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This is Belen, sandwiched between the city of Iquitos and the Itaya River. Or, in the case of Pueblo Libre, the neighborhood where I’ll be working, extending out into the Itaya River. That satellite image probably doesn’t really qualify as “current conditions,” but it is where I’ll be by tomorrow evening.
Right now I’m in San Francisco, having torn myself free of the Hudson Valley on the heels of a blizzard, after more than a day of wrestling fruitlessly with icy roads and plowed-in driveways. I booked my flight here so that I would have a 24-hour visit in the Bay before meeting the GI crew at the airport. I go to meet them in just a few hours now.
I’m vacillating constantly between the feeling that I’m underprepared, that I need to be somehow “cramming” to get ready for the experience ahead of me; and the more rational perspective that there is no way for this first, short, trip to be anything but preliminary, introductory, and exploratory. And more, that there is no amount of preparation that could substitute for responding with flexibility and sensitivity to the conversations and landscapes I find myself in as I meet Belen.
Continue reading ‘Current Conditions’
…clown for credibility.
That’s what Dr. John Glick said to me when we spoke late last week.
“You’ll be much less of a target for pickpockets, you’ll be safer, and you’ll be more credible, if people know you’re with us.”
John Glick is my main contact with the Belen project. The “us” he is referring to is, of course, the Gesundheit Institute Global Outreach Project. If you aren’t familiar with them already, a major part of their mission is doing international clown-care work - in hospitals, orphanages, refugee camps, and even war zones - all over the world. Clowning is incorporated into pretty much everything they do - including the community development initiative in Belen that I’m involved with.
“Bring a red nose, even if you just wear it around your neck.”
So when I go to Belen for the first time this coming week, I’ll be bringing the usual selection of durable, light-weight travel clothing, plus a selection of mismatched, brightly colored plaid, hawaiian, and striped shirts and shorts, a plaid blazer with the arms cut off, a baby-sized red velour hat that ties under my chin, a small, purple, frilly umbrella, and yes - a big red nose that squeaks when tweaked.
Safety first, after all.
Continue reading ‘Clown for Safety…’
