You know when you walk into the ACE Hardware in the Eastgate Shopping Center in Missoula and they have free popcorn for you as a welcome gift... We started doing something similar in Cajamarca when the new volunteers arrive. Only instead of popcorn we give them each a live chicken in the Plaza de Armas of Cajamarca.
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| Usually a current Cajamarca volunteer gives a short speech (i.e. "let this chicken symbolizes the winds freedom you'll feel under your own wings during your service") as the new volunteer receives the chicken. |
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| Then they stand there hoping the chicken doesn't poop or escape while the rest receive their birds for the group shot. |
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| Cajamarca's Peru - 22ers: (L to R) Marc Anthony, Matt, Hannah, and Jeff. |
It's a fun ice breaker that caps off a day of a scavenger hunt around town (find 3 places with Wifi, find Brice's Appt., Find where to buy a cuy, etc.) and a group breakfast. It's also a great welcoming gift for them to share with their new host-families, as these health volunteers are generally placed in a very rural area where protein consumption isn't as common as it should be and families are of very humble resources.
