Peruvian Culture Part 1

Weell, since I have some extra time this week and won't be spending as much time with the kiddos (I have a two week break between interns), I thought I would give you a crash course in Peruvian culture...let's start with food!!

Really, most of the food here is not that different from what we eat in the States. They eat a lot of chicken and beef, vegetables, fruit, etc. Potatoes are a BIG thing here! Here are some of my favorite/not-so-favorite differences/dishes:

1)Ham, eggs and mayonnaise and avocados go on just about everything...french fries, hamburgers, you name it...

2) Ceviche (made from fish and lemon/lime juice) is a famous plate here..I haven't tried it yet, but I want to before I leave (I think!)

3) Causa (pronounced cow-suh) is my favorite dish. It is basically yellow potatoes on top and then chicken salad inside..yum!

4)Anticuchos-this is cow heart..I have tried it..it really just tastes like beef.

5) Cuy i.e. guinea pig is a delicacy here. I can't eat anything that could be a child's pet.

6) My least favorite...fried chicken blood. I have never been so glad that I could read Spanish and knew to keep on walking past that dish on the buffet line.

7) A good Peruvian lunch is incomplete without rice.

8)Also, their mealtimes here are very different. Lunch is the big meal of the day, served around 2 or 3 p.m., and dinner is a lighter meal that may not be served 'til 10 p.m.!

9) Peruvians KNOW how to make french fries...I have put on a couple pounds eating them!

10) Chinese food is huge here (called "Chifa") Who knew??

Monkeys and a Movie

We spent the other half of our week at the San Ricardo zoo, um, I mean orpahnage :-D. Honestly, I love the kids at this home but CRAZY doesn't even cut it for some of them..I affectionately refer to them as "monkeys." No joke, they jump out of windows, run off with anything that is not tied down and make off like bandits with digital cameras. But they really are precious, I promise.

Their behavior really did improve as the week went on. The first day we tried to do VBS with them was complete chaos..we made it through one "station" switch and it was all over. It could only be the Lord who answered our prayers because the next day, they actually sat and LISTENED..who would have thought? And really, their acting out is sad..they do it to get attention. Many of them are quite violent, but it is because they need love. Some of them flinch when you touch their heads b/c they have been hit. No wonder they act like they do.

To prove our craziness, we decided to take 100+ of these kiddos to the movies. We went to see "Up," and it was such a treat for them, as they very rarely get to do anything outside the home (which is a pretty grim place). We also took them to the movies last year and they LOVED it. We took up the whole movie theatre! Every kid got his own box of popcorn and chicha morada, the drink of Peru. We adults even had fun too (I might have "rested my eyes" for just a few moments :) Here we are on the bus (it took two!)At the movies...

I fell in love with a little girl named Marisol. She is 9 years old, and we were two peas-in-a pod this week. She has three brothers...I'm not sure what her story is but I know she is PRECIOUS! Please pray for her and the other children of Peru-thank you so much.
-Kelli

New Life

It is hard for me to put into words all that I have experienced the last week..it has been quite a whirlwhind! This was the last week with my June interns...they left Friday night, and I already miss them so much! It is funny how close you become in a month when you live, eat and breath together...kind of like college roomates!Now, I am living with our staff (my friend) Giuli. I am getting a taste of the"real" Peru, outside of the hotel and Starbucks across the street. And my brain is getting a workout, as she is making me use only Spanish..so I talk a lot less! ha.
But anyways, I am getting off track...so we spent last Sat-Fri working with a church group from Indiana in two different homes..one for pregnant teenage mothers and an orphanage. I am going to do a separate post on each one.
It was a joy to get to work alongside this church...they have been coming for years (I worked w/ them last year too) and they love these kids. They buy the children Christmas presents, pass out their pictures for prayer at church, etc. And they are soo organized, so we just had to show up and help, which was a nice break for us after a week of having to plan our own program.
At the teen moms' home, we tried to let them act like teens again, which is something they rarely get to do. At 12, 13,14,15,16 they are worrying about whether their baby has a fever or if he is getting enough to eat, not writing notes and going to the movies like a teenager should. But in a sense, they are still kids..they love to joke, play volleyball and laugh. We talked about the Bible with them, played soccer (not me!), made tshirts, held their babies so they could play, had a pizza party, taught them to sew (I just translated-I was the kid in home ec who sewed her pants together) and had a carnival. These girls were such an inspiration..even after the terrible situation they have experienced (they were all raped), they still have joy and they love their babies so much. Here are some pictures of the week...

Sewing class

This was her first time to eat pizza..she loved it!Boyfriend and girlfriend :)

My favorite part of the week was getting to spend time with a special mom I met last year, and meeting the new moms, especially a sweet girl I will call Sofia. She has only been at the home for a few months and is nine months pregnant. Her story is so terrible that you could not make it up if you tried (for their safety, I don't want to tell a lot of their stories over the Internet). She opened her heart to me this week, and we spent a lot of time talking. She was so scared about having her baby. Yesterday, she was admitted to the hospital for some pain, so Giuli and I went to visit her. I can harldy even describe this place to you. There are long hallways and on each side there is a huge room with four beds on each side and a number above the bed. There is no privacy, no luxuries AT ALL;this is the hospital for poor people. The more time I spend here, the more spoiled I realized I am as an American. There are people here who have no electricity, no running water, so little.
Sofia was supposed to have a C-section today..we are waiting for news!! Oh, and I almost forgot, one of the teen moms accepted Christ. Another new life has begun!

Miracles

In the midst of all the sadness we see, it is so wonderful to hear a "happy ending." Yesterday, we were so glad to hear one of those...at the home we are visiting this week, there is a teenage girl named Milagros, which means "miracle" in Spanish..and her story is a true miracle. She has no family and has moved from one orphanage to the other...but about two years ago, an American came to visit and fell in love with her. She said she cried so much when he left...but the story didn't end there. The American and his wife (who already have five other children!) are in the process of adopting her and three other girls from this orphanage! This is unusual, b/c you usually cannot choose the children you want to adopt, and Milagros is 16, and older kids have a slim chance of being adopted. Milagros said this is her dream come true..you can just see the joy and excitement written on her face. She is busy practicing and studying her English. The four girls already call each other sisters and will be leaving for the USA as soon as paperwork/visas are finalized.
Please pray for Milagros, as well as a sweet pregnant girl named Andrea. Sorry there are no pictures...later!

Slumber Party!

So bear with me, b/c this is going to be a long post 'cause I have a lot to catch up on! This is my "journal" b/c I don't have the time or energy to keep one, but I want to remember everything.

This week was wonderful...it was like a big sleepover with 40 girls every day :) We spent our mornings working with the teenagers at the home for abused girls, then the afternoon with the younger ones. We told the story of Esther, played games (they learned how BAD we are at volleyball!), did crafts and sang...they LOVED it! The girls were so sweet..it was heartbreaking to imagine that anyone could hurt an innocent child...so young, so tender. One day, one of the girls picked a rose and then it got dropped on the ground and stepped on, and I thought, that is what has been done to these girls. But they are still so loving and full of joy. Let me tell you about my friend Norma...

She, if anyone, has a reason to be bitter and mad at God..she has had a terribly rough life BUT she wants to devote her life to helping kids on the street as a nurse. She loves God, and has chosen to use the evil in her life for good. She was so precious, and I loved getting to know her. Please pray for her...she has a physical disability which makes it difficult to walk, and she needs money to go to nursing school.

This darling girl is my friend, Karina. She stuck by my side the whole week, and we had a lot of fun playing and telling secrets (though I could only understand about half of what she said!:)

We also spent some time painting the library and bathroom..here are some pics.

It was soo sweet when we left today..the girls literally hung on us so we couldn't leave..and then, when we got in the bus, they all lined up like in the game "Red Rover" across the gate so the bus couldn't back out. When they finally moved, they begin to sing the worship song we taught them this week, and then chased us down the street. I am almost crying thinking about it!

And don't worry..all work and no play is no good, so last night we went dancing (well, if you can call what I do dancing). It was a show where they performed native Peruvian dances and then in between, a band plays and everyone gets out on the floor to dance. SO FUN!

Tomorrow, we have a new church team coming that we will be working with. We will be at a teen mothers home and an orphanage every day this week...it should be a little less busy....but then again, I don't think there are "non-busy" days here. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Machu Picchu

Here are some pictures from our weekend in Cusco and our trip to Machu Picchu. We had a lot of fun..Cusco is such a beautiful place. Today we had a much-needed day of rest and tomorrow we will begin our week of ministry at a home called "Happy Faces", which has fifty girls age 4-18 who have been sexually abused. Please be in prayer for the girls at this home, and for us, especially our health, as all my girls have been sick. Thank you so much for your love and prayers...

Downtown Cusco

Me and Giuli at Machu Picchu

The six of us interns

This is what happens when you don't wear sunscreen..in our defense, we haven't seen sun in so long that we forgot what it was! :)

Zapatos

Shoes, shoes and more shoes...or zapatos in Spanish. Pink ones, black ones, light-up ones, itty bitty ones and clown shoes. Every shape, size, and color. Just like the children we have been putting them on. Today concluded our adventure with the Shoes for Orphan Souls group, a great group of individuals from all over the country. Just like the shoes, they were varied in age, personality and life stage, from teenagers to a 76-year old. But they were united in one purpose-to share God's love with the children of Peru. I really enjoyed getting to know them and hearing their stories and learning from them.

We spent the last few days visiting a variety of homes....a private-run girls' home who received us with so much love. They were so grateful for our visit/the shoes and even sang multiple songs to thank us. This was Buckner's first connection with the home and they hope it will continue (we had to find a lot of new homes to distribute shoes b/c the govt. won't allow foreigners in to public ones right now-b/c apparently we have the swine flu :) Our other visits included a home for boys who previously lived on the street. They danced/played instruments for us. That afternoon, we took shoes to a small home run by American missionaries..it was so nice. And the sweet lady who gave us a tour told us, with tears in her eyes, how they have room for 60 kids but only have the budget for 30 right now, so they are waiting on God's timing.

Here are the girls serenading us...

This is the American missionary home..it is in the mountains in a beautiful area..the kids here are very well cared for.

Our last "shoe drop" was in Cusco, where we spent the weekend (it is about an hour by plane) The children in these homes (one is all for boys and one for girls) LOVE to perform traditional Peruvian dances for us, so we spent a lot of the time being entertained and served refreshments...though we came to serve them, they showered so much attention on us. I will post some more pictures of our weekend and Machu Picchu later!

700 Shoes and a Speeding ticket

Oh. my. goodness. This week has been joyous CRAZINESS! On Monday, we set a Buckner record by delivering 730 shoes to ONE home!! This was the home where we spent all last week. We also did VBS/crafts with the kids.It was hard to say good-bye to the kids, as we will not be back again.

This is what happens when you leave paint sitting out around 4 year olds. They covered the wall with it too. Lovely.

Yesterday we got to deliver shoes/do VBS at a home where we spent a lot of time last year. It was so fun to see familiar faces and how much the babies had grown! This is a sweet girl I connected with last year..her baby was born while we were in Peru last year, and she turns a year old today! Yesterday afternoon, we went to a very poor community center to deliver shoes. The story behind the center was so neat...a woman almost lost her son, her marriage and had cancer but survived and saw God's faithfulness, so she followed His vision to open a home for abandoned children. The kids were so happy to see us..they danced for us and threw confetti on us as we came in the door. We really feel like celebrities! :)
Today, I was reminded of the impact our daily lives make on people that we don't even realize. Last year, I bought tons of pottery at this one store and made friends with the owner, Marisol. Well, today I found her and she told me she had become a Christian because someone in our group had shared with her. I don't remember talking to her about Christ or even thinking about sharing with her...but we are "the fragrance of Christ" everywhere we go even when we don't think about it

Friday morning we head out EARLY for Cusco...after we deliver another bus-full of shoes!! Tonight our bus-full got a speeding ticket :)We are like a traveling circus/celebrities/very white people that make a scene wherever we go!

A Day at the Beach

We have had a relaxing weekend, recharging our batteries after the adventure that was this week :) Yesterday we spent the day with the girls that live in a transitional home. This is a home that Buckner sponsors for girls who are too old for the government-run homes (after age 18) They live together with a woman who cares for them while they learn a skill (nursing, fashion design, etc.) The house is very nice, and in order to stay there, they have to keep up their grades. It is a privilege to live there, and only five of them are there.

We went to the beach with them and had lunch and then took a boat ride together on the Pacific Ocean. It was one of the girls' first boat ride! It was a sweet day.

Last night, the "Shoes for Orphan Soles" team arrived. There are thirty of them from all over the US, and we will be traveling around to approx. 10 homes to do VBS and give each child a brand new pair of shoes! We have had a lot of changes in our planned schedule, as the Peruvian govt. has decided they don't want foreigners to visit their homes b/c of the swine flu. (We actually had three little girls walk past us with their noses covered b/c they were scared of us!) So we will only be able to go to private homes, but there are plenty of those. It will be a hectic week-aren't they all?-so I will update again when I can! Your prayers are such a blessing.

-Kelli

"Does Your Sister Live On the Street?"

It has been a great, albeit exhausting, week. Honestly, the first few days here were hard for me-adjusting to unpleasant smells, uncleanliness and very dirty children. However, these children have stolen my heart. Their eagerness and desire to be loved is both heartbreaking and precious. The toddlers physically fight each other for our attention. The preschoolers act out or throw temper tantrums. But nothing broke my heart like what I encountered today. First, we worked with the babies and toddlers, and I found this sweet little girl, covered with a terrible case of chicken pox. She was crying for attention, wanting to be held. The caregivers at the home are good, but they just don't have enough hands. So I held her while she slept.

Then, this afternoon, my little friend Christian wandered in to where we were sitting. We met him yesterday when he came into where we were eating lunch. We asked if he was hungry and he came over and sat on my lap and proceeded to devour a sandwich and drown two juice boxes. Then, today, he was sitting with me and I asked if he had brothers. He said he had two younger brothers, but one of them lives on the street. I told him I had a little sister and he asked if she lived on the street. I almost lost it. That's all he knows...life in an orphanage and family who lives on the street. Isn't he precious?

Some more pictures of the week....if you want to see more, check out the Buckner blog, itsmymission4kids.blogspot.com

This is Sagrada Familia, the home where we were at all week. The sun finally came out yesterday!

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling :) But it's a good tired.

A Few Pictures...

The orphanageA Cutie Pie Blowing Bubbles

Too tired to write, but here's some pictures. We've had a great week working with teenage girls, babies and 4-6 year olds...will write later :)

~Kelli