Greetings everyone!
Apologies for the lack of communication…we’ve been going non-stop since arriving in Trujillo and the Internet has been scarce. So, you’re probably wondering what I’ve been doing since our arrival last week. Here’s a bit more info:
This month we are continuing to partner with Inca Link, focusing on the construction of a children’s home, assisting at the day care and partaking in the garbage dump ministry.
Four years ago, Inca Link purchased land and began building a new children’s home, modeled after the one in Quito, Ecuador. Prior to this purchase, they successfully launched a day care in the community that meets basic needs of qualifying children. The day care is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday; each day it provides a hot meal for 70 children (sometimes the only hot meal they’ll have all week), a Bible lesson, basic hygiene (toothbrushes/paste, soap), a water filter for their family, engaging activities, lots of love and much more. We recently had the opportunity to visit the day care and see the ministry in action…
We performed our version of Daniel and the lions den.
We are currently living in the children’s home that will eventually house many of the kids from the day care. The vision of this property is to provide children with the opportunity to learn a trade, be given proper nutrition and education in order to break the poverty cycle that devastates this city. One housing complex is complete (where my team and another team of 7 currently reside) and they are currently working on the other two houses, the cafeteria and green space in between buildings (there’s not much grass growing in all this sand…).
So, how do a bunch of gringos fit into this equation? This is a brief overview of my schedule while I’m in Peru:
Sunday: Attend local church, afternoon of rest
Monday: Day off
Tuesday: Work at children’s home 9-12:30; 1:30-4
Wednesday: Work at children’s home 9-12:30; 1:30-4
Thursday: Work at children’s home 9-12:30; 1:30-4
Friday: Work at children’s home 9-12:30; afternoon at day care
Saturday: Work at children’s home 9-12:30; afternoon at garbage dump
Not too bad, right? Figure in prep time for making dinners each night (we get to make our own food!), time to eat, team meetings each night and all the everyday facts of life (showers, laundry, etc) and our days fill up pretty fast! Throw in the fact that we’re our own little entity outside of the city and it takes at least 30 minutes to get anywhere on foot or by bus and you quickly realize that efficiency is never a word you’ll use to describe life here.
All smiles at the worksite…love moving sandy dirt!
Despite the minor inefficiencies, I’m loving life here! I’m quite certain that I could enter a strong woman competition if we keep up this pace with construction. Most days on the work site consist of pick axing the sandy ground, shoveling it into wheelbarrows and moving it to another location. We’ve graduated from the rocks we moved in the jungle… In addition to this, I’ve had a crash course in Cement 101: measuring, dumping, mixing and transporting this wonderful substance. We recently built the walls that will make up a fountain at the children’s home. This coming week, I think we’re all attending Brick Making 102: how to use your feet to stomp in mud and eventually produce something you can build with. I’ll let you how it goes…
I love the vision of Inca Link and what they are laboring to accomplish here. I’m honored to be a small part of it, especially when I see the faces of the kids at the day care that will benefit from our efforts.
So that’s the brief version. I have so much more I could tell you but it’s hard to portray all that I’m experiencing here. In an attempt to give you a more complete picture of Peru, here’s my 5 senses:
SIGHT: Brown landscape with few trees or vegetation, desert; all homes made out of the same brown bricks and cement.
HEAR: At the children’s home, there’s a serene solitude- only a few roosters, donkeys but mostly silence when there’s no construction; in the city, there’s the chaos of buses, taxis and bustle of people. I prefer the children’s home.
SMELL: Most noticeable smells happen when people burn their garbage (not my favorite), or you walk past a Menu (restaurant) and smell the food cookin’ (favorite…especially churros)
TASTE: Aji de gallina, lomo saltado, tres leches…I could go on. If you’ve been to Peru, you know these dishes and they’re delicious! I’m loving that I get to eat my favorite Peruvian foods- mostly some kind of meat with rice and beans and aji, a spicy sauce, each day for lunch. It’s actually cheaper and more time effective to go out to lunch at a Menu. It only costs 3 soles (about $1.10) to eat a soup, main dish and juice. Can’t beat that!
TOUCH: I just bought a new pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt at a market for $17. I’m fairly certain I’ll write you a blog about these purchases because I’m a happy girl when I’m in my sweaties. And they still have the “pre-wash extra fuzziness” going on. You know what I mean… They’re my current favorite.
Okay, hope that gives you a picture of my life and ministry in Peru. Leave me a comment if you have questions you want answered.
Oh, and I have so many fun videos I want to share with you but fear the internet will never be good enough to upload them…we’ll see what we can do! Love you all!
Joca, our new friend who works for Inca Link, gives some love to the kids at the daycare. This is what happens when you walk in the door…at least 3 kids want you to pick them up and toss them around!
