Santo Tomas gets a Micro-Loan program

Thanks to a program set up by Andrew (a WWU student missionary), we have a micro-loans program here in Santo Tomas. This program was established last September, and has slowly grown with both members and the area that it covers. It is a different entity from The People of Peru Project. The idea is simple, find a need with people who want to start or further a business, give them education, support and then money to fund it.

We have been primarily focusing on women, and there are certain requirements that need to be met. We operate in groups of 5 individuals whom are required to come to weekly meetings. Repayment has been over a three-five month period, with payments being made every Monday. Each individual in the group receives about $100.00 USD, with a 10% interest rate –if they make every meeting and payment on time, we will give them 5% back as an incentive in the end. This works to their advantage as well as ours –they also become eligible to be apart of the next group. We operate with minimal fees and no collateral. In the event of no-repayment, we try to work out an easier repayment plan or we ask for their DNI card (this is their government issued ID, and they are required to have it for most anything) until the loan is repaid.

Groups take on the form of a family. Meetings last anywhere from 1 – 2 hours, and are held in a members house. Topics include simple business ideas and help (everything from taking inventory to making intelligent purchases), health issues (everything from drinking clean water to ways around depression), and games (everything from ice-breakers to UNO and volleyball). A secretary, voted in by the members, assists in taking payments, attendance, collecting signatures, etc… Meetings always start with prayer, worship and then are followed by telling everyone how their life/week has gone. Meetings are informational, laid back and fun.

Micro-loans can be challenging. The more involved you get with a society, the more you want to help. With people, finding want is not the challenge, it is finding need. We have faced challenges from the culture, finding the appropriate rules, inadequate funding, shortage of time and people, and creating a system that is far different than anyone around here has ever known. One thing is certain, micro-loans work. They help people. We create a safe environment for borrowers who have access to low interest loans (from our research, most loans have interest rates of upwards of 20% and require substantial collateral), education (learning about appropriate purchases and health) and friendship.

Here we are after going to town in order to look for a bank. These women have never had a bank account, nor have they ever thought about having one. We went to a few banks, but quickly found out that was a bad idea. We decided to start our own bank. I will explain more later.

Here is one of our ladies, Meredith, selling food with her daughter outside her house. She sells food outside her house starting at 5 am, and sells all day until about 10 pm at night.

Here is another one of the ladies, Teresa. She runs a small little bodega (store). She also makes butterflies to sell to a painter, who then in turn sells them to tourists.

A School Run

In honor of the Santo Tomas schools 49^th anniversary, last week was filled with games, fun activities, competitions and ultimately no school for multiple days. One of the days had a fun run for the whole school –it was funny to see how many people wanted to beat the tall, white guy. I went running with the girls and was able to snap some shots.


Here we all are at 7 am. Just about everyone was excited.

Here we are amidst the masses. The entire school ran. There was a little bit of mayhem, but it was a lot of fun.

Here is Jessica, very front with a arm around her, in the middle of the race. It was time for a break.

Here I am with Milagros during the race. My beard actually made me faster... at least that is what I told all the little kids.

A ¨Hot¨ Steal

We had no power (this happens frequently) for over a day –somewhat of an inconvenience. We could not figure out why it was taking them so long to fix the power… Word came back last night that someone had fallen a tree onto the power line, and then stole about 1,000 feet of cable. In talking to locals, apparently this happens once in a while. I am slightly confused as to how they got it out. The cable is heavy, typically hauled in by truck, and 1,000 feet is a lot of cable. Things can be different at times down here…

Andrew and CJ head home

After devoting 8 months of service to the People of Peru Project, Andrew and CJ (volunteers from Walla Walla University) took off the first of June to head home. They have put in an incredible amount of time at POPPYS House, and the girls have formed deep relationships with them both (when we saw them off at the airport there was somewhat of a somber mood, the girls were very sad to see them go). CJ has been helping out with Angel and random projects at the office. Andrew was here helping spearheading Micro-Finance and was later pulled into a myriad of roles. We were very sad to see them go, but we are overjoyed with what they provided this last year. We wish them the best of luck as they do a quick tour around Peru before heading back home, and then to back to school.

A Friend...

A while back, Kelly was able to take a photo of a little dude that was just chilling on a leaf. These guys have frequently shown up in our bathroom, toilet, bed, etc…

We don´t think that he was poisonous...

Who Works at POPPYS House

• Lisa & Casey (Big Momma & Papa/Directors)

• Here since January of 2008, these two have been feverishly working to improve and run the POPPYS House program. They are both irreplaceable. When not here, Casey is a teacher and Lisa is a nurse back in the States.


• Aaron & Kelly (Prince and Princess/Assistant Directors)

• We have been here since September of 2008. We have also been feverishly working to learn the program out here at POPPYS House. Back home, Kelly is a high school Math and Spanish teacher, and I have a degree in Business/Finance.


• Susana (Education Superintendent)


• Susana is a recent addition who has done nothing but help improve our program. She accompanies the girls to school everyday, conversing with the teachers, checking on homework, projects, etc… She has a huge heart, a desire to teach, and love for everyone.


• Juanito (McGuiver/Groundskeeper)


• A father of 12 kids, this hard working individual can make anything. He is the most resourceful person we have ever met. He is an incredible example to the girls of a kind, patient, hardworking and God-fearing man.


• Mother Teresa (Super-Mom/Nanny)


• This amazing woman helps with all of the kiddies. She reads to them, sings with/to them, plays with them, etc… She is an incredible example of love and kindness while parenting –something our girls are learning.
• Aurelia (Kitchen Queen)


• A fun, playful lady who is a quick friend and an amazing cook. She never seems to run out of meal ideas, and knows how to cook everything. She makes being in the kitchen a blast.

Felix Update

Felix is doing wonderfully at the Adventist University in Lima. He calls every couple of weeks, and has been sending emails as of recently (something he just set up and learned how to do) to touch base. He arrived at the University wanting to be an architect. He enrolled in the classes, and has been doing very well. Here are photos of some projects that he has sent us.

About two weeks ago, Felix called notifying that he has changed his major to Psychology. The first two years of University are mostly generals, so he is able to change without hindering his process. The reason for the change is that being apart of the Architect program requires an incredible amount of “extra costs,” which were not apart of the original budget or fundraising. He wanted you all to know, “I am sorry, but this feels like the best option for me. I will continue to do my best.”

Someone recently donated a laptop for his studies as well as a USB. Here are some photos of him working on a computer. Another picture shows him, inside of his dorm room, with some of his roommates in the back ground. He is fitting in well. He is very social, active, and able to fit in studying amongst all of the new temptations. Keep him in your prayers as he continues to study and become a warrior for God.

If you would like to email him (words of encouragement, photos, etc…), email Kelly and I, and we will translate them and forward them on to him.

Mothers Day, Santo Tomas Style

We should all take note on the amount of time, money, and effort that goes into Mothers day. This is a huge holiday. The school shuts down (that doesn’t say much because it shuts down randomly anyway), each class prepares a special performance (from grade school to high school), and a giant celebration happens (competitions, games, prizes, and more). Some of our girls were in performances (they were awesome –we able to bust out the video camera), and we got to hoot and holler in support. It was a lot of fun. Some of our girls performed dance routines, others dramas, and others special songs. The girls all recognized Kelly as their mother –or God mother. Here are some shots that we took.

Ana Victoria, the girl with a red skirt, farthest to the right, is here performing a dance routine with her class.

Rosany (Pink) and Veronica (Blue) are performing a song/drama with a friend.

Vanessa (Pink top, third girl over to the right) is here dancing with her class.

Some Recent Happenings...

• Keyla, one of our older girls, just completed her 4th year of high school. She now has one more year left –which she will be starting in a couple of months. Her schedule is slightly different than the other high school girls due to her being an older mother. Her schedule goes something like this: she takes her son to school in the morning, then goes to work at the office until Kevin gets out of school at around noon. On Mondays and Tuesday, in the evening, she attends classes.
• Lisa and Casey embarked on a 9+ week trip to Texas. Casey is trying to have a much needed surgery, and Lisa is working in order to maintain her nursing license. Keep them in your prayers.
• A few weeks ago a guy stopped by and asked me if I wanted to purchase a Kaman (a crocodile). Fortunately, he happened to bring it by –playing with it was not near as fun as I would have hopped. It was only a baby (a little over a foot in length), so he said it had plenty of time to grow (somewhere around the 5-6 foot range). I asked him if it made a good pet for children and he just stared at me – that apparently was not funny.
• The water is now receding with force. We were scared for some time because it would recede, and then a heavy rain would come, and then it would rise back up once again. We have removed all of the sandbags –they were laden with ants trying to escape the water…that was awesome –so we can now walk normally once again. We took away the kids playground however, so they are bummed. With the water receding, we have had a few sewer backups. A giant one happened the other day due to a huge frog that was stuck in the pipe. A few other ones have come from sticks.
• The other day, a kid stopped by asking me if we would like to purchase a sloth. Apparently it was eating peacefully in a tree, his dad saw it, shook the tree wildly, it fell down, and now it is up for a mandatory adoption.
• We recently came under the possession of an Achune. She looks like a tiny, little, cute, teddy bear/ant eater. This little animal is awesome in the sense that we can let in roam around our property and it will be content, but it is no angel. It digs ditches, climbs trees, has a unique scream and bites people when touched. The nice thing is that it likes to play by itself.
• We have come across a few more snakes. Sadly, one of them was pregnant –down here, when you see a snake, you just kill it. But that can also be a positive thing depending on how you look at it.
• I finally cut my hair. It started out with just our girls and my wife telling me how ugly and unbearable it was daily, but now that the whole community is saying it, so it is time to cut it off. It went well, except for the fact that the hair cutting shears broke half-way through the experience. What was supposed to be a 15 minute process gradually developed into an hour and a half safety/rescue mission. Thanks to Kelly, it is now bearable. However, this spurred the interest for a new haircut for Marcos…
• Marcos had his head shaved. He now looks like a Latin American Buddha. His mother attempted to give him a hair cut, but it turned out…um...well…a little ugly. So, she asked Kelly to shave his head to save him and give him a little dignity. Now, no-one can stop from chuckling when they see him.

Veronica’s Plaza Performances

This last weekend, one of our girls, Veronica, hand a band competition at one of the Plazas down town. Like any proud parent, we showed up with the family, and when it as her turn, we hooted and hollered. There were many weird looks from other people in the audience for two reasons, one, no-one else was there supporting our school (we live in a small town), and two, there was a monstrous white man (I prefer tall, dark and handsome) with a loud voice hooting and hollering (yours truly).

Our band, which was significantly under instrumented (we had recorders instead of a brass or winds section), managed to pull out a first place victory. It was a fun performance to watch, and even more exciting to see the under-dressed, under-budgeted, band from way outside the city, pull out a first place victory. Every school seemed to play the same songs; the difference came from the formations. We opted for a simple, quality, everyone-knew-it, formation, which was executed to perfection. Here is a photo of the Santo Tomas band. Veronica is in the front row wearing glasses.

Construction Starts Again

For about a week now, construction has been underway on the second floor of our second building. Some funds were donated to complete the two administrator’s rooms. Building down here is slow, period, but the building is starting to develop. They did have one minor set-back (they have to redo the front wall), but everything else seems to be going as planned. It will be exciting to move into our new room and all of its improvements –windows looking out over the backside of our property, a security wall dividing the shower and bathroom (that’s right, security), and a sink actually in the bathroom. The foreman said two weeks more, but we will see –we know what Peruvian time is.

Official Police Women

Kelly and I were able to attend the official honoring of the school police this last week. As all of the students were standing in order, the parents went out and placed the insignias on their kids. We are fortunate to have two of our girls apart of this honor (Police are chosen based on attitudes, involvement, grades, etc…). Their job entails standing at the doors before school making sure every student has their insignia, proper clothes, hair in presentable order, and a few other minor things. Sadly though, they cannot write any tickets… They do however get to wear some pretty cool hats. Our two girls are Veronica and Jessica –both of which are incredible picks. There are a few other girls who are worthy, so hopefully they will be apart of this honor next year.

A City Wide Protest

This last week, the city of Iquitos decided to throw a protest for education and oil. After city-wide planning and encouragement, the entire city of Iquitos shut down for 24 hours (The fact that we live 25 minutes outside of town was beautiful. No-one celebrated anything, just carried on with their lives). People threw trash, glass, bricks, logs, and sticks in order to hinder, and stop, the traffic. Roads were blocked off, public transportation was non-existent, and every one was out in the street (literally) playing volleyball and soccer.

Due to there being no transportation, I took our cook back to her house on the other side of town. We were advised to stay off the main roads (bad idea), so we took back roads (horrible idea). Every other road was blocked off, and when you tried to pass through the barricade, people became enraged –I am fortunate in the fact that I am big, white, and male so there were no confrontations, only words exchanged. Everyone was out playing, and frustrated that you (or rather me and the other traffic) were trying to carry on with our lives. In over an hour of transportation, I saw 4 cops. Everything was incredible un-normal, but at the same time, normal for everyone else.

The next day, after the paro (strike in Spanish), everyone was back out in the streets, but this time cleaning everything up. It was an interesting strike in the fact that a strike, at least how I know it (parading around with signs, standing in front of the administration building, clashing with police –I think that the police actually stayed home from work and were participating), was no where to be found. Their idea of a strike was to just stay at home playing and throwing trash in the street. I don’t know how they judge strikes –as in how successful they are –but it was successful in the fact that it scared a bunch of gringos (there was a nursing group here from Washington that was adamant about not leaving the office). The strike did also increase business for the mechanics and tire repair shops –flat tires were rampant.

Sadly, I was unable to take any photos –maybe next time – but there was glass, burning trash, yard/random debris, everywhere you went. It reminded me of a scene out of the movie, “Black Hawk Down.” We learn something new every day down here…