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.