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DECEMBER 2005 - NEWSLETTER

This month the volunteers:

Finished renovating two classrooms at Pumamarca
Held classes in sport, art and assisted in other lessons
Packed and gave out more than 100 Christmas hampers
Dressed up as Santa Claus and his helpers
Enjoyed tours to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu
Celebrated Jane's surprise birthday and Christmas in style

Finishing the first two classrooms at Pumamarca.

Having started work on the first two classrooms in September, this month all the volunteers worked hard to get them completely finished.

Volunteers were busy finishing the plastering both inside and out. Next it was onto the painting. The school does not yet have electricity so we decided on a light green paint on the inside to ensure the room is bright.

On the outside we used a combination of blues and yellow so that the building stands out from all others in the community.

The kids were so excited to get into their new classrooms and the teachers commented on a noticeable difference in the concentration levels of the kids.

Next we aim to finish three more classrooms. We hope to have five classrooms finished before school starts in April - a big task but one the volunteers are sure to accomplish.

Sports class is the best part of the day.

As the whistle blows signaling the start of physical education class, the Pumamarca kids don't mess about in packing up their work, running out the door and lining up to change into their P.E. gear.

Thanks to Brad, one of our American volunteers, all of the kids now have shinny new sports uniforms.

The volunteers take the lessons in which they have a 12-week plan to follow and add to.

First the kids do a three lap warm-up which quickly quiets them down and leaves the volunteers breathless - the school is nearly 4000 metres above sea level! Next they spend 15 minutes stretching to ensure no injuries.

Football is always the favourite sport for the boys and volley ball for the girls. It's hard to get them interested in anything else, but the volunteers work at teaching relays, tunnel ball and other coordination games.

After P.E. the appetites of the kids are fierce. We have organised with the mothers of the community to prepare a hearty soup which is always eaten in minutes.

We are very short of sports equipment so if you know of any way we can get second-hand equipment donated to the Pumamarca school, please email me on jane@peruschallenge.com.

Santa and his very good-looking helpers.

Peru's Challenge and our volunteers organised the biggest Christmas yet with presents going to more than 500 kids within our communities.

There was no shortage of Christmas bread and hot chocolate for all the kids and their parents.

As soon as Papa Noel (Santa Claus) can through the Pumamarca school gates, the kids surrounded him and nearly pulled his beard off.

A big thanks must go to Mark for being such a good Papa Noel. I don't think you fooled the kids though - they still called you Chico Malo!

Thanks also to his very good-looking helpers for packing up more than 100 Christmas hampers that Santa gave out to the Mothers Group members to thank them for more than two years of dedication to afternoon workshops.

The hard-plastic hampers (can be later used as washing baskets) were full of Christmas bread, hot chocolate, rice, sugar, presents for children, sweets, pasta, milk, a voucher for a big fresh turkey and much, much more.

Thank you to one of our previous volunteers, Tanya from Ireland, for donating funds to help purchase all the hamper goodies. The mothers were so appreciative as you have allowed them to prepare a delicious Christmas dinner for their families this year.

Santa's visit to Huandar, our project in the Sacred Valley was just as successful. We gave out presents, hot chocolate and Christmas bread to all that were there and most of the kids got seconds. We also handed out new clothes to more than 150 children ranging in ages from two to 19.

The community then treated the volunteers to a Nativity play which they had been practicing for two months.

Still time to enjoy the wonders of Peru.

With all the Christmas activity going the volunteers took a well-deserved break to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

As part of our volunteer package, each month we visit the Valley over two days to enjoy a private guided tour of the ruins and hear about the incredible history of the Inca Empire.

The trip finishes with a couple of hours of shopping at the famous markets in Pisaq. Volunteers always come back with a car-full of presents for family and friends.

Each volunteer also gets to hike the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We also offer the two day train-ride trip up to Machu Picchu for those that do not want to trek.

I don't know how the December group had the energy this month to do the trek with so much effort going into the construction work at Pumamarca but they had no troubles with the trek.

They arrived at Machu Picchu at 6.00am on the fourth morning and were blown away with the beauty of the ruins. They then had the whole day to walk through Machu Picchu and relax in the gardens. How they found the energy I don't know, but they then decided to climb up Huayna Picchu (the mountain in the background) for a spectacular view back onto the ruins.

Chocolate cake for everyone.

This month I celebrated my birthday with the Pumamarca kids. The volunteers cooked a yummy chocolate cake which we all shared.

Selvy also organised a surprise party that night which all the volunteers were in on. He organised for a nAfrican-Peruvian live band to come to the volunteer house. We drank home-made Pisco Sours and danced all night to the music.

Thank you Selvy for organising the great party and to the volunteers for sharing it with me.

Thanks to the December volunteers

Steph and Mel, thanks for helping out with organising Christmas and for all the construction work at Pumamarca.

Torsten thanks for all your help with our IT needs and for being so happy to help where ever needed.

Thanks to Sammy and Sarah for all your help at Pumamarca with construction and lessons. Thanks for being great elves and a BIG thanks for looking after Dinky.