Perú 6/15/2010: Last Work Day

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187439&id=580751501

We got a couple of hours worth of rain today. This wasn't the first time, but up until now it was all during the night. School devotions were canceled because they take place outdoors, but by the time we got to the children's home, it had stopped.

Today was supposed to be a bit easier. Here was the plan: Go to the children's home, continue working on installing sinks, toilets, and water tanks, then pay the Shipibo people a visit to say goodbye at 3:30. Then we'd have dinner at the children's home and have a goodbye party for the kids there. Go to bed on time and sleep in in the morning.

Obviously that didn't really work out. 3:30 rolled around and we found we were nowhere near ready to leave the water tank in their hands. Some pipe still needed to be run and the pump needed to be installed. We did eventually get that done, but the sun was already down by that point. Of course, it's "winter" here so the sun goes down early, plus since the town has mountains to the west (and pretty much every direction) that just makes it get dark even earlier.

Some people did get to visit the Shipibos, but I wasn't one of them. Apparently I give people the impression that I'm a plumber, but all I can say about that is that I've learned a great deal about it during the trip. Dinner was a very strange concoction, an exotic dish called Lasagna. Okay yeah it's pretty common in the U.S. and Italy. I wouldn't have minded something Peruvian like Pachamanca, but I kept to my rule and ate whatever they put in front of me. Not too bad.

The party at the home turned out to be more of a reunion. Some of the kids that had been living there a year or two ago were there tonight. They have a good testimony - their mother became extremely ill and was unable to take care of them(and their father was who knows where), so they went to the home. Then a few months later, just when it seemed she would die, she was miraculously healed and when she got back on her feet, the kids were able to move back home with her. It was definitely good to see them again.

Then we had to pack up our suitcases so that they can be shipped back to Lima on the bus - hopefully by the time we get there so we can get them back to the U.S. I have to help get them to the bus station in the morning, so I need to get some sleep now.