More Photos From El Camino

Here are some more pictures from El Camino. The kids are just too cute!

Recreo (recess)

If you can't tell, Francisco is a character...

Sisters

It's funny, they were all laughing, smiling, and joking while getting ready for the picture. As soon as I counted down for the photo, almost all the faces turned serious. I tried, but couldn't get them to smile. The only one with a good smile is Luz (the third grade pest). They really weren't as sad as they look!

People

Children of Huanmantanga

This was my everyday work in the clinic with Dr. Martha. The little girl in the picture was a triplet. Her two siblings died and she has been disabled since birth.

This lady is 97 years old and in great condition!

A mother and her baby

Two of the Peruvian missionaries

The triage team

Arthur, Benjamin, and I with the Peruvian missionaries.

The Mission House

This is the kitchen of the mission home.

A view of the inside living area.

El Paisaje

Huamantanga Medical Team

Wow! What awesome experiences I've had over the last few days. I arrived back in Huancayo this afternoon at around 1:30 p.m. after an 8-hour (non-stop) trip from Canta. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. Here are some of the experiences and pictures from my week:

June 14, 2007

The pictures don't even begin to express the awesomeness and splendor of the views I was blessed with. (The Andes Mountain range is the second highest in the world.) It was an all-day trip. We traveled from Huancayo (left at 6 a.m.) to Canta (we arrived at 1:30 p.m.) where we stopped for lunch. The roads for the most part were smooth. (Note: smooth compared to other Peruvian roads, not roads in the U.S.) The entire trip was fantastic. One wouldn't think that traveling in the backseat of a packed truck for 7 hours would be fun, but I was so distracted by God's artwork that I didn't pay attention to the limited space. I also couldn't sleep for fear of missing the next spectacular scene. After lunch, we picked up another passenger (a local pastor) and headed up to Huamantanga (another two hours). I personally think the last two hours were even more wonderful than the first eight. It was definitely a rougher ride than before. We were very, very high and traveling on an extremely narrow road. To give you a mental picture...imagine the worst dirt road you've been on and multiple it by ten. Then, image that road 9,000 feet in the air. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but not much! It was a lot of fun in my personal opinion. (Arthur says that people will ask him how he even finds places like Huamantanga because they are so far off the beaten path.) We arrived in Huamantanga around 4:30 p.m. and unloaded the truck. We ate dinner with the local missionaries and rested until Saturday.

June 15, 2007

The local Peruvian missionaries are such an amazing example of love and sacrifice for the Lord. Their house is small and they don't have indoor plumbing. They have hung tarps in the one- room house to form three separate rooms. When you walk into the backyard, you can see clothes hanging on the clothesline, a small garden area, and their kitchen. They used a tarp to create the kitchen. It is composed of a travel-sized stove top and a preparation area. The water pump is a few feet away and their only source of water (besides a thirty-minute walk to the stream). There are five missionaries who live there. They usually survive on about 100 soles (Approx. 3 soles= $1) a month. Often, they don't have money to eat or can only afford to have one meal a day. Even in these circumstances, they love the Lord with all their hearts and are committed to the work in Huamantanga. They demonstrate such joyful attitudes and lives filled with faith and love.

June 16, 2007

We traveled back down to Canta to meet the team. There had been no water in Huamantanga since we had arrived so we packed a day bag, rented a hotel room, and planned to take showers. The hotel manager told us the water would have to heat for an hour or an hour and a half. While waiting, we went to eat a late breakfast and find some snack foods for the week. We headed back to the hotel afterwards looking forward to a nice hot shower. Arthur checked the water and it was still freezing cold. We didn't have much time before going to meet the team, so Benjamin and Arthur decided to be gentlemen and go first (hoping the water would heat up). Well, guess what? It didn't. I have put that shower down in the record books as the COLDEST shower of my life. Also, it was probably the shortest. I made it out in about 1 minute. I will not complain though because it felt so great to get a shower after four days without one. After frigid showers, we went to meet the team at a restaurant for lunch. We left Canta at 4 p.m. with all the "gringos" to go back to Huamantanga. When we returned, we were so grateful and relieved to find that the water was working again.

June 18, 2007

On Monday, we opened the medical clinic. My assignment was translation for one of the doctors. At first, it was a little difficult because I didn't know the questions to ask (and neither did the doctor!), but as the day went on, it became almost systematic. Most of the patients had the same type of problems---flu-like symptoms, stomach pains, and joint pains. The older patients seemed in better shape than the younger ones! Their main complaint was when they carried 50 pounds up and down the mountain, their backs, legs, and shoulders hurt. (Go figure!) We saw 170 patients on the first day.

June 19, 2007

The second day was much more of the same. I got moved from medical translating to psychology for a little while. THAT stretched me. The first lady we talked to had a very heartbreaking story. She told us that her husband died in a tragic way two years ago (later we found out it was suicide). She has two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was her main concern. He is twelve now and very rebellious. It turns out that he was with his father at the time of the suicide. One can only imagine the things he must be going through. We talked a while and got her connected to the local missionaries. Arthur also came in and talked to her and she made the decision to ask Christ to come into her heart. I'm telling you, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone give their life over to Jesus.

We had the serious situations like the previous one and we also had some that just make me laugh. A local teacher brought her whole class (twelve kids) in to be psychologically evaluated because they don't do their homework. Also, parents would bring their two and three year-olds in because they didn't obey.

June 20, 2007

I was soooo tired by the third day (Wednesday). We didn't have as many patients. One lady that I specifically remember was 97 years old. She got around better than most 60 year-olds and of course, her only complaint was the pain from her treks up and down the mountain. We finished a little early and Benjamin, Kathryn, and I went on a hike before dinner. It is just so gorgeous everywhere!

June 21, 2007

It was our last day of the clinic. Half-way through the day we lost power. As a result, we had to shut down the dental and eye areas. Fortunately, we were pretty slow and didn't have a lot of patients by then. It was very enjoyable to eat a candlelight dinner for the last night. (We couldn't have planned it any better!)

June 22, 2007

The team traveled back to Lima, and we went back to Canta to spend the afternoon and night. We ate dinner with the missionaries and were very blessed by their happiness and stories. One of them was leaving this morning to run to a neighboring village (a 6-7 hour run). They amaze me with their commitment to the Lord. I hope that there are many others like them to serve the Lord with their entire lives.

What I'll Be Doing For the Next Few Days

Well, I am feeling 99% better and so I am going on the medical team with Arthur and Benjamin for the next few days. We will leave tomorrow (Thursday) morning at around 5 a.m. and travel for close to 10 hours. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I will primarily be translating.

It's supposed to be colder there (it's farther up in the mountains) than here. (In other words, I will be an ice cube.) I'm praying (and you can, too!) that the sun will be out during the day to keep the temperatures from being so chilly. Arthur is letting me borrow a fleece pull-over, too. It's huge on me, but it'll work. So now, I'll be able to wear 5-6 layers!

Another thing I am hoping and praying for is access to a hot shower while there. I doubt that it'll be a problem, but you never know... I'd rather go the whole week with no shower, than take a cold one in freezing temperatures.

Well, I guess that's all I have for now. I'll be gone until June 22 or 23, so you most likely won't be hearing from me until then. I appreciate all the prayers, thoughts, and concerns!

El Camino

This is a picture of the 2nd and 3rd grade classroom at El Camino. (Most are half the size of this one.)There are only seven 3rd graders and four 2nd graders. Two to four students is the average size for most grades.

Update

I have been sick for the past two days. At night, I can hardly breath (part of that has to do with the high altitude and thin air). I missed the prayer meeting last night and the kids' club this afternoon. I was disappointed, but I've got to rest and try to get better.
I am hoping I will be well by next week in time to go with Arthur on a medical team. He will be leaving either Wednesday or Thursday and returning Saturday, June 23. If I go, I'll be translating. That should be interesting since I don't know hardly any medical Spanish. Arthur said it will be mostly Spanish to English, and that's what I'm better at, so I'm excited.
It is sooo cold here. Since I am cold-natured anyway, I have been quite chilly. I was not exactly expecting these temperatures. At night and in the morning, it will drop to the 30s and sometimes 20s! By mid-morning, if you stand in the sun, you will get warmed through pretty fast. At times, there seems to be a 30 degree difference between the shade and sunny areas. There are no heaters either so I wear about 4 layers every day. So far, I haven't been hot (I should say warm) even once, even though the day time temperatures reach to the 60s. It is also the dry season, so it is definitely different than steamy Georgia in the summer!
I greatly appreciate all of the prayers that are coming my way. May God bless you!

Last Day of Kid's Club

Today was the last day of the kids' club. The local church will continue to hold the program every Saturday. We had over 550 people today! I am feeling terrible today. I am coming down with a cold, having a reaction to the diesel fumes, smoke, and dust, and possibly fighting parasites, too. (I took the parasite meds this morning.) I wasn't able to go to school with Mary Alice, but since I had promised the kids, I went to the club. Somehow, I made it through. After the club, we came back and ate dinner. Then, the team left to go back to church for a service, and I attended the women's discipleship group that meets here at the Ivey's house. Now, I am exhausted and just want to get some uninterrupted sleep...
This is a picture of the last day.

Kids' Club

Today at the kids' club, we had close to 400! (Not including the adults) The kids are so depserate for attention and love. They will all crowd around just to hold your hand. They love to ask questions, too. I had to pry them off of me to get in the taxi when it was time to leave. Tomorrow will be the last day of the club. Hopefully, the local church will continue it after the team leaves.

These are some of the 7 and 8 year-olds.

Kids' Club

This afternoon, I went with a team from the U.S. (here until Friday) to help with a kids' club. There were over 300 children there! The last two pictures are from the group I worked with (7-8 year-olds). That group had 84 kids. When it came time to go, they didn't want me to leave, and I didn't want to leave! I will be going back tomorrow and Thursday though. I'm going to be really sad on the last day!

These two girls wanted me to teach them English. They had already picked up "thank you" and a couple of other things just by listening to Americans speaking. By the end of the afternoon, they had learned "bye", "you're welcome", and some colors. They are teaching me A LOT of Spanish, too!

Photos from El Camino

These are the children from the kindergarten.

Kids' Club Photos

Here are some photos from the kid's club today. We had a turn-out of approximately 80 children.

El Supermercado

I had the opportunity to go to the "supermercado" (grocery store) yesterday afternoon with Mary Alice. She told me, as we were walking downtown, about how she gets some weird looks when she makes her trip to the grocery store. She explained how most Peruvians go to the store almost every day because they don't have refrigerators and storage for their food. Mary Alice only goes once a week (the Iveys have a refrigerator and freezer). Since she only goes once a week, she has to stock up. We arrived at the store and began to gather the items on our list. First, we went to the back to get milk, juice, and cokes. While Mary Alice was piling the cartons into the cart, a group of 5-6 elemetary school aged girls came over near us. They stood for a while chatting and occasionally glancing over at us. After a while one, of them timidly tapped me on the arm and asked, "Excuse me, Miss. What color are your eyes?" When I replied that they are green, they all stared in awe. Finally, they asked where I was from and were amazed to hear I am from the U.S. In fact, they had probably never seen an American in person before. The Iveys are one of only about four or five American families in Huancayo (a city of appoximately 500,000 people). It is very weird for them to see light colored eyes since everyone here (at least that I have seen) has brown eyes. The girls said goodbye, and we continued shopping. By the time we were finished, our cart was overflowing. We went to the only cashier open, and a lady, who only had a couple of items, got behind us in line. When she saw our cart, she asked to go ahead of us so we let her. After that, everyone (with their few items) that got into line behind us asked to go ahead. We let a couple of them go ahead, but then we scooted the cart up and started unloading it onto the counter so that we didn't stand there all day. When we finished, we had a total of three carts filled with bagged groceries. I think I can understand why she gets a few looks. It's definitely not like the States! I thought it was a funny experience receiving all those looks of astonishment. I mean, how much can those Americans really eat!?!

El Camino

Yesterday I went to the colegio, "El Camino," where Mary Alice teaches and Joshua and Mary Beth go to school. Mary Alice teaches English to a kindergarten, first, and fifth grade class. (She also teaches second and third grades on other days.) They were all small classes (much different than I expected). The kindergarten had three students, first grade had three, and fifth grade only had one (there are usually two, but one was absent). The kids, especially the younger ones are so precious! They pick up English extremely fast and will repeat whatever you say. In the kindergarten Mary Alice was reviewing greetings, when she got to "Good night" they all repeated it, but instead of ending with a "t" they ended it with a "ch" sound. Mary Alice said it is because one of the girls started saying it like that and now they all do it. She has tried, but can't get them to pronounce it right anymore! I will probably have the opportunity to teach ESL with Mary Alice. The director welcomed me and told me I can teach anytime I wish. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!