Mojacarmagazine.com Issue 16 Page 27
I am a member of the Anglican Church in Mojacar and in February 2009 when at the Annual Archdeaconry of Gibraltar Synod in Madrid one of our guest speakers was the Bishop of Peru – William Godfrey. His talk about his work in Peru inspired us to form a working party from the Archdeaconry to go to Lima and offer our help in any work possible.
So it was I found myself in Madrid in early November 2009 meeting up with 9 other people from Portugal, Tenerife, Majorca, and Ibiza & Madrid. After a day of team building exercises as some of us had never met before we flew over night to Lima.
Arriving in Lima at 6.00am local time I was amazed at the noise of the traffic even at that early hour, most of the vehicles had seen better days and so had the bus that took us from the airport to the sanctuary of the catholic convent that was to be our base for the next 10 days. No luxury hotel for us but dungeon like rooms, shared toilet facilities and one small mirror, but peaceful behind high walls and security gates.
After the noise of the traffic and the grey skies (this is normal in Lima because of its position of the ocean and the Andes, where the clouds leave the rain on the other side of the mountains so it never rains in Lima and the humidity creates an overcast sky). I think the next thing that hit us all was the unappealing sight of the shanty towns all in different stages of construction. The higher up the mountain side the poorer the shanty town usually built of plywood, cardboard and tyres, the tyres help stop the sandy ground from moving. For people working two extra wages per year are paid July & December – July’s pay is normally used for buying blocks and December’s for the sand and cement, hence the various stages of building on the lower levels.
The Anglican church in Peru is thriving and new churches are opening, where there is a church there is always a school or community activity attached such as a feeding station or sewing group or play centre all funded by the Anglican church. Our churches throughout the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar provided us with funds to purchase paint and materials needed for the projects we undertook, and funds that were left over donated to the Diocese of Peru to enable their work to continue. Each team member was completely self - funded.
So it was I found myself in Madrid in early November 2009 meeting up with 9 other people from Portugal, Tenerife, Majorca, and Ibiza & Madrid. After a day of team building exercises as some of us had never met before we flew over night to Lima.
Arriving in Lima at 6.00am local time I was amazed at the noise of the traffic even at that early hour, most of the vehicles had seen better days and so had the bus that took us from the airport to the sanctuary of the catholic convent that was to be our base for the next 10 days. No luxury hotel for us but dungeon like rooms, shared toilet facilities and one small mirror, but peaceful behind high walls and security gates.
After the noise of the traffic and the grey skies (this is normal in Lima because of its position of the ocean and the Andes, where the clouds leave the rain on the other side of the mountains so it never rains in Lima and the humidity creates an overcast sky). I think the next thing that hit us all was the unappealing sight of the shanty towns all in different stages of construction. The higher up the mountain side the poorer the shanty town usually built of plywood, cardboard and tyres, the tyres help stop the sandy ground from moving. For people working two extra wages per year are paid July & December – July’s pay is normally used for buying blocks and December’s for the sand and cement, hence the various stages of building on the lower levels.
The Anglican church in Peru is thriving and new churches are opening, where there is a church there is always a school or community activity attached such as a feeding station or sewing group or play centre all funded by the Anglican church. Our churches throughout the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar provided us with funds to purchase paint and materials needed for the projects we undertook, and funds that were left over donated to the Diocese of Peru to enable their work to continue. Each team member was completely self - funded.
We painted classrooms in various schools all with brightly coloured enamel paint because some of the class rooms have no windows, also the inside and outside of a church/school and rooms at the Diocesan offices.
All the children in the schools are given a hot meal each day they attend, which is usually three days a week and each child has their own toothbrush, soap and towel. Considering the conditions some of these children live in it was surprising to see how clean and smart they all were.
We visited one feed station high up the mountains where the church provides a breakfast and a hot meal for up to 150 people a day. A government agency supplies the food but the centre has to pay for gas, water and cooking utensils, the staff and their children get their meals for free, everyone else paying 1 sole (25c) a day.
The Anglican Church also support a disabled centre where three therapists work with children with disabilities. We saw them working with an autistic girl, a boy with speech difficulties and a toddler who had been born to a 15yr old and had been placed in a baby bouncer, her legs hadn’t developed correctly. How the church finds the money to pay these therapists is marvellous, as parents cannot contribute and some walk miles to be able to receive these treatments.
A sewing centre has been set up in one of the churches were they teach the women to help themselves by making the most beautiful wall hangings, Christmas decorations
All the children in the schools are given a hot meal each day they attend, which is usually three days a week and each child has their own toothbrush, soap and towel. Considering the conditions some of these children live in it was surprising to see how clean and smart they all were.
We visited one feed station high up the mountains where the church provides a breakfast and a hot meal for up to 150 people a day. A government agency supplies the food but the centre has to pay for gas, water and cooking utensils, the staff and their children get their meals for free, everyone else paying 1 sole (25c) a day.
The Anglican Church also support a disabled centre where three therapists work with children with disabilities. We saw them working with an autistic girl, a boy with speech difficulties and a toddler who had been born to a 15yr old and had been placed in a baby bouncer, her legs hadn’t developed correctly. How the church finds the money to pay these therapists is marvellous, as parents cannot contribute and some walk miles to be able to receive these treatments.
A sewing centre has been set up in one of the churches were they teach the women to help themselves by making the most beautiful wall hangings, Christmas decorations
