FBT (Field Based Training)

During our first five weeks of training, we basically trained for one big sha-bang in the sixth week which we call FBT (field based training). It's the best example we get to see of what "real" life will look like for two years. FBT was really fun and hands on. There were 9 of us business volunteers that went together to Chivay in the department of Arequipa. The town is at over 12,000 feet in altitude and has about 5,000 inhabitants (big for a town that Peace Corps works in). Chivay was really charming. They are little, old ladies walking with their alpacas through the town square in their traditional dresses. You can see the Incan decendency in people's faces and many people still speak Quechua in addition to Spanish. It was beautifully sunny and close to 70 degrees in the days and as soon as the sun went down, the temperatures would drop down to around 20 and there was no heat. It was what I would have pictured as small town Perú, just beautiful.

We were there to work and work we did! In groups of three volunteers, we worked with groups of between 20-25 kids per class for about 4 hours a day. We taught the kids business classes for three days over marketing, accounting, business planning, pricing, product costing and then on the fourth day the kids took out a loan from the "Banco del Cuerpo de Paz" (Peace Corps Bank) and had 24 hours to complete their own business for a day. The kids had to return the loan after 24 hours with 2% interest but any profits were theirs to keep. We tailored most of the activities to their specific businesses to reinforce the concepts and also keep them motivated. Those kids were enthusiastic and did really well at their businesses! Our class had the winning group which made a profit of over 120% in one day. It was such a cool experience for the kids and for us.

In addition to the work, we were able to meander through the local market, meet nearby volunteers and see their sites, see pre-Incan terrazas, take a hike, see some condors, get in some real team volunteer bonding time and go to some nearby hot springs multiple times. It was a priceless week and I requested to live nearby since there are already two volunteers in that particular town. I find out tomorrow where my assignment is. Either way I am going to have a great time because this country is beautiful and this program is exceeding my expectations.