Wednesday, June 17th, 2010
by Bob Gaumer
My experience with Hope 4 Kids has given me an opportunity to build relationships with people in Peru. A chance to meet and help others and to experience love and appreciation. I am taking home a feeling of self-worth (for myself) and an understanding of other cultures that will remain with me forever.
Thank you,
Bob Gaumer
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
by Brenda Gaumer
I have a lasting impression of strength of spirit and determination. In a place of sand and few material resources, these Peruvian families are working together in the barrios to improve their lives and those of their children. As mothers, and even a teenage boy, told stories from the Bible and asked questions, I saw eyes dancing with enthusiasm and heard voices lager to respond.
As we worked and played with children we gave and received love in spite of our poor Spanish. I’ll never forget the greetings and partings of a hug and a cheek kiss in the air.
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
by Margaret Wall
The highlight of this trip was the first morning at the barrio. The staff did not tell me that Deborah, our sponsored child, was going to be there. She gave me a long hug and then I was introduced to her. What an emotional time of joy!
It was also frustrating that I could not talk to her in Spanish.
The team has another amazing day working in the barrio. There is always a lot of construction opportunities for the team to get their hands dirty! The team took turns digging a monstrous hole for a dry well. Some of the team that were interested in doing a little less physical labor, painted the play equipment for the kids. Others helped the kids paint their own t-shirts. No matter what area our team was serving in today, they all enjoyed lots of laughs joking with the kids, coworkers and each other! Rumor has it that Tom and Stephan taught the kids how to dunk their cookies into Inka Cola! Sounds yummy! Great job team! Keep up the great work!
Friday, June 11, 2010
By: Alexis Coco
Today was our first day in a Barrio on this trip and the first word that comes to mind is amazing. Not only the experience but also the kids and everything about it. We had breakfast this morning and then took about a 25 minute bus ride to the barrio. Once we got off the bus we stepped into sand. Although we were far from the beach there is sand in the barrio. It was a more developed barrio so it had electricity but still no running water. The men got to work building a roof while the ladies played games with the kids, gave them lunch, and loved on them. We played games outside the school in the sand and the kids were adorable. One girl was very shy and I never knew her name but the second we got outside she wouldn’t leave my side or let go of my hand. While playing games Tori Taylor got mobbed by about 10 kids to the point where she couldn’t walk. Then Pastor Ron came down from the community center to see the kids and they loved playing follow the leader with him. We played games, painted nails, and did a T-shirt activity. Probably the best part about the day was taking pictures because the kids absolutely love the camera and pictures. I have a rather large Canon camera that I used to take some pictures and this boy names Luis was literally my shadow every time I picked up the camera. He was fascinated not just with looking at the pictures like the other kids but he liked taking them too. With the camera strap still around my neck I let him hold the camera and take pictures of his little friends that were proudly posing for the camera. After every picture they would gather round and say “a ver! A ver!” because they wanted to see the picture on the screen. They giggled, laughed and made funny faces for the camera. The joy a camera brings to those kids is so obvious it cannot be ignored. At the end of the day when the bus came back to pick us up I was sad and did not want to leave because it was truly the most special place I have ever been. If I could express it in words I would but it can not be explained.
Our team arrived safely in Peru and after a short two hour nap at the hotel, the team was off to Trujillo, the home our our Hope 4 Kids project.
The team took the morning off and relaxed at the hotel. Danelle and Mike, our local partners from Project New Hope, shared with our team the vision and history of the project in the barrios.