An Arequipa Adventure with Anna

My friend Anna has been back in the UK for the last 6 months, and was planning to visit me these past few weeks.  But work happened, and she couldn't come...  So instead, I went to accompany her on a church visit in Cabanaconde, in the Colca Canyon.

It's a stunning place...

Fiery skies at Yanque

On Saturday morning we got the bus up to the Cruz del Condor, where we waited for about half an hour with beautiful tranquil views (despite the hundreds of tourists behind us!)...

 ... and then saw several stunning, and huge, condors.

And we met up with Ruth - who was here on a tour with her Mum.  Although we've all seen each other fairly often, this was the first time the three of us were together since Bible college 3 and a half years ago!

Down in Cabanaconde there are more breathtaking views of the canyon.

In the plaza of Cabanaconde

We had a great time catching up, relaxing, and then visited the tiny church where we were very encouraged.  Here are a few photos from outside...

I helped out by doing a reading in the service... and afterwards we got down to work: Anna's job here was to get some volunteers to answer questionnaires about the church and their Christian life - so I helped to fill one out with a man who was not confident with reading.

The hostel we stayed in had a lovely roof terrace where we relaxed (I snoozed).

 And there were great views driving back down the canyon towards Arequipa.

Cows ont' road.

misty Misti

Back in Arequipa: one of my favourite pastimes when I visit the bigger cities of Peru is eating exciting food!

In which I return to Piscoya

In Luke 10:2 Jesus says "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." - he's talking about many people being ready to listen to his good news, but few people being available to tell them.

Well, in Piscoya I feel like one of those workers.

A couple from Abancay have been visiting Piscoya for over a year.  They always visit the same family, who have been very welcoming and really valued what they have to say, coming to believe in Jesus and have their lives visibly changed.

But it really seems a harvest is beginning and God has sent me to help with this part... I've now accompanied them three times, and each time at least one new person has approached us and asked us to visit them - and come back again.

It's a tiring day (7 hours of travelling and 9 hours of very hot weather) but it's very exciting to be part of.

 And there are some very cute friends to catch up with...

This guy sucked enthusiastically on my shoelaces, the tassles of my scarf and even the end of my plait... with 2 brothers to compete with for milk I think he was hungry!

Water filters

This week I had two opportunities to find out about different types of water filters.

A visiting group from the USA brought 5 Sawyer filters with them and can provide more if we think it's a good idea - so we hosted a workshop to try them out.

"To clean the filter, you force water through it THIS way..."

All the groups enjoyed assembling the puzzle.  It's pretty simple and quick - the hardest part it drilling the hole through the plastic bucket by hand, but the whole assembly took about 10 minutes.

I need to think about how the filtered water can be stored so that it stays clean!

To show visually how good the filter is, we dumped in a load of mud...

...and people were willing to drink the clear water that came out (the science says that invisible pathogens are also filtered out!)

Generally feedback was very positive because the filter is so small and light and easy and quick to install... some reservations about proper use and cleaning though!

Feedback time (I did a lot of listening as well as talking)

I invited all the AIDIA staff as well as a big group from the local government water office - timing didn't quite work out as the government guys arrived just as we were finishing, so it turned into 2 workshops!  Here's the second round...

Then at the weekend I went on a training course (organised by CAWST, whose community teaching materials I've been using for years, so I was excited to go and find out more about them) learning how to build Biosand filters and how they work in practice.

"rock paper scissors with a twist... the Pathogen destroys the Baby, the Baby, destroys the Filter (by blocking the pipe with a pebble, for example), and the Filter destroys the Pathogen.

It was great to take part in a practical course with other people who work in the type of programme that I want to build.  It was fun that so much of it was hands-on, but also good to go through lots of information about household-level water treatment (as opposed to community-level which is what most systems are in Apurímac) so that I can now consider both types of filters and compare them to the needs and the culture.

Sieving sand and gravel - we did lots of this when I worked in Ecuador so I felt right at home.

We built 2 concrete filter casings...

...and learned about the PVC option the NGO "Desea PERU" had developed.

Then it was time to clean all the sand and gravel that we had previously sieved... but not too much!

Explaining just how clean the sand should be!

It took a LOT of water.

And here's our finished product... clearly there wasn't time for the whole curing of the concrete but the result was visibly clean water and the correct flowrate - and certainly more memorable than diagrams and calculations.

The class... I really need to learn to stand at the back in photos.  Here's my trademark slouch.

The course was in Pisac so this meant four days in the Sacred Valley, near Cusco - such a hardship!

I stayed at this hotel in Cusco for the first time 15 years ago... and here's why I keep going back.

Near Pisac - the valley where the training was.

On the final day we finished at lunchtime, so I got to visit the beautiful Archaeological Park of Pisac, and enjoy some walking.