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.

Fresh Fruit!

It is incredible to see all of the fresh fruit down here. Kelly and I have always enjoyed juices, but we have fallen even more in love with them down here. We get fresh fruit juice at least once a day. Juice here does not come from a can, but rather from the fruit itself –go figure. Today I was in charge of making the juice for dinner, and here was the process: Peel all the fruit, take out the seed, throw it in a blender, then pour it in a strainer, pour water through it (to get out all of the rich flavor), throw in some sugar, and then mix it all around. After all of that, and 30 minutes later (yeah, who would have thought making juice would have taken that long?), it tasted beautiful. Our favorite, at least at this moment, is Maracuyá (or Passion Fruit). We love this stuff! We are really going to miss all of this when we go back to the states.

Our Food Process Out At Santo Tomas

Every Wednesday we receive a weeks worth of food - enough for enough for about 25 people, 3 meals a day. Food here perishes extremely fast. We have a dry storage, a cold storage (chilled by a single air conditioner), and a fridge. In the US, everything is pumped full of preservatives, down here, you need to eat it fast or else give it to the animals. When the food comes in, most of the items are soaked in diluted bleach for 15 minutes, and then sun dried. While all this is going on, we go through and wipe down the storage units and the fridge with bleach. This is a long and tedious process, but one that proves VERY beneficial to us and our health.

Tutoring the Chicas

Every day we have study hall with the girls. The younger girls go to school in the morning and then older ones (high school) go to school in the afternoon. The girls do their homework out of paper notebooks. They copy down what the teacher writes on the board, and then do the homework later. After lunch, the younger girls do their chores, and then do study hall. The older girls have study hall in the evening after dinner. There are so many things to work on, and so many lessons on patience (for us). Some of the girls are having troubles with their 2 and 3 times tables. Some don’t like to do homework period (just like us in the States!) and others don’t understand and comprehend it. Kelly and I were helping one the girls with her English homework the other night, and noticed that the teacher could not even spell it right. It was spelled “Inglish.” In another section, they were trying to say, “I am Chinese,” or “I am Japanese,” but the examples given were,” I am China,” and “I am Japan.” We have had some fun things to work through. They also write out their division a little different down here. It all takes a little getting used to, but this is an incredible opportunity for us to help in bettering the girls’ education, because as you now know, it is limited.

Aaron´s First Sermon

Every Sabbath since we have been here, we have had a small worship service for our girls, their friends, and anyone else we can invite here. We put together a Sabbath school program just before walking over to church (about a ¼ mile away) at 10:30 am. Our program usually includes a special music by one of us or the girls, a childrens story, and then a small talk/sermon. This last Saturday, I gave a small talk on hope, and not losing focus on our future in heaven. It is very challenging to convey word for word what you want through a translator. Kelly is my personal translator and she does a wonderful job, but we have found that it is easier to translate Spanish to English than English to Spanish - English is a complex language! Kelly and I prayed about it, and God did the rest.

Cold Front hits Iquitos with a VENGEANCE!

So, yesterday was interesting. The weather cooled down a lot. It was overcast and at a nice temperature of about 75 degrees. The locals hardly came outside and they were shivering if they did. Fútbol (a.k.a. soccer) is life down here and a game in our town, in which Aaron and Casey were going to play, was canceled due to the freezing temperatures. The impact of the ball on skin was too painful apparently. It was quite comical. We were just excited to be able to wear sweatshirts without drowning in our own sweat.

Oh, and the pictures below...those are just for fun. Don´t worry about it.

Visit to Belen

Kelly and I were fortunate enough to visit Belen last week. This is the poorest of the poor (and the dirtiest) here in Iquitos. Above is a photo of the bathrooms in Belen. They have these little barely standng structures that sit over a ditch and the people just go right there and the waste falls into the ditch. You can see a line of them in the pic. During rainy season the Amazon floods this whole area for several months and many people have to move out or use carved canoes as transportation. Needless to say, the water is nasty, mixed with all kinds of waste (like that above).

We visited the meat market, street vendors, and animals. If we had wanted, we could have purchased an Ocelote, or a mini jaguar, for about $100 soles, or roughly $35 USD. We could have also purchased some mini-monkeys, and an array of other poorly treated animals.

Visiting this city was a reality check. We thought that Iquitos was poor, but this community makes Iquitos look very lucrative. Walking through the city makes your heart grow sick because of the sadness that you see. We are so blessed. We have a place to stay, 3 meals a day, and a loving family (22 strong). Our Father in heaven loves every single one of those people. He died on the cross for everyone. He would walk up and kiss each and every single person on the cheek. Love is not superficial. Love is deeper than one’s aesthetic appeal. We want to love as God would love, but we have so much more to grow.

Aaron, Casey and Juanito build some stairs the hard way

There is a slight hill right next to the kitchen that has been a problem for a few of us in getting down –some of us, who will remain nameless, have fallen. The steps were chiseled out in dirt, and then a light covering of cement was applied. As you can imagine, that light covering was broken, and the stairs were eroding away. Casey and I, with some help from our groundskeeper Juanito, made some stylish stairs which will hopefully last for a while. This took an entire day. I was amazed to find out that the concrete is mixed on the ground, and instead of gravel or rock, they just mix in sand. Methods down here are different. Mixing cement on the ground in the hot weather is tiresome. It was a fun experience though, and they turned out better than any of us had originally thought.