Rebuilding Peruvian Schools, Help for the Blind, and Traumatized for Life

29 October 2017

Helping Schools Recover after the Floods

Floods in February and March wiped out schools throughout northern Peru. An appeal for help came from regional governments once the floodwaters subsided. It then became clear that school desks were destroyed in dozens of schools, especially in the city of Catacaos near Piura.

Photo showing the flood damage earlier this year in Catacaos. This photo came to us with an appeal for help.

It would have taken years for the local school districts to come up with funding to replace all the desks, so they came to us for help. Months ago we started a project to supply almost 930 student and teacher desks in 13 schools in Catacaos in response to the disaster.

The project involved ordering all the desks, coordinating their manufacture and delivery, coordinating church service projects by volunteers, and holding the delivery ceremony. (Sandy handles the ordering and budgets, I handle the phone calls and other coordination).

Before the delivery of the desks, we held service projects at the schools, coordinated by local church leaders in Catacaos. About 90 members showed up to help with further cleanup at the schools.

Service project in Catacaos to help with cleanup before the desks arrived.

Cleaning and moving the desks once they arrived.

With the arrival of the desks, we held a delivery ceremony that was attended by leaders from our humanitarian office, government and education officials, and others. (We wished we could have gone, but we were on another humanitarian assignment in the jungle, so we missed out on this one.)

At the delivery ceremony for the almost 930 new student and teacher desks for 13 schools.(L to R: Regional Governor of Piura, Minister of Education for Peru, and Piura Mission President for the church).

Inside a classroom after the ceremony with the new desks donated as part of this humanitarian project.

Our donations were just part of the commitment of the entire country to rebuild after the floods. The government has had to rebuild many schools, and some of that reconstruction was still underway when our desks arrived.

The donation included small desks for the youngest kids. Note the gravel floor - reconstruction on the schools is still in progress. They finished the walls and ceiling to allow school to continue, and they will pour the cement floors later.

We were glad we played a role in this commitment to help the country recover after the flood disasters.

Help for the Blind

A project just started to help blind people in Peru. Our partner on this project, CONFENADIP, a Peruvian association to help the blind, came to us with a request, and it seemed like a worthy project.

Meeting with CONFENADIP, Association for the Blind.

The association came to us with a request for donations of 500 collapsible canes and 500 punch-note braille readers for blind students. The association would then send these around the country for distribution to the blind who have no means to obtain such basic items that would help them survive.

Cane and Braille Punch Reader (for taking notes). These items are so basic to help the blind survive but are unavailable to the poorest of the poor.

This project was approved and we are now moving ahead with ordering these basic items.

The painful part of projects like these is to see how people suffer for lack of something so basic and which is otherwise so inexpensive for us. We are glad we can help in a way that will affect people so profoundly by increasing their mobility and allowing them to take notes in school.

Christmas on its Way

We are in the Southern Hemisphere where seasons are reversed. We are moving into summer in the next months, but already, Christmas goods fill the stores. The strange thing is that we are so far from the North Pole, yet reindeer are setup in the malls here in South America.

Malls in Lima, Peru - so far away from the North Pole, but all is now ready for Christmas in October.

Poinsettias are planted outside homes here in Peru as outdoor ornamental plants. They easily survive because temperatures seldom drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it is strange to be walking down the street and see these plants we associate with Christmas just growing outside people's homes.

Poinsettias - these are just yard plants here in Peru. It always makes us think of Christmas when we see these growing in someone's yard.

Traumatized for Life

We love most Peruvian foods. However, there are always surprises that catch us off guard.

This week, we were eating at a local Peruvian restaurant. They had served us the most delicious chicken soup I had ever eaten. Right in the middle of eating the soup, Sandy said, "Oh, no!"  I looked over and saw her staring in shock at a CHICKEN FOOT that was included as part of the soup. I just had to take a picture.

Chicken-Foot Surprise Soup!

Of course, Sandy wouldn't finish her soup after that, no matter how good the soup was. The rest of the meal came and was good, but Sandy said, "We are never eating here ever again. NEVER!" She claims what she found was not just a chicken foot, it was a giant bird talon!

We shared this tale with our Peruvian friends back at the office. Many of them winced in disgust. However, a few said they ate plenty of chicken feet as children at home and were always fighting over who would end up with this most-coveted dinner treat.

I guess I felt a little cheated because my soup didn't come with that 'extra' little treat!

Pampered Dogs of Lima

Peruvians love their dogs, just like most people around the world. But people here take their affection to the next level by often dressing their dogs when they take them on walks or into the parks. We always have a good laugh, almost daily, at the weird garb we see dogs wearing here in Lima.

Petite little Chihuahua in a comfy Levi skirt with lace accents - very attractive.

Smartly dressed terrier wearing his favorite doggie sweater.

Best-dressed dog we have seen yet - a lovely Golden Retriever wearing her favorite purple taffeta and sporting a happy smile to be seen wearing such high fashion - all the way down to the silver slippers on her front paws! How chic and elegant!

Please note: these are not Halloween costumes but rather they are everyday canine fashion statements here in Lima.

Starting a New Craze in Peru

I love roasted and salted sunflower seeds without their shells. They are unavailable in Peru, although you can occasionally find the raw seeds in nut stores. I had to come up with a way to salt and roast the seeds when I can find them.

Roasting and salting sunflower seeds

After much trial and error, I landed on this method: 4 cups sunflower seeds, 4 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of salt. Put them in a frying pan on low heat and stir constantly for 10 minutes. Voila, perfectly roasted and salted sunflower seeds!

Pour out the sunflower seeds on a paper towel to cool and then they are ready to eat. (I often put the seeds in a colander to shake off any extra salt before putting them in individual plastic bags.)

I have shared these sunflower seeds and the recipe with many Peruvians in the office, and they love them. Many of them are now buying the raw seeds and roasting them at home. Who knows, maybe I have started a craze.

Fruits-a-plenty

Fruit is plentiful and inexpensive here in Peru. We eat fresh fruit every day. Once a week I make a special smoothie with all of our favorites: mango, passion fruit, granadilla, and peach yogurt. Ah, it is nice living in the tropics!

Passion fruit (back), Mangos (middle), and Granadilla (front) - some of our favorites to put into our smoothies.

And so we have now hit our halfway point on this mission - 9 months completed and 9 months to go. Sometimes it feels like the time has just flown by, but in retrospect, it seems like we have had a decade worth of experiences, so far, and with more yet to come. What an incredible blessing this has been to be able to serve in this unique way.