High Cloud Foundation - Because Dreams Come True

Posted by Isaac and Gabriel

Isaac and I are falling in love with this Peruvian community. The first couple weeks were difficult but somehow this week I have found myself enjoying everything we have encountered. Our home life is going well. We have enough to eat and a warm bed, but our priority is our work in the school in San Juan de Lurigancho. The children can be very difficult to handle and the small aula or classroom can seem very crowded, but slowly we are seeing differences in both us and the children. We are struck with the kindness the children show. Each day we climb the long steep hill to our school and are greeted with shouts as the kids come into view. The kids race to our sides saying cargame which means carry me. It is customary in many LatinAmerican countries to greet with a kiss on the cheek and I cannot express to you how precious these greetings are from little two to five year old children. The parents of the children are equally kind and giving. Last Sunday we spent the day in the community playing soccer and eating fried chicken and camote. Everyone talked with us and treated us with open arms in a way that we have not experienced closer in the city. Today we had a cultural day in the community. All of the pronoei´s or kindergartens gathered in on this court and many dressed in their cultural garb. Food from the differnt provinces of Peru was there for testing and Isaac and I were stuffed by the end of the day.We taught about fifty kids how to play duck duck grayduck although I think maybe one kid actually understood the game haha. It was so much fun running with the kids and seeing the laughter on the audience and childrens faces during the game. We then walked back up the school with the children and their mothers and had another lunch at the school (the food at the event was not free and so none of the children or mothers ate except for Isaac and I, they insisted we eat and would not take money for the food). I am not sure I am getting across how much we are enjoying and loving the community we are working in. I don´t know how we are going to leave.

Our work is beginning to take form also. We, the community and us, realize that we really can´t do any projects that we want until we have a new school. Let me paint a picture of what the school is now. It is about 8 meters by 5 meters and holds about 25 kids and three adults daily. There are holes in the walls and ceiling. The walls are made of a much less sturdy form of plywood and I could easily punch through. The door is warped and does not close and the small building saggs. The community could live with the school if only it was a bit bigger. However, the school serves 365 families and a new school is really the only option. We met with construction companies today and have a meeting with the fathers of the community tomorrow morning. We are happily finding that a new school nearly three times the current size would really not cost much at all and so, although we need to do much more research, we are very excited. Also, tomorrow we are visiting museums to see what would be the best fit for the children. Well, please continue to pray for us that progress will continue and that the families and children of San Juan de Lurigancho will be blessed.