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Billy, Kate & Will in Perú

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Scripture Union

Dearborn team arrives in Peru

Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008 Leave a Comment


Painting, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Week 5 in Peru was spent with some familiar faces. A team from my home church, First Presbyterian Dearborn, arrived very late last Friday night with a couple surprises. Unbeknownst to me, my mother and brother joined the team and are down here for two weeks working with me. They told me that everybody at our church knew that they would be joining me down here, even before I left for Peru! 



We spent a week at the Kawai campsite, which is about 1 hour south of Lima on the Pacific Ocean. Now, even though the site is on the ocean, it is not beach weather. Since it is winter here in Peru, it is almost always cloudy and frequently it mists. I have rarely seen it rain here, it just feels like somebody is lightly spitting on you.
 
Due to a labor strike in the area, we are not mixing cement and doing heavy construction work like in previous years, but rather, we are striping the paint from one of the main buildings and repainting it with a clean white paint. The building really needed to be repainted and looks much better now.

This is my 8th time spending a week in Kawai. Every year, I return to this location with my team from Dearborn to see the boys that live in the Casa Girasoles Kawai. It is great to see old friends, one year older. A few nights ago, our team presented the boys with a quilt that some of the women in our church made for them, and we also made t-shirts with all of our handprints on them. Now, you would think that a 12 or 16 year-old-boy would not want to make a t-shirt, let alone wear it, but they were all excited to participate in the project. Some even put their shirts on right away, even before the paint was dry.

Now, we are in the desert city of Ica, which is about 4 hours south of Lima. Being in the desert, it is nice and warm and sunny! We are one of the first teams to stay at the Ica site in the Casa Girasoles house. There are 22 boys that live here, many of which moved into the center after the devastating earthquake that hit Peru last August (the epicenter of the earthquake was very close to Ica).


We spend the mornings working at the site, the afternoons visiting local schools and the evenings are spent with the 22 boys, who range between 6 and 15 years old. 
 
On Sunday, we visited a local church, El Shaddai, which we have gone to every year for 7 years. It was great to see Nestor & Carolina, who used to work with Scripture Union. It was also a pleasant surprise to see their newest addition to the family, Nestor Matais, who was only 12 days old! 
 


This Friday, we are going to surprise the boys that live at the Casa Girasoles Ica by visiting them at school. The home father, Augusto, explained to me that all of the boys have told their friends that a group of Americans have come to stay with them at their house and want to show us, their American friends, to their Peruvian friends.



Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Dearborn, Girasoles, Ica, Kawai, Peru, Scripture Union

Pato Song

Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008 Leave a Comment

Boys at Casa Girasoles Puerto Alegria dancing to the Pato Song with a work team from North Carolina.

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Girasoles, Peru, Puerto Alegria, Scripture Union, video

Puerto Alegria, truly a place of happiness

Posted on Friday, June 20, 2008 Leave a Comment

Another week has passed in Peru and I just couldn’t be happier. I just returned from being in the northern part of the country, way up in the jungle by the Amazon River, from the city of Iquitos.

I had never been to Iquitos before so everything was new to me. Scripture Union has a boys home in the nearby village (even that is too much for the area, it’s more like 10 homes in one area on the River Atalya) of Puerto Alegria, where 40 boys live in the Casa Girasoles.

The site parents, Gene and Patty, live at the home with their two children and the 40 boys. (All of the SU sites are called Casa Girasoles – which means Sunflower Home. The idea is, like a real sunflower that follows the sun throughout the day, these boys will follow the Son throughout their life).

Since Puerto Alegria is in the northern jungle area of Peru, it was quite hot and humid all the time. You would wake up in the morning to humid warm weather, and go to bed at night with your sheets slightly damp. Showers didn’t help and with the construction work, it was always sweaty. Not to mention, also being in the jungle, there were a lot of interesting and new bugs – and of course the familiar mosquito. So, bug spray was a must and now I have a lot of bites all over my arms and legs.

But despite all these not-so-pleasant things, Puerto Alegria has to be one of my favorite places in Peru. The site, which means Port of Happiness, exudes happiness, fun and love. The forty boys, who range between 8 and 18, were a joy and every spare minute was spent with them. I have hundreds of photos of my new friends (one or two I will hopefully send along soon), and many fun stories and jokes shared with them. I have never felt so comfortable with these Girasoles boys. It was hard to leave the site this morning knowing that I might not be back this summer, or next year, but I’m going to try to work something out…

Now, it’s to the Pacific Ocean (where, sadly, it’s cold and gray all the time) with my home team from Dearborn!

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Girasoles, Iquitos, Peru, Puerto Alegria, Scripture Union

First Two Weeks

Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Leave a Comment

It’s been almost two weeks since I left Michigan for a summer of working and traveling around the great Incan country of Peru.

For those of you that don’t know, I am spending my summer volunteering with Scripture Union of Peru, and organization that primarily works with former abandoned boys around the country, but also many other things. As an “intern”, I travel with the various work teams from around the US and UK, who come to Peru to work at the organization’s homes for abandoned boys, in local schools and do construction work. A typical day for a work teams includes a morning of construction work, an afternoon of songs and games at a school, and an evening with the boys that live at the various centers across the country (like an orphanage). (I’m working on uploading photos from this year, but accessing the Internet from my laptop is a rare occurrence – this is the first time I have been able to check my email in 2 weeks!).

Upon arrival to Peru, I joined a group from Southwood Presbyterian in Huntsville, Alabama. The 17-person team was made up high school juniors, seniors, recent graduates, and some parents. I, being the only one from the North, was quickly dubbed “the Yankee” and was also the one with the accent. Any time I didn’t know what they were talking about, or asked for a pop instead of a Coke, or pointed out one of our many little differences, it was explained as a “Northern thing.” I spent a part of the week with the entire team at the SU home in Kawai and a small two-day trip to the desert city of Ica, before a majority of them traveled to another work site in Cusco. The rest of the week, I returned to Kawai with the 5 remaining members to continue working, visiting schools, and playing games with the former abandoned boys.

After taking the Southwood team to the airport, I met up with a good friend, Linda, who is in charge of the entire Scripture Union schools program in Peru. Under Linda, there are workers in each of the regions and major cities of Peru. Each regional worker has many volunteers who visit their local schools everyday sharing positive values such as honesty, respect, integrity, etc. Many of the children that these people work with do not have positive home lives and are not learning these things from their parents or teachers. Each volunteer spends about one or two hours in a school, visiting classrooms and playing with the children.

This week, I am with Linda and a group of school teachers from Southlake Christian Academy in Charlotte, NC in Arequipa (city in the southern part of Peru). We arrived in Arequipa after a 14 hour bus ride from the capital city, Lima and jumped right into working! We are visiting various schools all day along, and at night, the teachers are sharing teaching tips with the SU volunteers and local teachers.

On Wednesday, I leave the group of teachers to head back to Lima to meet yet another team from North Carolina. We will spend the night in Lima and then the next day fly up to the northern city of Iquitos, which is located in the Amazon jungle. It’s quite hot and humid in Iquitos, and should be quite interesting…. After my week in Iquitos, my team from First Presbyterian Dearborn will be here for two weeks. It will be nice to see some familiar faces from home!

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Girasoles, Ica, Kawai, Peru, Scripture Union

Dearborn to Lima to Caraz in 36 hours

Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 Leave a Comment

Hola desde Caraz!

Boy was I right, yesterday was a long long day of traveling – starting at 3:30am in Detroit all the way until 11 when we finally made it into Lima.

We spent the night in Lima and rose early this morning to have breakfast with the boys in Lima and then make the 9 hour trek through the Andes to our northern site, Kusi. The trip was just beautiful and I am very excited to look as my photos when we return. The little town of Caraz is quaint, and very uneventful, but the weather so far is just beautiful.

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Andes, Caraz, Dearborn, Lima, Peru, Scripture Union
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katebruder

Happy fourth birthday to our little Will! You have Happy fourth birthday to our little Will! You have made our world a whole lot sweeter and you are our greatest adventure 🤍 We love you forever! #littlewilliamnoah
Last night the Peruvian president announced a two- Last night the Peruvian president announced a two-week lockdown covering 1/3 of the country, including Lima, amid a significant rise in COVID-19 cases here. The new lockdown will run from January 31 through February 14. New restrictions include the closure of all non-essential shops (only pharmacies, grocery stores/bodegas/markets and banks are allowed to be open) and a ban on domestic air and land travel. The ban on flights coming from Europe (and now Brazil) is extended. As of right now, the border remains open to all other international flights. Only 1 person is allowed to go grocery shopping at a time, and we are no longer allowed to use our personal cars. We also are only allowed outside for 1 hour per day for exercise/mental health, and should be at home the remainder of the time. 

We are experiencing a second wave of infections and with the variants, it sounds like there will be more positive cases this time than we had a year ago during our first quarantine. Experts are predicting that we will not hit our peak until April. According to Johns Hopkins University, Peru has reported more than one million cases and about 40,000 deaths related to COVID-19. 

This evening Will and I went for a walk through our neighborhood to squeeze in a little more outside time before Sunday when it will become harder to complete our 1000 hours outside. 

It’s difficult knowing we have to go back into a lockdown, but we are thankful for our health and that we have a safe place to quarantine at home. Join us in praying for the country of Peru and that these measures taken will make a positive impact on the pandemic here. 

#littlewilliamnoah
Working towards spending #1000hoursoutside and put Working towards spending #1000hoursoutside and putting many kilometers on Will’s scooter and bike this year 🚴‍♂️🛴#littlewilliamnoah @1000hoursoutside
To end what has been a long, unexpected year we di To end what has been a long, unexpected year we did a little staycation at a hotel in Lima. We walked around a new neighborhood, had a picnic in the park, watched movies, studied the city from above, spent time swimming in the pool and watched fireworks being set off over the city of Lima as the clock struck midnight and we entered the new year. 

While 2020 may not have been what we envisioned it would be a year ago, I am thankful for my little family, our health and the opportunities we have had this year. 

May 2021 be filled with adventure, laughter and hopefully being able to see family again! ✈️ #littlewilliamnoah
It was a quiet Christmas at home for the 3 of us i It was a quiet Christmas at home for the 3 of us in Lima this year but we enjoyed a slow 2 days, lots of good food (including, per Will’s request, funfetti cupcakes for Baby Jesus’ birthday), Zoom calls with family and time together. 

(Also don’t let the first gift your child opens to be a costume of one of their favorite characters unless you want all of your photos of the child to be in that costume 🤦🏻‍♀️) #littlewilliamnoah
Today was Will’s last day of 3 year old preschoo Today was Will’s last day of 3 year old preschool. It was bittersweet way back in March when we took him to his very first day of school. I wondered how it would go for him not knowing Spanish and his first time being away from family, and if he was really ready to start school (or, more like if I was ready!). Little did I know that Will would only have 1 week of in-person classes before switching to @greenmanbilly or I assisting with Zoom preschool at our kitchen table. While there were challenges with balancing school and work, I am thankful we were able to be a part of the start of Will’s academic career. It was fun to see him learning Spanish, and as the year went on, interacting with the other students and teachers. Will also was fortunate to have wonderful teachers, specifically Miss Dani, his Spanish teacher. She truly made this year a joy and encouraged Will in their daily Zoom calls. I don’t think there has been a day since March that Miss Dani has not come up in conversation. She has set the bar high for future teachers ❤️ So now it’s summer break and next year we will have a pre-kindergartener! #littlewilliamnoah
After many months of staying in our city apartment After many months of staying in our city apartment due to the pandemic (and 2 weeks of very cautious quarantining ahead of time), we rented a house through @airbnb for a few days. It didn’t matter that the property was only 30 minutes south of our apartment and still within the province of Lima - it had a lawn, beautiful outdoor space and a pool! We were able to relax (as much as a 3 year old lets you), read under a tree, fly kites in the field, swing in a hammock and take deep breaths of fresh air with friends. #littlewilliamnoah
The little cookie elf was busy this weekend making The little cookie elf was busy this weekend making (and decorating) sugar cookies and chocolate dipped shortbread 🎄 #littlewilliamnoah
As you may know, tomorrow is #GivingTuesday! As mi As you may know, tomorrow is #GivingTuesday! As missionaries in Peru, @greenmanbilly and I rely on a group of people to financially support us as we work with at-risk teens and young adults through a mentorship program with @pathsofhopeministries. Every month we receive our giving statement from @uwmorg and we are humbled to see the list of people who God used to love on us that month, and people that want to invest in what God is doing here in Lima. It never ceases to amaze us. You know who you are, and we appreciate you.
If you’d like to partner with us here in Lima, it would be an honor. Giving link is in my bio. (📷: Christmas 2019, pre-COVID 😕)
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