And it begins!  Our very first school visit was to the Institucion Educative Josefa Carrillo y Albornoz.  It was fabulous getting a glimpse in classes, to walk about their campus, and to watch short presentations prepared by the students (the littles performed a Grease dance - ha)!

In the afternoon we toured Colegio de Alto Rendimiento COAR Lima Metropolitana (a COAR school).  It was interesting to compare and contrast a basic versus COAR setting, particularly in terms of technology and resource access; in many basic schools, teachers may have access to a laptop and projector in their classrooms, but students do not have 1.1 chromebooks.  At the COARs, students DO have 1.1 access to tech.  It seems that there is an unintentional digital divide (this same divide can be found in the US where rich communities have tech access and better infrastructure than rural, less resourced communities.  We had the opportunity to sit down with educators for meaningful conversations about Peruvian versus US education systems and strategies.  I got the chance to pop into their small library as well.  Great first day at schools!

Our first stop this morning was visiting Institucion Educativa Roxanita Castro Witting.  What a lovely, warm welcome with music, fireworks, food, and LOVE!  A former Fulbright teacher, Cristina Espinoza, ensured we felt like special family guests.  Her students and staff were so sweet; this visit was very touching for many of our cohort members!

In the afternoon we had the privilege of visiting the Fulbright Commission Office (hello - photo opportunity)!  We had the honor of meeting with Executive Director, Laura Belbuina, and Program Officer, Diana Costa.  This experience has been absolutely amazing!  Diana gave a fabulous presentation about Peruvian culture, politics, and feminist activism in the country.  We were able to ask for her perspective on our guiding questions, and she explained a bit more about rural lack of access to technology or human resources, like the best teachers.  She's an absolute wealth of knowledge!

Our morning started by partcipating in a Peruvian Education Expert Panel: "Education Policy, Practice, and Innovation: New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning in Peru."  The speakers were super innovative and inspiring!  All of the experts spoke to the power of innovation and the need for capacity building to bring like minded folx together and to uplift our communities.  Franco, in particular, has developed an app to connect students and staff in need with resources or community organizations who can help.  #BetterTogether

• Kristel Oyola, Education Specialist, Funglish Peru

• Enrique Linan, Training Manager, Peace Corps Peru

• Fernando Barboza, English Specialist, Enaccion

• Franco Mosso, CEO & Co-Founder, Ensena Peru

That afternoon, we headed to the US Embassy Peru for our country safety briefing and to meet with experts from the Ministry of Education, where we were able to ask experts about our guiding questions (access to reading and technology).  The Ministry of Education is working on increasing reading culture in Peru; there are some campaigns to focus on reading in the home between children and parents.  The pandemic did help increase access to technology (silver lining for most of us), but again, there's a stark contrast between basic and COAR schools.  Most libraries and books, if they exists, are accessible to all children.  Participating in this conversation was such an honor!  We concluded the day with a late dinner at the beautiful Larco Museum.

Off on more adventures to experience the landscape, culture and art!  We headed about 1 hour to the coastal town of Ilo, where we observed marine wildlife, beautiful ocean vistas, and enjoyed fresh ceviche at the fish market.  Today happens to be a national holiday, Dia Del Campesino (The Day of the Farmer).  On our way back to Moquegua, we stopped at the festival where Ann was able to pick up local farmer's market products and meet bee keepers from the surrounding area.  The image to the right is my favorite piece of mural art so far, as it represents the three regions of Moquegua: the highlands, the agricultural zone, and the sea; resource acquisition (to both literature and wifi/technology) can vary across regions due to geographic features, as one would expect.

Dennys is an absolutely amazing and super gracious host!  Our adventures for today consisted of visiting the highlands, hiking Cerro Baul, visiting the town of Torata and having lunch, and then driving up to the Cristo Blanco to look at the valley from the overlook.  It was so thoughtful of Dennys to plan our weekend travels so that we got to experience the three major regions of Moquegua.  The highlands are beautiful and also more challenging to reach in terms of resource access.  Interestingly, I had wifi access atop Cerro Baul!  I live on the side of a mountain in Oregon, and I kept making the comparison between geography, satellite and cellular data and infrastructure in rural and remote areas. 

Today was our first day of teaching with staff and students!  We started the day meeting with the district and school leaders to share about each of our learning communities as well as our Fulbright guiding questions.  It was great to compare and contrast access to resources like books and technology.  We cotaught lessons with Dennis Barrios and Regina Mendoza.  We were able to put up our sticky note art mural in the central court yard.  Our mini lessons consisted of a gallery walk, timed sticky creation to send back to Oregon and Missouri, and Ann taught a sustainability mini-lesson.  At the end of the day, we visited an elementary school, Adelaida Mendoza, and were able to observe classes as well as meet with staff for a conversation about education strategies.  See my introduction slides to students/staff below.  As I'm amplifying this experience via social media on line (Insta/FB reels), today's #VirtualFieldTrip reel was so colorful and my favorite thus far (and received lots of engagement online).  Full hearts!

We started the day teaching lessons, and I was partnered with Regina's student teacher, Fernando.  He had to step out of class, and I'm super proud to say that I taught an entire lesson by myself with the assistance of Google Translate (technology access for the win)!  Faustino Castro, who splits his time between the elementary and secondary schools, had his students prepare a super lovely cultural display of food, clothing and dance.  We then headed over to the Moquegua Pedagogic School to deliver presentations about best teaching practices and strategies for teaching English from a US perspective.

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE and most memorable part of this trip so far was visiting the workshop of renowned Peruvian copper artist, Cesar Zarate Flor.  Dennys arranged a surprise gift in advance (my artwork etched in copper on a journal !!!), and we got to watch him create a piece from start to finish while chatting and sharing culture.  His grand-daughter, Luciana Tapia, joined us; we shared art!  She sketched a bookmark for both Ann and I, and I showed her how I do my abstract stitching.  Her mother owns a business, Gabilu, and she created heat-activated mugs for us with our picture on it!  Absolutely full heart!!! AND we're continuing the friendship, conversations, and culture and art sharing via Instagram, FB and TikTok.  Technology access and social media for the win! #VirtualFieldTrip #DigitalCitizenship #BetterTogether. You can find Cesar online via the following handles:

Instagram: @cesarzarateflor

Facebook: @cesar.z.flor

I can't believe this is our last full day in Moquegua!  I love everyone we've connected with: students, staff, community movers and shakers and thought leaders!  Teachers organized a celebratory culture fair that included traditional dance, delicious food, and fun games.  Anita and I set up a carnival style fishing booth to win stickers and tshirts; today marks the holiday of the Festival de San Pablo y San Pedro (they were fisherman).  It was so lovely to meet students' families and to share one last beautiful afternoon together.

We caught our last sunset from the balcony of our hotel and met Dennys and his family for a lovely dinner.  We will be back.  The schools in Moquegua are ripe for innovative technology like virtual reality headsets, and I hope to engage the community in creative, multi-media storytelling and oral history collection in a future Fulbright visit!  My Siuslaw students will absolutely be connecting with Peruvian students via Zoom and Microsoft Flip, and I seek to use a 360 camera to share our beautiful environments and culture between both school systems.  Team Moquegua Summer 2025!

We traveled from Tacna back to Lima to reunite with our Fulbright group.  We had the amazing opportunity to march in the Lima Pride parade with our new friends from the US Embassy and Peace Corps.  What an amazing, energetic event and what an honor to be with the US Embassy.  

It's my job as a Teacher Librarian to advocate for human rights for everyone, especially now where civil liberties are being attacked in our own country (and across the globe).  As incoming President of the Oregon Association of School Libraries, I will be attending a vast number of conferences the next two years, all to learn best practices to bring back to my state organization as well as be a champion of literacy and equity for all people.  Our fall conference has been strategically located in Tampa, Florida, one of the states in the USA that is currently passing the most egregious laws concerning book bans and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion education.  Lima Pride with the US Embassy was an amazing way to show the world that we all stand together for human rights! #LibrariesAreForEveryone