Today was lighter, yet still full. We headed out at 9:45 because the church, Lily of the Valley, was close to our hotel. The area is known as Banos del Inca as it is around the hot springs by the hotel. It is quite touristy, but the more affluent facade hides poverty one or two streets away. A big issue is violence, either due to gangs or due to alcohol and drugs in the home, so providing a safe place for children is a priority.
The Compassion program here is 8 years old, but it has recently moved churches in the last few months. It was unclear whether this was because there was a change of pastor in the old church and he had different priorities, or whether the old church had insufficient room. Anyhow, the Compassion program here has 347 participants who come on different days of the week, though only a small subset were around when we visited as most were in school.
As at the other sites, we were warmly greeted and hugged by lots of littles. What stood out here was the resourcefulness and confidence of their youth, who explained their programs and gave a demonstration of making soap for their soap-making business.
On arrival, some little kids warmly greet usThey had prepared lots of snacks for us. Our contacts advised us only to eat the caramel cookies. For instance, the sandwiches had lettuce in them, which might have been washed in dirty water. The hosts did not seem offended by this. Incidentally, another Compassion couple had been traveling around Peru for three weeks and eating everything without issue, but we all followed the advice of our group leader, who was exercising an abundance of caution.
The song welcoming us to the church. The church’s pastor welcomed us, and pointed out that they had just celebrated the church’s 51st anniversary.The local Compassion Program director explained how Compassion’s help had been such a lifesaver during Covid. She moved with the program from the previous church.During Covid, many people could not work and money from Compassion’s disaster relief fund helped provide basic nutrition. The picture shows a woman picking up food.Education shut down but online Compassion programs helped the kids stay engaged.This photo of a kid attending an online lesson reminded me of Janet teaching Kindergarten lessons on line in Houston at this time.
Next was a demonstration by young teenagers of how to make soap. Their project won a Compassion competition on entrepreneurship and they travelled to Lima to present it. It was the first time they had been on a plane. They continue to sell the soap through their Instagram account and have learned many useful skills.
The soap making team.Some of their soaps used for anti-aging and against acne.This kid was so interested and so engaged. We learned later that this was Alexis, sponsored by Jose in our group, who spent time with him throughout the day.The soap team get ready for their demonstration.
The first part of the demo – cooking the soap.Everyone was watching.Carefully adding scent.
Pouring soap into the molds.The soap project’s banner.
The soap discussions continued and others bought some soap, but we got pulled into taking a photo.
After one photo, the floodgates opened and I think every child wanted a photo with us. First, a photo was taken using a mother’s phone of us and a kid, sometimes with the mother in the picture. Then, I would take a selfie. I found the kids were fascinated by the picture of themselves. Check them out yourself below!
We had to get one with the pastor!
A very happy mom and baby.
A youth in the Compassion program shares a heartfelt welcome, all memorized.This girl described Compassion’s programs.One of those programs is raising awareness about child abuse and encouraging reporting.
A section of her talk, all from memory!In the final talk, this youth gave an overview of how the Compassion program teaches about Christ, physical and emotional health, agents of change, and economic self sufficiency. He forgot some of his speech, but I noticed he had also been part of the soap team and playing the piano, so it was still impressive!
Next were some team photos.
Our group with Alexis, Jose’s sponsored child, and the pastor.Our group with the Compassion staff and volunteersI spotted Jackie in the sound booth, controlling the PowerPoint. She also teaches the kids. Cool outfits!
Next was a tour of the office and classrooms. They had only been using them for Compassion for a few months so they were still getting settled.
The Compassion Director’s office, which is also their meeting room.A classroom for lessons on child protection, psychology, and health.On the wall was their process for identifying, reporting, and acting on child protection issues. Each Compassion program has a name. This one translates as the Guardians of the Scriptures.
Then we headed about 10 minutes away for a home visit. The family includes Denier, aged 5, and Edgar, aged 12. Dad was helping his mother, who lived in the mountains, by gathering some wood in the mountains. He normally works in construction, but sometimes there is no work. We had noticed a significant difference when a man was present in a home compared to when absent.
To get to the house, we had driven out of town and had to walk along this dirt footpath.I got my traditional shadow photo!The view toward the city of Cajamarca and the mountains beyond.Approaching the house, which is on the left. We had to walk around a field of harvested maize.Denier greets us. He was very comfortable around the Compassion staff like Karina and Jackie.The main part of the house, with some unprocessed sheep wool in front.A pan of corn nuts had been prepared for the family.The fire used to cook. It started smoking while we were chatting and Edgar poured water on it to put it out.Drying corn to make corn nuts.Denier was happy and chatty. His favorite Compassion activity was drawing.Edgar was more reserved, like most twelve-year-old boys. He played an attacker in football.The clothes line was salvaged communication wire.The drawings of beetles were from the rabbit hutch door’s earlier life in a kindergarten classroom.We talked about the challenges the family faced, and the benefits and enjoyment of the kids participation in the Compassion program.Jackie and Karina had a good visit while we chatted with the parents.Via the church, we gave gifts to the family of basic food and eggs. Our group picture after Ashley had prayed for the family. Mom had asked for prayer that her husband would remain a good man and that her elder son would not get too stubborn in his teenage years. I found that praying with the sound of chickens in the background and wind rustling through the tree made the Holy Spirit feel closer.!As we left the house, we passed a eucalyptus tree, on the left of this picture.
It was back to the church to give them some presents from us and say farewell.
Ashley thanked the group, presented the gifts, and prayed.A group photo. The presents we gave, with lots of toys for the kids, are in the suitcase in the middle, which was also a gift. The suitcase had been our daughter’s, but she no longer had a use for it. Bringing it to Peru was a great use for it!The church from the outside.
The rest of the day is a bit of a blur and wasn’t very photo worthy, except for one incident. We had lunch at the hotel before heading to the airport for our flight back to Lima. After checking in, there was an announcement over the tannoy, and all we can understand is Ashley’s name. She goes to the desk and gets escorted to her checked luggage.
Ashley being escorted to her checked luggage. Looking great in orange!
She had a case of water in her suitcase which had looked suspicious on the xray, and they wanted her to unlock the suitcase so they could have a look. They had no problem with her keeping the water and she joined us on the plane, which is the one behind her in the picture.
We got back to Lima, checked back into the same hotel, and bought our Peru Starbucks mug! And that was day 4.
"Cajunlimeys" combines Lousiana (Janet) and Britain (Peter). British sailors in the 19th century were nicknamed "limeys" as they drank lime juice to prevent scurvy. However, while Janet is a fine cook, she has no Cajun blood, but the name fit.
We love adventures and use blogging to write a photo diary to preserve our memories. Some crazy friends enjoy following us, and my notes might help others plan.
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The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 