The aim of the trip was primarily for the group to get an insight into our work here, but also to help out where they could and have a bit of time off to see some of the more touristy things like Machu Picchu. With 13 people of a variety of ages and with a variety of gifts and interests, the timetabling has been a little complex at times, but we have done our best to enable as many people as possible to see as much a as possible while using their gifts as well as possible, while trying to work within the limitations of altitude, jetlag and general lack of sleep!
Much of the group’s contribution has been up at C.O.R.A.S.O.N. where most people spent a large part of 9 days in total. Jean and Jean, along with Mary (the pastor’s wife) and a rota of 4 mums from the community, spent most mornings cooking for the group and other helpers. The language barrier was a little interesting to start with but they soon learned to communicate with a mixture of Spanish, English and signs and seemed to have a lot of fun. The first week the CORASON mums planned the food, the second week Jean and Jean showed them how to cook some English recipes. We only have a small oven so the Cottage Pie had to be taken down the hill in a taxi to be cooked in the community oven!
Roger and Geoff spent most of their time finishing the cupboard doors for the kitchen and making a portable partition to enable us to have a separate area for the small kids in the club, and a safe area for them to play while their mums are at the mums’ group. It was great that a couple of dads were involved in the project for the first time helping them. Encarni, Emma and Becky did a great job covering the partition with a beautiful 3-D fabric collage. An unexpected bonus in this area of the club room is a fantastic wall mural painted (with a little help from various team members and children) by Jenny James. Lynn, with help from Encarni and Jean, helped the older girls in the club to make some very sweet stuffed toy animals which they are very proud of.
Jackie was very popular with the younger kids in the club and they loved her games! She also ended up teaching several English classes to the mums (where they seemed to spend most of the time laughing!) Dionne, Jenny O and Becky have done a variety of things which included hospital visiting, helping in The Meeting Place Cafe, visiting the Casa Josefina Children’s Home and helping with the children’s club. Several people also visited one of the pre-schools we support in the Quechua community above CORASON and visited the office, and some of the clients, of the micro-finance project with Roland. A group also went to one of the areas flooded earlier in the year to see one of the families we have helped to restart their guinea pig breeding. The Club CORASON children and families put on an emotional final thank you ‘show’ - the group’s blog has a good report of this: www.kingsinperu.blogspot.com/The first and last Sunday of the trip have been more focussed on church activities – helping with the anniversary celebrations at the theatre and then Chris preaching at both meetings of the church on the final weekend. Chris, as group leader, has been here, there and everywhere, coordinating things, helping with tasks ranging from cooking to carpentry to making paper necklaces (!) and getting an overview of everything that has been going on.
The group also managed to fit in a trip to Machu Picchu, Pisac market, the Moray circles, the Maras salt pans, one or two Cusco museums and markets and the CORASON prayer mountain, with three going all the way over the top with Roland. ‘Extra’ duties included playing with the boys (they had such a great time!) and rescuing the cat who decided to try and live on the roof for a week! (Thanks Jenny O!)For us these three weeks have been a unique opportunity to give people from our main supporting, sending church an insight into our work and life here - the difficulties, the encouragements, the chaos and the beauty. Cusco is such a diverse place and our lives here are so different from life in the UK that we have trouble conveying how things really are. This visit, and also other visits from family and friends during the year, means that we now have a number of people back home who have a much clearer understanding of life here, who have met the people we live and work with, and who have taken a little bit of Cusco home in their hearts. It is difficult to explain how much this means to us and what an encouragement you have all been! Thank you!
More photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=300460&id=702530766&l=e9c6356ae9
