Math Class, and a Frusteration or Two

Math is a subject that most of the girls struggle with. In school, the younger girls are still working on the basic operations still, but the older ones are in more advanced math while still struggling with the basic operations. We have math class four times a week (twice with older and twice with younger) and have been drilling them on the basic operations. The girls have enjoyed class because they can understand what’s going on, for the most part, and are getting the chance to improve areas that they aren’t working on in school anymore but severely affect their understanding in class. Soon we will be going over the concept of fractions, decimals, and percents, but currently, they have no clue what those are or how to use them.

Needless to say, the education system down here is not like that of the States. The rural public school out here in Santo Tomas that the girls attend is so poor that even the brightest and most eager learners will most surely fail—or barely pass—the first year of higher education. The local school is not exactly a prep school for college. It has minimal education and the graduates from that school either join the military or end up selling fish or bananas like everyone else.
We want so much more for our girls but we’re battling a serious education deficit.

The Adventist school in town, Colegio Amazonas, has an incredible education, but is one of the top schools on this side of Peru (top in both academic success and price). The price to send our girls there would be great, since we’d be sending about a dozen, and they would all, or most all, fail because of being so far behind their academic standards. On top of that, the commute would be difficult, especially with such a quantity. On a good day, it would take about an hour taking motorcars and buses, and it may be impossible on some of the stormy days when our road gets wiped out.

It’s a sad reality. Someday we hope to get an Adventist school going out here in the rural so as to provide a better education, and hopefully inexpensive, for our girls and many children in these communities. It’s an impossible dream, but any plan God desires happens, be it possible or not.

Health Class

Lisa has been teaching Health class about once a week. The girls have been learning about personal hygiene –something that goes unnoticed and often forgotten down here. Teaching personal hygiene is very important, especially when you live with everyone in your class. Linda, who is down here with her husband doing evangelistic meetings, is also a nurse back home in Montana. She has been coming once a week and doing lessons on health as well, including drinking water, brushing your teeth, and eating and cooking with healthy foods. Her presentations are via computer and PowerPoint, and the girls have been very receptive. The presentations are in Spanish, making it much easier for following along. Linda has also asked who would be willing to give some of these presentations to other local people –we will see how it develops.

Art Class...

Maria, a one month volunteer from Colorado (Kelly gives a huge Woop, Woop), has been teaching art class to the girls. The girls have had a fun time expressing themselves and learning a little bit about art history. They have made human portraits, copies of famous paintings, and even one of the Taj Majhal. Expressing your thoughts through painting is relaxing, creative, and healing. The girls will be sad to see Maria leave in a month, but her time here is being well spent.

Here are some examples of their artwork. We are really proud. If we had a fridge, we would put them on it, but, our website will have to work for now.


This is Lisa´s picture of Quistacocha, a local zoo and beach, and it was good enough to be placed upon the wall of awesomeness...

Starting a Business with the Girls

Andrew (down here representing WWU and their micro-finance program) and I have been running a Personal Finance class for the girls, twice a week, for the last few weeks. Money is something that most people around here don’t have, and if they do happen to have, they do not know how to spend it. It has been fun going over topics like, “Spending vs. Saving,” “Is Money Good or Evil,” or “How can we start a business,” “What does the bible say about money,” and more.

Just recently we have been trying to start something that the girls could help manage, and run. Right now, we are underway in an ice business. We have an extra fridge, with freezer, free purified water, and access to cheap bags. The girls have been selling and managing the whole thing –they need some help, but that is where we come in. Down here, everyone goes to business, business doesn’t come to them. So, we began an ice-at-your-door program. We deliver the ice. Our freezer only holds a limited supply of ice, so right now we are just about at our max each day.

This small program has allowed the girls to see what demand is, supply, expenses, profits, and even if something is successful or not. Our goal is to start one or two more small businesses for the girls, but we are waiting. This is a chance for all of us to learn. It is exciting to see the girls actually getting into this though. They don’t really like the lectures, but they do enjoy the interactive, field-work days. Our ice business is even making a profit now…

Fresh Bread...Mmmm...

Before Casey’s mom, Terry, left to go back home, she decided to make some fresh bread. It was the best tasting bread we have tasted. We always purchase our bread from in town, which tastes good, but it is impossible to beat the taste of fresh bread out of the oven. Fortunately for us, Terry was able to teach our cook, Aurelea, how to make fresh bread; we are forever grateful. Even though we live in the middle of the jungle, we are still able to enjoy fresh bread and butter.

A Presidential Inauguration

Today Kelly and I were able to watch the Inuaguration. Fortunately for us, there is a tourist restuarant in town that has satelite. Sadly, it was on the Spanish channel, so I was only able to catch most of what was said. You could hear him talking in the background, but it was faint, the translator however was well heard. We had the priviledge of sitting next to some drunk guys from Minnesota. They were hilarious Bush protestors. It was a unique, first, Inuaguration experience. Change and Hope are what Obama preaches, and right now, we need both.

Soccer Season Starts

We kicked off soccer season this last Sunday with a hard-faught loss;3 to 2. Our sharp looking jersey´s are compliments of the organization -however there was a misspelling with POPPYS HAUSE. That error is not biggie, the jersey´s still look good. Our team is made up of players who live right around us. There are approximately 9 teams in Santo Tomas, and each street has there own team. Casey and I play soccer all the time down here, but we still have a long way to go. These guys play soccer all the time. As soon as they are able to breath they are kicking a ball around. I have a lot to learn, but it is fun, and the guys we play with are at least familiar. If our team does well, and wins our city league, then we could go on to play at the stadium. Granted, we should probably get a win first, but still, the possibilities...

This is a beautiful picture of my biggest fan. Good thing, everyone else just laughs at me. When a gringo makes a mistake, the WHOLE town knows and laughs about it. After the game, I was still wearing by jersey, all the way home people kept asking me, ¨why didn´t you win,¨ and, ¨why didn´t you score a goal?¨ I told them that Jesus wanted the other team to win, and I wanted to wait for my first goal...abstinence.

Here we are with our game faces on. We are the gringo assasins. But we really just get assasinated on the field alot. You can see the clouds moving in behind us. About 5 minutes after this photo, the heavens let loose. It was fun, at times, to play in the rain. The sad part was that they put away the good ball (which isn´t saying much) and brought out the solid rubber, flat one, to weather the storm -as if playing with the other ball wasn´t bad enough.

Here we are doing our pre-game stretches. Casey is old (not really, but says he is), so he needs to stretch. I was just there for morale support.

Kayla Gets Chicken Pox

We still don’t truly know who gave them to Kayla, but she has chicken pox. Fortunately for us, and most of the kids here, they have been vaccinated; however there is still a chance that someone might get it. If any of you have ever had chicken pox, they are not fun –they don’t feel or look good. Kayla has been dealing with it the best she can (trying to rest a lot), and all the while still trying to be a mother. It is sad to see her like this, but hopefully this means now that she will not get it ever again.

Our Impassable Road and Driveway

This last week, our road was physically impossible to drive on. We have been having a significant amount of rain, and with it, we were shut off from the city. Fortunately for us, the city only let this go on for two days before sending out a crew to try and open it up. They brought out 3 huge machines, a ton of dirt, and plowed our road. We were grateful to have our road opened up, but they brought in too much sand, and now it has not rained in 4 days. So, it went from being impassable from all the mud, to now being incredibly sandy –almost one extreme to the next.

They were actually able to fix our road all the way down to where the plaza is in Santo Tomas. We were grateful until we walked outside our gate and realized that our driveway was obliterated. So now, not only were our motorcycles stranded, but so was the bus that they decided to park in our land (we use this for hauling the girls to church and other functions in and around town). It was a 3 foot drop! Thanks to some help from the office guys, we were able to make-shift it for the time being, and more work will follow this week. Looks like some of the machines worked to our disadvantage as well.