(ANS - Lares) - "One day I read somewhere: 'If you want to see really happy people, come to Peru!' I went and saw a lot of happy people even though, according to people in the first world, it is a poor country lacking many things. How is that possible? Who is poor? (...) Living with children in the mountains for me was an experience that taught me a new understanding of the world and of human life."

This is the testimony of Zuzan Citarcikova, Slovak volunteer in the mountains of Peru.

The young people of the Lares plateau taught me a lesson in a short conversation:
- How many llama do you have? - None.
- How many alpaca? - None.
- Sheep? – None.
- Then you must be really, really poor.

What different worlds! In my country, Slovakia, being a shepherd already means that you are poor. The criteria of wealth in Europe or the countries of the northern hemisphere are particularly related to money. There is not much room to appreciate the richness and value of an animal or the nature or value of life itself. I seem to have forgotten that the happiness we all seek, is not dependent and cannot depend on material things, the things that pass. I wanted to understand this better. I thank all the people at Lares who have helped me to do so.

Why Lares?
I lived for nearly three months in this city 3222 meters above sea level, far removed from modern civilization, in a little house named after St. Dominic Savio. There, every Sunday, about fifty children and adolescents come. They walk for three, four or five hours to get there. They leave their parents, their sheep and llamas to go to school all week. I always think of these "kids": How can a six or seven year old spend so many days away from home? How do they feel at night? Do they not miss the love and affection of their families?  When I close my eyes I see before me their little heads with black hair, eyes filled with joy, cheeks reddened by the wind, the cold and the sun of the mountains.  And, of course, I see their feet, bare apart from sandals.I see their smiles and I feel happy. No! Those children are not poor. They are able to laugh, and love and help each other. They are humble. They have many talents and they are willing to learn. And also, they know how to give thanks to God and the people, and how to live together as a family with respect for each other.

Living with kids in the middle of the mountains was an experience that taught me a new understanding of the world and of human life. Not everything is as I thought. Corn does not have to be yellow. The north may well mean a place where it is warmer, and finally, being a shepherd does not necessarily mean being poor. As I leave the house I hope that Marleni, who is known as “a difficult child”, will continue to protect her little sister Reyna; that Urbano will make good use of his artistic talent; that  Luis Felipe will not stop asking those endless philosophical questions; that one day Yeni will be able to celebrate his birthday with a jam tart; that  Hernán will always sing and dance with the brush that is bigger than he is. I hope that all those children never lose their most precious treasure: the joy of their pure hearts pure.

Published 13/06/2014