Loma Linda School of Dentistry

A few weeks ago, we were fortunate to have the Loma Linda School of Dentistry helping out the People of Peru Project. They were able to do some much needed work up and down the Amazon River, here in Iquitos, and also out here at POPPYS House. We were blessed to have them for two whole days. Not only were our girls able to receive superb treatment, anyone that came to our gate was also able to receive some much needed work. The group was able to work on all ranges; from little kids with rotten teach to grandmas and grandpas that have never and probably never will brush their teeth. We are very grateful for the work that they performed. They worked late in each night, never complained, and always wanted to help out more. It was great having them here and Santo Tomas (our town) looks better because of it. 8)

Here are some kids waiting for their turn in line, as well as the free toothbrush, toothpaste, and stuffed animal they each received when done.

Here are some docs from LLU yanking out some teeth...

Revisiting Disney

I have always been a supporter of Disney. When I was a kid my grandparents were always adding to their Disney collection so that we grandkids would always have something good to watch. Well, Disney has now hit out here at Santo Tomas. Thanks to some amazing donations, we have been able to watch movies like Parent Trap, Swiss Family Robinson, Milo and Otis, Dunstin Checks In, Baby’s Day Out, and others. The girls are in-love with these classics. Every Saturday night, movie night, we either watch a new movie or a rerun. It is a lot of fun –even though we usually watch them in English with Spanish subtitles, the girls have a blast with the 80’s/90’s humor.

If anyone would like to get rid of some Disney or similar DVD movies that you don’t watch (make sure they are dubbed in Spanish or have Spanish subtitles), let us know, and we would love to have them for our girls.

Mixing Things Up

A large part of our work is having the ability to adapt to change. Change is one of those things that whether you prepare for it or not, when the time comes, it is still a challenge. As challenging as it might be, change is one of those things that tends to come in a cluster.

Since our arrival in September of 2008, the only change that has come our way, in terms of our family here, was one girl, and her daughter, leaving us to go live with her family. Although challenging to swallow, it went fairly smooth. Within these past two months, we have had some slightly larger changes. We have had 4 girls leave for one reason or another and 2 new ones come in (more girls are on their way).

For us, new girls coming in can be challenging, but it is a huge blessing. It allows girls that need a safe haven a place to be. For us, the challenge has been not so much saying welcome as saying goodbye –especially to the girls you have grown so close to, the ones you have formed bonds with and the ones you consider family.

A hard lesson to learn in life is realizing that everything you have to offer i.e. health, education, food, love, etc… is not always what the other person wants. Just like everything else in life, there are choices. We usually have people trying to guide us along the way, but some of us (myself included), need to learn by doing things ourselves and physically seeing or emotionally feeling what happens because of it. Sometimes however, the lessons that we learn paving our own path are what get us back on the right track.

Here at POPPYS House our two new girls are beginning to settle in well. Each one is finding their nitch and becoming accustomed to life out here. We are excited to have them and see our family grow.

A church campout in the jungle

The church we attend had a youth campout a few weekends ago. We, Kelly and I, accompanied by 8 of our girls, went along with about 75 other people up the river 3 hours to a small town called Indiana (so small that they only have power a few hours each night from a generator). We all crammed into the organizations boat, and away we went. In Indiana, there is small (and breathtaking) Adventist run camp that we stayed at. They have a kitchen, dining hall, multiple cabins and a lake/pond.

After we all got settled, we got together and formed into 5 different groups. The group idea was great because it evenly split up our girls forcing them to interact and engage with others –they even split up Kelly and me. All weekend we focused on spiritual exercises, workshops, group/team building exercises and positive interaction (both in small groups and one large group). Everything we did was awarded points going towards a big prize (it ended up being food) on Sunday.

Saturday afternoon, each group had to physically depict a story in the bible with things they could find in and around camp. Our group finally decided on portraying Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain and offering him as an offering to God. I was chosen to be the live ram stuck in the bush (I found some awesome branches that looked like horns). It was pretty funny.

The next day we finished with a volleyball and soccer tournament based on your teams. Some of our girls were even on the winning team (I suppose that is not a huge feat however considering that we had girls on every team…). It was an amazing weekend for all of us. Since that trip, our girls have been more actively involved and participating in the youth program. We are so happy and excited for them. We all walked away from this trip feeling fulfilled –socially, physically and spiritually.

Here we are engaging in a nice, friendly game of volleyball.

Here are two of our girls, Rosany (left) and Milagros (right), playing around with our camera.

Here is a small group worship.

Here we are, all 75 or so people, crammed into the People of Peru Projects boat. It was a cozy ride.

Meet Llerly

We have a friend we would like you to meet. His name is Llerly (pronounced Jerly). He is a tall, friendly, respectful, God-fearing and compassionate person that has quickly become a genuine friend of ours. He is 21 years old and lives here in Santo Tomas with his family.

Several months ago, Llerly came to us wanting to get a college education. He had been out of school for 3 years, working on random jobs, trying to save enough money to get into officer school. We were extremely hesitant at first since we knew we didn’t have the means to put anyone through school, and had recently requested funds to help another young man out.

We could tell Llerly was a hard worker, very intelligent and had a lot of potential. He presented his case very well and we had remembered him as different from the typical young men of this town. Most times we had seen him before, while passing his house going to and from school, he was reading books and trying to learn on his own. Most guys will just sit around and drink, but not Llerly. We prayed that if God wanted us to find a way to help Him, then He would open the doors.

We took Llerly around to various trade schools to see what he was interested in. It was quite apparent that his parents were trying to influence him to become a heavy machinery driver or a mechanic, since they were fast certification programs and he could begin working soon. He didn’t seem to have his heart set on such goals, but was too timid to ask for something greater. Finally, after checking out a few trade schools, Aaron and I were not convinced that driving a tractor was his life dream. And you all understand the American viewpoint of wanting to help someone in a way that will be a good investment for their future, not just a quick fix.

We sat down with Llerly and his family and told them very directly that if there was a way we could help him, we wanted him to choose a career that he wanted, not what anyone else wanted for him. We offered to take him to check out some local universities and had him make a list of questions he wanted to ask to the people teaching and/or working in his field of choice.

The following morning, he showed up, ready to go to town…to learn about the field of psychology. He was so excited to be able to consider something beyond field work. He admitted that his dream was not to drive heavy machinery or to fix motorcars. He spoke so much more passionately about psychology and couldn’t wait to check out some schools.

We found a great school on our side of town. The amount of money needed for a semester of tuition is about $700 (US Dollars), including additional costs, such as books, supplies and transportation. Just weeks before the deadline to pay for the first semester, we received a donation from a family member that covered the first semester, and this family member didn’t even know about Llerly yet. We took it as a sign and got Llerly enrolled.

Llerly ranked 7th place on the entrance exam out of the 200+ students who took the test. Not only that, he went fishing everyday for two weeks (up until the exam) selling what he caught to help pay for some of the expenses related to registration (something he was not asked to do). He has the smarts. He has the desire. He applies himself.

Currently, Llerly is over halfway through his first semester. He frequently comes over to get tutoring, use the computer, or just hang out and talk. He is doing very well balancing time, studies, and life. He has been maintaining very good grades and we are very proud of him.

The next semester starts in January and we have raised $200 thus far. We have seen God come through time and time again, and not just in Llerly’s case. With God, where there is faith, there is a way. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to help in any way, please contact us.

New Monkey On Campus

We have had a new face around the facility for about a month now. Nathaniel, Lisa’s cousin, has been down here volunteering from Texas. With his arrival came a new monkey. Meet Leo. This is the craftiest little critter we have met. He loves spiders, rice, bananas and chocolate cookies –I know…

While eating a chocolate chip cookie the other day, this little dude came flying out of nowhere, climbed up my body, launched himself on-top of my cookie, and then jumped down to the ground to hoard his new finding. It happened so fast that a reaction was not possible. I was so bummed. We NEVER get chocolate chip cookies down here (they don’t sell baking soda).

With two monkeys now on the premises, Herkie openly displays his jealousy. Herkie still has his prejudice towards Leo, however, they were spotted playing together the other day –hopefully this will develop into a friendship. Without trying, we have developed into a mini zoo. We will wait and see what comes next.

Papa Kendall Arrives

My dad came for a 3 week visit. It began as a quick trip along the “gringo trail” of Peru (Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Machu Picchu) and ended in the great jungle Amazónica. Dad’s friend, Chris, also came for 2 weeks to enjoy the sites of Peru. It was so wonderful to have family come down and experience the Peruvian life. Not only that, Dad even brought some wonderful books on Colorado to help prove to the girls that Colorado is the greatest state of the 50 we’ve got up there…much to Aaron’s dismay. I believe he has finally accepted that Oregon is a close second.

We enjoyed many meals of chicken, white rice and fish with their faces still staring at you. That came as a shock to dad…hehe. The girls enjoyed their time with “Papa Kendall” and I was excited to share my wonderful dad with girls who were never blessed to have a good dad in their lives. He gave several worships for the girls, with great words of wisdom and helped us through several moments of crises in the home. It was sad to see him go, but we look forward to seeing him again on the other side of the world.

We love you Dad! Anyone else who would like to come is more than welcome. (hint, hint)

Here we are shortly after Keith was made Chief of the Boras which apparently comes with 7 wives...

Here is a photo of Kelly holding some adorable baby sloth´s we found on one of the outings with dad. They would not let go of each for anything. They stunk, but were incredibly cute.

Potty Training

With two little boys running around, potty training has been an epic goal (the girl already knows the stuff). It is proving to be much harder than I, personally, remember it to be. Both boys are learning –it is taking lots of time and patience –but we had a major breakthrough the other day.

While I was serving dinner in the kitchen, I heard a mumbled, “Pichi (pee)!” I passed it off as random-dinner-talk, but then I heard it again. One of the girls came running in letting me know that Marcos, our youngest, needed to use the bathroom. I came out, asked him if he needed to use the bathroom, and he exclaimed, ‘Si!” and then continued stuffing his face with rice –he was hungry. I shot into panicked-parent mode, lifted him out of his highchair, and then frantically calculated which bathroom would be the closest. With him floating high in the air (in my arms), we made a mad dash for the bathroom in the kitchen all the while with him saying, “pichi, pichi.”

We made it to the bathroom, I got him all ready, and then realized (almost too late), he was about 6 inches too short to make it into the pot. I quickly lifted him up (he was now letting it flow freely), aimed him at the pot (sadly the toilet seat was down providing an even smaller target), and away he went. Before he was even done with the process, he was already telling me to flush it down. Once finished, we high fived, and waved goodbye to the pee as it left the toilet. Phew. Close call.

-I feel as though only the parents will realize the excitement we felt…

Marcos Hits the Dance Floor

Marcos and I have been feverishly working on a dance routine. After much practice, here is the final product…