Monday, October 27, 2008

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!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

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!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

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…

Thursday, October 2, 2008

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!