On my first day at Pisco Sin Fronteras I was told I couldn't use my real name, David. Not because they wanted to assign me a unique number prison style, or that they had a crazy alternate ego thing going on, this was because there was already another David there and I would confuse the 'Jobs and Chores Board'. I chose DJ - my first two initials (David John) - a nickname that I always wanted to be called as a child but that never stuck. Well, it well and truly stuck at PSF and now that I am leaving I'll have to start getting used to my real name again.

I have been very lucky at PSF. At my previous volunteer project, I had begun a construction project to help construct a dining room and kitchen in a schoolhouse for twelve children.  At the end of my time there we had managed to complete the foundations, columns and walls, but unfortunately I had to leave before the roof was constructed. On my first day at PSF though, I put my hand up for the 'French School' project and was amazed to see an almost identical building at almost the same point in construction! They were getting ready to pour one concrete roof and another needed construction. I couldn't believe my luck. I was, however, in for a completely different experience than the isolation of before. PSF is a work hard, play hard kind of place  and I think I have done my fair share of both since I've been here!

Later on that first day, the Project Leader at the time, Corey, asked me if I would like to take over the project at the weekend as he was due to leave then. I was taken aback. I filled with pride and fear. I was so nice to asked to lead a project, but did I want all the responsibility that came with it? I came here to work didn't I, but did I come here to lead? I did some thinking and chatted it over with friends and a few days later I accepted the role which I have loved doing for the past two months.

The French School is the biggest project that PSF has undertaken to date, and (as I announced as one of the interesting facts about the job one morning) we're not building a school, and they don't teach French! It's actually the construction of a dining-room and kitchen for school in nearby San Clemente, with the material costs provided by a French organisation who raise funds to build projects in Pisco each year. The school was badly damaged during the 2024 earthquake and currently has no way of feeding the students each day. Once complete, the facility will have a store room and new toilets too including one with disabled access. 

The construction site is run by the maestro Felix, a talented construction manager with no English, from nearby Paracas, who has worked with PSF on a previous project. Each day we would take 6-7 volunteers either in the back of the PSF truck or squeezed into the back of a taxi (2/3 in the boot/trunk!) and head off on the 15 minute ride to listening to whatever crazy Peruvian music the driver was listening to that day - the highlight being a day when the boot/trunk was half taken up by a massive speaker system playing a thumping rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller! That will stay in my memory for a long time. Felix would take the time to teach volunteers how to perform tasks and then we would get on with the work - that simple process worked very well.

We've had successes on site - concrete pours are good days and we've had a few of those. We've also had a some interesting problems to solve, most noticeably recently with a former PSF Structural Engineer volunteer noticing that some of the design was not earthquake-proof, even though it had already been OK'd by two Peruvian engineers. The whole team stepped up to the challenge though, consulted with more Pisquenan engineers and came up with construction solutions which have now all be implemented at the same time as continuing with the regular work. 

My time here is now coming to an end and I have handed over the reigns to the next Project Leader who will hopefully be able to see it through to completion. I have had an amazing time at PSF, I have learnt many new skills and added another chapter to the construction of the French School. I have made life-long friends here too from around the world, and with that, has probably been the most difficult part for me, the saying goodbye. Still, I wouldn't change it for the world as this is an amazing place that will continue helping the people of Pisco, continue to let volunteers achieve their aspirations of helping others and hopefully spread the volunteering ethos back to each volunteer's own country and beyond.

Before I left home for Pisco I would tell people my plans for the next few months: “Yes, I’m going to South America for four months,” “Yes, by myself,” “Yes, to volunteer for 44 hours a week in a little town in Peru called Pisco.”  Most of the time I would get a response like: “Wow, that’s brave,” or “Wow, I could/would never do that,” or the straight-forward “Wow, Amy, you’re crazy.”  No, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but five weeks later, there hasn’t been a single day I haven’t been happy to be here, working hard and playing hard.

I arrived at Pisco Sin Fronteras on a Sunday afternoon, Super Bowl Sunday to be exact.  Sundays are the only full days off for volunteers here, so we certainly learn to use them to our advantage.  In true American football fashion there were about 10 to 15 volunteers piled in the back of the PSF truck, drinking beers and “tailgating” for the big game.  So what else was I to do but grab a beer and jump on in!

Then the work-week came.  Day 1: demolition (always a fun job); Day 2: I helped to build a door for a modular bathroom; and by Day 3 I was laying bricks, something I never expected to do in this lifetime.  The following week I started work on Karina’s house.  Her house was damaged in the earthquake, and she had huge cracks through her walls.  We worked alongside Karina’s husband and father to tear down all the damaged walls, and we are currently in the process of rebuilding her house back to its pre-earthquake state.  One day during lunch we got to chatting with Karina’s mother, Teresa.  She told us about her experience during the earthquake: Teresa was at home alone in her kitchen preparing food when the earthquake hit.  All the buildings around her collapsed, and she was trapped in her kitchen for hours until people were able to come rescue her.  During our chat, Teresa broke down in tears telling us how grateful she was for our help with her family and all around Pisco after the earthquake.  As I listened to Teresa’s story and her appreciation of the help we were providing, I almost broke down in tears myself.  Most of us can’t even begin to imagine what a tragedy like that must be like to live through.  Teresa and her family were incredibly lucky.  Yes, their house was damaged, but they all came out of it ok.  Teresa doesn’t take that for granted.

There are plenty of other families who need our help in Pisco.  We will soon be starting a project on a house for a sweet, young lady named Mayra.  Mayra lives with her daughter in a “house” made of ragged tarp and scrap pieces of wood.  Because of the state of her home, Mayra has had most of her possessions stolen from her at one time or another.  All Mayra wants is some security in her home so she and her daughter can sleep soundly at night without worrying about people invading her house and robbing her of her possessions, or worse, harming her daughter.  When we mentioned the possibility of putting in a concrete floor, Mayra’s eyes lit up in excitement.  She expressed so much gratitude in such a simple job as bringing her home some security.  I hope to be a part of Mayra’s project because she truly needs the help and will be very grateful for anything that we at PSF can do for her.

So when I reflect on my time before PSF and my time so far here at PSF, I can’t help but think that all those people back home are crazy for not being here, not experiencing what we as volunteers experience every day at Pisco Sin Fronteras.  We can all come “home” after a hard day of work here and feel that whatever it was we worked on that day was important, if only for one person, for one family, or for the entire community of Pisco.