Handiwork spreads some cheer to Peru
Flying Officer Kathleen Gibson spent three months in a third-world country and found she’s the better for it, as she told Andrew Stackpool.

FLGOFF Kathleen Gibson realised how lucky Australia was when she saw the children of Peru.

Part of the mural that FLGOFF Kathleen Gibson helped complete at the women’s refuge, one of the first of three projects.

FLYING Officer Kathleen Gibson reckons her life has changed for the better after being involved in construction work at a woman’s refuge, cooking for street kids and building a kitchen on an island in the world’s highest navigable lake.

For 12 weeks late last year, FLGOFF Gibson, from RAAF Base Williamtown, joined 14 volunteers in Peru for three projects organised by an Australian aid agency.

FLGOFF Gibson heard about the Overseas Action for Peru Program, one of several programs run by the non-profit charitable foundation World Youth International, that needed volunteers to get their hands dirty helping local children, people prepared to see life there through the eyes of the locals.

“When I saw those children, realised how incredibly lucky we are to live in such a stable, beautiful and lucky country like Australia where we can give our time and money to help others,” FLGOFF Gibson said.

“I contacted the organisation and, after a lengthy application process, joined the other volunteers in Peru.

I chose Peru from the range of program locations on offer because it was the one most children-focussed... I discussed the program opportunity with my superiors at No. 76 Squadron as well as here at my new job at HQACG and they were both very supportive.”

FLGOFF Gibson’s first project was eight weeks at ‘Mantay House’, a young women’s refuge near the city of Cuzco. It housed about 50 young women who, because of rape, incest or other reasons, had children at very early age and who would otherwise be on the streets.

The refuge shelters them, teaches them a trade and how to look after their children.

“Otherwise the kids would probably have been abandoned, neglected or, in the worst case, have died,” FLGOFF Gibson said.

“They had run out of money for some construction work at the house, so we cleared a large area of rock and rubble, flattened it out and then built a large playground and a 20-metre long wall covered with a mural. It was hard physical labour from 8am to 5pm each day.”

The aid agency team then worked with displaced children in Cuzco “to help these street kids restore their faith in adults” by cooking for them and helping with other tasks.

FLGOFF Gibson said Australia Day was a highlight because “we cooked them Aussie food and gave them small koala toys and things like that”.

The team’s final project was to build a kitchen for a school on Amantani Island, located in the middle of Lake Titicaca.

“It was an incredible experience being on the highest navigable lake in the world,” FLGOFF Gibson said, “and the island was so remote. It took four hours to get there by boat and many people had never seen westerners before.”

FLGOFF Gibson thanked 76SQN for donating surplus children’s clothing after she sent an email around the squadron. “The response was overwhelming,” she said.

“Defence Public Affairs Garden Island also gave me about 200 Defence pens to give to the schools. These were greatly appreciated as there is almost a compete lack of such things.

A ‘clickable’ pen was a real novelty for the kids.

“There is no doubt that the experience of leading, meeting challenges and problem-solving in unusual situations has developed my leadership, self-reliance, interaction and management capabilities.

I also think that the awareness I gained of the people over there and the other members of my team helped me develop my skills in relating to the community at large, made me less insular and enhanced my appreciation and acceptance of other people for what they are, including other Australians from different backgrounds.

“I have a better understanding of people who volunteer their time to work full-time in third-world countries, and they deserve medals. I’ve also got a much better appreciation of what our Air Force guys go through in difficult and distressing activities like the tsunami relief effort.

“I think we, as ADF members, are very, very fortunate to receive the decent salary, workplace flexibility and professional encouragement which allows us to take part in incredible activities like [this].”

She encouraged others to volunteer, too.

A WORTHWHILE CULTURE SHOCK

FLGOFF Gibson said anyone could make a contribution as a volunteer. “The experience can be taxing and people will see things that may upset them,” she said. “They will find that this sort of volunteering is a real culture shock, especially when trying to make a small budget work at the local markets, living in very basic accommodation, washing their clothes by hand and having limited access to hot water, hygiene and medical facilities. That’s all part of the experience.”

 

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