Monday, June 02, 2008

 



One of the many Inca terrace ruins that we went past on the Trail
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Looking down on the Urubamba river, day 3 (hot showers were only 20 minutes away at this point!)
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The view from our tent on morning 2.
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the group at Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point of the Inca trail - it was slow going to get here, but worth it!
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long time......

Well, it's been ages since I wrote on here, but I will hopefully be able to update it a bit from now on. I'm getting a bit carried away with facebook, so if you're impatient, all my best photos are on there....

But it's ages since I was in Peru, and being the perfectionist that I am I'm going to give up filling in all the details of my diary from then till now. There are been a few trips - to Rome, Holland, USA, Southern France, and Wales, a well as a new job, in a slightly out of the way location and the general goings-on of life. SO I thought a picture paints a thousand words, so I'll pick out the best of them taken since the middle of the South America trip, and try to explain a few as I go along. Drop me a line anytime if you want to catch up - I love to hear from people!!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

 



SU's 'vine trust' tent where children were given 2 square meals a day
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destroyed buildings
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with the kids
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what was left of a house - the walls were very unstable and needed totally demolishing so they could be re-built.
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our production (or deconstruction!) line
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Hard work
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keep passing the bricks....
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After an hour's work
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With Kids in Chincha
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Kawai was a big change form Kimo. It was back to being jolly freezing again (still no hot water), the buildings were whitewashed, almost mediterranean in style and the grounds lovely and neat with manicured lawns and tidy garden beds. Again, this centre doubled as a house for the boys, who had their own corner of the large compound, and several cabins and beach houses for rental in summer along with a large dining room. the property backed onto the beach - the Pacific ocean. The first couple of days we spent travelling further south to help with some of SU's acitivity in one of the areas hit hard by the earthquake. We had another day in Lima and the rest was spent helping around Kawai and spending time with the boys, playing games, and having flatering conversations in our beginner's spanish. Some of the kids were very good teachers and it was great to spend some time just sharing some love with them. Most were from very rough backgrounds, many turned out by parents who couldn't afford to raise them or abused and outcast. Their hope and often shy friendship was very touching.
the day in Lima was spent doing a little bit of sight seeing, including the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace, the huge Cathedral built by Spaniards in the 1400s, and also an impromtu invitation to a 'St Rosa's day' Celebration. she is the Patron Saint of the Police Force and also of Lima itself. we were passing by a gate and could hear some music and when one of the team put her head around the door, we were promtly invited in to watch some traditional music and dancing by the Policemen and their families!
We had lunch at the Centre in Lima and the boys performed in a choreography to music about a boy's story struggling on the street then conversion and new hope in Jesus. It was a very touching show, and the boys involved were very serious about how it was portrayed. It was amazing to see how their lives had changed and to see such a great bunch of kids who had come from such painful backgrounds.
Back at the Kawai centre, we were involved in more painting, weeding and cleaning, and also organised a couple of days of activities to do with the boys living there. the last afternoon we prepared a 'mini olympics' with lots of games for teams, the last of which was the messiest, but by far the favourite!! (see below).
 



The Boys' 'choregraphy' in Lima
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Traditional dancers for St Rosa's day
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The policemen and their fireworks-loaded cow!
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Changing the guard at the Presidential Palace. Paul, on the team is in the Irish guard and does the changing at Buckingham Palace. Said they were 'ok' (!)
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Even the dogs will entertain for money in Lima!
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Archbishop's residence, Lima
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Catacombs is St Francis Monasetery/Cathedral
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St Francis Monastery in Lima
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With the Kawai boys at their chapel
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