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JANUARY 2005

Peru's Challenge started the year off with flying colours.

We have:

finished building a fully-equipped kitchen,
started summer school classes for the children of Larapa,
increased the afternoon classes for the mothers and organised a visit from three Gynaecologists,
welcomed two new staff members, and
did some great mountain biking with the volunteers.

Pymble Ladies College, Sydney, Australia builds a kitchen

Thanks to the support of Antipodeans Abroad from Australia, another group of 16 (13 girls, two teachers and one guide) from Pymble Ladies College in Sydney, came for a four-day visit with a big task - to build a fully-equipped kitchen for the kids of Larapa.

The girls started with energy that did not diminish throughout the four days of constant physical work. We put them to the test (especially due to the altitude) which they all passed with flying colours.

They organised themselves in groups each with a task that changed every day:

hammering nails and tie-wiring both the inside and outside walls (to hold the cement),
collecting over 20 wheelbarrows of big rocks and laying them down in an Inca-like pattern for the floor base,
mixing cement, (How many wheelbarrows of sand was it to one bag of cement? Can you remember girls?)
rendering the walls and floor,
designing the layout of the kitchen,
purchasing all necessary equipment while learning the art of bargaining in Peru, and
designing and painting the mural on the outside.

While all this was going on, each group also came on a house visit and provided rice, sugar and soap to the families. The girls all commented on how crucial it was to visit the families to see how they live. They could then really understand how important their task of building a kitchen at the school was.

Most of the children that attend the Larapa School receive one meal a day from their family - usually a plate of corn or potatoes. That is all their family can afford.

Now, with the new kitchen, Peru's Challenge will be able to provide a healthy breakfast of milk, bread and fruit to each child.

Peru's Challenge and all of the kids of Larapa would like to say a big thank you to PLC for providing a new kitchen and fundraising enough money to provide fruit for breakfast for the kids for the whole next year.

Wilfredo, our foreman, could not believe how quickly each girl learnt the specific tasks and worked non-stop without complaint. He wishes that you could all come back and help him with the rest of the development work!

Good luck to all the PLC girls for their final year or two at school and hopefully we will see you back in Peru in the near future.

Summer school classes begin

This year, Peru's Challenge has been overwhelmed with the number of students attending summer school classes this year. Last year we had 22 kids, while this year we are averaging 65.

It is a real testament to the work the volunteers did with last year's summer school classes and the work done at the school all throughout last year. Parents of the community are really understanding that Peru's Challenge is here to help their children and that we are getting results.

Because we provide the summer school classes for free and also give each child breakfast, we have a great mix of children, from ages three all the way up to 15. Most are from very poor families while some are from wealthier areas. We don't mind that kids from wealthier families are attending as it allows all the kids to interact with each other and learn from a young age that it does not matter how much money you have, you are all the same and can have fun together.

A big thank you to Felix, Karen, Yolanda, Steve and Osvaldo for managing these classes. You have done a fantastic job. Steve, your maths activities were a real hit. I think we might have some geniuses on our hands!

Afternoon classes a big hit with the mothers

We started afternoon classes with the mothers on the 10th of January. Within the first week we had 43 mothers attending. This was also a great increase as all throughout last year we had an average of only 12 attending classes.

Our social worker believes it is due to the fact that all of the mothers that attended classes last year earned their own income by selling the crafts that they made to tourists and also received a huge hamper for Christmas.

The mothers have all been constantly attending each class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. While they are in class, the volunteers have been looking after their children, teaching them English, learning vocabulary and playing sport.

We also organised a visit from three Gynaecologists as we had four mothers with serious problems and a couple of babies that were constantly sick or not growing. The gynaecologists offered a reduced price for all mothers which attended. Even with this generous offer, 12 mothers could still not afford this amount so Peru's Challenge paid for them. The mothers were also given lessons in hygiene and the Gynaecologists have agreed to visit every month to give regular check-ups to the mothers.

Welcome to Wilfredo and Chris

We would like to officially welcome Wilfredo and Chris to the Peru's Challenge team.

Wilfredo joined Peru's Challenge at the beginning of January. He lives next to the school with his wife and four children - two old enough to attend the Picol School in Larapa.

Wilfredo helps out with the kids, development work, cleaning and maintaining the school, and everything in between. He is also a very handy carpenter, so does all of our woodwork and will soon be taking regular classes with the kids, teaching them how to make tables, chairs, and crafts to sell to tour groups.

Chris is our new Spanish teacher. She teaches the volunteers twice a week for two hours at a time. All of the volunteers are already starting to speak some Spanish to the kids after only two weeks. Gracias Chris por su ayuda.

Amazing Peru and all it offers

Throughout January, the volunteers have really been enjoying their free time. Peru's Challenge has become affiliated with the Peruvian travel agency - Ultimate Adventure Tours and so can now easily organise whatever type of tour volunteers are interested in at cost price.

The highlights for January were lots of mountain biking down the mountain trails above Cuzco, horse riding in the Sacred Valley and of course, the four-day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu.

We also had one volunteer that decided to take the one-day train ride to Machu Picchu, rather than the trek. There is now a new luxury train which takes you directly from Cuzco to the Machu Picchu ruins, while you can enjoy great food and service for the four-hour journey.