Lima, Peru: St. Andrew's Team - Soccer Games and Ceremonies

Today we went to the school and we played with the kids. We took them to play soccer and have races just down the road from the school. After getting back to the school, we had an "assembly" of sorts that the school as a whole thanked us for all of the work that we did. The kids embraced us and welcomed us into their community. We exchanged gifts and then went up to the room we worked on and Father Paul blessed the school. We ended the afternoon with a performance by musicians who, after they were done, taught us how to play Peuvian instruments. After dinner, the group went back to the Inka Market and did some shopping.

Emily and Sarah
St. Andrew's Participants
Lima, Peru; March 2014

Lima, Peru: St. Andrew's Team - Day 3 on the Site

Last night after dinner we hit up the Inka Market and bartered to get some great deals with shop owners who don´t speak English.

Today was another day on the worksite (day number 3). Everyone was starting to feel the heat this morning and the exhaustion kicked in, but as soon as we got to the school and saw the children and their smiling faces, everything got better.

After we hauled 1000 bricks and a truck load of sand, and some of us got to learn how to lay the bricks to make the walls. We got to spend a lot of time with the children and they are getting much more comfortable having us around.

Tonight we are heading out for a traditional Peruvian dinner and going to try cuy (guinea pig)!!!

Jordyn and Jessica
St. Andrew's Participants
Lima, Peru; March 2014

Lima, Peru: St. Andrew's Team - Day 2 of Construction

Today was the second day at the school and probably the hottest of all the days we have been here. We started off by carrying 2000 bricks up four flights of stairs which was exhausting but we were rewarded with delicious watermelon.

For dinner we got to have delicious Peruvian food consisting of potatoes, chicken and rice. Afterwards we got to go to the Inca Market, we were all pretty exhausted by the time we made it there but somehow we all managed to have a successful shopping trip!

Today we managed to get two walls of the school built and the construction is moving along quite quickly! We are excited to get back to work tomorrow!

St. Andrew's Participants
Lima, Peru; March 2014

Lima, Peru: St. Andrew's Team - First Day on the Worksite

We started off with an early morning (6am) and another wonderful breakfast. After a quick tutorial on what we would be doing today and the days that followed, we climbed into two vans that would be taking us to the work site. As we approached the outskirts of Lima, we got a very eye-opening experience of what the poverty stricken areas of Peru were like. We both remarked on how incredibly resourceful the Peruvian people were when faced with a challenging environment. It was truly amazing to witness how a diverse culture could thrive on such a barren landscape.

As we were getting out of the vehicles we were welcomed by the children of the Nassae school with banners, Canadian flags, and many greetings. It was quite heartwarming to see the appreciation in the eyes of the children and the teachers whom we were about to build a school for.

The work was difficult and strenuous- packing bags of gravel, sawing wires, and scrubbing rust off of re-bar got us sweaty and fatigued. But at the end of the day, we could not help but feel exceedingly fortunate for what we have at home, and utterly rewarded for our helpful contributions to the school.

Jocelyn and Ania
St. Andrew's Participants
Lima, Peru; March 2014

Lima, Peru: St. Andrew's Team - Arrival and first two days

We were all very jet lagged and are still fighting over who gets to shower first. We went on a super wicked stressful bike ride because there are few traffic laws and cars have the right of way.

The breakfast is always great and we get fresh homemade smoothies every morning. Mass was at the cathedral and was a different experience then in Canada. After we went on a bus tour in the afternoon then we shopped.

Jenna and Maria
St. Andrew's Participants
Lima, Peru; March 2014

March 2014: New project in Lima

Over the past two years, our volunteers have finished working on various building projects for the San Jose Obrero School in Miraflores on the outskirts of Lima.

Starting in spring 2014, DWC volunteers will assist on IFEJANT's next infrastructure project: adding a third floor to the Nassae School which is located in Jicamarca in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho. The school currently has six classrooms on two floors and could be built up two more floors.
 

The district of San Juan de Lurigancho is one of the 43 districts of Lima Province. This district is populated by migrant families who have moved from different parts of the country. The majority are informal workers; in order to find work, they move closer to the centre of the district of Lima, leaving their children in the care of older siblings or other family members.

Children living in Jicamarca have almost no access to public education so the community has rallied to provide schooling opportunities. The number of children who want to attend school is rapidly increasing, and since present capacity is limited, this third floor will allow for more student enrollments.
 

A group of high school students from Victoria will be the first team to work on this project. An additional high school group and Under 30 team will be finishing the project if needed. Along with hired local skilled labour, work on the project will be done jointly by volunteers, parents, teachers, and IFEJANT.

Sarah Johnstone
DWC Communications Coordinator
Kamloops