Back in the Saddle

Actually, the pictures have nothing to do with this entry! They are three versions of the Peruvian Hairless Dogs sometimes called "Calatos" that I thought you might find interesting.

Padre Ron has met with both directors from the Casas. I think they have him up to speed on everyone and the needs of each house. Of course the falling $$ doesn't help! Padre is working hard to get all the financials done in a timely way as he has a meeting of the ONG (Non-Profit Organization)on the 24th in Lima and he wants to be "up to date" on our funding and expenses. It is incredible to see how generous are the hearts of our supporters. Thank you

P.S. We will be able to use the new van to transport the St.Matthew's team about town this week. A mutually agreeable arrangement. The team will get to their sites and the kids will get some fuel money for the van.

Sunday Hugs

I think our kids always look forward to Sunday and some extra hugs. They enjoyed Lydia Mudge, too. We are hoping to establish more relationships between individual kids and individual familes. Keep this in your prayers, please.

Directors

Our two directors, María Perez and Pedro Huamani are to be commended on their great job! María informed me today at our meeting that Hepatitis B vaccinations will soon be offered free to minors so we will sign up right away. Additionally, we are starting the paper work to get ID cards for each child. This is something new the goverment is allowing and will really help us out. Padre Ron intends to issue employee IDs to the staff. Pedro and María came through vacation time successfully. When the kids are out of school we must have houseparents present so they have arrange extra hours with the staff. In addition numerous excursions need to be planned. I know that some of the kids were disappointed in not going to the beach this year, but we didn´t have all the health issues we´ve had in past years, either! Just like parents everywhere, there was a sigh of relief from Pedro and María when school started up! I really appreciate you both! Thanks, Pedro and María.

Saturdays

Saturday afternoon is when our Cristo Redentor youth group meets. As you can see, it is a solemn and formal occasion for the Casas kids-NOT!

Bienvenidos! Welcome Home!

Huge signs, shouts, waves and jumping up and down greeted us as we stepped off the plane. Such warmth and care is truly overwhelming! We love you, arequipeños, and your commitment al Señor!

Celebration of the Resurrection

Can little girls celebrate Easter without eggs and hats? I don't think so!

Why so Long Since You Updated??

Well, sorry, but we were playing with our granddaughter Sadie. Sadie walked Via Crucis with us on Good Friday but on Sat. we were off to the botanical gardens of Dallas. Here you can see some of our outting. We had a great time before we left for Peru on Easter Monday.

First Happening

Some of our teens attended the first "Happening" in Arequipa. It was a great event and I'm sure our kids benefited from it. Padre Ron has been making people aware of the great work done by the Casas and encouraging them to get involved through financial support and maybe even coming down on a mission team. Some of our seminarians were leaders of the event, too.

SPLISH, SPLASH!

Besides the Happening, Casas kids have been been visiting local points of interest and taking a dip in the pool. Summertime can be fun! Jose and Manuel catch a few rays as houseparent Tio Ricardo looks on.

HAPPENING, Arequipa Style

Some of our teens attended the first Happening in Arequipa. It sounds like it was a rollicking success! Manuel, Diego, Margot, and Vicky were part of the action. The happening movement tries to open up teens to a deeper relationship with Jesus. One where Jesus really transforms their lives and empowers them to share God's Love with others. Great job, kids!

Parrilla

The luggage rack is now on the vehicle. That took several trips across town, but we have an eleven foot, custom made rack. Today we are to go back for what we hope is the "final" trip to get seat cushions. This will be trip #5 for them, I believe. Please pray that we can hire a good driver within the week!

Getting Ready

We spent another whole day (they kinda run together now) doing some more of the necessary fixes on the van. First, we paid fees and then JCarlos and Maria got the insurance. At 8:30 a.m. we headed down for the emissions test. Then, we were off to buy a fire extinguisher and get it installed. Next, we looked for window locks as 4 were broken so we can't park the vehicle on the street-no luck. Some hours later we finally had some electrical work done, windshield washer pump fixed, new window locks MADE/RIGGED, rear defroster fixed and finally headed for home at 5:00p.m. (We had about 5 hours of technical work done for S/40 or $13-including parts! Whew, I’m pooped. Oh, yes, Padre Ron had to drive the van home for his first drive in Peru! He'll never get used to the blind intersections with no signage! THAT was the nerve-wracking part! We made it! Tomorrow Padre has a visit with Director Pedro so he will drive to the Casa for that. We now need seatcovers that can be washed as the ones installed are nice and we'd like to keep them so! Also a luggage rack. That will be custom made with a ladder. That should just about cover everything after we have the brake pads checked. While Padre doesn't intend to drive much, he does want to be able to drive as needed so he will have to get a "combi" license when we get back from the States. Now, to hire a driver for the kids. We need one who will be safe and a responsible maintenance person, too. Keep that in your prayers!

Combi

A "combi" here is a van or small bus. We have just acquired one for the use of the Casas. We are thrilled! This has been a dream for some time as we have had constant headaches with providing transportation for the kids. As you can see, it is in good shape and was a good deal, too. It will take the kids to and from school, the directors to do shopping and buy supplies, and, if it is convenient to the kids' schedules, it will pick up and deliver teams at the airport to help offset operational costs. God richly provides what is needed. Blesséd be the Name of the Lord.

Shade Screen

While we have been blessed with the patch of grass we put in last year, the sun is usually too intense for the kids to enjoy it. The team sunk holes and poured cement so that a "malla" or screen could be put up to give some shade. Up until now the kids have clustered under the six square feet of shade our one "big" tree provides.

CC Plano

The Christ Church Plano team arrived "fit and fiddle" as oldtimers would have said. These six came to share the Gospel and show the practical side of a conversion of the heart. While here they worked at Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia, Iglesia Cristo Redentor, the seminary Ss. Agustín, and the Robertson´s house! Quite an accomplishment for a week!! Padre Ron (second from the left in back row) looks pretty energetic now. Let´s see how he looks at the end of a week of hard work! What a blessing this team is for us.

Christ Church Visits

The kids at Casa Hogar San José were delighted to have a quick visit from the Plano team that did SO much work with us here in Arequipa. Always ready for fun, our kids enjoyed presenting a couple of musical selections for the visitors.

Fiestas Familiares

The Educational Center that Edgar and Giovanna attend are now enjoying their "Family Days" celebrations. Costumes are most important for the dances and everyone is required to participate. Often costumes such as these cost 15 to 18 Soles. Considering a laborer's daily wage is 20 Soles, that is pretty expensive. (Currently there are 3 Soles to the Dollar.) Edgar got to portray the Inca in this elaborate dance and Giovana one of the "guys" in her dance. It all evened out as Giovanna won in her volleyball tournament while Edgar bombed out in "futbol."

Antorchas

As a part of the San Lucas anniversary celebration, students enjoyed a nighttime parade with "antorchas." Many fanciful designs are included. They range from airplanes to doves to stars to condors. Our kids really enjoy the impressive parade in the dark! Here is Margot's contribution- a crocodile eating a dove!! Director Pedro, Tutora Carmen, and Giovana got a kick out of it, too.

New Buildings!

A recent event was the laying of the first stone for San Lucas School. We are excited to see San Lucas building additional classroom. They are certainly needed! As we have kids in 8th grade, we are eager to see the school keep ahead of our kids. I laid the first stone and Margot added a shovel load of cement. Go San Lucas! Hip, hip, hurrah!

Gold Medalist

In our recent celebration of athletic prowess, José (Pepe to his friends) won a "gold" medal for his speed in the city. In racing competition against numerous other schools and much larger boys, Pepe had the fastest time of any 6th grader. He has the honor of carrying the torch at the city-wide field day. Good job, Pepe!

The sun is unusually hot this spring so the water we brought to the park was eagerly downed by all-kids and adults. After the event, I gave out photos from last year´s Roof Dog Team and all the kids were excited to see the team members. They were somewhat shocked, too, to see how they themselves have grown this year! White balloons are available at this time of year as peace marches are popular in the schools so we brought some along to make the event more festive. Those peace balloons are great, too, for smacking your neighbor! OOPS! PEACE! The white hats helped with the sun as well.

Director Pedro has met his match!

Julio Cesar has his own starting position and NOTHING is going to change it! Get over it, Tío Pedro.

Peros Techeros!

Yes, indeed, it is "Roof Dog Run" time again. We "ran" in appreciation of the efforts of our supporters. We sped, ambled, moseyed, strolled, and ran pell mell to the park for races (or for the accompanying ice cream- I'm not sure the real motivation!). It was fun with everyone getting into the act. Tía Rosa trying to compete in high heels. Luciano blowing away the other guy tutors. Vicki bring up the rear. And Padre? Well, let´s just say he was "outdistanced" by José, Edgar, and Diego.

You´ll notice we had an honorary runner in Lima. It was great to see the bishop standing up. Continue to pray for him. His first hurdle will be getting home. We hope that will be this week.

Plano dogs- all the "pups" here send big hugs and thanks for all your support.

Comida Arequipeña

Comida típica, or typical dishes, is one of the themes dealt with in the annual celebration of Arequipan culture and tradition. Dishes with exotic names such as "white soup", "ocopa", "fried guinea pig", "potato pie", and "Easter soup" are prepared by each class at San Lucas School where our Casas kids attend. Not only do the children study the ingredients, but they study the history of the dish and restaurant, prepare recipes, decorate their booth, and explain the preparation of the dishes offered. All are served with "chicha," any one of the various fermented drinks of red corn. Great excitement abounds as kids and their parents try to outdo one another to be the winning class. Here in the first picture you can see our Hermelinda (in the big hat on the left) just glowing with a huge smile. This is a tough job for the judges. Victoria, on the left edge of the picture look on critcally evaluating the judges!