No Parasites

Turns out it was just a bacterial infection that had me out of commission during my entire stay in Kusi. I was disappointed that I don't get to have parasites. Last Saturday after returning to Lima, I got sick again. Isabel took me to the clinic, and they patched me up nicely with some antibiotics. I'm back to strength now, and I'm just trying to eat as much as possible to gain back the weight I lost.

I've been extra busy this week in Lima, because I decided to try to put together the website for Scripture Union. They've been wanting to start up their website again, but don't have anyone with the expertise. Well I don't have any expertise, but I spent about 4 days studying online. I'm not sure if I'll be able to put together something professional looking, but I'm going to give it a shot, and in the worst case I'll be a little smarter in the ways of web design.

Tomorrow I leave for Kusi again for 2 weeks, so I'll be out of touch again. I'm very excited to spend some time in Kusi working and playing and NOT being sick.

By the way, there's a radio station in Lima that plays all American 80's music. I think it's the greatest thing ever...

Here are some of the Lima kids. I don't think I've put up any pictures of them yet, and I've spent the most time with them. This is Michel.

This is Victor. He's nuts. I think he's fairly new to the center and he gives me a giant running hug every time he sees me. He then proceeds to tickle-attack me, which can sometimes be painful. He also sings beautifully in Quechua.

Between Victor and I is the most adorable little guy in the history of western civilization. I've tried to ask him his name, but he's tiny and I have no idea what he's saying...

Here are some other boys. The one with the white bandana is Raul. He plays the main role of the streetboy in the choreography I wrote about earlier. He's also the head boy in his class at school - I think that's like class president or something.

This is Jaime. He's posing for this picture, believe it or not. He made me a bracelet, which was very nice of him, and he finally stopped asking me what his name is... every time I see him... which is pretty much every day. A small thing like having someone know your name is a hugely important thing for these kids. Great kid. In the choreography he plays the role of one of the street boys that ignores the help of the SUP workers and goes back to the street.
There are a few more up my flickr page as well, so check them out.

Oh, I'll also mention that I've done lots of reading. I dropped a couple bad books mid-way through, and I finished Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick, which was an excellent light read.

Kusi

The first thing you'll notice when you get to Kusi is that it's absolutely beautiful.

Kusi is a Scripture Union boys' home in the Andes, near the town of Yungay, which is not too far from the larger city of Huaraz. However, Kusi is more than just a boys' home, it's planned to be a small town to itself, with a main square, a hotel for tourists and mountain climbers, a small shoe factory, a bakery, a school, and I'm probably not remembering everything...

Today, Kusi has about 25 boys living there with the house parents, Angel and Rosa. Angel and Rosa also have two children of their own that live with them, Yosepe (sp?) and Alexia. The school at Kusi is fully functional, although they're working to expand it so that they can accept more students. The school is open to the boys that live in Kusi, as well as the children of Yungay, especially those children that cannot afford the school supplies required to attend regular gov't schools.

Technically, the school at Kusi is a government school, like all schools in Peru, except that the gov't has given administration of the school to Scripture Union. This is a pretty big deal - I'm told the school in Kusi was the first public, Protestant school in Peru. All Peruvian schools were previously Catholic.

Here's a random shot of some of the buildings in Kusi.

Carmen, who originally sold this land to Scripture Union Peru, manages the construction. She told us that the cost of Kusi is approximately half of the other SUP boys' homes because they use adobe mud bricks for the houses, and the mud is taken straight from the land.

Hence most of the week was spent digging mud, mixing mud with straw, and making bricks in molds. Oh yeah, we moved the bricks too - they weigh about 90 lbs. Luckily, I got to be sick half of the week and was unable to work (I'll get back to that later), but here's the fruit of a week's worth of work - about 1200 adobe bricks.

So day 1 I worked in the morning moving bricks, and in the afternoon, intern Gillian says she wants to cut my hair. Jared says "Sure, I'm sure absolutely nothing could go wrong with you cutting my hair." Gillian grabs some of those scissors that the kids use to cut construction paper and comes after me like Edward Scissorhands (may he rest in peace). After a bit of initial resistance I let her give it a shot, because in the worst case scenario, I can just shave it all off like I did last time...

So Gillian grabs a chunk of hair, and cuts it in no way parallel to the side of my head, down to the scalp. I was a bit shocked, and wished that I had given the scissors to one of the 5 year old boys, because each and every boy in Kusi could have surely given me a better haircut than intern Gillian. So in great disappointment, not so much in anger, I took the scissors from Gillian, threw them aside and walked into my room to get my clippers.

The rest of the afternoon, I had a team of Scots taking turns with the clippers on the back of my head, trying to give me a decent trim and repair the damage done by Gillian. The Scots did a decent job, but I was surprised that they still left me a bit shaggy and uneven in parts. I don't know how you do that when cutting someone's hair with clippers. So after a bit of time in the mirror I managed to give myself the haircut seen in my pictures on flickr. Gillian's missing chunk was visible when I cut my hair, but I think it's grown inconspicuous by now..

Here's me and the butcher herself. She's on her way back to Scotland by now. Bye-bye Gillian. Her Zoolander is good, but needs a bit of work.

Back to the kids. The first night there I had more fun than I've had in a long time. They do choreographies, which are pretty much dancing and singing as a group to some different songs. I have no idea why the choreographies are so much fun, but they are. And every night it was a joy to get carried away with the boys and dance like a fool.

Our second night there, we had a bonfire where some of the kids told there testimonies. One of the standout testimonies was Jhonatan, who is 18 and has had a tough life. He grew up homeless, doing small jobs on the street to survive. He told how through Kusi he found a family, and a place for God in his life. Jhonatan wants to go to seminary and become a pastor. He really is an exceptional guy when you meet him because he's very responsible, sets a good example, and is a leader among his brothers. The last few days of the trip he spent a ton of time with the Scots trying to learn as much English as possible. His determination and quickness to learn was impressive.

The greater highlight of the bonfire night was Yosepe's testimony. Yosepe is the biological son of Angel and Rosa. He lived with his folks in Lima before they decided to go to Kusi. Yosepe was in high school and had lots of friends in Lima. He was determined to stay with his grandparents and not go out into the country with his parents. He said that he spoke with his father about the importance of staying together as a family, and decided to go to Kusi. He said it was the most rewarding thing he's done in his life because now instead of having one sister, he has a sister and 23 brothers. He has a passion for the life they lead in Kusi and has really accepted all the boys as brothers.

This is the thing that everyone who goes to Kusi immediately sees as something so special. The boys call Rosa and Angel, Mami and Papi. Yosepe and Alexia treat the boys as brothers, literally. The boys in Kusi are a real family, and being there to help them and spend time with them is something really special.

Other fun activities at Kusi:
Traditional Andean dances in costumes. Jhonatan is on the right and NOT in traditional wear.

Here's Yosepe and his girlfriend doing a different dance, which was quite impressive. A bunch of the boys are great dancers and can do crazy flips and stuff.


Sorry that these pictures stink - I cleaned the lense of my camera that night.

How generous were the Scots... They bought all the kids jerseys, either rugby or soccer.

AND as a spur of the moment thing, they bought them 6 bicicles in town. The kids went nuts.

With our last full day in Kusi, we traveled up to a lake near the mountain in the previous pictures. It was one of those trips where you had to stop yourself from taking a photo of every mountain and vista along the way.

On our way out, we hiked down this valley for about an hour.

And on the path there are these creepy looking trees that look like something evil out of The Lord of the Rings. The look like they're made of red tissue paper...
On our way back we stopped for some great shots of Kusi from above. Kusi is the cluster of white houses in the middle-left of this picture.

Here are some of the boys - Royer on the left, I think Raul in the middle, and I'm not sure of the boy on the right...

And last of all we say goodbye to interns who are leaving.

Goodbye intern Christy from Charlotte, NC. Christy is returning to teach 2nd grade.

Goodbye translator-extraordinaire and intern Billy Greenman from Michigan. Billy is returning to finish his senior year of school.

Goodbye adorable and dirty Tati.

Ok, I already said last of all, but here's a funny shot - this guy posed for this mugshot himself. He's in his snazzy church attire.

Goodbye Kusi - seeya in a week... ;-)

Stayed tuned for the next episode entitled, "Parasites!"

Update for Contributors

Some great news to the folks who have been contributing money to me and SUP by sending checks to my parents. With $270 of the $870 that I donated last week, the financial director refinished one of the offices in the SUP building that was previously sitting idle, unsuitable for rent. The very next day the office was rented out, and it's now generating $200 income per month for Scripture Union. That money will go to all the ministries, including the boys program.

Adventure Pics

Finally back in Lima, safe and sound, after a wonderful week at Kusi. But before I tell you about Kusi, I'm going to post the pics that go along with story I posted a week ago.

Here's a line of buses stopped in the middle of the night, probably at the first blockade.

Angry Scots, trapped on a bus.

Here's a shot of the town we were stuck in for about a day.

I think this is just before we set off walking. A group of buses moved to the main town square.

I wasn't crazy enough to take pictures along the walk past the strikers, but if I had been crazy, you would see a shot of a blockaded bridge, and another of several fires in the hills above us.

Instead we skip ahead to the nice people with the Gloria van that helped us for a short while.

Next is the cattle truck that Magic Johnson requisitioned for us.
Angry Scots in a cattle truck.

When the cattle truck finally got us to the hotel, we got to shower and rest. The next day we got to take in this view of Huaraz and the mountainside from the top of the hotel.

After two nights in the hotel, the strike was over, but in most places only a single lane was cleared for cars. In this photo of our trip from Huaraz to Kusi, you can see the rocks in the road through the windshield of the bus.
Finally we got to Kusi.

I'll explain all about what Kusi is, and tell you all about the folks there, but I'm going to need lots of time, so here's a shot of the mountains behind Kusi (I forget what they're called). But if you check out my flickr page, you'll see approximately one million pictures of them.

Adventure!

I'm sitting in the hallway of a hotel using free internet. I have quite a story to tell, and I don't want it to wait til I get back from Kusi, because it's just too good.

So at 7pm Tuesday night we loaded up the bus with a team of 31 Scots, along with 5 SUP interns. We rushed to leave much earlier than expected because miners and teachers across Peru scheduled a strike to begin on Wednesday morning. The plan was to sneak out of Lima and make our way to Kusi before the strikers blocked the roads with rocks (they do this to cripple supplies of food, etc. to Lima to get the government's attention).

About 6 hours into our 8 hour bus ride, we hit a road block and we're stopped with a bunch of other buses and trucks at 2am. We're relieved that after an hour or so we're allowed to pass through, only to hit another road block an hour later. This next road block is much larger. Giant stones and piles of gravel block the only 2 bridges to Kusi, not to mention the 70 protesting miners.

After the sun came up the police arrived in riot gear to control the protesters. A couple of the "gutsy" Scots walked ahead to see what was going on at the bridge, and reported to us the chaos. There were two factions, possibly the townspeople and the protesting miners, and the police were trying to keep them from conflicting. Apparently an old woman tossed a stone at the police, and chaos broke loose with a hail of stones from the protesters toward the police. The police began using teargas, but were horribly outnumbered and retreated without serious injury. Once the police were gone, there was not a whole lot of excitement.

We spent the entire day stranded in the small town where we had to sneak food from boys selling crackers and candy in the street because the protesters came through town and shut down all the shops. Everyone was exhausted, especially the Scots, who had been traveling for two and a half days already with little sleep.

During mid-afternoon, a good number of travelers decided to hike past the roadblock, seeing as there was no end in sight. I'll also mention that at this point, the roadblock that we passed was reinforced, so we were stuck. Things got a bit worrisome when a group of protesters with hankerchiefs over their faces and sticks came marching up the road and ordered the buses from the highway into a different location in town. They said it was because the new place was safer. I have to say that this was the one time I was a little worried. Driving down the small alleys felt like we were being led into a dead end, but we eventually came into a main square, where a number of buses parked.

Around 5 or 6 pm the folks from SUP in Lima, through some different sources who were passing informatin about the roadblocks, decided on the plan of action. Johnson, a teacher from the school in Kusi was in the area, and will forthwith be known as Magic Johnson. MJ meet us at our bus and is going to lead us in a hike across the roadblock, leaving most of our luggage behind. The drivers stay with the luggage which will be delivered to the hotel when the protests end.

We begin our hike. One of the ladies is ill, and 6 men have to take turns carrying her the entire way. We pass crowds of people at the roadblocks sitting around flaming oil drums. Far off in the hills above us are flaming oil drums surrounded by miners who are waiting through the night to make sure no trucks pass through. From the hills they can safely hurl stones at anyone who tries to go through the barricade. Fortunately for us, the miners have nothing to gain from hurting a group of gringos. They merely want change from the gov't because they make about $3 per day, under horrible conditions, working for foreign mining companies that get rich.

So we hike past roadblock after road block for a couple miles, greeting protesters and townspeople along the way. At one point we stopped and chatted with some very kind people that lived in one of the houses past the bridge. They had a Gloria Yogurt truck and offered us a ride down the road, to where Magic Johnson had gone forward to procure transportation from a contact of his. So we piled into the truck like sardines and drove forward slowly passed the rocks until we were met by Magic with a cattle truck

We thanked the kind people with the Gloria truck, and piled into the cattle truck, less like sardines and more like cattle. We slowly weaved our way passed roadblocks, stopping to convince miners that the truck was empty and that they shouldn't hurl stones at us. This whole time I couldn't stop staring at all the stars above us and the nightime landscape of the Andes.

We arrived at a beautiful hotel in Huaraz in the evening, where we ate a delicious dinner and quickly passed out from an exhausting 2 days for the interns, 3-4 days for the Scots.

Because the roads were still blocked today, we spent the day relaxing in Huaraz and took a tour of the town. Our luggage finally arrived this evening, and we get to change into clean clothes now - Woohoo! The bus drivers stood outside the bus all night to make sure no one stole any luggage from the compartments under the bus. We learned today that all the passengers on one bus were robbed during the evening. No one was seriously injured. The bus was located on the road just near where we were before the masked protesters moved us to a safer location. Interesting that my greatest fear at the time (the protesters) are actually the ones that saved our luggage from being robbed.

The landscape is georgeous here. I have lots of pictures of this whole adventure and the beautiful snowcapped mountainside surrounding Huaraz, but I can't upload them on this PC. Many apologies - you'll see them in a week or so. Apologies that this post is hastily written past my bedtime and not proofread. If anything doesn't make sense here, feel free to fill the gaps with your own interesting fiction.

So we leave for Kusi early in the morning, and I could not be more excited to get to work and meet the boys there. We're all safe and had a wonderful adventure. I didn't realize how I was jinxing myself in my previous post with promises of good stories...

God Bless

Off to the Mountains

I was originally supposed to go to Kimo (the jungle) tomorrow, but because of strikes on the highway, we're going to Kusi (the sierra) instead... tonight! So I wanted to post this quick to let everyone know I'll be out of touch for a week or two, but when I return, hopefully I'll have lots of good pics and stories. Kusi is supposed to be beautiful.

Some other good news: today I was able to donate $870 - the remainder of the contributions from my first month. This includes extra from monthly donations and the one time donations. I told Manuel to put the money towards the Income Generating Projects, which will get the best long-term return on investment.

Still in Lima

Things have been going well in Lima. I spent several days with Asan, who works for Scripture Union, and Asan's family. It was good for me because they don't speak English... Slowly but surely my ability to communicate is improving. I still stink though...

Here's a shot of Asan and his family.

And they're adorable puppy.

The work in Lima has been a bit slow, so I'm excited to return to the jungle on Wednesday. I'll be going to Kimo, which is a different part of the jungle than I was in previously. I'm excited to use my hammock again.

On the homefront, I received some bad news from mom this morning. She woke up this morning and our dog Romeo was . They don't know what happened. I left the states assuming I'd never see our other puppy Quinn again, and Romeo dies.

Update: Romeo had a tumor on his spleen. It ruptured and he bled to death in his sleep. Seems he didn't go through too much pain.

Wish List

I told everyone a while back that I'd publish a wish list for stuff that the boys need. Because it's so costly to send anything to Peru, the most economically viable way to donate an item on the wish list is to mail it to one of the work teams in the U.S. that will be traveling to Peru in the near future. To best coordinate this, please email me if you would like to send something. I'll coordinate with SUP to figure out where you need to send the items.

And here's the wish list:

I put it on Google Documents as well - http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pokEDzmcMCc3EBbAuqrHFbA&hl=en

WISH LIST - UNION BIBLICA PERU - 2007

Street Boys(Lima,Iquitos,Puerto Alegría, Kusi)

Clothing:
Underwear (Sizes 6-16)
Socks
Shorts
Pants
Sweaters, jackets
T-shirts
Towels - both hand and bath sizes
Toilet needs:
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Shampoo
Large soaps
Deoderants

School supplies (All ministries)
Backpacks
Spiral & non-spiral notebooks (letter and official sizes)
Crayons
Pencils(red,black,blue)
Masking tape
Thick and thin markers
Rulers (15 & 30 Cm. Lengths)
Sharpeners
Erasers (for ink and pencil)
Pencil Cases
Fanny packs
Dry Erase Board
Red, blue, black white board markers
Dry Board Erasers
Construction Paper (all colors)
Scotch-tape
Glue Sticks
Staplers & Staples
Paper clips
Thumb Tacks
Clamps
Photo Albums
Scissors
Clip Art Books on DC's (to illustrate)
Liquid Paper
Little prizes (Stickers, etc.)
Bible Stories on DVD or Video (Spanish)
Frizbies
Childrens Story Books (Spanish)
Stuffed Animals
First Aid Supplies for field day trips
Highlighter pens

NEW ITEMS NEEDED:
Used Wind Instruments (trompets, trombones, flutes,claninets, saxaphones, etc.)
Rhythm Band Instruments (Drums, cymbals, sticks, tambourines, etc.)

GAMES for Boys Homes, Camps, Schools, and the Deaf Program
How to be a Millionaire
Chess
Checkers
Card games - NOT playing cards
Sorry
Monopoly
Soccer, volley, and basketballs
Ping Pong equipment
UNO
JENGA
Puzzles for small children-15-30 pieces
Puzzles of 50 and 100 pieces
Puzzles of 300-500 pieces
LEGOS
Magic games or tricks

Kitchen Needs-Camps, St.Boy Homes
Silverware-cutlery
Mixers
Potato Mashers
Potato Peelers
Electric Kettle 220V.
Thermos Bottles
Can openers
Dish towels
Cutting boards
Knives
Aprons
Hot pads
Cooking utensils
Sturdy plastic plates
Sturdy plastic cups
Sturdy plastic glasses

Medical Needs
Vitamins:Multi, sulfate, etc.
Permetrine: Treatment for acarosis
Analgelsics: Paracetamol, actaminofen
Anti-inflamatory: Ibuprofin-children/adults
Fluconazol 150 mg, tablets
Clotrimazol Cream
Loprox Cream
Antibiotics for breathing problems
Antibiotics for skin rashes
Ante-congestants: sinus, anti.alergic
Alcohol, Iodine (solution & soap)
Clotrimazol Cream
Vitamins
Bandaids
Adhesive tape
Hydrogen Peroxide
Cream for acarosis
Cotton, gloves
Surgical scissors
Q-tips, gauza
*Handbook(healthwise-español)care-Oregon

SUPPLIES for the DEAF MINISTRY
Batteries for hearing aids No. 675
Hearing aids for deep deafness
Coloring books
Found at www.harriscomm.com
Games-under Novelties
Arts & Crafts
Ily Candy Mold (no stick) $2.50
Ily hard candy mold (3 hands) $2.50
ILY Candy Mold (6 hands) $2.75
Games: Dice $2.99
Mime paint
Costumes:animals,people, masks
3 metric tapes of 120 meters each
6 chronometers, 3K and 4K balls (sports)
Sports cones
CD of sounds from the atmosphere

GENERAL NEEDS:
Walkie Talkies (Radio Shack-1 kilometer)
Flashlights
Retangular plastic tablecloths
Shower curtains
Sleeping bags
Sheets for single beds
Pillows
Blankets
Sports bags to carry clothes, equipment
Guitars
Recordable CD's

GROUP PROJECTS:
Refrigerador
Washing Machine
CD Players
Radio-Recorder-CD-MP3
128 MB Memory Stick
Sony digital camera

If You Still Have a Mother

This is a poem written by one of the boys in Kawai named Huber. I think he's 12 or 13 years old.

If You Still Have a Mother

If you still have a mother
Thank God that she loves you
For not all mortals
Have this blessed and saintly pleasure.
If you have a mother, be good enough
To merit the love that carried you close,
And suffered, as if blessed.
Sleepless nights, work filled days,
Hour by relentless hour,
Her song to close your eyes,
Upon waking her lips against yours,
sick and sad and full of ambition,
tears for you,
to steal miracles from the sky
when the world around you
has turned its back
She gave you a sweet prayer
held your small hand
and taught you life
Choose a path of happiness,
The blessed inheritance
Which she has shown you
To the sea and the sky she has gone,
with your love
Never to please her here again
Drop flowers
Upon her cold hard grave
When life is ill,
Turn to your soul and spill lonely tears

Huber Jarampa Pocco

I'm Useful!

Good news today. I am extremely useful in the office and creating lots of spreadsheets. Things had been a bit slow my first couple weeks in Lima, but today I've been of great use. Praise God.

Life in Lima continues. I had a wonderful day Sunday with Manuel, the financial director at SUP, and his beautiful family. We ate some delicious Peruvian chicken and hung out at the mall while the family did a bit of shopping. Since my trip to Kusi in the mountains has been postponed from Friday to next Wednesday, I also might get a chance to hang out with them more this weekend.

At the request of mom, here's a shot of the the apartment I'm staying in. It's rather narrow, so it's tough to get a good perspective of the whole place.

And here's a shot of my street.

Boy's Performance

Every year Scripture Union Peru has a Christmas party in the office/boys' home in Lima. Each year a different division of SUP is in charge of hosting the party (Remember that SUP also has a schools ministry, a deaf ministry, etc.) So when it was the boys' turn to host the party, everyone arrived to the auditorium surprised to see no colorful decorations, no Christmas food, or any of the other things that define Christmas in our minds. The attendees realized that they had made a huge mistake in letting the kids plan the party.

Once everyone was gathered into the auditorium, the boys began a play that they had written. The story begins with a street boy watching Jesus die on the cross. The boy doesn't understand what's happening, and he's sure that whatever is taking place, it cannot be for his benefit because he is worthless. Eventually the boy falls asleep, and is woken by the resurrected Jesus rolling a boulder away from the tomb. Jesus confronts the street boy explaining that he died for the boy, and the boy accepts Jesus into his life.

The next act shows the boy back on the street, dealing with temptations of his prior life. He struggles and finally calls on God to help him. Jesus returns and helps the boy fight off his demons, which are literally attacking him on stage.

The final act is called Men of Valor, and it shows grown up boys that return to the street to help the young ones that are there. The older boys approach the young boys, only to be shoved away by the young ones and shoved away by the demons who are with them. The small boys are pretending to sniff glue out of plastic bags like they do on the street. The word for sniffing glue on the street can be translated as "erasing myself". It gets them high and helps them fall asleep.

Finally, the men of valor are able to get through to two of the four boys. They hand the boys Bibles and bring them up to center stage. The remaining two boys who were sitting on the floor are taken to the back of the room by the demons, never to be seen again.

At the conclusion of the play, one of the boys comes out and explains that this is what Christmas means to them. For them it is a reminder of how they had nothing, and through accepting Jesus they were able to discover love and make a home at Girasoles. Christmas means being dead to the world and being resurrected to life through the love of God. On that Christmas, the boys taught a valuable lesson to all the SUP folks that came to a party looking for colorful trees and mistletoe.

Since that first presentation, the boys have performed the same play for each work group that comes in from the states or the UK. An important part of the play is that the boys are specifically casted so that they're not "playing a part", but that they're actuallty playing themselves. So everyone (with the exception of the demons) - the main character, the part of Jesus, the men of valor, and the little boys - are all selected for who they are in real life. This is important because it's a very big deal for these kids to come on stage and play a street boy. It's like asking a prostitute or a sexual abuse victim to come on stage and portray that part of their lives that they long ago put behind them. It's not something that's done without an emotional cost.

Since I've been in Peru I've seen the performance about 4 times, and each time there's one part that's tough to watch. Especially now that I've gotten to know Jaime and David well, it's tough to see them play the parts of the two boys the are led to the back of the room at the end of the play.

So what do I ask of you folks that are reading this? Please say a prayer of thanks for the men of valor that God has created here at Girasoles. Also, say a prayer for the boys who leave Girasoles to go back to the streets. Finally, pray for the boys who will never trust enough to come to the boys' home in the first place.