Arequipa, Peru

The past 10 days here have been insightful and educational.....now that may sound boring to some but learning about another culture by living in it is far from boring!
Once again we have been blessed to be staying with a couple we connected with through one of my co-workers at Forestry.  Thanks Leanne!  Her uncle is a Pastor here in Arequipa.  Dennis and his wife Ruth have lived here for 30 years, raised their kids here and continue to do God's work in this area.  

This is the view from behind our house!
 Can you see the snow capped mountains in the background?

Now don't be thinking we have to be on our best behaviour staying with a Pastor, oh no Dennis has taught our children all sorts of stuff, just ask Landon and Tianna about the 'Mississippi Ripper' and 'Fraser Fluffer' :-) and the sound of his back cracking or how loud his sneezes are!  He is quick witted and they love him and all his jokes, stories and teasing but most of all they love the chocolate he gives them almost daily!! Princesa Chocolate is the best according to Uncle Dennis! 

Landon is attempting to flick puff wheat into Uncle Dennis's mouth!

Ruth is a wonderful cook and we've been so thankful to share lot's of meals together.  Tonight we made home made pizza and JC & Tianna made the dessert, Nana's puff wheat cake!  

I think their dog Rose has accepted us as part of the family.

I borrowed the following from my new Aussie friend whom we met in Huacachina.  She and her family were in Arequipa prior to meeting us and this is what she has to say (by the way she is a teacher so all the facts will be correct:-))  Thanks Katherine!

"Built from giant white stone slabs of volcanic rock 250 years ago, Arequipa has plenty of charm. It is built around the central plaza where there is an impressive cathedral and is called the white city for the beautiful colonial homes and buildings built from the white stone. But even more spectacular is looking skywards toward the perfectly cone shaped volcano, El Misti, which is covered in snow and is 5822m above sea level."

Arequipa is at 8000 ft. elevation and was hit hard by an earthquake in 2001 which the government downgraded so they wouldn't have to cover the cost of power and water for their people.  Typical.
Unlike North America, in Peru and I'm assuming all central and south american countries, the poorest people live on the hills surrounding the city.  Many of these homes, put together with brick and tin mostly, do not have running water or electricity.

In this subdivision most of the houses do not have electricity & the only water source are taps in the street.  

The city of Arequipa, is about the same size as Vancouver but I don't think you would see in any canadian city sheep grazing in a field next to a subdivision, cattle being hearded down the same street followed by a mercedes benz!

Tianna & I joined Ruth at the Market which was so cultural that I was buzzing and wanted to take pictures of everything but Tianna was being cautious and did not want me pulling out the camera with so many people around.  A visual treat is watching the local women in their below the knee traditional skirts, thick tights, embroidered vests, hats, and long braids and I managed to sneak a few shots but not nearly enough.

By the way, eggs do not need to be refrigerated, but if you do then they must stay cold.  All the eggs we've seen in Central and South America have not been in refrigeration.

Just a small sample of the more than 500 varieties of potatoes!

Cheese Pleeeez

None of the meat is refrigerated and just before this picture was taken Tianna & I saw a whole pig including the head being wheeled through the market and it looked like it had been skinned.......I'm thinking it's time I go back to being a vegetarian!

The moment we've all been waiting for.....The Hunger Games movie was showing in Arequipa and it was in ENGLISH!!  We all agreed though that the book is better than the movie.

We were able to be part of a team setting up for a sale they had at Ruth & Dennis's church which raised some money to buy craft supplies for the Ladies Ministry.  

JC & Dennis taking a break

Landon and his new friend Alex

We set up on Friday and returned for the sale on Saturday.  The church was packed with people all day purchasing used clothing, shoes, toys and household items.  We met so many wonderful Peruvians on this day.

Dennis and his mom!  Tianna thinks she is so lucky!!

PAMELA & TIANNA

Linda, the Irish import!

I know I've mentioned this before but God's timing is remarkable.  The other day JC & Tianna went to the store to buy soup for lunch because for some reason (unexplainable, God moment?) I only bought one pkg. of noodles when we were grocery shopping.  But because of this they met a Peruvian lady Giannina with her 3 children.  She and her husband Joel along with their children Diago, Joey, & Gabby are from Minnesota but just moved to Peru for 3 years to do missions with Kids Alive.  Our families connected immediately and we've done many outings together including having their 3 kids over for a sleep-over complete with a Netflix movie and popcorn, just like home!

Our kids attended a kid's club similar to VAC kids and learned a very cool way to remember the 10 commandments using actions.  The spanish services for us have been a challenge, at least the music is familiar but it's hard to remember the english words when everyone around you is singing in spanish.  Fortunately for us we have VAC services we can listen to online!! Definitely missing Pastor Stuarts sermons. 

Down time!

JC & I even had some adult time when we left all 5 kids at Joel & Giannina's place to attend a professional soccer match between Arequipa & Lima.  With the view of Volcano Misti in the background the four of us watched and cheered while Arequipa beat Lima 3 - 0.

One of the Lima players had most of the back his jersey ripped right off by an Arequipa player, he left the game and then removed his jersey while walking back to his teams bench.  oh and we think the Referee’s favourite colour was yellow since he flashed his yellow card almost every time he blew his whistle!

Another beautiful sunny day was spent in the mountains at 10,000 feet elevation almost at the base of Misti.  There we walked around the familiar town square, which every community in Peru seems to have one.  They call it the Plaza and after the 2001 earthquake in Arequipa it was the first thing rebuilt.  This the one place where everyone in the community can meet so it is very important to the Peru people to keep it looking nice.  

1914

 Not far from the Plaza we came upon a meadow with a creek, sheep grazing, wild flowers to pick, which was the perfect spot to eat our picnic lunch that Ruth and Linda prepared.  Linda is a lovely, energetic lady with a heart for God from Ireland also here on a 2 year missions trip (we love her accent!).  

A perfect spot for a picnic!

Landon makes 'friends' wherever we go!

On the way down we parked next to a rock quarry where Ruth lead us into a cave that had water falling on the rock wall which was bright orange from the minerals (we think copper although it smelled like sulphur).

The Zoo was one attraction I wish we would not have done.  It was just way too sad seeing all the animals who should be in the wild trapped in cages.  Watching the monkeys swinging in a cage was hard to see since we got to witness what free monkeys look like in Costa Rica.  I was face to face with a lion who seemed so sad and was looking directly at me with his big eyes saying 'get me outta here'.....I had to leave.


All day there was a contest (ice cream to the winner) to see who could spot the oldest building which was 1914.  It's questionable who the winner actually was so we all got ice cream:-)


While playing at the park behind where we are staying our kids along with the Posner kids went exploring and found Eucalyptus and onions growing next to a field, lot's of them, we brought them home and made a yummy french onion soup.  

Tianna, Landon and Ruth made cookies to take to the kids at the orpanage

of course the kids had to 'test' them first:-)

We just spent the past couple days at an orphanage in Peru with 26 children, including 2 babies.  

These kids which range from 6 months to 15 years old are starving for affection and although we did not speak the same language and couldn't communicate there was no mistaking our 'love hugs'.  Some of the girls just wanted to hold my hand and even the boys would come up to me for a long hug.
 15 kids and I walked to the park and one was in a wheelchair but they are all so good with helping her.  We played soccer and various other games and they just seemed happy to have someone pay attention to them, even though it was only for a short time.  One little 3yr. old boy Pedro fell off the swing hitting his head on the cement(at the orphanage, not the park Thank God) and he got a huge bump on the back of his head.  He cried for about 30 minutes and all I could do was sit with him holding ice on his head.  Then suddenly he stopped crying, took his jacket off, wiped his nose with it and got up. Later he even came to the park with the rest of us.  For the time I was sitting with him I kept thinking only his mom or dad could comfort him and take away his pain but of course they weren't there!  

There are also two babies, Mateo (which means Mathew) lives there with his 12 year old mom!!  YES, 12 years old and when she got pregnant was 10....let’s just say the pregnancy was not her fault by someone too closely related....this is hard to even write about and my heart aches even sharing it.  The other baby Alexandro was sold (or given away) by his mom to two university students in Lima so they could sell him.  They were caught and the baby is now living in this orphanage in Arequipa.  Landon, Tianna & I could not get enough of holding these babies.

Also at the orphanage they needed some repair work done to the playground equipment and JC stepped up to do it.  He and two other men from the USA, Joel & Alex who are living here doing missions, managed to do the re-roofing required.  Landon not only helped with the construction but also paid for the building materials from the money he earned snow shoveling before we left Canada!  I am so proud of my boys!!

Thanks to Becki Ott from Vernon we were able to share the Salvation Story in spanish.  The children loved coloring and reading from the booklets we brought along.  Please remember these children in your prayers!

Gianna along with her sister cooked us all a fabulous Peruvian meal which we enjoyed after spending the day at the orphanage.  It was similar to scalloped potatoes and there were two sauces, one not spicy and the other extremely hot!  Also a tuna dish with onions and tomatoes in it.  yummm!  Oh and Inca Kola of course:-)

So the best surprise we enjoyed this trip came from our kids on our 12th Anniversary.  When JC & I returned home from the celebrations downtown the kids had the apartment dark, flicked on the lights, yelled surprise and presented us with signs, flowers and a candle on the table, served us cookies and wine (which Tianna included a lime wedge) then a spaghetti dinner!  They even had music playing from the touch phones.  After we ate we all danced to Tianna's song 'I hope you dance'.  It was the BEST anniversary ever! 

One discovery we made during our anniversary celebration was if you squeeze lime into very sweet wine it makes it taste much better!  REALLY!!

On our last Sunday in Arequipa Landon was invited to join the worship band at Church, he was thrilled to play the drums in the band!!

Tianna & I purchased some Easter chocolates for all the children from the orphanage at church and handed them out after the 2.5hr. service!!  

Landon made his famous pancakes for the last breakfast

Tianna making freshly squeezed orange juice......

.....to serve with breakfast at the Colvin Cafe

Farewell Ruth and Dennis, we loved staying with you, getting to know you, serving with you, and having you part of our family for 2 weeks!

Perspective on Peru and Poverty

A lot of what we’ve seen in Peru is described below, reading about the living conditions or seeing it on television cannot compare to witnessing it for real. It’s just so easy to ignore when you are in the comforts of your living room and when you mistakenly think you have enough to deal with in your own life. I would challenge anyone in North America to imagine their lives without running water and electricity. Having no water happened to us at the house we rented in Costa Rica and although it was only a couple days it was still an inconvenience and very annoying. The dishes piled up in the restaurant (how do you do dishes without water?) but it gave us the perspective and appreciation for those that live this way everyday! We still had the pool to use, walked to town to buy bottled water, had money to eat at a restaurant and the house still had electricity. Being in the jungle it would have been a very dark, scary place without lights!! When I see some of the ‘homes’ people have put together for themselves I try to imagine living there. I honestly don’t think I could. Fortunately there are organizations such as the one listed below who see the need and are making a difference. Being a blessing to someone does not have to be a huge undertaking, all it takes is a little compassion and a bit of our time. I encourage everyone reading this to make a decision today to help someone less fortunate than themselves. You won’t have to look very hard or far to find someone. I know it’s hard to imagine what life must be like for these people but believe me when I tell you that the problems in our lives do not even come close in comparison. At the orphanage we are going to today some of the children were simply dropped off there anonymously, I wonder how heart wrenching it must have been for the parents when they realized they could not take care of their own chicos. Now think about how the poor child must feel, abandoned by the one or two persons in the world who were supposed to love and care for them. We are all children of God and whether you want to believe this or not it is our responsibility to be a blessing when we have been so blessed having been born in Canada or the United States.

 Below is borrowed from the Kids Alive website, www.kidsalive.org/

Peru

Overview

The country of Peru is known for its rich cultural heritage and traditions—passed along from the ancient Inca civilization.  While a number of people that live here can be considered wealthy, even millionaires—more than half of the population is living in abject poverty and almost 20% are living on less than $1 per day.

With its mountain ranges, lakes and ocean views, Peru is beautiful to behold—although you don’t have to look very far to see the slums, diseases and starvation right outside the bustling capital of Lima.  For a country with so much wealth, the disparity between the rich and poor is startling.

Facts

Approximately 11% of Peru’s children will die before they reach the age of five.

Almost 20% of the children are forced to work as child laborers to help their family survive.

Half the population of Peru lives below the poverty line—surviving on less than $2 per day.

More than 570,000 orphans roam the streets of Peru with nowhere to go and no one to help them.

Helping the Children

These conditions leave hundreds of thousands of children desperately in need of care and destined to repeat the cycle of poverty.

Currently, Kids Alive provides an education, nutritious meals, medical care and the love of Christ to more than 165 children in Peru.  This year, we hope to add 35 children to our Homes and Care Centers. That’s the largest number we’ve ever undertaken in one year.  But we’ve prayerfully decided to step out in faith and take up that challenge.