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Published: January 23rd 2008
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At the school
Raising the Peruvian flag Hi Folks,
Up v early (6am) this morning for a flight on a very small plane - Vicki - it was the wee tiney LC Busre plane. We were headed back up into the mountains again to visit another SU Girasoles sight called Kusi near the village of Huaraz in the Ancash area.
The Ancash area is close to the area called the Cordillera Blanca in Peru - the only area in the Andes where you will find snow on the mountains. It comprises a range of mountains all in excess of 20,000 feet. Needless to say, that during the time I was there, I never saw the mountain from the land as it was constantly shrouded in cloud. The only time I got to see it was on the flight back out when we saw the snow covered top throught the clouds. It was amazing!! Albert got some good pics from the plane which I hope he will share.
We are up at a slightly higher altitude than Ayacucho (approx 10,000 ft), and some of the group are suffering pretty badly from altitude. I seem to be ok - I think I have the constitution of an
Raising the Scottish flag
We all sanf flower of Scotland!! ox. Have even started my malaria tablets and don´t appear to be suffering any of the nasty side effects that the doc described!!
The land here is much greener and prettier than that of Ayacucho - the mountains are green and luscious as opposed to the brown, barren muddy earth of the Andes in Ayacucho. I understand it is because we were higher up in Ancash, and also get a lot of water down from the snow on the mountains. It really was a beautiful area.
The centre is still pretty much under construction here, as SU are aiming to construct a small village here!! They already have some areas of the home for the boys up and running and have also provided a village school!!!
This area was also devastated by a huge earthquake back in the early 1970´s which wiped out half the population. Those that survived were then killed by a massive landslide which came from Mount Huascaran in the Cordillera Blanca. We met a lovely lady called Carmen who lives in this region. She owns a lot of land in this area. She escaped the eqrthquake as she was on a trip to
At the School
The Musicians Lima with her father. Only two of her eleven brothers and sisters, her father and herself survived. The rest of the family including her mother and four grandparents were killed. The entire village collapsed and now lies underground. The site of the original village is now a massive green field, and all of the buildings and people are buried under the earth. Carmen told me that by selling the land to SU and working with them to suport the development of the village, she feels that she is getting something back. She really enjoys seeing the boys and spending time with them.
Our first stop was the village school where the kids are educated in both Qechuan (the old Andean language) and Spanish. Although the kids were on holiday, they all came in to put on a spacial presentation for us. This involved raising the Peruvian and Scottish flags on flagpoles ad singing the Peruvian national anthem and Flower of Scotland respectively.
The kids then sang and danced for us and played their musical instruments. It was lovely. I was adopted by a couple of small boys who sat with me during the show. The youngest and smallest
The dancers
They were great! was Leo, and he has a problem (disfigurement) on his face. He was wearing a high necked jumper and kept pulling it up to cover his face. Anna has a lovely photo of me with them. Don't have it for the blog, but Anna has promised to pass it on.
After the presentation in the school, we had lunch with the Girasole boys. Two of the boys I chatted to have been there for less than a week. They were pretty uncomfortable, and both aged around 11 or 12. One was called Richard. I can only imagine what they thought of all these gringos when they had only been at the centre for such a short time. They did ley me take a photo, but depsite my encouragement didn´t smile. I did get a smile when I showed them the picture on my camera though. After lunch, the boys sang some Christian songs for us and played some instruments. I was delighted to see both new kids join in, albeit they were hidden at the back. The music was rousing and moving, and these boys very happy. Again, a delight to see them like this despite what they have
More Dancing
Albert joined in come from.
After lunch we had a tour around the complex. It will be finished when sufficient funds will be raised. They have plans for a bakers and a cobblers and various other workshops. I have attached a photo of the final Kusi plan. It is absolutely amazing!!
I then wandered off and spent some time with the kids feeding the pig, aptly named Negrita as she is black. She was tucking into a huge bucket of swill and seemed to be really enjoying it. She´s 6 months old. I sat and chatted with three of the boys there. They were curious about my home, and fortunately I had photos of mum, my friends and my cats on my camera. They really enjoyed that. One asked about my father and I shared with them that he was dead, due to alcoholism. That street kid, who has been through God only knows what, gave me a big hug!! Big thing for a boy to do at the best of times!! Even more importantly, I felt that there was real warmth and empathy in that hug. It was almost as if by sharing a part of my own life story,
And More Dancing
David joined in too. At one point he had this wee Andean lass doing a Gay Gordons!! I was able to connect with this child. Again, I was completely moved. Another of the boys told me not to worry about it as my father is in heaven with God. What intuition!! Even more amazing is that all of these three have been at the centre less than three months!! Why can´t we all be as compassionate as that with each other? To these kids, I´m just a rich and privileged gringa with pocotito español!! That is something that I will carry with me for a long time. I actually felt very humbled, that these kids who had nothing, could show such compassion and understanding. A lesson there for many (myself included) to learn something from I´m sure.
The boys at the centre also make the most incredible friendship bracelets which they sell for some pocket money for themselves. I invested in a huge bundle to share with the Sunday School and GB kids back home. When handing them out, I'll also need to ensure that they understand the story of the boys who make them at the Girasoles centres.
After we left the centre, we headed to our hotel, where our group are really suffering
Prayer Time
This is a Girasoles boy who led us in prayer from altitude. One of our ladies fainted, and fell. She has a nasty bump on her head. Anna, my roomie, is currently resting as she just feels ´wabbit´to use a good Scots phrase. Like I said, I think I have the constituion of an ox!! Must be the Rennie blood in me that comes from mum´s side of the family!!
Tomorrow we have another early start. Early flight back to Lima and we then head up to Iquitos where we will see the medical work that SU and VT support and hopefully the Amazon Hope 2 medical mercy ship.
Watch this space.
Bye for now.
Lesley x
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Esther
non-member comment
thanks for your great blogs again!
hi my dear! thank you again for your great writting! i think you must change work either you should be a writter or better: a social worker !!! i thinks you would be just a perfect person for this job, so much understanding, feeling and warmness for people! think about it! we are fine here - thanks for your text! marsali has not very good results, i had flu for over 10 days now and getting better now everyday! hope you are enjoying your last days in peru! looking fwd to your next blog! take care! esther