Feliz Navidad!

More of our Baby - Herkie Buku

School´s Out!

Right now the girls are out of school for the summer. We only had one girl, Nelcy, graduate, and that was from 6th grade. She will be headed off to secondary (high school) next year. The current schedule is fairly lax until after Christmas –we wanted the girls to get a chance to chill and take it easy. Once we are through the holiday season, the girls will be required to have English, Math, Personal Finance and Reading (where most all of them are currently behind), and then they will be able to have electives of music (voice and guitar), trade (making crafts, etc…), gymnastics, soccer, fishing, swimming (some of our girls do not know how), and occasional outings. Both of us couples will be using money that has been donated by you, our supporters.
These next few months (of summer) will allow us to catch some of the girls back up to speed scholastically and teach them some new hobbies. We are trying to cut costs by pulling on community members, using some of the People of Peru staff, and personally teaching some of these classes. It actually works to our advantage to involve more of the community, and other staff, in having the girls establish, or re-establish, some new friendships. This will hopefully help some of the girls push outside their comfort zones as well. This is an amazing growth opportunity for our girls. Thank you for your support.

New Puppies

Princesa, one of our 3 current perros (dogs), decided it was time in her life to have some more puppies -without any consultation with us, or herself for that matter (it wasn’t her decision either). Fortunate for us, two will be leaving. We will be keeping the black and white one whom we currently call vaco (vaca is cow, but it’s a feminine word, so we changed it to vaco, masculine in context, to help his self esteem…). Here is a photo of Rosany, one of our older girls, holding the three little pupps –the brown one, whom we call gordito (little fatty) is the other male, and the brown and white one (female without a name) will be heading to live at the office. New

A Trip to Quistococha

A week ago there was again no school, so we decided to take the girls out to a beautiful lake about 20 minutes from our house. Quistococha is a park that offers swimming, volleyball, soccer, fishing, a zoo (ranging from a freshwater dolphin to snakes and piranhas), and relaxation. We brought some sticks for fishing poles, and fatty worms, and went fishing for hours.
The girls are incredible with catching fish. Without bobbers, there is a knack in snagging fish. The girls have all the finesse, where as for myself, I lose about as many worms as the girls catch fish. The “hot spots,” as I found out, were next to the bank and trees –which of course the girls knew. I would have preferred to bring a quarter stick of dynamite…We brought home a bountiful of fish. Kelly was even able to snag one –it was the smallest thing ever, but her first ever!
When we were about to leave, Lisa made a bet with a guy that she could swim out to some bottle floating in the middle of the lake. She could not find Casey to swim with her, so I was the next best option. I have never been a distance swimmer, but was able to sidestroke my way out and back. By swimming out to the middle (roughly 300 ft), and back, the guy then gave Lisa his pack of cigarettes, and stopped giving them out to some little kids that were hanging out with him (this guy was actually a teacher and these were his students…). The purpose, and result, was great, but maybe next time we can challenge them to basketball or golf…

Ermelinda's Quincinera

Last weekend, Ermelinda turned 15 and that is the biggest deal ever.  A quincinera party is like a wedding.  As you can see, she had her ladies, or her "damas", and they each had a partner.  It's a big party with formal processions and food and invitations.  The whole town was watching, even though most had to wait outside.  It was beautiful and wonderful to see one of our girls get to be a princess for a night.  

Casey´s Parents Arrive

Friday morning, after having their first flight delayed, Skip and Terri Hann arrived in Iquitos. They came from 3 feet of snow and 15 degree F weather in Michigan to our jungle humidity. Even though our weather turned rainy and cooled down significantly, they were still shocked by the heat. They have been hanging out at the house with all of us and getting the full experience of daily life at POPPYS House. They have been spoiling us with gifts from afar, such as disposible diapers, toys, peanut M&Ms, medicines and so much more. It is so wonderful to have someone from home come and get a taste of the life here. They bring a fresh energy and interest to our daily routine. More are welcome to come and visit! We are looking forward to some of our family and friends to come down and experience Iquitos. We love you!

Fishing With The Girls

Fishing is something that I have never been interested in. Growing up, fishing was not my thing. No matter how much I tried, I was unable to catch fish. I even failed to catch fish at a fish farm (to this day I do not know how that is possible). With that being said, the girls here adore fishing. They enjoy the entire process - from sticking the worm into the hook to snagging a delectable fish. I have actually gotten into fishing with them (Casey is also a die-hard, catches everything, fishing kind of guy). Here are some photos of us going fishing with the girls in a river (one of many tributaries to the Amazon) 2 minutes from where we live.

I was actually able to catch a fish. I should stop at that sentence, but I wont. My fish was a catfish...grrr... and a baby at that. The smart thing ate through 3 of my worms before I was able to snag it. It was my only one of the day. You can actually use these as bates for larger fish (which I tried), like piranhas, however something ate my poor little fish before I could snag anything.

You can also see how the sunsets here can be breathtaking.

I have actually found fishing to be quite relaxing, and although it is still not my ¨cup of tea¨, it is a wonderful chance to spend time hanging out with the girls and doing something that they enjoy. Casey´s parents just brought down some more loors and fishing items (I am not fisherman savvy), so hopefully these will make my fishing life easier...

Herkimer Mbuku, our baby

Here´s our first baby.  He´s a baby dusky titi monkey and he´s a cute little dude.  He´s got colorful hair--a white forehead, red neck beard, brown body, and blonde tail.  We named him Herkimer Mbuku in honor of our nephew.  No one can pronounce his name, but it´s okay.  He´s a needy little dude and just wants to be held.  We don´t have pictures with us right now, so we´ll post those a different day.  But here is a little video of us when we take him on a walk.  

The Rest of Our Trip

The rest of our trip was awesome.  We had some interesting bus rides and met a lot of interesting people from all around the world.  We crossed the border into Arica, Chile.  We were there for a day and climbed up a big rock hill that overlooked the city and ocean.  It was a steep climb, but there was a cool little path ready to take us.  Here´s a picture of the view from the city.  By the way, we ate and McDonalds and it was one of the most expensive meals we ate on our entire trip.  Strange from and American perspective.

Below is a view from the top of the hill, looking out to some more coast terrain.  The rest of the place was a giant sand desert.  Very arid and dry, but fascinating.
After Arequipa, and before Arica, we took a bus up to Puno, alongside Lake Titicaca.  The lake sits at an elevation of 12,500 ft and gets rather chilly.  We were frozen, but got some alpaca beanies to warm us.  We took a tour to some of the island on the lake and here are some pictures of that.  We also went to the floating reed islands and saw how the people live there.  Needless to say, the live off of tourists...taking us on rides in their reed boats and selling trinkets.

Day 3 - Day After Thanksgiving Dirt Biking

FYI: Motorcycle tours are way cooler than bus tours. Casey and Lisa had met a motorcylce guide named Eddy when they came through Arequipa. They highly recommended him and gave us his number. We were able to arrange a tour almost half the price of going through an agency (which he works for) because we called him directly. He provided us helmets (some readers will be happy to see that) and a Honda 250cc. We followed him through backroads on the outskirts of the city to small towns and local sights that tourists don´t normally see. We stopped at a picantería and had a local corn drink which smelt fermented, although he insisted it was not. We saw some canyons where they get the white sillar that has been used since the conquistadores to build the structures in this city. Because of this rock, the city is known as "The White City". There were workers breaking the rock by hand. They work hard, making only 20 bricks a day, getting paid 2 soles per brick ($0.60/brick). They also get complimentary respiratory problems for the rest of their lives, breathing in the rock dust.

On a more positive note, Eddy took us to a beautiful oasis in the middle of the arid countryside. It was absolutely beautiful. We also passed through a couple small towns and, just outside of Arequipa, we visited a mirador, which is a lookout point with a great view. We saw a 360 degree view of Arequipa. We highly recommend this trip.

Day 2 - Thanksgiving on the river

Captains log:

Today, instead of wasting time cooking mass amounts of food that would never totally be eaten, and cleaning for hours afterwards with a miserably full stomach while the "guys" watch the Dallas Cowboys get beat (yes, we know it was Cincinatti vs. Pittsburgh, but that´s not tradition yet), we decided to go rafting amongst the volcanoes of the Andes. How untraditional of us. Really, it was a simple tourist rafting route with classes 2-4 rapids and lots of rocks due to the low season. But if you´re not Kyle Drake or Brian Howard or the likes, it was awesome. We were in the raft with a couple world travelers, one from Ireland and the other from England, who had some interesting stories. Our river guide was Argentine, and it felt good to hear the accent since that was the birth of my Castellano (Kelly--she´s refering to Spanish). Our other guide, who took pictures of us with his Blackberry (since his 3 other cameras were stolen), was absolutely crazy and hilarious. He was a white guy with blond hair who would get passionately offended when asked where he was from. He´s pure Peruvian, but apparently he gets asked every day of his life because he sure doesn´t look Peruvian. He´s from Lima. Here´s a photo of us just before we got in the 50 degree F water. They were gracious enough to supply us with wetsuits and chocolate. Both very important. We will post more photos of us screaming over nothing on the river later.

Please check out the "Pictures of Peru" link to see more of our trip.

Day 1, Santa Catalina

Kelly and I were told, ¨When coming to Arequipa, you have to check out this convent.¨It was absolutely beautiful. Check out the pictures above. This is a Catholic convent from the 1700´s. It was breathtakingly beautiful. It takes up an entire city block (a HUGE block). The main part of the convent is now solely for tourists, but in the back, where we were not allowed to go, there still are nuns living and worshiping. There are streets, courtyards, beautiful flowers, walkways, choir rooms, prayer rooms, and everything is painted with vibrant colors. The walls are made of a beautiful white rock found in abundance in the hills surrounding Arequipa. Arequipa is actuallt known as the ¨White City¨because of all the buildings contrsucted from this rock. It was a beautiful experience for the both of us and it was amazing to walk around and see the inside of this convent.

Bus Ride to Arequipa

In order to cut costs, because traveling is expensive even in Peru, Kelly and I decided to take a bus from Lima to Arequipa. We traveled one of the better know companies, Cruz del Sur, and it paid off. The buses are like airplanes, but take 10 times as long to arrive. They are extrememly comfortable with onboard movies, meals (small and not as willing to offer seconds), restrooms (however they politely told us that we could only go number 1...grrr), and two levels.

Our trip was suppose to be 14 hours, however, we ended up taking 16. It was an incredible long trip. I am rather large for down here, so my legs were constantly in the isles. It was a bit challenging to sleep, because we were traveling in the mountains, and we were a slightly scared. We were on the top level, so every turn (there were MANY) we felt the g´s. It was slightly scary to look out the window and see the bus passing a semi-truck, going up hill, and around a corner, but I felt safer than what I was expecting. If you talk to Kelly, she was slightly more scared than I was, and my left arm has the markings to prove it.

It was a beautiful journey while we still had light. We traveled on the Pan-American Highway, which follows the coastline. On the right side we had the ocean, and on the left side we had the desert. I did not realize how much of Peru is desert. I also failed to realize how many toll-booths there were in Peru. There are a lot. Even though the trip took a long time, it provided a fun story. We traveled during the night so that we would not have to pay for lodging as well. I don´t think that we got near enought sleep, but it was still enjoyable.

Here is a picture of our bus. You enter through the bottom, and then head up to where to common folk sit. The bottom is reserved for the VIP class. I have no clue why there is a VIP class because it costs just about as much to ride down there as it does for a one way ticket via airplane.

Trip To Indiana, Peru

As weird as it might sound, there literally is an Indiana, Peru. This town is located about one hour up the Amazon by speedboat. We made the trip in a slow barge type boat which took 3 hours. Kelly and I made the trip to surprise her cousin, Kaitlyn, who was arriving with Mount Ellis Academy. They were coming to provide some medical, spiritual, and counseling for a group of about 80 kids. The facilities in Indiana are beautiful. Check out this video.

This is an Adventist camp situated close, but private, to the Amazon river. It felt great to interact with people that spoke little to no spanish. It felt good to be able to translate a few things for them (my spanish is still in the woodworks, and I am by no means fluent). Kelly and I spent the night in hammocks because there was no room for us to sleep anywhere else. It was quite the experience!

Above all, it was good to see family down in the Joungle -our territory. Here is a picture of us and Kaitlyn.

Marquitos

We have an abundance of cute kids out here. Marcos is one such kid. He has the ability to find a place in any ones heart. He lives with his mother, Ermelinda, who is working on finishing high school. Marcos is an adorable child. He is always into everything, but one tough cookie. He is an accident prone little dude. Whenever he cries, and you pick him up, he latches on to you, and will not let go. His head becomes buried into your body. We were playing around with the camera the other day, and this is what we saw. We have a feeling you might like it.

No Goatin´ Around

We have two goats that live adjacent to where we live. We have tried to put into words how they sound, but it just doesn’t give them justice. Here are two short video clips that show the two goats having drastically different sounds. One of them sounds normal, but the other sounds like it is dying. The dying one has awoken us many times in the night and early morning due to its annoying sound. Hear for yourselves…

National Team Comes to Iquitos

This last Saturday night, November 1, Kelly and I were able to watch the Peruvian Under-17 National Volleyball Team play here in Iquitos. We were surprised to find out that everyone here plays soccer and volleyball. Volleyball is a huge deal, and people are always playing in the streets. Luckily for us, we were able to go with some friends, and they were helped us get in. It was mayhem trying to enter the stadium. Everyone was trying to purchase a ticket, everyone was pushing, everyone was yelling, and everyone outside was angry. Juan, a volunteer helping out at the office and Santo Tomas, had to push through people to purchase some tickets, and in the process, his wallet was stolen. We were all able to have a good time however. The National Team played the local team of Iquitos, so everyone cheered for everything. They had their national and local pride. It was comical to see everyone screaming for every point scored. In the end, although it really did not matter who won, the National Team won all three games. Here are some photos.

Ana Victoria´s Birthday

Ana Victoria turned 11 on November 6 and we had a party for her with cake, snacks, games and some friends. A strange tradition they have down here for birthdays is they smash a raw egg on top of the head of the birthday person. It’s an entertaining surprise, but a reminder to us to make sure and take a “vacation” on our birthdays.

Our New River

We continue to have torrential downpours out here in the jungle. From what we have read, the worst is yet to come (January and February are notably the worst time of year). With all of the rain and electrical storms (the lightning and thunder are intense at times), our power goes out frequently. We have yet to have water enter into our room, however, water has/does go into the kitchen and dining hall. Here is a short video showing our new river; this literally popped up over night from all the rain. Word has it that with the rising water levels comes more snakes (Kelly is ecstatic) as well as some baby crocodiles.

A Surprise Visit

Romeo is the spitting image of Curious George. This little guy lives out at the office, and runs around getting into everything. He is fairly hard to approach, and seldom lets you pick him up, but occasionally he gets people needy. Kelly was sleeping in a chair, and this guy pounced on her and started cuddling in her lap. She let out a little squeal because she didn’t know what had happened. A few minutes later, Romeo jumped in my lap as I was typing away on the computer (see photo below).
There are many exotic creatures down here. Many of which you grow up reading about. God made so many beautiful creatures. Kelly and I have marveled at the complexity and beauty that some of the ones down here hold. I wish that we could bring some back to show people, because it is near impossible to get photos of everything.

Only In South America

Hey, remember my words on snakes? Well, a couple nights ago, Aaron and I were showering before bed and I noticed a little dude under our toilet (probably swam up the drain). I grabbed the machete we had in our room and had Aaron kill it. Then he finished his shower and we went to bed in peace. The girls say it was poisonous, but we’re learning they say everything is poisonous—even the toads we touch daily. So now we don’t know if it was or not. It had no red color so we couldn’t use the cool little poem. It was merely yellow and black. Oh well. I am sure that there will be more… grr…

We Have Snakes, Crocodiles, and now People-Eating Ants

The title makes it sound so scary. Really, it’s not that bad…yet. Rainy season is coming, waters rise (as you can see on the other blog about the river that appeared behind our place overnight) and apparently we get some extra wildlife with that. We will have to keep our grass cut, and, by the way, it grows like its on steroids, so that alligators don’t make little homes in them…or so that we can see them coming before they get to the sala. J As for the crocodiles, they are probably smaller and rarer than they sound.
Snakes…well, we’ve had a couple minor encounters, but I guess we could have some boa visits. A neighbor killed an anaconda at his place a couple weeks ago and came to us gringos to see if we wanted to buy it. We politely declined. I was never afraid of snakes…until now. Poison and the ability to swallow me whole play a role in my newfound fear.
For the ants, we have a little video. They don’t eat people, people like to eat them. Casey was catching them to feed to the monkeys and some of the girls and our grounds worker were telling us how delicious they were (only the butt part of the ant, not the whole thing). They fly and they are not tiny. One bit a girl and drew blood. Take a look.

Bible Book Fair

A few weeks ago, an Adventist Book Fair came to town. We were able to find, and purchase some much needed items. One of which were some music/karaoke CD’s for the girls. The girls LOVE hearing the music, watching the video, and then singing along with the words as they appear on the screen. We have about 3-5 currently, but the girls listen to those over and over again until they drive you insane, and you sing them in your sleep (this literally happened to one of us). We purchased 4 new CD’s, and the girls are LOVING them. It felt a little weird to barter with the conference, but it paid off –we saved a few bucks from it.

Last Day Events

Every morning we have worship with the girls. This past week we began going over end times and prophecy with the girls. Casey and Lisa brought an awesome Doug Bachelor CD from the States that gives detailed Bible study outlines on last day events. It’s a lot of information, especially since most of these girls were never Adventist before coming here (or still are not). We’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg, but the girls seem to be really interested and excited about the topic. Some have come to ask more questions about the Sabbath and others have asked about getting to know God and their Bible better. It’s been awesome and we could use all your prayers.

A Tour of Our Facility

Here are two short videos, from two different locations, of where we live. Kelly gives a short little commentary with each video. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of the facility in which we live. It is a beautiful little paradise.

Our Dog Sucia

In Spanish, Sucia means dirty. This little dog lives up to her name. She literally eats anything, and is in to everything as well. She is still just a puppy, so it is hard to get frustrated at such a cute little dog. She is always in play mode, but always barking at anyone she does not recognize. She makes the best guard dog of all. She has the biggest bark, but has NO bite. Check out this video.

Keyla Goes to Dinner

The other night Kelly and I were able to take Keyla out to dinner and give her an opportunity to spend some time in the city. We dined at the, “Yellow Rose of Texas.” This establishment is owned by a gentleman from Texas, and has incredible food for reasonable prices. This is also the gringo hang out. This restaurant is known for having great food among the American tourists. It felt good to sit, eat, and relax. After dinner, we headed over to a near by ice cream joint and indulged ourselves in some awesomeness. Here is a photo of Keyla and her humongous bowl of ice cream.

A Northwestern Experience, Soccer In The Rain

Yesterday, October 19, I invited over some neighborhood kids for a mini soccer tournament barefoot in the rain. We had enough support for three five man teams. Sadly, my team lost, but it was an enjoyable time. The rain came at about halftime of the first game, and from there on out, it was anyone’s game. The field became one giant mud pit, and people were flying everywhere. We lost 12 – 8. Kelly was even able to get a photo of me falling down… thanks! Here are some photo’s of playing in a torrential downpour. When all was said and done, the winning team went home with a 2.3 liter of Orro (a cheap Inca Cola –a South American favorite that some say tastes like cotton candy/bubble gum).

Youth Group Social

This last Saturday, October 18, we had a bunch of kids over for some social activities. This was originally for the pathfinders, but with our fires burning, blaring Christian music, and our gate open, neighboring kids were soon apart of the festivities as well. We played games, sang songs, socialized, and had an amazing time. We made two big bonfires, had prizes, some food, and over 80 kids. We even had some crazy drunk guy who thought Kelly was Russian wanting to come play with us. Here is a video, I hope that you can view it and it is not too dark.

English Lessons For The Girls

Kelly and I have been spending more and more time teaching the girls English. This is a challenging task. We have so many rules, and then, we have so many contradictions. We have started small with questions like, “What is your name,” “How are you,” and my personal favorite, “Don’t bother me.” The girls are learning slowly. It works out nicely for me because they are spending more time teaching me Spanish during this whole process. The girls are starting to use more English in their everyday tasks.
It has been simple, but still an improvement from when we first arrived. They say, “Excuse me,” “How are you,” and “What time is it?”. It may sound simple, and not very exciting, but for us this is a beautiful beginning. The girls have full time English tutors, but have not taken advantage of it. It is exciting to see them branch out and not be afraid to try our challenging pronunciations and uniquely ruled vocabulary. The girls are showing growth, what more could you ask for?

English Class and Class in General

Ironic story, the English teacher out here at Santo Tomas does not speak English. This is not meant to be rude, but makes our lives slightly more challenging. The girls have English class once a week for two hours, and work out of a workbook which is entirely in English –not the best learning environment. The education system has a severe lack of funding, staffing, and motivation.
The girls are required to complete homework which they do not understand. Our girls have a tremendous advantage, but are not required to practice conversation in class. The girls are also unable to bring home textbooks. Class is done on a chalkboard, problems and homework are copied down in a journal, and books are rarely used.
It is frustrating to see how education is treated down here. You never know when there is class. School could be canceled, a teacher may just decide to not show up, supervision is a joke (the gates are actually monitored by other students, not teachers or staff), and class gets out early frequently. Motivating the girls has been challenging due to the teachers having minimal motivation themselves. Our girls are performing well considering, but there is still more ground to cover.

Us Alone with the Babies...

October 21, our CNA for the organization (Camila) took the girls to go get Tetanus shots. Most of the girls had never had this before, so this will help them out significantly. Sadly, with the mothers gone, we were left alone with the little ones. One in particular, Kevin, gave us a run for our money. This little dude, for who knows what reason, ALWAYS has the runs. He decided to let it all go in the sala. He always wears a diaper, but diapers down here are considerably different from ones in the States. Kelly and I got the rare, but character building, opportunity to clean this little dude up. Due to this “stuff” being everywhere, we sprayed him off. This is the protocol up here. Here is a video of Kelly prepping herself for battle. This also shows why Kelly’s brother will probably never, ever let her clean up Kylan…

The Storm

We have plenty more of these coming since rainy season is beginning. Now we can see why the Amazon floods so high for so long. The rain was dumping and there was lots of lightning. We caught some lightning on this clip, along with the rain beginning to flood our sala and kitchen. Aaorn was fruitlessly trying to sweep it all away.

A Birthday Call to Casey

This last Thursday, October 16, was Casey’s birthday. Kelly, I and the girls surprised him with a call and a beautiful Happy Birthday, Peruvian style. He was delighted for the call, but not feeling very well. From the sound of it, he has been sick ever since leaving Peru –somewhat sad considering that he has been in the States now for a little over one week. It is hard to not get sick down here –Kelly and I are sick frequently, however, it involves the toilet, not being bed ridden. Casey has it worse. We hope he gets better soon!

A Head Turning Experience

The chicken harvest is now complete. Paul has an experimental chicken business in the corner of our property here in Santo Tomas. We purchased 20 chickens at cost for meals over the next few weeks. They will continue to be feed until we need them. Sadly, we needed two little guys today. There are few humane ways to kill chickens. You can chop off their heads with a machete (lots of blood) or you can twist their head until their spine snaps (no blood). Either way makes you want to be a vegetarian. I realize this is gross, but it is memorable –for all of us!

The Feeding Process (Tito and Tsunami)

Kelly and I have been feeding Lisa and Casey’s monkeys daily. This involves powdered milk, yogurt, fruit, and crickets (grillitos). As you would have guessed, Kelly does not capture the crickets, but has overcome her fear and allowed herself to feed the crickets to the monkeys. Check out this video of Tito, the littlest one, eating.

Here is also a picture, for size purposes, for you to see how small this little guy truly is. You can see Kellys hand next to him, and he is smaller than that.

A Brief Visit To Santa Clara

This last Thursday, I took three of our girls (Veronica, Rosany, and Ermelinda) out to a pathfinder meeting in Santa Clara –about a 20 minute drive by motocargo. The first town we drove through had no electricity, and was lit entirely by candle. House after house was aglow with families sitting down for dinner. Immediately after this peaceful setting, we traversed a 500 foot long wooden bridge (12 feet off the ground), barely wide enough for our moto, and with foot traffic. It was VERY narrow with foot traffic on the bridge/walkway. There were a few places that had no railing, and a few boards that had no nails. We dealt with this both directions, but were able to make it back safely.

The church in Santa Clara is a massive structure but not yet completed. There are still no bars or shutters on the windows, no fans (days are hot down here), some broken benches, but tons of potential. It is simple inside, mainly because they have no way to keep people out from stealing. Sadly, for who knows what reason, pathfinders was cancelled for the night.
It is fun to see the kids actively involved with the church. Veronica is the spiritual leader of the bunch. She is constantly leading out in church, helping with worships, and planning youth socials. We are having one out here this Saturday night, October 18. Wish us luck!

Fewer blogs and emails for a while

Casey and Lisa are on a three week trip to the states, so it is us, and 18 kids. We are a little understaffed, so bare with us until the end of October when they return. We will be writing fewer blogs and emails due to us having less time off. This is a good opportunity for us to bond more with the kids and establish ourselves here, with this regime. It is stressful though, and an emotional and physical challenge, so please keep us in your prayers.

Angel Gets A Haircut

I buzzed my hair on Friday and our little boy Angel decided that he wanted the same haircut. He´s cute, so beware!

Rainy Season Is Starting

Here is a short video clip of a major rain storm that swept the city while Kelly and I happened to be there. Storms here come quickly, and bring a significant amount of rain. You could see the rain coming from down the street, and the people started running for cover. It was a comical site. People were hiding under trees, awnings, and whatever they could find. The storm did not pass quickly. Enjoy!

A New Menu!

We were able to sit down with the chef for the organization and hammer out a new menu with more variety, fruits, and veggies (one of the nights even includes pizza –woohoo!) The meals here are pretty good. Every morning we have some sort of oatmeal/mush concoction, fresh fruit, eggs, and a few other local things. For lunch, we have pasta, soup, chicken, lentils or other lighter items. For dinner, we have soup, burgers, salad (here this means that we have cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers lathered in lemon juice), pizza or other local cuisines. Most all the meals entail rice! The food here is much more enjoyable than either of us could have imagined.

Into The Jungle...

Yesterday, some of girls and I went into the jungle to gather some fruit trees. They were required to get 4 trees each, of various types, for school. Fortunately for us, we have a new motocargo (motorcycle with three wheels, and a small bed in the back –a motorcycle/truck), so we were able to cover a vast distance in a short time –the mud pits were especially fun. It feels weird to be able to drive down the road, see a baby mango tree, dig it up, and take it with you. There were some other trees as well, but I forget what types of fruit they carried. I wish it was this simple in the states!

Cleats for the Streets

This is a program that we are about to start down here.

Everyone here plays soccer. They play on the streets, on the sidewalk, or the few soccer fields. The balls that they play with are anything that can be kicked -but they are always flat. The people here love to play. It does not matter whether the ball is flat or if there are rocks in the streets, these people love to play.

This has proved to be our biggest witness down here. We invite kids to come over and play soccer on our small field, and then invite them to church with us. We have had quite a few vie for both options. It is my goal to start providing cleats for the kids here. Just about everyone plays bare foot. The few that are able to purchase cleats (although cheap for us, way too expensive for these people) are at a significant advantage. Cleats make a world of difference when playing soccer.

Our goal is to acquire 200 pairs of cleats and pass them out to the kids on the streets here in Santo Tomas. Foot sizes down here are puny compared to those in the states. We are looking for kids sizes, and then adult sizes up to size 9 US. The bulk of those, we are hoping, are in the kids ranges, not the adults. Here is what we are asking.

• If you have any cleats sitting around the house, we would like them.
• If you could pick up some at the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or other thrift stores, we would greatly apprecite it.
• If you would prefer not to purchase cleats, you could donate money to pay for the shipping down to Peru.
• We are looking for kids sizes ranging from 6.5 - 13, and then adult sizes ranging from 5-9

New, old, used, whatever, anything is better than playing barefoot. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please let me know. This is an amazing opportunity for us, and you, to provide a small gift to the children of Santo Tomas. I will send out an email, and post a blog, as to where to send the cleats. Right now we are trying to work out the best option.

Please let me know any feedback you might have. Thanks!

Mother Teresa - A Universal Name of Dignity

There is a lady who lives with us who is known as Mother Teresa. She lives in a small room, with her two girls Maybeth and Susan, in the corner of our property. MT is the epitomy of love, kindness, service, and christ. Officially, she is the nanny for all 5 of our little kids out here at POPPY´s house. From when the children get up, to when we lay them down for bed, she is there tending to the needs of the little ones. The mothers of these children love their kids, but tend to neglect some of their needs. The mothers are treating their kids how they were treated.

It is a growth process out here for everyone. The girls are trying to learn new parenting tactics, but the process is slow. MT is a tremendous support out here. She brings a spiritual richness that lightens everyones day. We are very greatful for what this lady does out here. When the mothers are gone, or even sometimes when they are here, MT bathes, feeds, sings with, talks with, walks with, and loves the children. MT has more patience than anyone I have met.

MT has not had an easy life. She has two older girls who are going to school in Lima, and then two that live with her now. Three of the girls have had some sort of improper treatment from a member of the family, and now MT is in the process of trying to obtain a divorce from her husband. This, and a few other minor details, tie into how and why she came to live with us. MT sees God in everything. She is always leading out in song service with us, and offering tremendous advice on both parenting and in how to effectively deal with the kids -both young and old. MT has worked out at POPPY´s house for some time now because she wants to help these girls. She has a ton of insight to offer the girls, some of which is not always appreciated by them. Mother Teresa is the epitomy of Paul´s tag line, ¨live to serve, serve to live.¨

MT has a lot of needs, but still finds the energy and strength to keep on giving to others, specifically all the the troubled girls out here. Kelly and I have fallen in love with this lady. We want to serve others like she so kind-heartedly does. MT receives a small stipend from the organization and was running a small ice-business on the side (we have the only filtered water in town, so MT was selling ¨filtered¨ice). This was until recently, but her freezer busted, and we are unable to provide her with another one.

The People of Peru Organization has quite a few wonderful individuals. MT is just one of those people that stick out. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with and learn from such a God-ferring woman. We have a lot to learn, but we have a patient teacher.

A Night Our In Iquitos With The Girls

This last Monday Kelly and I decided to take the girls out to dinner. There was no school Monday due to it being some holiday (they have those all the time down here), and the homework had been completed. We borrowed Paul’s truck, and headed into town with the girls and Lisa and Casey. We all got a rice and chicken dish and some Inca Kola (some say this tastes like cotton candy/bubble gum) and Coca Cola (yes, they do have this down here). The plates were enormous – Kelly and I shared a plate. And, side note, I was actually full - right now my mom is shaking her head, saying, ¨this cannot be possible!¨ The girls had an enjoyable time and there stomachs were content. Thank you to those of you who have donated money – the girls are being well taken care of.

1. Not only do we mentor the girls, we teach them to be firefighters!

This last week, Hernan, an elderly gentleman who squats the land next to us, decided to start a fire in order to burn some of the under brush surrounding our land. Sadly, he picked a scorching day with a steady breeze. The fire was fairly contained until it found a nice little dry area behind our dorms. We were worried that it would take out our septic system, which would cause a horrendous stench and blockage issue. With the help of some boys playing in the river, a hose, some buckets, and all the girls out at Santo Tomas, we were able to extinguish the fire. It was an eventful hour to say the least. Everyone is safe, our septic system is untouched, and the underbrush is gone, what more could you ask for…

Tito the Mini-Monkey

Lisa and Casey, the other Administrators out at Santo Tomas, purchased a mini-monkey named Tito. Kelly and I are interested in purchasing one, but will wait a little bit. We are on the 5 year plan, and not ready for kids. This guy requires quite a bit of time. Check it out!

Check Out Our Facility

Here is a photo of Kelly and Keyla (a young mother here) inside our kitchen. You can see that we have a kerosene stove because our power goes out all the time. It's a very nice kitchen down here. We have nice tile and 3 sinks.
This is a view of our sala, that is, where we eat, study, have Sabbath School and watch Christian karaoke.
Another view of the kitchen. Those open doors are our storage rooms for food and supplies. The left one is our "dry storage" and it is hot and stanky at times. The one on the right is our "cold storage" where we keep our produce. There is a photo later.
Here is our facility. This picture is taken from the kitchen door. The wing you see has 6 rooms total. The girls live on the top floor and the far left room on the bottom floor. The other 2 bottom rooms are for us administrators. We have the far right one.
This is a picture of why our "cold storage" is called the cold storage. It is the only air conditioner in an 8 mile radius. It's a fun room to go in on hot days. The air conditioner is the way the food is "refrigerated". It stays at about 16 degrees Celcius (we guess that to be in the range of 55-60 Farhenheit, but we don't know yet).

More photos are yet to come! We hope to give you all a better idea of where we live and who we live with.