Getting to Bolivia.

So we made it to Bolivia, and it was quite an adventure to say the least!!
   It started on Tuesday morning when we checked out of the apartment, and got a remis to take us to the bus station. It was a good thing we had him come get us early because he had no idea where the station was! Once we got there, Andrea waited with our bags at the station while Kelli walked around for an hour, going to at least 7 pharmacies looking for altitude medicine. No one had the medicine.
   When 11:45am came around we got in a huge line to get on the bus. When it was finally our turn to put our bags under the bus, the lady told us that this was not our bus, she also said that our bus was running an hour late. We had already been waiting for almost 3 hours! So we waited, and finally it came, again we waited in a long line, and while we were waiting a lady in front of us told us that there were blockades on almost all of the roads in Bolivia, because the president was raising the gas prices by 70%, and no one knew when they would stop the protest. So not knowing what we were going to do when we got there we got on the bus anyways.
   At around 2pm we recieved a nice lunch, and then around 8pm some tea and an alfajor. When we were about ready to go to sleep, we arrived at a rest stop. The bus attendant lady told us that we had to get off and get dinner. It was 11:30 at night! We got off and these people started telling us to sit at a table. So we did, and they served us dinner! It was interesting, the dinner was nice and didn´t get us sick so thats good, but it was quite awkward sitting at a table with 6 or so Bolivians. They are more reserved and no one said a word to each other. At the rest stop there were beetles everywhere, even crawling on people. It was pretty gross. Anyways, so we get back on the bus to go to sleep, and it was a good thing that we kept a sleeping bag with us in our backpack because it was freezing on the bus. They seriously had the A.C. on the North Pole setting.
    We woke up the next morning, and got another alfajor and some tea. Which was fine because we were expecting to arrive in Villazon at 10am, because that is what the bus lady told us. Yeah we didn´t get there till 2pm. But during that time we played a game of Bingo on the bus, which Kelli won, and her prize was a free trip back to Buenos Aires, which we have no use for. When we finally got to Villazon we waited in the bus for around an hour, then we had to get in a line to get our passports stamped saying we left Argentina. It took 4 hours to get through. During this time, we were starving, so Kelli snuck across the border illegally to buy us some food. Also, a huge thunderstorm came out of nowhere after about an hour and a half of waiting in the line. By the way we were waiting in the line outside in the cold. Thankfully when it started pouring we had just made it under a small cover thing.
  After this line we walked across the bridge/border to yet another line, only this time it was to get our Bolivian visa. That took around 45 minutes, and it turned out that we didn´t need all of the paper work that the embassy said we needed, and we spent so much time getting!
  It was freezing, raining, getting late, and as far as we knew there we still blocks on all the roads in Bolivia! We were a bit worried. So from the Bolivian immigration station, we walked to the bus station to wait for our bags, while we were there we found out that the blocks were lifted for that night. So we had to decide to either go for it and try to get to Sucre before the roads were blocked again or wait it out in Villazon. We chose to go, and ended up on a bus to Potosi, with some Argentine backpackers we became friends with in the immigration line. The bus left at 830pm, and was supposed to arrive in Potosi at like 530am. Little did we know that the bus smelt like feet, didn´t have a bathroom, air conditioning or that our bags would barely fit!
  We had heard that the roads were not paved from Villazon to Potosi, but when we left they were all paved and everything was going really smoothly. Until maybe an hour into the ride when we came to a road block at some bridge. So our bus and others were taking a detour down a dirt road then through a muddy part of a river or something. We couldn´t really see because it was pitch black outside. Anyways, buses were getting stuck in the mud so getting through the long line of cars to cross took like 2 hours. We seriously thought we were going to be stuck there forever. When it was our bus´s turn to go through the mud, the driver pulled off to the side instead of crossing because he was afraid that we were going to get stuck. All of the passengers got really angry, and people were even suggesting that we all get off and start demanding that we cross. Finally after people screaming like crazy trying to get him to cross, he did, and thankfully, we didn´t get stuck. That night, which we expected to be freezing, turned out to be super hot! We were seriously sweating so bad all night! Not only that, what people said about the roads not being paved was true. Most of the trip was on the bumpiest road in the world!
  We got to Potosi thankfully only an hour late, and then with the help of a nice Bolivan man, caught the 7am bus to Sucre. It was only about 3 hours. Finally we were here, after 48 hours straight of traveling, 36 hours without a real meal, and 3 days without a shower!

We are staying with a host family who lives, around 20 minutes from the main plaza. Since it´s the end of the year and all, we have to wait until Tuesday to start working at the orphanage. We will be here for 4 weeks starting Monday. The living conditions here are very simple, including the internet. We will not be able to post pictures until after we leave. We will try to post as often as we can, but because the internet is so slow it probably won´t be too often.
  We will not be able to be on skype either, so please send us an email! Especially if you´re family! We miss and love you all.

Andrea and Kelli

We're off to Bolivia!!

Hey, so we're going to be heading to Bolivia tomorrow by bus! We're VERY excited to get back to volunteering!!

We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. Ours was simple, just like we wanted. Christmas Eve we had a nice simple dinner that we made, went to mass, then skyped our families. All Christmas morning was spent skyping our families. It was very difficult not being there but it was so nice being able to talk and see them. For lunch we were able to treat ourselves to a very nice Argentine meal courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. Tomeny. Both of these days were interesting trying to incorporate both our families traditions.

 Christmas Eve dinner!

All ready for Christmas Eve Mass! (Those are our decorations!)

The next day we were very fortunate to see Andrea's cousin who is a cloistered Carmelite nun. We also booked out ticket to Villazon, Bolivia. We spent all today getting everything we needed for a Bolivian Visa and packing.

We are a bit worried about altitude sickness so please keep us in your prayers! The next few days are going to be crazy. We leave tomorrow morning (28th) at 11:30am. The bus is 26hrs so we arrive in Villazon the next day (29th) at 1:30pm. After border crossing we hope to get on the 3:30pm overnight train to Oruro, where the altitude is close to 13,000 ft! We arrive there at 7am on the 30th. Then another 8 or so hour long bus to Potosi, then four more hours to Sucre! The roads are rough, high, and at night it gets very cold! If everything goes according to plan we should arrive at Sucre around 8pm on the 30th! That means 3 days without a shower, probably not much sleep, and the risk of altitude sickness so please we're really needing your prayers!

Hey we're in Argentina!

So It has been a while since we blogged, and a lot has happened.

In the weeks after thanksgiving, we spent a lot of our time resting, helping out at VilaFranca Petit Hotel, and sight-seeing in Santiago Chile. We had a great time and the sight-seeing was quite enjoyable, but we really missed working with children like we came here for! But the trip to Chile was neccessary because of all of the health trouble we had in Peru, it was a much needed time to recoperate. So we made the best of it and saw all the exciting things that Santiago had to offer. Its a really nice city and reminded us of Washington D.C. Some of our highlights were a historic castle, a Christmas parade, and little fair type markets! We were able to go to Valparaiso for a day, which was really fun! We got to take a boat ride around the harbor and saw some seals.

 The Castle

 The seals in Valparaiso

 Valparaiso

But we couldn't stay there forever, so after exactly a month we took a 24 hour bus to Argentina. Our first night there we didn't have a place to stay so we ended up at a small hotel, whose bathroom had a shower that was just a shower head sticking out of the wall above the toilet. By the next morning we were able to move into a small apartment in a safer part of town. Since we have been here, we have been working on getting out of here as soon as possible to finally get back to volunteering! We will be heading to Bolivia, hopefully by the 27th to work in a very poor orphanage in the official capital Sucre.

 On our way to Mendoza

 Hanging out at the Argentine Border

On our way to Mendoza


We have also been able to see a few of the city's main attractions, and even were able to take a day trip to Colonia Uruguay! It was a 3 hour boat ride each way. The town was cute and very quiet, the best part was being able to go into the 1800's lighthouse!

 Drawbridge entrance into the city

 Street of The Sighs

We decorated for Christmas, with colored paper, its...special...

 We had to do something...to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Anyways we'll try to write again soon. Keep us in your prayers.

Andrea and Kelli

...Thanksgiving in Chile!

   It was an interesting Thanksgiving to say the least. We went to a cemetery and got to go in an underground grave and spent the rest of the morning running errands. We went to a place like home depot, then the hospital, and finished off with sushi for lunch. Then it was back to the hotel to work before heading out on the town! We got to explore Santiago for a few hours, and had a lot of fun! For dinner we had a chicken teriyaki sub from Subway. No turkey. At around midnight when we left the hotel, before coming home, we walked around the Bohemian part of town. It was really cool. We finished off the night with smoothies and then went home!

Alot has happened since we last blogged....

    Not sure where to start...When Andrea got sick in the north of Peru, we were strongly encouraged to leave the small city of Chulucanas, as soon as we could. And we listened to the advice and left 5 days later for Lima. We had to pick up a bag in Lima and then head on to Chile. We had a flight booked for Tuesday night at ten, but there were some problems with the reservations and we had to look for another flight. As it turned out, we ended up booking the same flight again for ten pm Tuesday night. Yet another time there were problems with the booking of the flight and we ultimately ended up on a flight Wednesday night to Chile. It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon, when our good friend Sarah arrived back in Lima from northern Peru, that we realized why God did not want us on the Tuesday flight to Chile. Right after Sarah got back we took her to the private hospital in Lima. After many tests and waiting, the doctors confirmed that she had pneumonia pretty bad in her right lung. Its too long of a story to write but after 7 hours, communication problems, many tears, and a miracle, we left the hospital with all our problems solved. We could never have done it if we flew out on Tuesday! It was an incredible experience.

   We left Wednesday night and flew to Santiago. Spent the night there then headed off to Chillan, which is a few hours south of Santiago. We spent 2 nights there with Andrea's aunt, and then went even more south to Temuco. There we visited a large number of Andrea's family. Then it was back to Chillan for a night, and now we are back in Santiago. For the next 3 weeks we will be helping out in Andrea's aunts bed and breakfast hotel. We were trained today in how to make the beds, do check in's and out's and pretty much everything else you could imagine needs to be done in a hotel! We even learned how to specially fold toilet paper! It was fun. This afternoon we went for a walk around beautiful Santiago! It reminds us of Washington D.C., because the ugly modern buildings are mixed in with the 200 year old archetecture. They have a metro here....we weren't expecting that! Anyways, we look forward to exploring the city and hopefully finding a childrens home to spend our free time at.
   After 3 weeks we will head back to Chillan, and maybe back to Temuco, but very briefly because we will then we moving on to Argentina to spend Christmas in Buenos Aires. After Christmas we'll begin helping probably in a small Catholic school there.

Please keep us in your prayers, and all the children in Peru that we miss so much.
-Andrea and Kelli

-Lima-

So we've been in Lima since Friday morning. Its been a lot different than our first time here. We are back to doing simple chores around a house full of well cared for children, as opposed to changing the living situation of children in an extremely poor home. Its completely different. We miss the home and the kids in Chulucanas very much. But its nice to see all of our friends here!

So after a lot of flight confusion and frustration, we hopefully finally have a flight on Wednesday to Chile. But the way things have been going, you never know!

Tomorrow our friend Sarah is coming back to Lima, we are excited to see her again, but she is coming back because she is really sick, so please keep her in your prayers. Andrea as well has a cold, so please pray for her too.

Andrea and Kelli

Thank you.

We just want to let everyone know we made it safely to Lima! Our last days, in Chulucanas were pretty hectic, but truly some of the best days of our entire lives. We miss it very much. The kind of work we were doing there was incredible to be a part of. The children were so inspiring and we really hope to be able to return to check up on things some time during our time here in South America. For now we will be in Lima until Tuesday, then off to Santiago, Chile and the surrounding areas.

  We are so grateful to everyone who contributed to the home, in any way. Please watch this video that we made of the differences that you made in the lives of the abandoned children of Chulucanas, Peru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNvNW6z65f4

Gracias por todo.

Andrea and Kelli

So much has happened...

So much has happened since we last posted, this will be our attempt to mention it all!

November 2nd: We worked in the morning, and in the afternoon there was a party for one of the girls at the homes birthday! It was a lot of fun; they tried to teach us how to dance like them...gringos just can't move their bodies like Spanish people can!

November 3rd: Our friends, Sarah and Morgan, arrive! Just to clear things up, "our friends" are originally from the U.S. The four of us met for the first time at the home in Lima! And now we're a motley crew that works great as a team!

November 4th: We began working on the actual murals! And just a random thing that happened...Kelli got electrocuted!

November 5th: First thing in the morning, we found out that a friend of all of ours, Librada Rose Cantu, who was another volunteer at the home in Lima, had died the night before. She fell 3 stories, and died within the hour. She had just turned 20 and was from the States as well. Because of this news we stayed in, except at night when we decided to bring the kids at the home the toys that Morgan and Sarah brought from Lima.

                                  RIP Lily <3                                                     

November 6th: Well the day before Andrea wasn't feeling so well, but then in the middle of the night she got very sick. Luckily we were able to wait till morning to go and get an American doctor that happens to be here too, to come check her out. Long story short, she ended up in the hospital to be tested, and then we spent the night and a lot of the next day in the living quarters of the American doctors with her hooked up to an IV.

November 7th: Andrea came home! Also we were strongly encouraged to finish our work here as soon as possible, and leave. Because of the amount of times Andrea has been sick, and especially how serious it got, this most recent time, we decided that this would be the best decision. So we booked a flight to Lima for first thing Friday morning. Also the door we had the carpenter install was finished this day!

November 8th: We went and paid the carpenter and then asked if he knew someone who could remove the huge pile of trash that has been sitting, stinking up home for who knows how long! He and his brother had the place clean by the end of the day! It was really a huge pile of trash, and he charged us 2 dollars and 50 cents to take it all out!!! Everyone at the home was so excited to finally have the trash out! They got right to work on cleaning the area where the trash used to be! It was so great to see them so enthusiastic about, and take pride in their home! Also I'm not sure if we mentioned this, but the clothes at the home used to be everywhere. All over the floor, everywhere. It was horrible. That is why we bought a door. We removed the beds from one room, had a door put in, so now only one room has clothes! Since there is a door now with a lock, only the older girls can get the clothes that are appropriate for the day! It is so great! Everything is so clean and organized! It has made such an improvement in the overall cleanliness of the home!
   We also bought a 2 new trash cans for the home, as well as 2 small couch-like furniture that is typical for Chulucanas, 4 chairs, 2 small tables, and 3 mats. The furniture really makes the orphanage feel more like a home! The kids really love them.

                            *No more Trash!!!*

        -The clothes room! The older girls did such an amazing job!-

November 9th (Today): First thing this morning we met with a woman who works for the diocese about getting the babies at the Home, to the therapy that they need. The meeting went really well and with whatever money we have left when we leave, will go to their therapy. We should be able to pay for quite a few months of therapy for each of them, which should be enough to catch them up with other kids their age. After breakfast Sarah, Andrea and Kelli went into Piura to try and find a rug for the home. The trip was successful we got two huge rugs that make such a difference in the feel at the home. This afternoon we painted and finished a few of the murals! The place looks amazing, a true transformation! Pictures to come! Keep us in your prayers; we are extra busy this week!

Andrea and Kelli

November First

   For Halloween we had a party for the kids! With a piñata, balloons, masks, tons of snacks and dancing! Though they do not celebrate Halloween in northern Peru, we all still had a really great time!

    Yesterday felt like Sunday, because here it is a public holiday. Everything was quiet and most things were closed.  In the afternoon we went to the pastoral center expecting to help out with the medical mission, but instead we were surprised to find that they had put a team of physicians together for us! So we took them to the orphanage. They checked all of the kids, and got a lot of information. I guess now we are just waiting for them to process the information and then figure out how to get them the care that they need.

  Last night after mass we decided to go to the cemetery just to see the customs and traditions that they have on the eve of today, The Commemoration of All Souls. When we got into the moto taxi we didn’t know the word for cemetery so we guessed. Well it turns out that we were off by one letter and he brought us to the seminary! So we tried again and then he brought us to the monastery! Luckily, the sisters were waiting outside of the monastery for taxis as well and corrected us! They also decided to send one person from their group with us, since we had room. It was a 16 year old girl named Maddy! We instantly became friends! When we got dropped off, she showed us where to go! While we were walking through the crowded streets that were full of vendors, selling anything you could imagine, her friends met up with us! They all were a lot of fun! Once we were inside of the cemetery it was really interesting to see how different the graves were. To them it is inefficient to bury people under ground, so all of the graves are stacked on top of one another. There were people everywhere, singing, praying, lighting candles, and leaving flowers. Most of them spend the entire night there!

  Since most people spend the night there, today is kind of an unofficial holiday. School is open but no one goes, and only about half the stores are open.  We were asked to help with the medical mission this morning but they didn’t need us so this afternoon we are going to begin some more work at the Albergue. We are very excited because this week and maybe a little of next we are going to move all of the clothes into one room and organize it. The way it is right now is horribly disorganized.

Please of course as always keep us in your prayers, and also pray for our friends Sarah and Morgan, who will be travelling here tonight and tomorrow to help us with the home!

Andrea and Kelli

Not too much to report

   
   Thursday we painted our final wall for now. It was teal; the older girls at the home helped a lot. They really enjoy helping us! In the afternoon we decided to buy the kids some toys! We got 2 jump ropes, 2 balls, and 2 hula hoops for about 5 dollars! The kids loved them! We also bought new toothbrushes for all of them, that we need to label with their names before we give them to them! Also that afternoon, a friend needed us to be judges for some plays that were being put on by her English classes. They were plays in English, and they were very amusing! We really enjoyed it! Thursday was also a huge feast day for Peruvians. As the story goes, an African slave painted a picture of Jesus crucified on a wall somewhere in Lima a long time ago. After a few earthquakes, that caused everything else to collapse, the wall remained. It was then named Senor de los Milagros. (Lord of the Miracles). To celebrate this feast they had a huge procession! We really enjoyed it. It is always nice to participate in cultural things like that. Yesterday we spent most of the day in because Andrea was very sick from some cotton candy she ate from a vendor the day before. In the afternoon we went again to see if we could speak to Sister Margarita about the health situation at the home. Yet again she wasn't there so we left another note.
   First thing this morning we were woken up by a call from Sister Margarita, she was finally able to speak with us! It turns out that there are about 40 or so Americans here on a medical mission! We made kind of an unspoken deal, because they need help and so do we. We worked with them this afternoon to sort medicine and supplies, and will be translators for the OR doctors and pre and post operation nurses this week. In return they will have a team put together to come visit the kids at the home, to check on their medical needs. We are very excited and grateful for this opportunity especially since nursing is still a possibility for both of us. We are also thrilled that the doctors who will be examining the children can speak English, and probably have better training than the Peruvian ones.
   Please keep us in your prayers.

Andrea and Kelli

The things you would never think....

1. Fruit is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, cake is served maybe once a week, therefore we eat at least 2 bananas each, a day.
2. When walking down the street, not only do people stare, but they yell out random words that they know in english!
3. In this particular town, it is very possible to go a day without seeing a car.
4. People take siestas. Everything shuts down from 12pm to like 330pm.
5. A ride from one end of the town to the other costs less than an ice cream bar.
6. The lowest bill they have is a 10, everything else is coins.
7. We had goat today for lunch.
8. Its so common to eat guinea pigs here, that they farm them.
9. It is more common to buy one or two cigarettes than a whole pack, and they will sell them to anyone.
10. Everyone is always late, because here, time is not money. Time is friendship.
11. Our primary source of entertainment here in the bishops home is a British priest, who we eat with. He is constantly making strange noises, and faces. And his accent in Spanish...is so funny.
12. In the market, when you walk past the meat section, people shout at you to buy their meat, as they wave it in your face!...Sometimes, we just wish we could say..."What in the world am I going to do with a chicken???"
13. It doesn't matter if you're taking a taxi 1 block down the road or 20 blocks, it always will cost 1 sol. (35 cents)
14. Days WITHOUT diarrhea are rare.
15. Kelli has eaten rice, every single day we've been in Peru....63 days.
16. We've never appreciated dryers more. Clothes lines stretch clothes, and your clothes don't end up smelling good.
17. Air conditioning or heating, absolutely does not exist in Chulucanas.
18. Power and water will randomly shut off. We've been advised to always know where a flashlight is. So far we've experienced this once.
19. It is very dusty and dirty here, because of this, if you wake up early enough, you will see many people sweeping the streets.
20. People have tiny monkeys as pets.
21. The nearest grocery store is 45 minutes away.
22. There are more donkeys here than cars.
23. There is only one ATM machine in the whole town.
24. There are no set prices except for ice cream and taxi rides...everything else is whatever the seller feels like. We have been charged two very different prices for the same exact thing, at the same exact place, by the same person!
25. We think people try to over charge us because they think we're rich Americans.
26. Here everyone seems to know everyone.
27. The bishop is like a celebrity.
28. It is hard to find candy or ice cream that isn't made by Nestle.
29. Apparently there is a large pool here, we have been told to avoid it, because most people use it for bathing.
30. At the home, there is always someone screaming, crying or clinging to us.

Quick Post before Dinner!

  Well today, first thing, like we said we met with the carpenter to see if he could fix the broken bunk beds and add the railings that they need. He was very helpful and had everything fixed by the end of the day! He fixed 5 beds, which means 10 kids no longer have to share a bed! He basically gave us 5 beds for 80 soles, 30 dollars! Everyone is so excited to not have to share a bed from now on!
   Also, by popular demand we started to paint a pink wall today, and spent a lot of the day preparing the other walls for painting, because our friend Sarah is coming in a week to paint the murals!!!! We're really excited to see her! And the kids are excited for the murals! Tomorrow we will finish the pink wall and paint a wall teal!
   We still haven't heard back from the head of the health department, and Maria Luisa hasn't mentioned anything about the therapy that Tulio and Maria Fernanda need. We will ask her tomorrow if she has found out anything.
   First thing tomorrow morning we will see about the religious education for the kids, and then continue painting. Tomorrow at some point we will buy another mattress, because the carpenter fixed a bed that does not yet have one!

Time for dinner!
-Andrea and Kelli

10/26/10

   Today right after breakfast we went to see Sister Margarita, a nurse, who is charge of the health department of the diocese of Chulucanas. She wasn't there so we left a message to have her contact us as soon as she could. We will be speaking to her about the health situations of the children, and how to improve them, especially those who seem malnourished. Although she is Australian, she speaks Spanish very well, and will be able to help with our communication with Maria Luisa.
  After this we bought some more thinner, and then began to prepare the next wall for the paint. While we were there we discovered that there were many top bunks at the home that were not being used. The reason is because they do not have a railing and the child would fall off in their sleep. If the beds were fixed something like 5 or 6 more beds could be in use. Since we can't go out and buy a drill, we spoke with a friend about meeting with a carpenter who could fix them! We will be meeting him first thing tomorrow morning.
  Since yesterday we took out money we were finally able to replace this one mattress that was absolutely destroyed. It belonged to a fifteen year old girl Antonella who shares it with Tulio, the one and a half year old. We asked her if Tulio would sleep in a crib, if we were to buy one for the babies. She said that she would not want him too, because at night she is afraid, and feels safe with him there. As for the other babies, Maria Fernanda sleep with Ingrid, 17, who truely does not mind her. And Ana Cristina sleeps with her 16 year old mother, Sylvia. Since they said cribs really wouldn't be used we decided to spend the money we would have used on cribs on high chairs for the babies! We bought 3. Before the older girls would just sit them on a regular chair, which is quite difficult to use for kids so young. They were all very excited, and the chairs are beautiful. Also we bought pillows for all of the kids, before they had none.
   Just to give you an idea we bought 12 nice pillows, a mattress and 3 very nice high chairs for under about 180 dollars. So your generous donations are going a long way! Thank you all so much!

Andrea and Kelli
  

Today...

   So after buying the tables...we didn't have anymore cash, so this morning we took a trip to the nearest big city, Piura, to take some out. Its about 45 minutes away, and we went with a group from the bishops house so it took all morning, and until a little bit past lunch. This afternoon we went to the home to speak with the women in charge about the health of the two youngest children. Because of our language barrier we aren't completely clear about what is being done for them, but she did say they are being helped some how. Apparently they have very thin limbs and a huge stomach because they were at one point malnourished, but when they were refed, they didn't form muscle like they should have. She said that they are eating plenty now, and simply need therapy to help them build muscle. She also said that she still needs to look into therapy, but we would really like to get the kids blood tested to make sure that they don't have parasites or any other problems.
   Fortunately we found out which parish zone the home is in, so tomorrow we plan to visit and speak with the person in charge of catechetics for the parish. We hope to have a cathecetics team come out and teach the kids once a week or so. They go to Mass every week but they need more formal teaching in our faith.
    We did some looking around at furniture prices and have some good ideas. Also not sure if we mentioned that the tables we had made for the home have arrived and they are gorgeous! Nothing special really, they are very simple, but made a huge improvement!

Thanks again to everyone who is helping us help these kids!

Andrea and Kelli

Trip with the Bishop

Well our trip to the mountains with the bishop of Chulucanas, turned out to be alot more than we expected! It was really great. We left Monday around 130pm and went straight east, right into the mountains. It was a pretty eventful ride up! We passed every kind of wild farm animal imaginable, and had to wait for them all to get out of the road! The mountains were gorgeous! The first hour and a half or so of the trip was on a paved road the last 4 hours were on an extremely windy dirt road. It was incredible! The windshields needed to be on because we were driving in the clouds! We drove forever in the clouds and then suddenly they disappeared! We had crossed the Continental Divide! It was so beautiful! We rose to about 10,500 feet, about 2 miles high. We didn't see any llamas but plenty of mountain goats, donkeys, wild horses, piglets!, cows, bulls, and plenty of mountain people! It was a really great ride, besides a little car sickness...

Once we were there we had a nice dinner at the parish house, which included wild chicken! It was amazing! Completely different from any other kind of chicken we've ever had. Then we were shown the house that we were to have all to ourselves! It was tiny and so cute! Kitchen, bathroom, dinning room, and 2 bedrooms that all fit into the size of a good sized master bed room back in the states! We loved it! Then we went out to the plaza (town central square) and watched some traditional Peruvian celebrations! They were celebrating 25 years of a specific Franciscan order of nuns' presence in the town.

The town was tiny! About 1400 people lived there! When we woke up the next morning and headed to the convent for breakfast people really started to stare. All of them had black hair and have dark skin and in such a small remote town, we stood out a lot. Literally people stopped what they were doing just to stare at us for as long as they could. After breakfast we walked around the town a little before the celebration Mass, and again we felt like celebrities because of the way people stared. When it was time for Mass and we entered the church, everyone sitting turned and stared at us. Then they would whisper and tell their friends to look! Besides the awkwardness, the Mass was very nice! And afterwards we went briefly to a celebration in the hall, before eating lunch and getting back on the road. We tried to sleep on the way back, to avoid getting sick and it worked!

But it was back to work the next morning! Thank you so much to all of you who contributed to our efforts here. We are now able to take out the money and can really get going on everything now! Keep us in your prayers.

-Andrea and Kelli

Quick post before we leave

We are about to head up to the mountains with the bishop!! We are very excited, everyone says its really beautiful there! We get back tomorrow night! Today we prepared some more walls for painting, and just hung out with the kids! Some good news is that as soon as we walked in we noticed Maria sitting at the table. Thats the girl that ran away. Not sure what happened or how they found her but she seemed more friendly and talkative than normal... strange. Anyways we're praying for all of you!

-Kelli and Andrea!

10/17/10

    Today we woke up had breakfast and then got ready for Mass. Then we went and met the kids at the albergue and went with them to Mass. It was much different than the Masses we participated in, in Chaclacayo. In Chaclacayo singing seemed to be everyone favorite part of Mass, whereas here the music ministry was less devoloped.
    After Mass, we took all of the kids to the part for a while. During the time at the park, a little girl, Maria, probably 12 or 13 years old, went outside of the gate and clearly ran away. The older girls went to search for her, while we stayed with the other children. They could not find her anywhere, she was gone and not coming back. The older girl, Ingrid, said that Maria was new to the home, and did not seem to like it there at all. After a while of searching we all returned back to the albergue (the home) and a few of the older girls went to tell the police. Please pray that she is found, and returns safely.
    Most of the children at the home seem smaller and thinner than most kids there age, but there is one boy in particular that appears to be extremely malnourished. In fact, he is the only boy there at the moment, and he is the youngest. His name is Tulio and he is about 19 months old. We spoke to Dr. Anthony Lazzara, who ran the home we just left in Lima, and he told us what needs to be done for him. Hopefully sometime this week we can get him to see a doctor, but if there is not a pediatrician in town there is not much we can do since he needs special treatment. Dr. Lazzara offered to take him into his home in Lima for sick children, when he returns from his trip to the U.S. November 16, if we were not able to find a place here to refeed and care for him. Please pray that there will be a pediatrician here to care for him, or that he'll be able to survive long enough to make it to El Hogar San Francisco de Asis.
   We will be going to the mountains with the bishop tomorrow afternoon until Tuesday night.

Keep praying for us!

-Andrea and Kelli

Orphanage Update and Chulucanas

   Well the kids helped us to paint two walls today. One blue and one green, for ocean and jungle scenes. Our friends that we made at the home in Lima should be here around the 27th of October to start on the murals. Besides the painting we going to spend alot of time with the children at the home which was great! Not sure what tomorrow's plans are. Maybe we'll paint some more or start cleaning!

  Here's an update about us. We are in Chulucanas, a city in the province of Piura, which has about 30 thousand people. We are staying in the bishops home. It is a busy place! We have every meal with a handful of priest and one nun.  
   We have seen some interesting things here... like pet mini monkeys... yeah. They're so cute! We have already made a lot of friends around the town. Particularly people who work in the hardware stores and around the market! The town seems very busy but in comparison with Lima its pretty chill.

     Its extremely hot here during the day. Like the desert and it gets pretty cold here at night and in the early morning. There aren't many cars here, most people use bikes, motorcycles, or moto taxi's, which is like motorcycle turned into a trike. The driver sits on the motorcycle part and the riders sit in the back trike part. Some people have running water, but most people on the outer parts of town don't and they use donkey's to pull carts with big barrels for water to their homes. There are donkeys EVERYWHERE.
  
    The bishop is going on a trip to the mountains from Monday till Tuesday to celebrate and recognize the 25th anniversary of a Franciscan order in their diocese. He invited us to go along with him! We are very excited and hope to be able to go. We agreed to help out a friend both of those days, so we'll see if it happens.
   Everyone is extremely friendly here. It truly is just a really nice small town where everyone knows everyone. We feel very welcome and are so happy to be here. Come visit us!

Andrea and Kelli

Day 3 in Chulucanas

Here are some picture of the kids and home. Please keep us all always in your prayers.

Day 2 in Chulucanas

Today we were able to purchase some nuts and screws to repair the beds. We fixed them this afternoon, as well as made plans for the rest of the week. Tomorrow we will be cleaning the walls and getting them ready to be painted. We made a friend at our last stop, in Lima, who is an art student. She painted a Finding Nemo mural there and we've asked her to come here for a week or so to paint some murals. Since we are waiting to see if we'll be able to pay for other things we are focusing now on getting everything ready for when she is able to come in a few weeks. Also tomorrow we will be speaking with a local carpenter to see if he'll be able to make bunk beds, cribs, tables and cabinets for the home. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, because that is truly what we need! God will provide!

If you wish to help pay for the improvements at the home, please comment on this message or somehow contact Kelli, Andrea or either of their families. Thank you so much.

Chulucanas Peru

So we left last night around 730 and arrived in Piura this morning at 11. From there we made our way into Chulucanas, a remote town in northern Peru. After a good lunch and some time to rest we went to the alberque "home of refuge" for the very first time. It was shocking to see the great need that this home is in for such basic things. Let me give you an idea.  The home is for children whose parents don't want them, are unable to take care of them, abuse or neglect them.
Right now in the home there are 20 children between the ages of 1 and 16. The building that they use is old and dirty, it would be considered an abandoned warehouse if it were in the US. There are 20 children but only 12 beds. There are 20 children and 3 desks pushed together for a dining room table. The beds are falling apart and dangerous because of that. The walls are dirty, white and the paint is chipping. The kitchen is tiny with a four burner stove, it needs to be better, but so does the food situation. They eat when there is food. Sister Maria Luisa who is one of the main ladies in charge told us that some days the children have to go out and beg for food.
They depend solely on donations, but they are few and far between. There is a classroom, with one desk and no books or shelves, where some of the children are tutored. The childrens' clothes are stacked on the floor in either of the three rooms with bunk beds. They don't have much clothing and not all of it is the right size. There are quite a few kids under 3, and they don't have any cribs. The bathrooms are unimaginable for an American. In addition to all of this, because of their family situations the children are very distrustful and clearly have emotional and psychological disorders.

It is our goal while we are here to make this into an appropiate living space. The immediate needs would be to get members of the Chulucanas community to support this project with donations of particularly food, and clothing as well. But there are many other things that need to be done that are going to cost more than we can afford. Tomorrow we hope to repair beds that they currently have, by putting in new screws and such. But there are still 12 beds and 20 kids. With financial support we'll be able to supply them with at least 4 more bunk beds and maybe even a few cribs.
We would also love to buy 2 simple dining room tables, if we were able to do this than the desks that are used to eat on, could be moved into the classroom and used as desks! Tomorrow also we will be going through the clothes on the floor and attempting to organize them as best we can. But cabinets would be amazing...again they cost money.
As soon as we're finished with the clothes, we will start cleaning the walls of the dust, dirt and spider webs. But even with that cleaned, it is still an ugly old warehouse. We would really love to be able to paint at least the common areas in some bright colors to make this home a little more fitting for a handful of children.
Please if you can give anything to help us help these kids please let us know. We haven't figured out how to get the funds, but we are working on that now. Thank you so much for reading this. Check out the pictures and please keep us in your prayers!

Its Official

Things are going great here, but yesterday a new vounteer came, and two more will arrive today. Also the doctor told us even more will be coming as we move further into October. Because there will be so many volunteers, it is time for us to move on to a place where our help is much more needed.We will leave October 10th at 930pm for the Province of Piura, and arrive there the very next day around noon. From there we will be going to a city called Chulucanas. While there we will be staying at the Bishops home, and working with abandoned children who live at the home that they have their. We are very excited, the home in Chulucanas is very simple and poor and we can't wait to contribute as much as we can. If you'd like to read about either of the homes here are the websites. 

http://www.villalapazfoundation.org/

http://www.diocesisdechulucanas.org/english/orphanage.htm#titulo

Also for those of you who are kind enough to mail things to us, please do not mail anything after tomorrow at the latest because we probably will not get it in time before we leave.

The Homes Purpose

So we've been here a month, and its been great! I'm not sure we've been clear about what the home's purpose is or about the situation of the children, so I'll explain a little bit. These kids are from very poor area's in Peru, most live in what the doctor calls, "the provinces", which means on the side of a mountain. The streets are not paved, there is no water supply or electricity, the homes are very simple, with dirt floors. Their families are very poor and the health care near where they might live is either very poor or simply non-existant. When the child becomes ill or gets injured the parents struggle very much to get them somewhere to be treated. If the family is fortunate than eventually the kids will end up in Lima, because the care is the best there. But because the illnesses and injuries are serious the children need therapy, follow up visits, or a series of surgerys which are in Lima. For most getting to and from Lima is very difficult, a day or two travel time one way at best. The families can't afford to travel so often or to stay for months or even years in Lima for the treatment, thats where the home comes in. The home is a place where children can stay while they need the medical help. The families are also in capable of paying for the medical care so while they are at the home, they receive free medical care from the hired nurses who are always on duty. Also all of their therapy, surgery's, and appointments in Lima are paid for. The children do not have be go to Lima everyday or even every week but as long as they need care they will stay in the home. During their time their the doctor also pays for their schooling. They go to private Catholic schools or are tutored in the home, and for most of them it is their first opportunity to go to school. In addition to these things, the recieve catechism classes every sunday and those who have not recieved certain sacraments or are of age they are taught and recieve the sacraments that they need. All the children that are capable have chores that they do everyday in addition to Saturday which is cleaning day.
   Our job is to pitch in a much as possible, just making sure that the day goes smoothly. Also we go into Lima a few times a week with immobile children to help take them to their doctors appointments. Many children can't bring themselves to the bathroom so we bring them.
   Please continue praying for all of us here, kids and volunteers.
Andrea and Kelli

So sorry this is way over due.

Hello. So we've been pretty busy lately. We are working for around 14 hours a day with only a few breaks so free time is hard to come by. Saturday we went with the kids to a recreational area all day so that an organization could replace all of their mattresses. Sunday was mass and we booked our bus tickets for Piura, a province in northern Peru. We will be heading there on the 7th of October, to work in an orphanage. The other 3 volunteers just left on a trip to Cuzco so this week we are alone. That means every day one or both of us will go into Lima and back at the home we'll have a lot more work to do. Today we had a little break actually. There is a group of American ladies that live in Peru and call themselves Friends of Tony...(the doctor we're with). They give him funds and take the kids out a couple of times a year. Anyways today they had a luncheon for Dr. Tony and the volunteers. I was incredible. We had to drive quite far to a very nice part of Lima, and when we entered the apartment we forgot we were even in Peru. The home was gorgeous. It would have been considered upper class even in the United States. We had an amazing meal and a nice time. The food had flavor!! And we got to have mashed potatoes, salad with dressing, chicken that didn't look disgusting, and some dip thing that had pepperoni in it!!! It was so nice to have an American meal. Not to mention the cheesecake, pound cake, and ice cream. We also enjoyed hearing so many people speaking English! But after 2 hours we had to get back to reality. 
   We are both healthy now. No more infections or kidney stones. But who knows whats next! Anyways keep us in your prayers. The kids as well. We're praying for you.

Andrea and Kelli.