Humanitarian Work Marches On & Trip to Barranco

12 March 2017

Humanitarian Projects

Among all the things we are doing, preparing for wheelchair courses is the biggest project right now. We put together 45 tool kits for the repair technicians and delivered them to the Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitacion (INR) this week so they can get them airlifted to the jungle city of Iquitos in the Amazon region. We travel there in 2 weeks to help with the courses.

About $5,000 worth of tools, manuals, & supplies for the wheelchair training courses.

Manuals we printed for the Sillas de Ruedes (wheelchair) training courses to present in the jungle, high in the Andes, and along the coast.

Our partners, Dr. Cusihuaman (L) and Sergio Reynoso (R), both from INR, told us that the Peruvian Air Force is airlifting 120 of  the 1,100 wheelchairs the church is donating (plus the tools, manuals, and other supplies) to the jungle city of Iquitos, Peru, next week. Iquitos is the largest city in the world with no highway connections - you get there only by air or on the Amazon River. 

More Floods

Our humanitarian office handles natural disasters as they occur around the country (floods, earthquakes, volcanos, etc.), but floods continue to occur in northern Peru with the continual rain they are receiving. While we have our hands full with the wheelchair program, our office continues to manage disaster relief up north, including providing food boxes, water, and other short-term necessities.

Photo from Piura, Peru, up north showing the floods that are happening around the country. We continue to provide disaster relief. (However, here in Lima, it continues to be dry - we only get about 2 inches of rain/year in this extremely dry desert).

Barranco - Saturday Trip to Sceneic Lima Suburb

Saturday is our preparation day (or better-stated, our diversion day) and we take the inexpensive taxis to visit scenic parts around town.  This week we went to the artsy suburb of Barranco on the coast, about 45 minutes from our apartment.

Bridge of Sighs (Puente de los Suspiros) - According to legend, if you make a wish and hold your breath while you walk across the bridge, your wish will come true.

Below the Bridge of Sighs is a beautiful sloping path that leads to the ocean. The path, called the Bajada de los Banos, leads down a former streambed followed by fishermen years ago, but now this shady path leads past upscale homes and nice restaurants.

Tree-lined and shady with a wonderful ocean breeze, the Bajada de los Banos once led down the hill to some luxurious bath houses for the rich.

Shortcut to the Pacific

Just a short stroll down the Bajada de los Banos let us pop out of a narrow canyon right at the ocean.  Beaches were packed with Peruvians seeking to get away from the heat.

At the bottom of the Bajada de los Banos path, you pop out at the beach, filled with people.

Murals Everywhere

Many of the walls throughout Barranco are painted with amazing murals - amazing colors were everywhere. In fact, this is where many of the still-existing hippies hang out in Lima.

Sandy seemed to become one with the wall murals in Barranco

All of Barranco seemed very free-spirited. 

"Think with the Heart" (Pensar con el Corazon)

Barranca Mansions and Beautiful Architecture

Barranco is filled with exquisite homes built by the wealthy in the late 1800s.

Mansion in Barranco - Opulence of a bygone era.

Iglesia de la Santisima Cruz (Church of the Most Holy Cross) - only 50 years old after replacing the previous church that was destroyed in an earthquake.

Barranco's public library (Biblioteca), 95 years old this year

Last Street Car in Lima

Lima got rid of their street car system 50 years ago. However, they found one last car in a scrap yard a few years back, and they decided to put it back in operation.  It runs on its own set of tracks for about 6 blocks, then turns around and comes back. It is part of the Museum of Electricity - the most popular part of the museum.

Marshall pretending to do something naughty (again?)

Mexican Food in Peru?

While the native Peruvian food is excellent (and can be spicy hot), most of us North Americans miss our Mexican food.  One of our reasons for going to Barranco was to try out the Burrito Bar, a hole-in-the-wall spot serving the closest thing to real Mexican food in South America. Oh yes . . . it was really good!

Carnitas Burrito, good Mexican food for South America, along with an ice-cold glass of Chicha Morada (Peruvian purple corn and pineapple drink - so refreshing on a hot and sweaty day)

Farewell, Barranco

And so we finished our day, exhausted as always on a Saturday, but we just had to buy this cute little family of hand-made brass llamas. The seller's father makes them in his home. This group of llamas cost about $6.60 USD for all four - what a bargain.

Hand-made Brass Llamas we bought in Barranco. 

And so Monday starts another week for us. This week we journey high into the Andes for a school and health-center project. The place is called "Cerro de Pasco", one of the highest cities in the world at 14,400 feet. We already have the altitude-sickness pills ready for this trip!