Blogs from Pisco, Ica, Peru, South America - page 6

I got to Peru September 28th, and plan to stay until November 27th, traveling and volunteering at two sites. I will update the blog when I have good internet access..a sometimes thing. Some of you have seen emails with some of this content. I apologize for the repetition. (CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR BIGGER IMAGE.) I spent most of my first 10 days in Peru working in Pisco, on the coast 2 hours south of Lima. It was recently nearly destroyed by a magnitude 8.5 earthquake. Here is a column I prepared on my experience for the Rocky Mountain News, daily newspaper in my hometown of Denver, Colorado. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/ ________________________________________ A great way to help in a disaster Wednesday, October 17 at 12:00 AM By Andrew Wallach, Denver Like many people, I have looked on more than ... read more

HOLA MIS AMIGOS! As I write this, I have now been here in Pisco, Peru three days shy of a month (and as I send this, I am ONE day shy). Time has seriously flown, and even though I feel as if we have barely scratched the surface with the work that needs to get done in this town, when I look back at the first few days and compare it with what I know and what I see now, there is no doubt in my mind so much progress that has taken place here in Pisco. We started out, like all the past deployments Hands On has been to, with basic rubble clearing. No special skills needed; just the willingness to work in hot, dirty and especially in the case of Pisco, extremely dusty conditions. ... read more

We have been in hiding for the past 2 weeks because we have been up to things that may worry our families..... Having passed through areas of Peru hit by the earthquake on our way to Nazca, we decided to backtrack and go and see what we could do to help out. We found an organisation called Hands On Disaster Response (www.hodr.org) and turned up in the town of Pisco with our work boots, gloves, face masks and goggles. Arriving in Pisco was shocking. The entire town had been razed to the ground by the 8.0 earthquake which lasted two minutes. There was not one building that was untouched by the huge tremor. We wondered what on earth a few people like us could do to help and felt quite overwhelmed at this point. We stayed ... read more

Last Sunday night I made it down here to Pisco, Peru, the hardest hit area after a major 8.0 earthquake struck the region August 15th. This is a blast to let you all know I am safe, well-fed (amazingly so, thanks to the generostity of the locals here in the community), have easy internet access (not even 3 blocks from the Hands On House), but cold, oh so cold. It is going to take some time for my body to adjust to the cold nights and mornings (thank goodness we are going into summer here in the southern hemisphere or I do not know how I would survive), since I have been in South East Asia the last 11 months. BRRRRRR.... Here is a link to what actually happened here in Pisco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Peru_earthquake. It is dusty, ... read more

Hello, We left Lima for a bustrip to Pisco, a town at sealevel, where the national apetizer Pisco is produced from grapes they let ferment, then distillate into a kind eau de vie, and this strong liquid is used to make the famous Pisco Sour. We visited the hotel inLima where they told us the Pisco Sour was invented. Not far from the coast you can finf the Balleastres, a group of Islands similar to the Galapagos, but less touristic. We were taken there by speedboat, and saw many pinguins, inguanabirds that produce strong smelling droppings, the peruvians export as fertilizer all over the world.... read more