Quechua - Spanish - English - Spanish - Quechua

A long, wonderful day in the villages of Condorpaccha and Liluacuccho...

This morning, we arrived in the village of Condorpaccha, where we climbed over a stone wall, walked down a long slope of green farmland surrounded by green mountains charging up from the earth, to be greeted by about 100 villagers, ambling up the hill, playing a large, indigenous harp, violin, guitar, horns led by about 15 women whose shrill drones carried throughout the mountains, all in a very warm greeting for our arrival.

We are treated like a good omen, as if our foreign strangeness would stir the gods, bringing needed blessings for the earth, the water, the fish, the crops, health, etc.

The president of the village, the president of the district and the president of the region formally welcomed us, and invited me to speak to the village as well, introducing my delegation and WFP. We needed triple translation, from Quechua (the indigenous language) to Spanish to English to Spanish and back to Quechua. They spoke with such heartfelt passion, naming us family, and expressing such gratitude and thanks for our visit. We were the first people from outside of Peru that they had ever met.

And then they fed us. Lunch, another lunch, and yet another lunch - all to honor our visit and the good spirits that we bring to the village.

We watched the men terrace the land, using 30 pound pick axes... groups of three standing at the bottom of the field, one threw his axe into the earth, and then ¨boom boom,¨two others followed, within inches of the first, then pull... they would pull up 40-pound divets of ground, over and over, tilling row after row, of the most black, rich soil I´ve ever seen.

We spent some time in a local artisan cheese factory, watching a 12-year old girl and her father working in their family shop, which, with the help of WFP, turns 1300 liters of milk into cheese which they sell in Ayacucho, with hopes of expanding to Lima.

And the final, and most meaningful visit, was to a local house-blessing ceremony in Liluacuccho. WFP has been working with a local NGO to build village homes more resistant to the harsh conditions prevelant throughout the Andes. When a house is completed, it is often presented to a married couple, who renew their vows before moving into the home. Today we watched this ceremony, which moved me to tears, and then I was asked to present the couple with the deed to their new home.

Today was moving and humbling, touching my heart and moving my spirit.