Gringo Santas

We saw the fruits of our Pisco labor yesterday in the form of una fiesta navidad grande. When we first arrived at the party site with the decorations, the neighborhood kids could hardly contain their excitement and jumped at the chance to help set up.  Here is a photo of our decorations team:

The area was less a plaza than a dirt lot, but the stage and sound system along with the tinsel, Feliz Navidad signs, Santa posters, Christmas Lights, and bows made for a fairly festive ambiance. The party’s master of ceremonies was a very capable Peruvian clown whose only fault was giving three cheers for PSF a bit too frequently. Alongside the clown were three 14 year old girls dressed up as Santa’s slutty little helpers spreading good cheer with some age inappropriate dance moves to the 130+ 2-12 year old kids. A few of the PSF members were also dressed up as Winnie the Pooh, Barney, and other characters to help get the kids dancing.

A few days prior to the party, we purchased two LARGE piñatas and an enormous amount of sweets to fill them. We erroneously assumed there was some sort of known piñata culture/etiquette… erroneously. As it turns out, impoverished kids would sell their own parents for one Jolly Rancher. The minute that the first piñata became visible, a massive stampede rushed to the candy-filled container and began jumping to tear it down. Within seconds they were successful and the piñata crashed to the ground. After the dust had settled, we reconsidered trying the second one and distributed the rest of the candy by hand.

By the end of the party, the kids each received a cup of chocolatada (cocoa), a slice of pantone (holiday sweet bread), a toothbrush, a Christmas gift, and had danced their hearts out. It seemed that the event was a success. The two of us have a few doubts/thoughts about this. From what we gathered in the short time that we were in Pisco, the PSF group appeared to be a lot like Santa. We can’t help but think of the saying, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.” The volunteer group has their hearts in the right place however the work they are doing is for the community as opposed to with the community. During the party, all of PSF volunteers were asked to distribute the chocolatada, the pantone, and the Christmas gifts just hammering into the kids’ heads that “gringos” have things/money to give and that if they show how needy they are, they will get something. This was not helped by the clown and her excessive cheers to PSF for “helping”. At one point during the fiesta, Kristina had some sweets in her pocket to distribute to the kids who had helped with decorations. As soon as the kids realized what she had, they began tugging on her arms and pockets sure to show their long, sad faces to emphasize their plight while begging for some candy with reasons why they needed it most. It seems to parallel what PSF is doing in the community at large - essentially awarding a lottery ticket to a few of the saddest cases. The new homes built for the families are basically handouts with little to no education, training, or community involvement. The way this is set up, the job can never be done.  At the same time, we sit here suffering from analysis paralysis while PSF puts roofs over needy family's heads.  It’s a delicate and complicated situation to which there probably isn’t an answer and we certainly don’t think we have the answers. We just couldn’t help but make these observations.

There is no question that our fiesta put smiles on some kids’ faces that night. And there is no question that building a family in need a home is a great gift. We just wonder how lasting an impact either one of those things makes and wish there was a way to continue the work without creating the “Santa” impression.