Last Team in the Jungle

Posted on Thursday, July 22, 2010 Leave a Comment

Tonight I said goodbye to my final group that would visit Puerto Alegria this summer. Hailing from South Carolina, many of the people in the group were here last year and it was so nice to see some familiar faces! While I enjoyed catching up with those I knew, it is always great to meet new people. When new people join a group, it means work teams are going home and sharing their experiences and Scripture Union’s ministry with friends and family, getting them interested in what we are doing here.

In an effort to mix things up a little during the work team visit, we held a mini-competition between the 39 boys and 20 team members. The boys and team were mixed and divided into 4 teams, following the 4 final World Cup countries – Spain, Holland, Germany and Uruguay. Within the teams, they had to come up with a choreographed dance to Shakira’s Waka Waka song, which was to be presented on Wednesday, the team’s final night at the home. Since lights were just added to the soccer field (to allow for more opportunities to play soccer), the stage would be set up on the field for the event.

While I enjoyed the competition, lets just say that after hearing Shakira sing “tsamina mina eh eh, waka waka eh eh, tsamina mina zangalewa, this time for Africa!” countless times in both English and Spanish, I am not jumping to hear the song again. After three nights to rehearsals, the four teams presented their choreography and each did an excellent job.

Since this was my last group in the jungle, I have just 4 more days at the home before I return to Lima and start traveling to a few more of the Girasoles homes.

Are We Still in the Jungle?

Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

This morning, I woke up to another cold day in the jungle. The past few days there has been a considerable drop in temperature, so much that it feels like we are no longer in the jungle, but in the sierra.

When I walked into the dining room for breakfast, I was greeted by the boys, many of which were wearing their very thin blankets and sheets as robes and capes. Many had multiple short sleeve shorts on, and one of the educators told me he was wearing 5 pairs of socks. It was cold, but not quite that cold.

Being from Michigan, it makes me laugh to see all of these tough boys freezing in weather we at home would find in the fall or late spring. But for the people that live here all year round, it is cold – like how it occasionally drops very low during winter. Unlike how we are prepared to brace cold weather with warm jackets, hats, gloves and boots, very few of these boys have anything more than shorts and t-shirts. Why would they have long sleeve shirts when it is usually very hot?

According to the news, a cold front has been making its way north, from Madre de Dios, through Ucayali and making its way to Loreto – the state where Iquitos is located. The front should pass within the next two or three days, which will make for some uncomfortable weather, something we are definitely not accustomed to here in the jungle. This cold weather has apparently taken over the entire country, not just in the jungle, and has called the government to issue a “state of emergency” within the country.

My final work team arrives later today and they are going to be in for a surprise when they get off the plane!

Ica Candy Trip

Posted on Saturday, July 17, 2010 Leave a Comment

As a sequel to the Mala Trip video my brother Randy made in 2008, here is the 2010 Ica version, starring the youngest members of the Dearborn team, Sarah, Brandon and Griffin.

In this video, Sarah, Brandon and Griffin take you on a ride through Ica to a market where they purchase various Peruvian candy bars to share with the 33 boys living in the abandoned boys home at Girasoles Ica and the children of First Presbyterian Dearborn.

Videos from Puerto Alegria

Posted on Friday, July 16, 2010 Leave a Comment

Here are a couple videos from time spent at Puerto Alegria and in Iquitos. There is always something exciting going on (or somebody being silly) when you live with 40 boys!

I love listening to these three boys (Dairo, Waldair and Jair) laughing! One afternoon, we went to a park in Iquitos to play. They loved going on the seesaw and just could not stop laughing the whole time they were on it.

No work teams and the weekend means lots of fun and playing around. Here, Junior and Jair, are going a little stir crazy and being little boys.

The Week in Photos

Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Leave a Comment

Here are some photos from the last week in Puerto Alegria.

Luis, at 5 years old is the youngest boy at Puerto Alegria. He was not too keen on watching the World Cup final game on Sunday and was more interested in making silly faces.

Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Jair is one of the boys from Caballococha who speaks Tikuna and not very much Spanish. Because of this, he is usually quiet, but has a beautiful smile.

Jair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

One of the groups brought packets of glitter for an art project. Of course, the glitter never made it to the project, but rather all over the faces, arms, backs and legs of many of the younger boys, not just Dairo and Junior as seen here.

Dairo, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Junior, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

It has been hot and humid this week, which means lots of swimming in the river!

Xavier, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Segundo and Tercero are the oldest boys at the home in Puerto Alegria. After the last work team left on Friday afternoon, the older boys returned to their rooms and I now have neighbors. The twins’ room is just a few doors down from mine and every morning, afternoon and night they walk past my room trying to startle me, share some silly joke, make a comment, ask to borrow a magazine or just look in to see what I am doing. I can’t help but laugh when they do this because they act just like they are my little brothers.

Segundo & Tercero, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

When there isn’t a team at the house, life is somewhat slower and more time is spent on chores, homework, school and just hanging out. When I started to read some of the magazines I brought, pretty soon I had a group of boys wanting to read too. Even though the majority of the magazines are in English (afew are Spanish or bilingual), they still enjoyed looking at the photographs and seeing what is going on in the world.