Our first visit was to the Peru YMCA in Lima. They have a beautiful facility that puts US Ys to shame. They offer so many services with such minimal resources. Just like in the US, there is an Association office and then different branches for different service areas, although they don't call them that here. We first got a tour of the Y from the gentleman who runs this branch. Among many of the cool features, this Y has a pool. I noticed the men in the pool were wearing speedos, and the women were wearing one pieces, which is a refreshing change from the standards set in the US. Also, men and women, adults and children alike all wore swim caps. There was not one person in the pool without a swim cap on.

The Y in Peru, and in many Latin American countries, is heavily invested in education. This particular Y managed grades K-12 and is in the process of opening a University. It also provides housing, typical fitness and dance classes, childcare, and other things we are used to seeing in the US. The Ys in Latin America are also much more globally focused than those in the US. One cute example of this is having short railings on the stairs for all of the kids to hold on to. This Y also has a collaboration with a dentist and orthodontist, which I've never seen in the US. They performed a traditional dance for us which was very cool, and then we were lead into a meeting room for lunch with the Senior Leadership Team.

It was much more formal than expected. Apparently, this Y was in deep economic trouble a few years ago. The board recruited the former, retired CEO out of retirement to "rescue" the Y. He is a very hospitable, welcoming, warm older gentleman. He had his entire leadership team present, which was about 8 people. He gave a long presentation about the services they offer, but didn't invite his staff to speak about their programs. He answered some questions briefly, but not fully. They have a strong succession planning program here and he even had the "next CEO" in the room - that is his official position title.

Typical of Latin American countries, everything is much slower paced here than we are used to in the US. Instead of the days and life revolving around money and schedules , life revolves around pleasure, people, and enjoyment. So, we were running about 2 hours behind schedule when we finally met with the Y staff. The culture is to value relationships more than money, so it's not uncommon to have a long lunch with a good friend and arrive late to your next appointment. However, because we are from the US and they are familiar with our cultural norms of punctuality, they expected us to be on time.

In addition to the above mentioned programs - this Y just opened a climbing wall and ropes course in the countryside, and bought a boutique hotel so they can build a retreat for both Y staff, members, volunteers, and also to rent it out and train for profit companies. This Y also has a strong emphasis on the leaders program, and on women empowerment and entrepreneurship with microloans. They have trained women in the slums and built little pharmacies so the women can take care of the community. They also trained the women in clothing manufacturing and business ownership, and now they own and produce clothing so high quality that they signed a contract to produce for a couple local businesses, and export their goods to Germany. The also own and operate a couple of bakeries which have been highly successful, again training the community members in a trade and having them own and operate with Y support. To get more info or purchase clothing go to ww.ymcaperu.org

We were lucky enough to go into the slums to attend the opening of a new pharmacy dedicated to newborns and children under 5yr. The women of the community run the center. It's the first of its kind and will provide meals and care to 500 kids a day. The Spanish government donated much of the money to build the center - the Peru Y gets no governmental funding. There was a nice ceremony similar to what you'd see in the states - ribbon cutting, speeches, and a beautiful symbolic gesture of everyone grabbing a handful of multi-colored petals to throw up into the air.

These particular slums are about 20 years old and are built into the hills surrounding Lima. Peru is now a democracy with 5 year terms, and within the last 5 years the mayor built steps up into the hills. This helps people get to their houses. Even though it doesn't rain here often, the dirt and rubble still deteriorate which makes it difficult to climb. Interestingly, the stairs also gave the residents an address, which they didn't have before. This address allows them to function as more active members of society - they can now get packages delivered and fill out official forms. The local people have 2 different names for the hills surrounding Lima. One name is for the hill occupied by the poor, and the other name is for the hills occupied by the wealthy.

The people who live in the slums are people who used to live in rural areas, and were displaced by a terrorist group called the "shining path". Before this migration/displacement, the hills were primarily occupied by white and mestizo Peruvians. Now, the hills are much more multicultural with various indigenous groups inhabiting them as well. There are lots of stray dogs running around, but none of them looked too sick or malnourished, especially compared to those I saw in the Dominican Republic. None of the dogs paid us any attention. They didn't beg or follow us or anything.

There was a truck driving around the slums with a megaphone selling fruit, which was interesting for me to see. In the US we often talk about lack of access to nutrition and food deserts, so it was comforting to see fruit, although I don't know how expensive or fresh it was. Part of the craziness of this particular experience, was that at the top of the hill, when you look east to the ocean, you see the water, and the wealth and abundance of the city, and in the ocean, are around 20 oil rigs set up right on the coast. So you wake up every morning and step outside to face the disparity first thing.

Most cars here are stick shift. There were little mini cabs in the slums - 2 back tires and one front tire in the middle center. The hills are steep and they reminded me of driving in San Francisco - not friendly for the transmissions!

Our last stop in the slums was to a women-owned and operated textile factory. The factory was sponsored by the Y and started with a microloan to a group of small women. They got trade training in design and sewing, and grew this business into something incredible. They now have a store setup in the Peru YMCA to sell what they make, and have contracted with companies in Peru to provide clothing and apparel. Pretty impressive. They are so proud and the stuff they make is so cool!