivated all by himself.  We saw the thermal baths in Huancavelica, just full of people – seems like an interesting experience but you couldn’t pay me to do that here.

Oh – another heartbreaking story I didn’t personally hear because I was inside filtering air, but I was told about it later.  In one home, the daughter was taking care of her mother, who was disabled and unable to walk.  The woman had lived there for what seemed like forever.  She was talking with Ruben and Javier and telling them her story (much like every other resident we met in Huancavelica) and she told them that her son was killed by the Shining Path when they came through terrorizing the city.  Can you imagine your life being so miserable: living in a less than desirable home and community, having to be carried around by your daughter, and having had a son killed by a terrorist group?  I was told she started to cry when she told her story, and honestly, who wouldn’t cry with her?

When we finished our last home of the study (insert hooray! here), we walked to where there was an old oven that had been reconstructed a few times.  Holy cow is really the only reaction I can give.  These things are massive stone structures, well engineered, high on the hillside – built hundreds of years ago.  I’ve modeled these sources for months now, and to see one in person was amazing.

Before dinner as a team, Ruben gave us each a book about archeology in Peru, in which he has written about Huancavelica.  John and Kety made Nick, Susan, and I each a mask with different personalities – handmade and hand painted and they are absolutely wonderful gifts.  These gestures were completely unexpected and very much appreciated.

And that was our last day of sampling homes in Huancavelica.  I’m so sad to be leaving these people and to not have answers for them right now or to have any way to help them improve their quality of life.  Someday I’ll be back and I’ll have an answer and I’ll have a way to make the difference in their life that they so desperately need.