Hi everyone! We have officially completed our first full week of ministry in Tarma! I thought I would take a minute and let you all know what we’ve been up to this week. Our days off currently are Monday and Tuesday and we serve Wednesday through Sunday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we work with the compassion program, feeding kids. In the mornings we get up and head straight to the kitchen. Let me try and explain to you all the kitchen that we are working in. It’s probably about 10′ by 6′ and has old cement paver floors. There are 6 gas burners and an oven like I’ve never seen before (think Downton Abby style). You have to light a fire underneath it and even then it doesn’t work most of the time. There is a small table in the middle of the room, it’s about the size of a card table. The sink is normal size and is filled by rain water. There are two small windows in there (praise!!!) that can be opened. Now, imagine the 6 of us in there plus 4 or 5 Peruvian women, trying to prepare hot meals for around 200 kids! It is ABSOLUTE CHAOS, but somehow it works! The kids start arriving around 1:00 after they have attended school in the morning (in Latin America it’s common that kids only go to school for half a day). The children range in age from 3-15. We help serve them their food which usually consists of a small salad, rice, potatoes, some kind of meat, and a piece of fruit. The older kids stand in a “line” (line in quotations because there is a lot of pushing, shoving, yelling, and cutting in front of one another) and we bring the younger kids their food in their classrooms. The contrast between lunch here and lunch for kids in the states is like night and day. I can only imagine how hungry these kids must be to behave the way they do when they are waiting their turn for their food. The children are aloud to get as many servings of the meal as they would like and most go back for seconds if not thirds. After lunch there is usually some kind of lesson for the kids, a bible story or a lesson about personal health or hygiene. Sometimes the kids go out and play basketball or soccer. Honestly it can be really difficult to stay patient and calm when you have 40 kids in a tiny room all yelling “hermanita” (that’s what they call us, it’s an endearing way of calling someone sister) at you while hitting the kid beside them and throwing chicken bones on the floor. What I have found gives me perspective most is looking at their little faces and seeing Alex and Taxi (my sweet nephews for those of you who don’t know them) and what would I do if it were them in this situation; if this were the life they were born into. What these kids need most is someone to love them, take a genuine interest in them, and someone to care for them. The majority of them come from abusive and broken homes and families; it’s such a special opportunity we have to love on and serve them while we are here. On Friday nights we attend church with the people who work here. We all try not to laugh while listening to each other join in on the worship songs in Spanish. We sound awful! On Saturdays we wake up and CLEAN! And let me tell you, with over 200 kids running around during the week, this place needs it. We are all so thankful for bleach! Then, on Saturday evenings we join in with the youth group. The older kids are starting to warm up to us 🙂 Sundays in the morning we have prayer and a small bible study with Miguel and Paulina, our hosts, and then it’s children’s church in the afternoon! It’s fun to see some of the kids we help feed during the week come back on Sundays. One little boy named Johnfer has become my little buddy. He comes during the week and also to children’s church. I see him out and about in the community quite a bit and he always comes running up with the biggest smile and the slimiest nose I’ve ever seen. He melts my heart.
We are meeting a lot of people out in the community. One evening last week when we went into town to get some pizza, we met a lady from Australia. White faces stick out like sore thumbs around here so I spotted her a mile away! 🙂 She has been serving the people of Tarma for the last six years working as the principal of the a school. Her name is Patricia and she is one of the warmest, smiliest, and most welcoming people we have met. She is probably in her 60s I would say. This morning we walked over to her school to say hello; she greets us with kisses! 🙂 we are going back tomorrow morning and she is going to give us a tour of her school and show us what they do there. We also met a lady named Diana who is allowing us to go run at the soccer stadium in town. Running at 10,000 feet is much more difficult than sea level! We are all honestly still adjusting. We’ve also met several people in town who run shops or vegetable stands. We are making a point to build relationships with the people in the city. They make it pretty easy because they are all so friendly. We’ve found a place to shower! There is a hostel in town that is allowing us to use the showers a few times a week. We are all so grateful and even more thankful that the water is warm!!!!
We are quickly coming up on the halfway mark of this month which is crazy! Time is flying by. I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated!
