Note: This is the first of a series of reports, written by Jim Hintz, from the time he reached Advent's Peru Mission in mid-June. Subsequent reports will follow, leading up to the arrival of Pastor Ward in late-July.
Report No. 0 from Alto Cayma - 19 Jun 16
Report No. 0?
I'm back in Alto Cayma
again, after a 3-1/2 month absence. This report is dated the day I arrived. Its
purpose is to fill you in on what's happened, both in the States and in Alto
Cayma, during the period from 28 Feb to 18 Jun 16, while I was in the States
and no Reports from Alto Cayma were being published.
EVENTS IN NORTH CAROLINA
Bridge to Opportunity Fundraiser
Bridge
to Opportunity is a scholarship program to help recent high school graduates
prepare in an academy to successfully compete on the entrance exam for the
National University. Each year we take in approximately 20 new students which,
at an average cost of $1,000 per student, means we need to raise approximately
$20,000 per year for this program. On 5 May 16, we held our third annual
fundraising dinner and silent auction, preceeded by a raffle. These activities
netted us a total of $10,000. To raise the remaining $10,000 needed, PDG Joe
Morris, the chair of our Bridge to Opportunity committee, suggested we apply
for a matching grant from our Rotary District 7680. We have submitted the grant
application, and are optimistic of a positive result.
Presentation to the Adventurers
At
Advent Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC, there is a group of empty nesters
called the Adventurers. They meet once a month for lunch and
a
program. They take up a collection at each meeting, and at the end of the year
they decide on a project to fund. This group has shown a lot of interest in
Alto Cayma, especially in the plight of the elderly. For the past 2 years,
they've chosen to fund an outing for 60-100 elderly people in Alto Cayma. On 17
Mar 16, I gave them a presentation on the latest outing, where we had taken 90
people to a park called Tingo.
Unusual Visitors
As you know from earlier
reports, my son-in-law, John, daughter, Carol, and 3 of my 4 grandchildren live
and work with me in Alto Cayma. They've just completed their first 2-year stint
in Peru, and are now back in the States for 6 months of home leave. They came
through Charlotte for a
visit
11-18 May. It was good to have them present for the semi-annual meeting of our
Serving Alto Cayma Board of Advisors on 12 May. They are now back in their home
town of Salem, OR, reestablishing contact and growing the support base for
their mission. They will be back in Charlotte at the very end of October, and
will leave to return to Peru on 1 Nov.
EVENTS IN ALTO CAYMA
Prefabricated Houses
You've
read in these reports about the prefab houses we're putting up for selected
families, with funding provided by our Serving Alto Cayma satellite group in
Miami. While I was gone from Alto Cayma this time, two such houses were
completed.
•
The Arredondo family lives right across the street from our new operating site
up in the Mujeres con Esperanza settlement, and their daughter, Shantal, is in
our Acercándonos sponsorship program. This was a family of 6, including 4 small
children, all living in one single room which served as bedroom, kitchen and everything
else. Now they have a 2-room
prefabricated
house which they use for bedrooms, while the old one-room house is now used
only as a kitchen. There are places for the kids to do their homework in both
places. Having a little elbow room at last has made a world of difference in
this family's way of life.
•
The Salazar family was living in similar circumstances to the family above,
except the Salazar family has several older boys who still live at home while
they pursue post-secondary studies. They too now have a 2-
room
prefabricated house added to their property, thanks to the SAC Miami group.
School Supplies
When
the school year starts here in March every year, all the kids need new school
supplies. Many kids here in Alto Cayma can't afford all the supplies they
should have, and their studies suffer as a result. This year, with a grant from
the Charlotte Rotary Club plus a number of individual donations, we were able
to buy a partial set of school supplies for
approximately
200 kids. These were distributed in March, just in time for the
new
school year.
Library Books
With another grant from
the Charlotte Rotary Club, we were able to add significantly to the books on
the shelves of our Rotaract youth library.
Little
by little, the shelves are beginning to fill up, but there's still plenty of
room
for more books.
Beds
As you know from reading
previous reports, there are many people in Alto Cayma who sleep in beds that
are more like Medieval torture devices
than
beds. This year, with a District Simplified Grant from our Rotary District
7680, we were able to buy new beds for 13 people. These were
delivered
during my absence.
Building in Mujeres con Esperanza
As you know from previous
reports, we are expanding our presence into the Mujeres con Esperanza
settlement, 4 miles up the side of the volcano Chachani from our current
operating location. The population of this settlement is very diverse in
background and in resources, but there are a great number of people who are
newly arrived, are very poor, and are trying to get established. We've been
working in this settlement for about a year now, operating out of a temporary
building which now, since I've been gone,
has
gotten its own dedicated outhouse. (Yes, sir, no luxury is too good for our
Acercándonos ladies!) Now, however, we're in the midst of taking a major step
forward in enhancing our ability to serve the people in this community. We're
building what will be Phase One of a new community service center to house the
services we're able to offer to the people of this zone.
On
4 Apr 16, David & Donna Hodgkins, of Charlotte, NC, whose generous donation
is making this building possible, performed an informal
groundbreaking.
At that point, we hadn't yet selected a builder, so the work couldn't commence
immediately, but we had 2 candidates under consideration. Both were very good,
but one of them, Jesús, seemed to be a little more professional than the other,
which we deemed important for a project of this magnitude. Also, an inspection
tour of this impressive house
which
Jesús had built for a previous client was very convincing, and we ended up
choosing him.
Jesús
began by setting up a construction camp on the lot adjacent to
ours,
and actual construction work began on 2 May 16. A toast was offered
that
day, and Victor broke the ceremonial bottle of champagne. Then a brief
prayer
service was held before the crew began to work. Jesús' building crew
numbers
a dozen strong. They're very competent, and as you're about to see,
they're
making the building practically spring out of the ground. At Victor's
and
Jesús' insistence, the men wear all appropriate safety gear when working.
The
building will measure 10 M X 20 M, or approximately 2,000 SF in area. The first
step in the construction was to put down chalk lines to
indicate
the location of load-bearing walls and columns. Then they dug the trenches for
the foundation, which had to extend over 6 feet into the ground
because
the surface soil on our lot is fairly loose.
Next
came the exterior walls and columns. As a note of interest, David & Donna
are sponsoring the construction of this building in memory of their
daughter,
Jessica, whom they lost to cancer (melanoma) at the age of 30. Victor embedded
a wristband with her name on it in the first column to be
poured.
The
roof is a very elaborate affair structually, as it is now the roof of the first
floor, but will eventually double as the floor of a second floor which
we'll
build at some future date. The pouring of a concrete roof is a major event in
any construction project here. Ours took place on 9 Jun 16, with the men
pushing wheelbarrows full of cement up a ramp from 8 a.m. until 5:30
p.m.
After the roof was poured, it had to be left to dry and harden for over a week
before work could continue.
All
of what you see in these photos was done in just 6 weeks, between 2 May and 9
Jun, before I returned to Alto Cayma. In Report No. 1, to follow shortly,
you'll see what has happened since then.
"Love
God, Serve Neighbor/Serving Alto Cayma",
Jim
