Videos and photos from my recent return from spending Christmas and New Years in Peru are now online at Flickr and Vimeo.
(More videos will be posted soon.)
Peru
Peruvian Christmas
This year I was given one of my Christmas presents a little early, and it is probably the best gift I have received. Since I love to travel, explore, and basically, leave Michigan, a safe bet for presents is something to do with packing, traveling, frequent flying, suitcases, camera, etc. My brother, who knows this all too well, gave me a set of travel speakers that I can use on my computer and iPod while on the road.
If that was my “best gift ever, ” this would be a short post and most likely not named “Peruvian Christmas.” If you haven’t figured it out, I was given a plane ticket to return to Peru for the holidays, 12 days with good friends, the Girasoles and the beautiful sunny countryside – all accompanied by my mother and brother.
We leave tomorrow morning, yes on Christmas Day, and will spend 5 days in Ica, 4 days in Kusi (including New Years Eve) and the final day in Lima.
So as of tomorrow night, I’ll be back in one of my favorite places.
(Videos, photos and stories will be posted upon my return.)
Leaving.
This entry has taken me a few weeks to write. It is not because it is particularly long or that I have been procrastinating, but rather it has been on my heart and in my thoughts frequently over the past month.
About a month ago now, I happened to be online at the same time Patty, who is the wife of the director of the Girasoles abandoned boys home in Puerto Alegria – the home I spent 2 months at during the 2009 summer work team season. We connected via MSN Messenger and were catching up with what had been happening in each of our lives over the past few months since I had left the home to return to the States. I asked her if any of the boys had left the home and were no longer living there. She replied that a few new boys had come and gone since I left in mid-August, but one boy had returned to the city of Iquitos and was no longer with them.
It is not unusual for boys to leave Puerto Alegria (or one of the other Casa Girasoles homes Scripture Union operates) to return to their home. Some of the boys just become bored with the lifestyle – the new structure in place, new rules, and having to go to school – or they just simply want to return to their home. This sounds like a great thing, they are returning to their parents or family and life will be great. Unfortunately, in most cases, the boy was visited by somebody in his family who said how much they loved/missed them, how much they (both the family and boy) had changed and how they would love to have the boy back home. While this sounds ideal, it usually is lies and nothing has changed, or it hasn’t changed enough.
So when I heard that one of the boys had left the home, it seemed natural. During the 8 weeks I lived in Puerto Alegria, there were a handful of boys that came and left during that short time. But this boy surprised me. Every time I think about him, I can only remember him smiling and in a cheery disposition. Even though on the outside he seemed like any other teenage boy, I cannot imagine the life he led before coming to Puerto Alegria. In his free time, he enjoyed to dance and invent his own choreographed dances to songs on my iPod. He was helpful and respectful, and just a fun, good kid.
Since it has been at least a month since he left, I do not know if he has returned or what he is doing now. Maybe he has returned to Puerto Alegria, maybe things are better with his family than they were before he first left, maybe… It makes me sad to think that he left a great place to return to a dangerous life, but there is nothing we can do besides pray for his safety and good judgment.
Girasoles Ica Make CD Debut
A nice little article on the Fundación Telefonica (Telefonica’s non-profit foundation) website about the CD debut by the Girasoles Ica.
Read the article here in Spanish or below for the English translation. Photos of the boys and home are on the Telefonica website.
Pampachay Girasoles organization is in partnership with the Casa Girasoles Ica, home to 40 children and adolescents between 3 and 16 who have experienced family violence or who have been rescued from the street.
The project Pampachay Girasoles seeks to implement music workshops, singing and dance for children of the Casa Girasoles develop artistic skills and teamwork. In turn, these workshops and projects will help generate income to ensure higher education studies after graduation from high school.
The purpose of the group is two-fold: use of recycled material for the creation of musical instruments and the formation of a band and recording and selling CDs. “Pampachay” is a Quechua word that means “overcoming difficulties” and Girasoles (Spanish for sunflowers) represent the life that always looks forward.
Pampachay Girasoles started its activities by hiring a professor of music and then the purchase of musical instruments like a guitar and keyboard, which will be used in addition to the recycled material required for the construction of instruments.
On Saturday November 7, Pampachay Girasoles spent the fay making their recycled musical instruments with the help of Telefonica volunteers. At this time they have practiced a number of musical pieces, and together with their teacher are composing and writing new lyrics. Thanks to efforts of the director of the Casa Girasoles Ica, they will produce a new CD soon.
GrouPeru!09 Video
The video is finally done! After months of reviewing hours of raw footage, selecting music and editing pieces together, the 09 video is finally done and ready to be watched.
Each year, the team from Dearborn puts together a video of their experiences while in Peru. Here you can watch the video from the 09 trip to the abandoned boys homes Scripture Union operates in the Sacred Valley, Kawai and Ica.
The soundtrack to the movie is available here.