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Visit to an orphanage

July 12, 2008 @ 4pm in Peru (178 days ago) - View/add comments at Blogger.com

Hola again!

We were finally able to go on a team visit to an orphanage - we had planned to do this earlier in the week, but the strike put a hold to that - we couldn't travel outside of town. Fortunately that finished and the roads were reopened just in time for us to take a team trip out there on Friday!

We brought a stack of sheet sets over here from Australia, so it was great to be able to go and deliver these to the orphanage in person.

None of the team members will forget this trip - especially the travel. It was only 60km away, but guess how long that took in our bus? 3 1/2 hours! That gives you an idea of the type and condition of the road we were on. Only a very small part of it was paved, and much of it was irregularly graded windy, narrow roads cut into the mountain side. On return a layer of dust covered us all...

The strikers had left a lot for us to see along the way. We came across plenty of tree stumps, trees lopped across the road and burned, and rocks. All were cleared just enough to let a vehicle through on one side of the road - that's all!
We overtook an Adventist truck on the way - it had the three angels on the side!
It was nice to finally arrive in the little town and see the orphanage
Here a few of the older orphans who were there to greet us
And a few shots of the team waiting to hear from the nun who runs the orphanage
More happy faces
:-)
Here is the nun who looks after the place. She was actually sick in bed but came out especially to show the Australian visitors around!
They provided us with a welcome drink each
Nice to have a refreshment!
Some of the many bunk beds in the orphanage - notice no sheets
Looking out of the orphanage - there was a school and oval next door. Lovely setting
All the kids keep their clothes and belongings upstairs. They are big rooms, but they have very little furniture to use
Here's Andrew in another of the rooms. Everything is donated, hence the lack of furniture for storage
One of the local film crew, Diego, came along to document our day
Off on a tangent now, there are many beautiful insects here in South America! Managed to get a photo of this one while it was still
The outdoor kitchen. Their stove inside was being repaired, so this may have been only temporary
And the dining room
There is a beautiful church right next door to the orphanage - and the whole town actually uses it. Love the colour scheme!
An local Asháninka version of Mary
This is their bathroom
Toby!
The nun thanks Bev and the team ever so much for bringing the sheets for them. They will be greatly appreciated. If any of us come again, we'll have to bring some more (there are so many beds they still need a few more).
We were fortunate to go for a quick boat ride on the river, which was beautiful!
The boats are very long, and they carry the outboard motor and all the seats down by hand from the shed above! Danny wanted his seat bolted down, but they don't do that!
Steve enjoying the serenity
The crew on the boat - such a nice smooth ride, even through the rapids - no comparison to the bus!
A different perspective
Lots of volunteers at the orphanage come from Spain, and we met quite a few Spaniards when we were there. Some of the volunteers were about to leave Peru, so they were having a special ceremony later on that day. It was a shame we had so far to travel back and couldn't stay for it!
They even added Australia to Spain and Peru on their sign, in gratitude for helping them out
Unfortunately while we were there the kids were in school. Just as we were about to leave they came home, and then sung us a traditional song, in local Asháninka dress! Beautiful.
On the ride home the mayor's bodyguard passed us... now that is an efficient way to travel around here!
This photo, though taken through glass, gives you some idea of the roads we were travelling on. Just over this grass is a drop straight down to the river, which may be 100m+ below us in this section.
Diego, Bev and another champion bus driver. He really knew his vehicle well and did a great job of navigating the road. Some of us were surprised at the creeks and bog holes he was able to drive through!
It was a nice day trip together as a team, and the travel to and fro was an experience to remember. It would have been nice to stay a little longer, but time was against us.

Now it's back to our final Sabbath here in Satipo.
Chao for now,

Ben

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Visit to an orphanage

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