Madrina

Yes, yours truely is a Madrina. What is a Madrina you ask? The woman that holds a candle and touches the child's shoulder during her baptism and then buys 50 guinea pig for the feast afterwards. Roughly translated = Godmother. Aida, one of our loan recipients in an active village bank asked me to be the Madrina for her middle child, Catalin Stephanie, a couple of weeks ago. At first I was a little hesitant about the great task, but after some deep thought and conversation with Aida I came to the conclusion that it is a honor and job I am up for. Aida and her village bank (many who are family also) have been very supported of me and DHF work and this is an amazing way for me to remain connected to them. Never in the states could I become a Godmother to a person I was working with - conflict of interest. But I am not in the states. In Peru my life is work and work is my life, boundaries that we create in the U.S. do not exist in the same form here. So yesterday I entered more deeply into the life of a Peruvian family that had already entered into mine.
As a Peruvian Madrina one of your most important tasks is to buy cuys (guinea pigs ) for the celebration feast. I told Aida I would help out with the dinner costs, but wasn't especially excited about buying 50 guinea pigs. No problem, we had steak. But, I did complete my other task as a Madrina - I danced to typical "wino" countryside music all night with just about every guest. I left the night with tired feet and a happy heart. Not only was the celebration good old Peruvian fun, but Aida had made all the appetizers and the cake with the recipes from the classes she took with DHF. I got to eat the fruits of DHF labor...and it was delicious!