Data Collection Day 2

Photo: Yes, even though the photo is blurry, the altitude is correct - 15, 875 Ft!

Photo: One of our new friends.

Photo: The survey team hard at work.

I am back in Arequipa after spending almost three days (and what seems like countless hours on buses and in shuttle vans) in the Colca Valley town of Chivay. Our team of researchers have collected 2-full days of data and far exceeded our initial expectations.

The team is doing fantastic. Our biggest challenge has not been the lack of a motivated survey team, they are all fantastic, or a lack of interested research participants, only one person opted out of the survey. Our greatest challenge has been the complexity of the stories we are hearing.

Person after person has incredible stories to share about their lives in one of the most remote areas in Latin America. From spousal violence to alcoholism, everyone we have talked with has been affected by violence and abuse. As one of our team members said, "It is really hard not to want to just stop asking the questions and start trying to 'fix' everything."

Our goal in this project is to collect the sort of meaningful data that will allow for a more concerted approach to services delivery. If our first two days of data collection holds true - there is no lack of service need in the communities . . . there may only be a lack of time to truly help in all of the areas of need.

One story - "Isabel" (not her real name) has lived in the small town of Coporaque for her entire life, sans a short period in Lima. She has never been married nor had any children. When we met her on the streets of this small high altitude town (population 500), she was just going out to tend to her small plot of land. She told us that one of the things she would most like to see for her community is a "meeting or group" that brings together woman her age who are single and live alone. "We all need support up here," she told us, " and for those of us without families that support comes from other people our age." Isabel is 75-years old and just as spry as any 35-year old. She lives in a mountain community at over 12,000 feet above sea level and did not complete secondary school (she left school in the equivalence of the 9th grade).

I am just so inspired when I meet people like Isabel. People who are seeking to create their own change. I am hopeful that the data we receive from our research can help to identify more ideas and opportunities for people like Isabel.

Stay tuned for more updates as the team collects data over the next week. Thank you, as always, for all of your support!