Thursday 30th September

A very short blog tonight, I'm sorry to say, as everyone is exhausted!

Some good news though - the doctor visited Jenny and dosed her up with medicine, plus an injection in her...

Suddenly she jumped up (possibly from the pain of the injection) and is now back to her bubbly old self.

More tomorrow.

Wednesday 29th September

Poor Jenny - still out of action with tonsillitis. We've moved her and mattress into the lounge, so she's got a bit of company. So here's day 3 of the DIY bloggers.

Roger, Chris and Geoff continued making cupboard doors for the kitchen. They were joined by Alex, a Dad in one of the local families. It was most encouraging, as a key part of the CORASON project, is to win the involvement of the local community.

Jean Shearn continued working with the Pastor's wife and local mums to cook lunch. Then spent a couple of enjoyable hours outside in the shade with Encarni and Emma making bean bags for the children.

Dionne, Jenny J and Jackie had a lovely morning looking at a traditional Peruvian parade that celebrated St Gabriel and an important Inca festivity (it was colourful and festive ). If only Christians would be so forthcoming in praising God publicly and unashamedly. We spent the morning being closely followed by the various hawkers of goods etc. Eventually we had to be firm as we were followed to the coffee shop.We all bought dolls and had a lovely time chatting with some of the local people. We met a cute little boy who was selling stuff before going to school in the  afternoon. We visited an Andean Museum that was responsible for maintaining traditional Peruvian culture. Dionne had a quite afternoon playing nurse which mainly involved nagging sorry coaxing Jenny O to drink fluids, take medication and eat.

Jenny J here. After our fun morning watching the procession we headed for the hills once more. Sadly, or maybe thankfully, Moises wasn't there today to entertain us with his exploits! We were able to get on and paint the back wall  of the stage ready for the mural. Was very grateful to all who helped and that we managed to get it finished before the children arrived for the after school club....Moises would have loved helping!!!

Jackie and Becky had great fun 'Going on a bear hunt'with the children at Club Corason and Jackie got quite breathless with all the actions. The excitement of it all at her age, Jackie said, nearly did her in!

Encarni and Lynne bought material yesterday and started making use of it today.  Jenny Brown wants activity bags made for the Kindergarten children.  The bags will contain shapes which the children will have to recognise by touch.  We started making them today and will involve the 'Mums Group' in this which meets on Thursday afternoon.  We also aim to make soft toys with some of the older girls.  We started to identify today who would like to do this so that we can make a start on it tomorrow.

Jean Stoakley spent the morning helping in The Meeting Place coffee house, mainly taking samples of freshly made waffles round the local streets trying to encourage tourists come to use the cafe - had about 4 couples come!  Biggest problem was people were suspicious about us giving away free things as all the Peruvian people are trying to sell things on the streets!  It was good fun - met Australians and North Americans mainly!

Well I am the last one today, and I must say I had a full day, started with helping the ladies at the project preparing the lunch, even if by the time we got there it was mostly done, WE were not late, but we suspect that hermana Mary and the other ladies start quite early.

Then as we didn't have lots to do we got onto doing some sewing, we are still making some bean bags for the younger children, and then carried on with some painting of a wall to transform it into a christian mural for the kids, this is Jenny James's project, after that we did a bit more sewing and came home, it was a long day today and I'll be glad to get to my bed tonight.  Oh and we also managed to fit some dinner in whilst we were at Corason, every body enjoyed the food today,we just hope we can keep up the standards for next week when is our turn to cook for everyone.  Goodnight everybody.

Tuesday 28th September

Jenny is still feeling unwell, so here goes again.

Work started today. We split into small groups for various activities. We will each give a brief explanation:

Roger, Geoff & Roland went to buy timber for fitting doors to the kitchen cupboards. They spent 20 minutes trying to flag down a taxi willing to carry 8 foot planks, plus 3 adults up to CORASON!

Jean and Jean went to the market at 8am with Jenny Brown and Guadalupe who is leader of the mum's group to buy food for 30 people for the next 4 days. Fresh food will have to be bought every day as there is no fridge. They then took a taxi complete with a boot full of food up the mountain and helped with the cooking of lunch at CORASON.

Dionne visited the hospital with Claire one of the Latin Link missionaries. It was heartbreaking and enjoyable at the same time. My role in the hospital I work in at present involves safeguarding children so it was a bit of a shock to realise that adults and children are housed on the same ward.
One of the hospital volunters is brilliant and she is an advocate on behalf of the poor people who mainly use this hospital. We often complain about the NHS but we are guaranteed basic care that does not cost. I don't think I shall ever complain again

Becky, Emma,Lynne and my self,(Encarni), whent shoping today for fabric to make stuffed toys for the children of corason, in order to get back to the project, we hailed a taxi and mange to fit FIVE of us plus driver in a normal size car, and they are tiny here, I had Dion, who by the way, was also in the team today, seating between my left thigh and Emma's right thigh, so she was efectively floating whilst we were getting there, then we had a wonderfull lunch, cooked for us by the ladies of corason, and did some sowing of bean bags for the kids, and also decided to shower Emma with the finished bags across the room.I have to say, it was a fun filled day!!!

Chris and Jackie had a bus ride followed by a somewaht bumpy taxi ride to the quechuan mountain village of, Huilcarpay, had a great time with pre-school children and young teen aged boys.  It made us realize how much we take for granted.

Bethan (Roland's niece) and myself (Jenny J) went up to the project via taxi. Unfortunately said taxi driver wasn't too sure where to go , so we took a round about route but got there in the end thanks to Jenny B who happened to ring Beth's mobile in the nick of time and give much needed  instructions! I made a start on a planned mural for the club room. The highlight of my day though has to be when I discovered Moises aged 3,  soaking wet in the loo having flushed his head! In the afternoon Jackie and I visited the cathedral in Plaza de Armas which was amazing. Afterwards en route to find a coffee we were accosted by a little girl aged 7 who desperately wanted to sell us one of her dolls. She was so persistent with the result that Jackie now is the proud owner of a peruvian doll!

One piece of good news -Geoff & Jean's suitcase has been found - in Sao Paulo, Brazil! Hopefully it will be restored to its owners within the next couple of days.
The day ended with a team meeting and a well deserved rest.

Monday 27th September

Unfortunately Jenny has been running a high temperature for the last day or so, so this is a bit of a collective effort.

As part of of our continuing holiday minisrty mission visit, we all boarded a mini-bus to Pisaq (sans Emma who sadly was ill). On route, we visited an animal sanctuary for endangered species. It included hairless dogs, pumas and magnificent condors. Pisaq is a lovely mountain village surrounded by typical Inca ruins. We headed up to the entrance, only to be told that we each had to purchase a full multi-centre tourist ticket, which cost a small fortune. We unaminously refused and headed back down to the village and spent our time (and money) in a great market.

We returned by a different route down through the Sacred Valley, where Roland showed us a village which had been virtually wiped out by floods last January. R & J had helped in the relief operation providing food & clothing etc., The villagers are now temporaily housed in makeshift shed/tents,while the authorities decide where they can be permanently resttled. In the evening we rejoined the Spanish church for a further celebration of their 15th Anniversary. After some worhsip and testimonies we were served with a buffet  supper. A very pleasant evening

Tomorrow the work starts!

 

 

Church - Peru style!!

well, where to start!...Today was the 15th birthday of the church which Jenny and Roland are involved in. The church hired out a local 500 seater auditorium, and had a well rehearsed and planned show planned.......or so we thought!!! The meeting was planned to start at 10.50am. At 11.15 am, the worship team were reahearsing on stage whilst the PA man was busy writing up the words on power point which could be seen on the wall at the back of the stage!....This all being done with a half filled auditorium!!

Myself and Becky had been asked to play the role of pig farmers in a children's sketch, which we had rehearsed a couple of times yesterday and Chris was leading the band in a worship song! However, the narrator of the 'pig' sketch was ill on sunday which left us with a scene and no narrator.....so Encarni was the hero of the hour and stepped in...and did an AMAZING job!.....So then came Chris's moment to lead a worship song!!....They harequested that a couple of us go up aswell and stand with the singers as we knew the song well. So just to support them and Chris, myself, Jenny J, Encarni and Becky went up and stood at the side of the stage waiting for our cue!!...The next thing we know, Chris is positioned at the back of the stage with the other musicians, whilst me, Jenny, Encarni and Becky were put CENTRE stage with 2 mics and NO backing singers (ironically, i thought we were supposed to be the backing singers!!).....so then what came next was possibly the most embarassing and cringy 5 minutes of my life (although it felt like 5 hours!!) The PA person failed to put the words up so we did not even have other voices to drown us out, the spanish worship singers stood back and looked at us in awe (or something like that!!) and the lights shone on us! I was fully aware that we could not be heard and we could see people on the side of the stage signing for us to put the mics nearer to our mouth, but i for one was not gonna do that....then Jenny Brown runs on mid song and shoves our mics right in our faces..and shouts 'sing up'!...we didn't!!!.....So we officially died on stage...and I for one found that far more painful than the mountain climb yesterday!!....The fact that we were not invited up for our pre-planned encore says a lot! (altho they would not have got me back up there for all the tea in China!!). That said...Chris did a great job of leading the band!!

After church we went for lunch with some people from church where we had a meal of either chicken and rice or beef and baked beans - really!!! - which came to the grand total of about £2.50 per person!!

In the evening was an English church service in the Cafe downstairs from our hostel...sadly no centre stage singing in spanish!!

Christo Blanco

We had a perfect start to our day today! A full english/american/continenetal breakfast (yeas..it really was all of them!) and if that was not enough, we had Sammy and Ben (Jenny and Roland's son's) serving it to us...very professionally done!

After our hearty breakfast a few of us looked around the Saturday market in the square outside our hostel! We then went to see Christo Blanco - a huge statue of Jesus on top of a mountain. There were two modes of transport to choose from to get there...by tram or by foot! Most of the group chose the tram but myself, Becky, Chris, Emma, Encarni and Roland chose to walk it......I won't lie to you -  I thought I was going to die!! There were appoximatly a zillion steps to climb in the blazing heat and high altitude!!...but....the site that we were met with when we got there was well worth it!..The views from the top, overlooking San Blas were stunning. We  then went for lunch at a lovely restaurant before heading back down the mountain.....which was slightly easier! The evening consisted of making 250 little cake boxes for the church birthday celebrations....rock n roll!!!

Alan the Alpaca!

Another fun packed day!! Had lunch at a local restaurant where a few people ate alpaca (think his name was Alan)..then had some photos taken with one of Alan's friend outside our hostel....i'm sure he could sense that we had just eaten his mate!!....oh the shame!! Then this afternoon most of us headed up to the C.O.R.A.S.ON mountain project! We got a tour of the centre and myself and Becky had a I had a game of volleyball with some of the kids which was great fun...they were far too good for us!...very frustrating when the ball went over the side of the mountain (3 times by me!!), but the kids just climbed down there and got it...absolutely fearless!! Emma and Encarni have some great ideas for the project, which they are looking forward to getting stuck onto.

The taxi rides are proving an experience for us all!...it  is every man for themselves!!...I have to say, it has definatly improved my prayer life...never prayed so hard!! The journeys are not helped by the fact that there is a lot of protesting going on at the moment, due to some issues regarding water ( that is as much as i know!!) and when they protest they really go for it!! Today the airport had to be closed because a load of protesters had knocked a massive wall down around the airport, so the army are now standing rould there until a solution can be found! Protesters have been throwing huge boulders in the road too (see photo), but this does not deter the taxi drivers...they just dodge and weave around them! Adds to the excitement!??!

Thanks all for your prayers. Jean is now well recovered and looking forward to venturing out! Sadly Jean and Geoff's luggage is still missing and they are having difficultly finding its location...They are both being very patient wit this problem but obviously is frustrating for them...particularly Geoff who is really missing his favourite pink dress!!

our first full day!

Well our first full day has been a gentle introduction to Cusco! We have had a tour of the local area, seen Jenny and Roland's new flat and this evening a few of us went to the church to practice some songs and help with the preparation for their 15th birthday celebration meeting on Sunday!...It was great to hear some of their worship songs...they may not have all the fancy equipment and technology but they still manage to produce some great music...and that was only the practice...so we are all really looking forward to Sunday's celebration!!

We are all still very tired from the travelling and adjusting to the altitude, but have really gelled as a group and enjoying sharing this experience together...I personally am amazed at just how easily I have settled in and felt at home here...We are so grateful to Jenny and Roland who have made our arrival and first day here so enjoyable and looking forward to getting stuck into helping out in some of their projects....although still a bit more touristy things to do first!!!....purely as way to get used to the altitude...honest!!

So off to bed now....apologies for not having photos on today...I had some to put on but could not work out how to do it ...and everyone else has gone to bed!..the only other one to ask was 'Socks' the cat...but of course being Peruvian, she had no idea what i was on about!!

Prayer requests:  Jean S has been very unwell since yesterday. Not sure if it is altitude sickness or something else. Roland is going to arrange for her to go to the clinic or for a doctor to see her today. So obvioulsy prayers for her would be appreciated, aswell as for Roger, who must be finding it difficult to see her suffering. Also Geoff and Jean are still waiting to hear from the airline regarding their lost baggage, so please pray that it is delivered soon and in one piece!!


Hasta Manana amigos
Jenny x

we have arrived!!!

Well just a brief blog to say we all arrived safely..all feeling exhausted and a bit dazed and confused from the altitude and 30 hours of travel!...Pretty uneventful journey for us all until we arrived at Lima, then the fun started....lost luggage, a broken case, the team got split up and ended up taking different planes!! Jean and Roger did a complete tour of Peru before finally landing in Cusco......but we are all still smiling (or delirious!!) and about to have dinner then off to bed! Not sure what we have in store tomorrow....but should just be a pretty chilled day as i am sure we will still be recovering!!....the photo on the left is of our view from our lounge.....it is truly amazing here!! hasta  luego!!

Jenny and the gang!

Off we go!!

So our trip starts here!.....Jenny J and Emma are on their way to the airport as I write this as they are getting an earlier flight!! Roger and Jean are somewhere in America ( i think!!!!) and meeting us in Cusco and the rest of us set off from Kings this afternoon at 4 pm!! Sadly Chris Taylor is unabe to join us due to ill health and we pray for her to have a speedy recovery!!....so next time I put pen to paper (or rather finger to keyboard!!), we will be at our destination....with all our baggage ( I hope!!)......Roland told us that the chances of all of our luggage getting to Cusco at the same time as us are slim to none!! But I am writing this in faith, and pray that all our cases arrive safely in tact and at the same time as us....or at least mine does!!! (sshh...don't tell the rest of the team i said that....may come across as somewhat selfish!!) :-)

so adios amigos....hasta luego!! Hope to have some photos put up on here regularly aswell...will try and get one of Chris H on an alpaca eating guinea pig!! :-)

Jenny O  (official blogger!!)

Countdown has begun!!!

Well we are now 16 days away from the big adventure!!.....we have been planning this for over a year and I cannot quite believe we are so close to it now!! I think we are all as ready as we will ever be, money paid, insurance sorted, arms jabbed....BUT....the ability to speak the lingo is still very limited for more than half the group! Despite efforts from Chris, Petra, Encarni and Beatrice to drum into us the basics, I have to confess, i know nada!!...ok then i know en poco!!....however, I have been told that being 'thrown in at the deep end' is the best way to learn....so , I guess we will find out...that said, prayers would be appreciated!!!....I guess the other fear we are all having is the dreaded altitude sickness....apparently there is no logic as to who suffers with it....so even if you have been training hard to keep in peak fitness, you could still suffer badly, whilst somone who is not fit could be fine and dandy!! (that's why i decided not to keep to a strict fitness regime!!!!).

Anyway, all who are interested, check in regulalry to see what we are all up to and how God is using us all. I pray that we have a great adventure and grow spiritually but more importantly that we can be an ambassodor for Christ and show His love to people through the work that we do there!!