Day 2

Good Evening to All:

After a good night’s sleep (not necessarily a LONG one for everybody) we were awakened by the sound of traffic and honking on the busy street and dogs fighting.  If you are up early, it is a time of quiet in the house and you can help yourself to breakfast or just sit outside in the courtyard, reading or contemplating.  At 8:30am we met in the chapel for song, prayer and a ‘thought for the day’ (our first meeting with the families seeking help):  How will we be touched the most today?  With happiness, friendship, love, laughter, peace, hope, faith, achievement or direction?  After breakfast, we drove to the community of Cala where we visited two extended families, where a grandmother had approached us for help for her daughters and their families.  In this community, families live on the same tract of land with everyone’s living space divided by bamboo structures wrapped in plastic and straw or bamboo mats.  The bathroom (toilet, sink & shower) is shared and in this case there were 2 that were in good condition.  After an overview of what was to happen, everyone was put to work clearing and tearing down the old structure, varnishing the new material to be used for the walls and poles.   Yvonne

Wow, these youth are awesome!!!!!  They dismantled a roof of bamboo and plastic that was literally falling apart, and tore down the bamboo weaved walls that were in bad shape.  Then came reconstruction under the guidance of Walter and 2 other Peruvian men along with our interpreters Charo and Janet.  Chris and I helped organize the youth to make the most use of all of our time and helped them with the varnishing of new Bamboo poles and Bamboo matt-like woven structures for the walls and roof, digging up and leveling the ground for the new rooms, bandaging blisters, re-applying sunscreen to those looking a little red, making sure rehydrating electrolytes were taken, and other mom-like duties.  Michael and Jordan assisting with the man-like duties of hammering the new walls and digging holes for the new bamboo poles sported a few blisters despite the gloves.  Hammering nails is somewhat tricky with gloves so Jordan is sporting a small blood blister when he missed hitting the nail for his thumb.  They were both good sports about getting bandaids and Polysporin.  No broken skin but prevention is best.  All the youth worked hard with great happy helpful attidudes.  They are such a blessing to all here!!!!! Will try to include some photos of their work project. We all enjoyed a well deserved dip in a pool later.  Grace

I have to admit, I could get used to riding in the trunk of a truck – especially with a group of people who can easily laugh.  Driving around Peru is really something.  It seems like the normal rules of the road are just suggestions and that the horn is a better way of telling others your next move than a turning-signal.  Today, we spent a total of four hours at our first work experience, which we REBUILT a home for a family.  I mostly painted pieces of bamboo walls and roofs there.  I did not mind because painting is one thing that I can do.  However, I felt so messy as I got the most varnish on my arms and legs compared to everyone else in our group.  In my mind I could not help but laugh at our group because we were all wearing bright yellow shirts, big hats, sunglasses, and the like, so we looked pretty ridiculous.  Not to mention we are all SO white from just being in -25 degree celsius Canadian temperature.  My favorite part of today was trying to talk to the family (with a lot of help from a translator).  So with the fact of the translator helping my language handicap, I liked the mutual smiling going on between the family members and I.  It is cool how the smile can be a mutual sign of warmth, affection, and love between anyone  - no matter if you can speak the same language or not.   Angela

Wow what a day!!  It started off with church bells waking me up and morning prayer as a group. We spent most of the day building a bamboo home. The family was so cute and I think they really enjoyed just watching us. The people here are so friendly and always greet you with big smiles and a warm hug it is hard not to feel loved. We always drive around in a truck and fitting eight people into the back is always an adventure. It was an awesome day!!  Sydney

There are a hundred things to describe the day I had today. The working experience was something that I never felt before. I cannot believe that we (as teenagers) built a house in about a two days (we will finish tomorrow). The group was all eager and willing to do what is necessary to help out. I for one  was honored and felt a sense of humility to basically give love and hope to a family as we helped them restart their lives. Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow! Michael

As the hot Chinch Alta sun beat down relentlessly on our sweaty brows, Michael Ricardo and I nailed in the last bamboo sheet, completing the first wall of the Levano Peña family’s new home. After we had spent most of the morning tearing down the old damp and musty house, the completion of the North wall came with a sense of pride. Pride not only in our own handiwork and perseverance, but also pride in the new beginning we offered to this family. Jordan

Today was really fun! We got to build a bamboo house and take down the family’s old one first. First I helped with moving things out of the house, and then cut some wires that were holding the bamboo together. After that we cleaned up the area so that they could start. I also helped varnish some of the bamboo that was being used for the wall. I had a really great day. Kristin

I am very proud of our youth as they took on the challenge of a really dirty task of taking down with old house that literally housed many cockroaches and tons of dust and dirt. There was no complaining but rather an eagerness to work with a spirit of happiness and fun as the day went on. I am sending some pictures of our work crew as they sported proudly, donated t-shirts from Canada. Pauline