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.

Sick! ...and capsule reviews

I don't know whether it was a virus or bad food (probably the latter), but I was horribly sick for about 6 hours on Thursday. I slept for about 20 hours and was pretty much ok when I got up. Everyone here had Friday off for some Catholic holiday, so I had the day to relax, recover, and finish reading River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler.

Excellent book. I usually like books for thematics, new ideas, or interesting characters, but I can't say that this book had a whole lot of any of those things. It has tons of interesting cultural observations on how we differ from the Chinese, and how some Chinese differ from other Chinese. The real reason I enjoyed reading this book is just because it was so well written. Peter Hessler illustrates the land and people of Fuling so well that you feel like you've visited yourself. Of course, I'm also biased towards this book because, like Hessler, I'm also a foreigner in a foreign land... I highly recommend this to everyone. Thanks for the book, Pete!

I also finished another book called Red Gold a few weeks ago and I didn't post my capsule review... mostly because I didn't really like it too much. Pete says that it's only because I don't have what it takes to be a WWII secret agent. So be it... Can't recommend this one. Didn't find any kind of concrete story, likable character, or interesting theme.

Next on the list is Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. After only a few pages I'm sucked in and it feels kinda like the movie Pi. Excited to get home and continue reading this one.

One more capsule review: An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore's movie about global warming. Great movie. The world is dying - check this movie out!