Girasoles

The Week in Photos

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Here is a small selection of photos from my last week working at the Casa Girasoles home in Puerto Alegria. Many more photos from the week can be found online at Flickr.

While the work team was at Puerto Alegria, we took one night to celebrate the birthdays that were in July – Oriel, Leyner, Joel and Xavier all turned one year older this month. As part of the celebrations, Gene, the director of Girasoles Iquitos, led us in some party games and songs.


Gene, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

As part of their fiestas patrias (independence day) celebrations, the boys paraded through the playground of their school with various tissue paper lanterns. Each lantern had a lit candle inside and at the end of the parade, the students select a the best design and they win a prize. Here Jair is working on putting the tissue paper on his star.


Jair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Waldair, who is 10 years old, trying to fit into my duffel bag so he could travel with me around the country visiting the other Girasoles homes of Ica and Kusi.


Waldair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Luis, the youngest boy at the Girasoles home in Puerto Alegria, during one of the traditional afternoon soccer games.


Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

One of my many photos with Luis.


Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

With Mansur.


Julio Mansur, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Moises, Mery and their three boys – Elias, Dan and Timoteo – came to say goodbye to me at the airport in Iquitos.


The family, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Last Team in the Jungle

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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?

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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

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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

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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.