Work!

Beginning of December Epdate (12/2/24)

Remember my update from November 18th where we searched for paper records for a while but then got a digital copy? A lot of the data we're receiving is coming in big ass excel sheets and it's very tedious to find and pull the exact pieces we need. I thought that was just going to happen once or twice so I was fine taking my time and copy/pasting what we needed but this is how it'll be for the forseeable future. Because of this, I decided last week that it was finally time to learn python! Wooooo. I've been using Jupyter Notebook as suggested to me by Ethan (shoutout Ethan btw, he's killin it out in Boulder) and guidance from chatGPT and youtube. It's a very basic program but I'm trying to make it easier to search for the datasets we need and the longterm goal is to teach someone at SEDAPAR how to use it (seems easy except I still lack the technical vocab needed). 

Field Visit! (11/22/24)

OKAY SO, lot's has happened kinda sorta but things are going well! On November 22nd, I went to visit some projects in the community of San Juan de Tarucani. It's about 3 hours by car (only about 60 miles though....) from the center of Arequipa and man oh man, it's beautiful. I wasn't given any details about why we were going out there and it was NOT for data collection lol. The head of SEDAPAR was with us, as were about 12 camera people. Turns out, we were there for marketing(?). We first visited a bofedal which was absolutely stunning. It's basically a high altitude wetland. I did not need to be on this trip but I'm really glad I was so I could see the projects and learn about it all. The head of the company was walking around while an engineer was explaining the projects to her & it was all being recorded and photographed for the publicity end of things lol. 

(Am I oversaturating the photos??? I just think the color is so imortant but maybe it's too much)

We also visited several Qochas, Quechuan word for lake but in our context represents more of a seasonal retention basin. They are all currently dry because the rainy is about to begin. Our last stop was at a new qocha where a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the project! It was an exciting event with several organizations present as well as many locals who will benefit directly from the project! It was a long ceremony with maybe a weird dynamic between the city folk and local people but all in all, successful from my perspective. AND I experienced my first rain here!! It was just a sprinkle but that counts!

The Qochas are contained using earthen dams like the one I'm standing on here.

The ceremonial Qocha.

A little map without a scale to show ya where we went.

Mid November Update! 11/18/24

Today I started my job! It was the first day I worked a full day since the first week of October & the first time I went into the office in two weeks. We've had some trouble coordinating the work explained below but I today was the day I started with the climate analyst! As per usual, it was Peruvian time where I was told she'd arrive at 9am and Melany strolled in right around 9:45- no te preocupes. Oh also, my department moved offices last week and my new desk didn't have ethernet so we just chilled until around 11. Then it was time for lunch! 

Just kidding, we did get started looking at the PMACC & lightly discussing a schedule (the vibe is more let's pick something to start with and we'll figure out the rest later). We're starting with estimating the greenhouse gas emissions based on the annual energy consumption. Today, we acquired the electric bills for 3 of the 4 water treatment plants and man it was different.

My silly assumption was we just go to the operations department and ask for the annual energy use (kWh) for each plant and you know, they'd have 4 nice big numbers for us. However, my naïve little self was very wrong. We went up to the ops department and started looking through all of the service order records for 2023 and I'm talkin dozens of binders here. Melany checked to see if they had digital copies but to no avail. Sooo poco a poco, we pulled the monthly electric bills we needed and about 40 minutes in- suddenly the digital copies were available! So then I spent the last hour copying and pasting instead. But now we have numbers to play with!

Allegedly, I'm going out to visit a MERESE on Friday and I expect that to be confirmed on Thursday at 2pm. No te preocupes.

Other Opportunities!

So remember I'm not just working at SEDAPAR. I've been thinking about how I can get involved in other places and other orgs but haven't decided on anything. I emailed a couple EWB chapters that have projects in Southern Peru but I'm honestly not expected much (they're all student chapters and I'm sure they have their hands full). SERNANP is kinda like the Parks Service and they've been interested in getting us involved so that is slowly evolving into something maybe feasible?

My job..ish (as of Mid-October)

In the most official capacity, my title as a response volunteer is Water Resource Management for Climate Adaptation Specialist. I'm working with SEDAPAR, my Host County Organization (HCO), the regional water utility company for all of Arequipa Region. Peru's National Adaptation Plan (NAP) is the basis for the different projects I'll be working on and supporting. Within this NAP is the Mitigation and Adaptation of Climate Change Plan (PMACC), which you can read up on, if interested. A few responsibilities I have include:

• Assist in estimating annual greenhouse gas emissions from SEDAPAR's complete infrastructure
• Assist in the maintenance and design of MEchanisms for Retribution for Ecosystem SEvices (MERESE). One of the existing MERESE projects is an adapted basin North of the city of Arequipa designed to retain water for extended sedimentation as well as infiltration to recharge the area's aquifers.

After some continued onboarding and work on these projects, the goal is to develop my own niche area of specialization within SEDAPAR with long-term goals that could possibly extend beyond my year of service for another volunteer to continue (I think).

That's not all I'll be doing though! 

My role as a response volunteer extends outside the scope of my office placement. There are a few goals of the Peace Corps and all are equally important in the eyes of HQ (make your own judgment on these goals, we're all entitled to them*). Another part of my role involves                               with the local             and            for the purpose of supporting                     . I understand the importance of                       and am excited                                              ;however, the                       of                    seems to                          . I'm all for world peace and friendship!

*My beliefs do not represent the United States Peace Corp. I had to write this lol (part of our training)

** There's nothing behind the blacked out text, just a lil joke

Peace Corp Response Training in Lima: Sept. 23rd - Oct. 4th

So! For my first 2 weeks in Peru, I received intensive training on Peace Corp Volunteer Policy which is pretty straightforward job training like anywhere else. We also received training on maintaing our medical benefits and healthcare situation which is also fairly straightforward. Other training sessions included safety and security, how to pick an appropriate living space, intercultural communication and navigation, etc. Very long days, lots of information. For three days, we met and worked with our counterparts, or socios, on our work plans for the year.