YouTube video

Check out the YouTube video of our trip to Peru. 

Young Adult Global Encounter - Peru 2013

DIACONIA visit - May 20, 2013

Went to the DIACONIA office today.  The office is in one of the poorest areas. Carmella said it was nice that the office in this area because these are the people that are most helped by DIACONIA. 

It was interesting to find out how DIACONIA works. It was first developed in Yancast in 1974. DIACONIA is part of Lutheran World Federation and is involved in national development. DIACONIA is also a part of ACT Alliance. 

DIACONIA has many diverse projects. Currently, there are 9 areas that they work on:

1. Micro finance

2. Children's health

3. Nutrition 

4. Environment protection

5. Domestic violence

6. Creating local markets in the Andy's

7. Reforestation 

8. Farming

9. Political climate change (working with ACT Alliance on this

DIACONIA is also working with United Nations Climate change inc. 

Financial support comes from:

- Lutheran church of Sweden

- Belgium government

- CLWR

- Local donations

- and a few more

DIACONIA needs to find other funding, as there currently isn't enough money to go around.  

To support a project, it's approx. $100,000 (American). The CLWR funded project in Casma empowers 300 farmers and costs approx. $50,000/year. 

Projects take approx. 1-1/2years to develop, therefore, they are currently developing projects for 2015. 

2013-2014 projects include: 

-climate change

-reforestation

-seed protection

-preventing water contamination

As new projects start and new ones are developed, current projects continue. CLWR is involved in the projects in Casma only. 

In Casma, promotors help at the farms with education. Recruiting for promotors happens thru Robert going to small towns and having meetings to explain the education offered. He works with farmers who have the least (poverty); 1/2-2 hectares of land. Farmers also have agree to certain "rules":

1. Teared land

2. Soil preservation

3. Avoid soil erosion by diversification 

4. The use of NO chemicals 

DIACONIA is interested in working with mining companies directly, to develop regulations. Today, there are 82 different mining companies in Peru, that have multiple mines each. They are large corporations that have more "power" and $$$, therefore they are able to bypass the Governments and don't have to pay taxes on signed contracts or follow Canadian regulation. 

These mining companies do not employ locals because you need to be educated to work there; the workers are from the big cities and only make $2000/month. These companies also have outlandish requests; example: one mine wants to move an entire lake to another location in Peru because there is Gold under the water. 

Due to this interest, Carmella will be contacting Canadian churches to talk about Social Reform and relations with small businesses. 

Harper in Peru - what the media didn't tell you

Here is an interesting article. 

http://m.thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/05/30/Stephen-Harper-Peru/

Leaving on a jet plane

4:56 and waiting to board shuttle to airport. Wrote on the wall, to let people know we were here!! We will never forget. Thanks all for the great trip. Thanks Peru for the hospitality. 

Last full day in Peru

Went and visited the DIACONIA offices in Lima this morning. It was very interesting. I will post more on it in a different Blog post. 

We gave our extra snacks to Carmella, plus toilet paper and tide sink soap for laundry. It was great to see her smile and enjoy our "gifts". 

After the visit, we went to old Lima and toured the catacombs, which were super cool. All the bones were heads, pelvis' and femors. I wanted to know where the rest of the bones were. Grandma wouldn't of liked it because it was all under ground, in short but rather expansive rooms. 

In one on the chapel rooms, there was a cross with Jesus hanging on it. The Jesus was completely white; that is because it is made from three elephant tusks put together. It was so cool. 

I missed the upper floor because I had to visit the bano. So it's a good thing we are sharing pictures. After, I sat and people watched, while waiting for the bus. The courtyard for the cathedral was full of pigeons. It was crazy. I didn't realize there were so many different types and colours. 

Time off this afternoon. Megan and I walked to the ocean and got Starbucks. It was so beautiful. There is a mall built into the side of a mountain, on the ocean. WOW! WOW! WOW!

Walking back from the ocean and we almost got pick pocketed. There was a woman asking for money beside us and another woman on a cellphone in front of us with a child. They tried to box us in between them and the wall. We caught on, because we are educated, so we sped up our walking and got out of there right away. I have to say that that was the first time I felt unsafe or taken advantage of here. 

We had our final debrief in the meeting room. It was nice to talk about what we expect and hope for the future.

After our discussion, we left messages in our books to each other. Wes took it one step further and said it to us personally as well. It was nice. I'm going to save mine for the flight home. 

Dinner was at a nice restaurant that we walked to. Lina and I split our dinners; calzone and grilled sirloin sandwich. I had a strawberry daceri that was really good but ended up on my lap. Ha! Ha! Oh well!!

Packing now. Have to be down for the bus at 4:45am. Little sleep again. I'll sleep well tomorrow night. 

Sad to be leaving peru and this amazing experience but looking forward to sharing my stories once I get home.  I look forward to my new puppy at home. Then off to Geneva on the 27th. 

Night!! See you soon. I'll keep you posted on follow up that is done for Peru. 

Pisco sour

• Pisco sour
• 1/4 cup (2 oz.) pisco (see notes)
• 1 tablespoon sugar $
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon pasteurized egg whites

1. Preparation 
2. In a blender, whirl 3 ice cubes, pisco, sugar, fresh lime juice, and egg whites. Whirl until smooth (you'll no longer hear the ice cracking against the side of the blender) and serve straight up in a martini glass with a dash of aromatic bitters and a wedge of lime.
3. Peruvian Pantry: Pisco. A brandy distilled from several different grape varieties grown in South America, it is the national drink of Peru and comes in many styles--from smooth and sippable to rough and fiery. (Chile also produces pisco, although Peru contends that the Chilean version is not real pisco but a Chilean brandy that needs its own name.) Pisco became popular in California during the Gold Rush, when Peruvian miners there extolled its virtues to fellow fortune-seekers.

My review: It was actually good. Very strong. Pisco itself tastes like rubbing alcohol!!

Always on the move (late entry)

This has been an amazing trip but it always feels like we are moving. On and off the bus; on and off the train; on and off the plane. Today was no different. We went to market in Cuzco. It was fun. More shopping!!

Met back at the hotel for 9:30 to board the bus for the airport to board a plane back to Lima, to then board another bus to go to Crystal Ray to have dinner at Carmella's. 

Dinner was fun. Carmella lives on the third floor of the church (the attic) and we had supper on the roof. We had a scavenger hunt for parts of dinner. We were given money and sent out into the community to buy one part of supper and use our Spanish. It was interesting communicating with the locals. Body language is used a lot in communication when you don't share the same language. Dinner was successfully bought and prepared. The sweet potato casserole and the salad were my favourites. 

Vino blancho and vino tinto were shared, along with mojito's. Everything was delicious. 

We had our debrief on the roof after supper. We talked about CLWR and its work (I'll share more in another Blog). Carmella also shared her most recent Blog entry.  She has a very descriptive writing style. It was nice to listen too. 

Once dinner and the discussion was over, we went downstairs to wait for the bus. We met a group of men from multi denominations, who were meeting to discuss homosexuality and the church. I didn't have much opportunity to talk to them but some of the group did and it sounded interesting. Even though homosexuality isn't really talked about in the communities, Peru seems to be more advanced and the Lutheran church's more excepting; even having openly homosexual pastors. 

On that note, I'll sign off. Feels nice that we have three nights to sleep in the same place and have all our belongings. 

Night from Lima, Peru.