FairMail Peru founder Janneke Smeulders

Three weeks ago FairMail founder Janneke Smeulders arrived in Peru to visit FairMail Peru. A good opportunity to hear her thoughts on the latest developments inside FairMail and the work she will be doing in Peru over the coming 4 months.

Janneke having breakfast at the FairMail office

What does your FairMail working day look like in Peru?

“Let’s take last Wednesday for example. I got up around 6:45 and did my morning meditation from 7 to 8, while Peter did some yoga, watered the plants and made breakfast. After a really nice breakfast with freshly made mango/passionfruit juice and oatmeal, it was time to check my email and work on my pending Christmas card orders. I worked on some new Christmas cards for on Greetz and designed tailor made corporate Christmas cards for an Italian and a Dutch company. 

When that was done it felt like coffee time so I made a nice one for me and Peter. Over coffee I started watching the photos the teenagers made in November. I always watch all of their photos (an average of 5.000 per month) and then make a selection to put on our website, edit the photos and give them keywords so that our customers can easily find photos per theme. 

For lunch we went to a local restaurant a few blocks down the road. For just under 2 euros they offer a simple but nice lunch of soup, rice with egg or fish, beans and a drink. Back at the office it was time to prepare the office for the “half-group class” with 5 of the 10 teenagers. Our co-manager Maria Flor walked in at 2 pm and although class is from 3 to 6 pm most teenagers knock the door around 2:30 which is nice as it gives some time to talk with them before class starts. 

Our 2 volunteer Analena and Kira, who had prepared the lesson the previous day, came in as well and they started off with nice dynamic: a group game called “Ninja!”. We have to freeze in a Ninja pose and then one by one we have to take another Ninja down with a cool move. The class went nice and smooth, first showing the group a selection of the photos they made last lesson for some feedback and then each teenager worked on his/her own personal card idea while the rest helped out where they could. I was mostly busy with matches and flashlights, helping out Angeles with her Christmas card scene to get the lighting on her photos perfect. While doing that the other teenagers come up to me regularly showing just made photos on their camera: “what do you think about this photo Janneke? Is it ok like this or shall I change anything? What about the composition on this one?”. And I got impressed by their creative ideas and hard work!  

A bit after 6 the teenagers went home and we could wrap up quickly in time to watch the sunset at 6:30 pm at the beach, only 30 metres from the office. What a great way to end such a nice day! In fact, it does not feel like a “working” day at all. “

Janneke during a management retreat with the Peruvian FairMail staff

What are your plans for this visit to Peru?

“As always my goals in Peru are to coach and supervise the co-managers more personally then over email and to give the teenagers new ideas and inspiration for card- and other photographic themes. And to catch up with the teenagers and their families who all have their own challenges to face. 

This time an extra goal is to try and plan in “mirror” talks with each teenager: this is a coaching technique to let them organize their own thoughts and feelings about the personal doubts and issues they have. 

Apart from that I will have to train a new co-manager as one of our current co-managers (Yuli) leaves this month as she got the chance to work in the USA for 3 months. A great opportunity for her and we see it as a nice moment to let another ex-FairMail teenager get some work experience as co-manager of FairMail. We invited former photographer Betty to come and get a trial period to see if she likes the management work and if she is able to handle the responsibilities. 

The cherry on the pie of this visit is the photography trip in January to the cloud forest. We are going with the whole team this time to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary! A trip like this is a perfect means to get even more team spirit and to get loads of great new FairMail photos.”

Janneke helping out during a photography excercise

How did you encounter the FairMail team after leaving them alone for nearly 6 months?

“This is different each time I come back in Peru. This time I was happy to see that the team of managers and volunteers formed a good staff together. I also noticed that most of the teenagers talk more easily about their personal situations then before: we do a “social circle” once a week in which we all tell about our week at home, at school and in FairMail and each has to give a compliment to one other person. This social circle takes more time each week and what each teenagers says seems more authentic then before. This tells me that the teenagers feel at easy and safe enough to share their issues in the group. This makes me really happy as with FairMail we want to create a space in which teenagers feel safe to show themselves as they really are and to find out about their own talents and dreams. So a big compliment to the whole team for strengthening the safe atmosphere during the past month!”

Which of the teenagers especially impressed you with his or her development the past months?

“As I said all of them impressed me with their open communication but if I had to pick one teenager then I can say that Juan Gabriel is one of the fastest rising stars. Six months ago he was not sure of himself, doubting about what he wanted after secondary school, looking for work without success. Some people around him were pushing him to take more action to find work which seemed to make him more passive then active so the pressure had a negative effect. 

And look at him now: he is studying on the pre-university academy, motivated to go and study communication studies. His dream is to become a sports journalist and-photographer. He seems to be on the right track for that as he succeeded in getting a scholarship for several courses in a well-known photography institute in Trujillo. This experience really boosted his self-esteem and you can tell from the amount of happy Facebook posts how much it motivated him. In the meantime he keeps on improving his English ánd he works hard in FairMail. He is an inspiring example for the younger boys in FairMail and I am very proud of him!”

Janneke painting the FairMail office

Any plans on expanding FairMail to a new country besides Peru in the future?

“Nope, not for now. After a period of expansion, we now find ourselves in a period of focussing on the quality instead of the quantity. And this suits me well as it gives me more time for things that were always far down on my “to-do-list” but that I find so important and so nice to do: give extra personal coaching to the teenagers, more personal guidance to the co-managers and take more time for product development and finding new markets and sales channels. The last is much needed to ensure that all of the 55 former and current FairMail photographers can finance the education they need to follow their dreams.”

Want to come and see with your own eyes how things are going with FairMail in Peru? Then read more about the opportunity for you to volunteer as a photography teacher or travel with the Peruvian teenagers here.