Christmas at the hospital

Christmas Day isn't such a big deal in Peru as in the UK - the main celebration and family meal happens the night before.  So members of my Bible study group decided to spend Christmas morning in the city hospital, taking presents to children - many of whom might not receive anything otherwise, - and speaking of the Good News we are celebrating.

Wrapping the presents - nappies for newborns, toys and t-shirts for children.  Peruvian gift-wrapping is a whole new technique!

Waiting outside the hospital to be let in

The natvity scene - complete with snow-topped mountains!

We spoke about Isaiah 9 verse 6: For to us a child is born,to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Reminding the parents that God knows and plans for each child that is to be born - and that his cousel is available for us.

 
  We gave out the presents and food boxes we'd brought.

Singing about Zacchaeus on the children's ward.

One of the teenagers we visited was very sad - he had both hands bandaged so couldn't open the gift we'd brought - Lourdes opened it for him - and hadn't seen any of his family yet.  We prayed with him and with the others we visited.

Visiting the hospital was a new challenge for all of us - but we were so glad we'd done it.  We thought of Jesus saying that when we visit those who are sick, he counts it as a visit to him.

Christmas visits

It's that time again... Christmas presents... hot chocolate... paneton... and lots of visits to the villages.

In Mariscal Gamarra - I know these guys in Raccaraccay pretty well now and it's always fun to visit.

We also gave some training about the role of deacons in the church - it was good to put some of my CHE techniques into practice.  And I might be starting to teach the guitar!

From 1 Timothy and Titus - what are the requirements for deacons?

This time I also got to get up at 4am, walk 2 hours up the mountain (with occasional lifts from a horse) to the village of Cruzpata.

In Anchicha - a new village for me.  I think I was mostly invited because I have a car - it's good that it's giving me new opportunities!

And in Ayahuay - this is just up the hill from Piscoya.  And certainly the most full the car has been so far!  We took all the food, boxes of dried foods for families in need, the presents, and some of the props for the kids' activities.  And this village wins the prize for the stand-up/sit-down version of "Alelu alelu alelu aleluia, Praise ye the Lord"!

 

 

Almost buying a car

Since coming back to Peru I've been seriously tackling the job of buying a car.  And - joy of joys - I've found one!  It hits the spot in the delicate of balance of "is it too new and flashy?" versus "is it so old it won't make it down the street?", it's comfortable, has plenty of seats and is nicely within my price range.

Simple, right?

Or perhaps not.

The car is in Lima, I am in Abancay, and the owner lives in the jungle.  His brother-in-law has a legal document enabling him to sell the car.  I employed a mechanic to go and check the car over and send me the details - all good, he says.

So I arranged to go to Lima and make the purchase.  First I had to get a banker's cheque to make the payment.  Cue 3 days of waiting for the money to arrive in my account so that I could get the cheque... and eventually we discovered the bank transfer had failed.  No problem - I went with our mission bank account holder, and got the cheque from our mission bank account.

That afternoon, I meet with the seller and we go to the notary to do the sale.  "Oh, she's a foreigner" says the notary - "you'll need an additional witness".  So the seller phones a friend and we wait for him to arrive, meanwhile filling out all the forms.

When everything is ready, we go to the counter, and discover: the owner's wife's name is spelled incorrectly on the ownership document.  This means that the legal document the seller has, allowing him to sell it, does not match. 

So no sale.

I'm back in Abancay, waiting for a phone call to tell me it's sorted out and I can get the bus to Lima again.

I'm certainly learning a lot about how to buy a car in Peru. 

Or perhaps how not to?

The translator returns...

I was asked once again to don my translator's hat, for a visit to Mariscal Gamarra with a visiting medical team from the USA.  This was a longer trip the usual - 5 days.  I am always a bit wound up and nervous the night before and I identified my main concerns:

• not getting enough sleep (pretty likely)
• getting bitten by flies and fleas (fairly certain)
• offending people by not being able to finish the huge portions they serve me (although I know some of them well enough to ask for less food these days)
• having to preach (it's an amazing privilege and I can never work out if I love it or dread it more)

I at least started off well by sleeping through til 4am, whereas usually I wake up every half hour wondering if I'm missed my alarm.

We hired a car and driver for the week, so it was easier than catching the public bus... until we heard a strange bumping noise from the front wheel an hour into our journey.  So Vicente drove back to Abancay to get it fixed, leaving us all in Lambrama to wait.  5 of us did continue the journey in said public bus... The main disadvantage is it drops us at the bottom of the hill rather than the top - but it's a beautiful walk up to the first village!

We arrived and set up as much as we could, bearing in mind we hadn't brought the medicines along with us.  We still managed to see a good number of patients before the rest of the team arrived several hours later. 

The following morning in the second village I awoke to find this little bird at eye-level as I climbed down the ladder from my room.  I have never seen such a tame bird!  After poring over some books we decided he might be a juvenile white-winged black tyrant.

I brought a water filter with me in an attempt to drum up some interest.  Here I am making a hole in the bucket using the drill piece included in the kit.  It's harder work than it looks like it should be!  We used the filtered water all week in our clinics, and drank it ourselves - and the demonstrations went well, particularly when I threw some mud in the bucket and the water still came out of the filter crystal clear!

 We were staying with a family in the village - with various animals all enjoyed by the boys who came too.  Even going to the toilet was an adventure - up the ladder and over the wall, turn right and walk between the pigs and the sheep pen...

After 2 days here we travelled on to the capital of the district - a 3 hour drive away!  It was very remote with stunning scenery.

Here we had use of the municipal building and could get ourselves a lot more organised.  Nurses took blood pressure and registered the patients, then our dentists and doctors could call their patients.  Our pharmacy even had chairs and shelves - a far cry the first day of scrabbling about on the floor!

While the patients were waiting, we gave training on various subjects - dental care, water hygiene and treatment, and a message from the pastor.  My water teaching seemed to go down well - and one of the dentists said it was the most dynamic teaching he'd seen!

 Meanwhile others were out in the field... even our driver was doing some work as well

 In the evenings we met in the local churches, sharing stories from the Bible, songs, and a film of the book of Luke - in the Quechua language of course!  It was great to have those times with the local believers.

There were incredible views on the way home - even some flamingos at 4200m.

A story... for Sunday School

Last week, I went to visit the village of Cafiamarka.  It's a long way from where I live in Abancay.  I got up at 5 o'clock to catch the bus (there is just one bus every day) and we travelled for 6 hours, up and down steep and narrow mountain tracks.  Some of the roads had nearly been washed away in the rain and once we had to get out and wait while a tractor came and cleared all the rubble out of the way.

I didn't know exactly where to get off the bus, but there were lots of friendly people who knew the way, and they showed me the right path.  When I started walking, I had to cross a river - there are stepping stones but they were underwater so I had to take my shoes off to get across.  It was lovely and sunny so my feet dried again very quickly.  I walked up the steep hill in the sunshine, and met a man taking his 2 horses the other way.
After about half an hour's walk, I arrived at the village and went to the pastor's house.  They were very happy to see me and gave me some chicken soup for lunch.  I went into their garden and helped to pick peaches and prickly pears.  Later on we had a church service in a new church they have only just built - before that they used to have their church services in the pastor's house.  The church is made of mud bricks and it doesn't have any windows yet - just square holes in the walls, and it doesn't have any electricity yet either.  The floor is mud and we all sat round the edges on wooden planks and leaned against the wall.
Last time I visited Cafiamarca, I met an old lady called Anastasia and her husband Sebastian.  He had fallen when he was out working on the steep hillside and had hurt his back so he couldn't walk. I prayed for him, but after that I didn't see him again.  This time I found out he got better and was even able to walk to the river and be baptised!  God has not only healed his body but he has also saved him!

In the church, people haven't been taught very much about the Bible, and some of them can't read.  I taught them about Jesus washing the disciples' feet, and how being saved by him is like having a power shower and being clean for the first time in your life!  But when we walk around all day little bits of dirt stick to us again... and Jesus wants us to keep coming back to him to be cleaned of the little things we do wrong each day.
When I lived in Cambridge I used to do projects about water, so now I like to speak about water in the churches as well.  In Cafiamarca, most people only have one water tap, and it's outside in the garden.  And the water is not clean enough to drink.  Some poeple drink it anyway and it makes them ill.  Other people spend a lot of time fetching wood to make a fire so they can boil the water and make it safe.  So I am thinking about how I can help them to improve the water that comes to their taps.
When I got home to Abancay, I realised the bed I had been sleeping in had fleas in it, and they had bitten me all over.  But it was worth it!  I really enjoy visiting people to encourage them and teach them about the living water that Jesus promises us.