Yesterday we left Lima at 7 am with the car packed as full as possible! We arrived in Tarma at about 1pm after a long, winding, but absolutely beautiful drive through the Andes. (I`ll post some pictures soon!) The highest point we passed was 4,800 meters (about 15800 ft) where there is a crystal clear lake and snow. We stopped to take some pictures, and when we got out of the car we were really dizzy! When we decided to keep moving, the car stalled! We were a little nervous after that, but our little warrior car made it! We unloaded most of the stuff at the house where Xochi and I will be staying, and after some lunch and a very needed rest we unloaded Martin`s things at the room where he will be living.
Today we had lunch with Sherry, a Canadian missionary, bought some things we needed, and then went to Huaricolca to go to church with our pastor friend. We went early hoping to meet up with the mayor, but he had already gone home. So a lady who attends Pastor Guillermo´s church invited us to her home. As we were waiting for her we saw two boys go by with two donkeys. One boy jumped onto the bigger donkey and lay on it on his belly, hitching a ride Huaricolca style! The smaller boy jumped onto the smaller donkey to do the same thing, but his donkey stopped. He hit it on the rump but the donkey wouldn`t move. We all know donkeys can be a bit stubborn! So he jumped off and hit the donkey again, but this time the donkey took off running and the boy had to run behind it. We laughed so hard! I guess donkeys can be pretty smart too!
As we were waiting it started to thunder and there was lightening. We were waiting there with some kids and Martin was pretending to be afraid, but later he confessed that he was a little unsettled because it was the first time he had heard thunder like that. We got into the house just in time as it started to rain really hard. This home has a tin roof, so it was loud. Soon it started hailing, and then conversation was impossible! Once it calmed down outside we went out and saw that enough hail had fallen to collect handfuls of it. In the car the windshield was foggy and it reminded me so much of Canada! Since it had rained so crazily church was cancelled and we headed back down to Tarma.
Driving through Huaricolca (which takes no more than three minutes, and only that long because of the pot holes!) we saw so many kids. They are well behaved, they all say hello as they walk by, and we are so excited to begin getting to know them better and to work with them. We are planning to use the municipal building until we get our own place to run an after school program and have Sunday school. So the next investment we´ll make will be in school supplies and some books and toys and balls and things like that. Please pray that moms will let their kids come to play with us instead of dragging them to the fields after school.
And thank you for praying for our move! It went really, really well, thank you God!
Oh yeah, the day before we left Lima we had a meeting with Yois, our lawyer, and she is starting the process of forming an NGO. At the end of the month we`ll go to sign the first set of papers. We´re advancing! Praise God!
Thanks for reading!
March 11, 2009
March 3, 2009
Step One
So, to be able to accomplish what we`re hoping to do, the first thing we need to do is to form an official association. This is the first step towards forming an NGO. Once we have an association, we can aquire property in its name and begin construction. The reason it´s necessary is so that the government knows who we are and what we are doing. Also, it entitles us to exhonerations from some taxes. The process to form an association takes about a month and is going to cost a little less than $1500 Canadian dollars. We may not decide to take the next step to become an official NGO, because we aren`t planning to import a lot of things, so that may not be worth the time and money it would cost. So right now we`re photocopying things and talking with people to work out the details. There is a lawyer from Emmanuel, a big chuch here in Lima, who is very lovely and has been very helpful. She is guiding us through the process.
On March 9th we´re planning to move to Tarma. There are some properties there that we can look at, but our main reason for the move is because we want to be part of the community there. We are planning to start our programs in the street, or in the municipal building (the mayor of the region is very interested in this project and has done everything he can to make things easier for us). We think it is important that we get to know the kids and their parents, and that they get to know us. We want to understand the way they think and what their culture is, and we want to learn about their specific needs.
Please pray about this move! Currently we don`t know where we are going to live when we arrive (obviously we need two separate places until we get married), and we have to send my little fridge and mattress with a moving company that we haven`t found yet! Also, pray for Martin`s car. There are a bunch of things we need to fix because it´s a little bit old, and the extreme altitude change may affect the compression, so we´re praying that we´ll make it!
Thanks for reading! Please don`t forget to pray for the kids of Huaricolca.
On March 9th we´re planning to move to Tarma. There are some properties there that we can look at, but our main reason for the move is because we want to be part of the community there. We are planning to start our programs in the street, or in the municipal building (the mayor of the region is very interested in this project and has done everything he can to make things easier for us). We think it is important that we get to know the kids and their parents, and that they get to know us. We want to understand the way they think and what their culture is, and we want to learn about their specific needs.
Please pray about this move! Currently we don`t know where we are going to live when we arrive (obviously we need two separate places until we get married), and we have to send my little fridge and mattress with a moving company that we haven`t found yet! Also, pray for Martin`s car. There are a bunch of things we need to fix because it´s a little bit old, and the extreme altitude change may affect the compression, so we´re praying that we´ll make it!
Thanks for reading! Please don`t forget to pray for the kids of Huaricolca.
March 2, 2009
Wecome!
Hello! Welcome to our blog!
Centro Ruhamah is (well, soon will be) an educational centre for children in a village called Huaricolca, in the mountains of central Peru. Our desire is to bless the people of this village, starting with the children, by helping them to be prepared for the future. We have lots of plans about how to do this! At first we´ll be a fun, safe place to play and experience new things, we`ll offer a homework club, and we´ll have Sunday school. We also want to invite people to come and teach different skills to the kids here (like carpentry or baking or sewing or crafts or mechanics). We`ve met some people in Tarma, the city nearby, who are interested in helping out, which is so great! We´re planning to construct extra rooms so that visitors can stay with us at the centre. So you can come from near or far to share with these kids!
Maybe you wonder why we believe we should be preparing these children for the future. The fact is the education system in Peru is quite antiquated, even in the capital city. In rural areas it`s even worse, and resources are very limited. Huaricolca doesn`t have the internet, and cell phone signals don`t reach there. Opportunities for these kids are very limited, but we want to be part of changing that. So helping to expose these kids to art and music and helping to improve their education is important to prepare them for the future. But the most valuable thing we`re bringing is God`s love for them. Teaching children about how much God loves them, about how Jesus gave his life for them, about the plans and purposes their Heavenly Father has for them is the greatest way we can invest in their future.
Centro Ruhamah is (well, soon will be) an educational centre for children in a village called Huaricolca, in the mountains of central Peru. Our desire is to bless the people of this village, starting with the children, by helping them to be prepared for the future. We have lots of plans about how to do this! At first we´ll be a fun, safe place to play and experience new things, we`ll offer a homework club, and we´ll have Sunday school. We also want to invite people to come and teach different skills to the kids here (like carpentry or baking or sewing or crafts or mechanics). We`ve met some people in Tarma, the city nearby, who are interested in helping out, which is so great! We´re planning to construct extra rooms so that visitors can stay with us at the centre. So you can come from near or far to share with these kids!
Maybe you wonder why we believe we should be preparing these children for the future. The fact is the education system in Peru is quite antiquated, even in the capital city. In rural areas it`s even worse, and resources are very limited. Huaricolca doesn`t have the internet, and cell phone signals don`t reach there. Opportunities for these kids are very limited, but we want to be part of changing that. So helping to expose these kids to art and music and helping to improve their education is important to prepare them for the future. But the most valuable thing we`re bringing is God`s love for them. Teaching children about how much God loves them, about how Jesus gave his life for them, about the plans and purposes their Heavenly Father has for them is the greatest way we can invest in their future.
If you´d like more information, if you want to come and visit, or if you´d like to donate supplies you can email us at deniseleyann@hotmail.com
If you´d like to donate money to help us get the centre up and running, visit www.iatw.ca (Into All the World is our sending organization.)
Thanks for your interest in the kids of Peru!
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