Joel and I left the albergue after the afternoon program and went to my favorite part of Trujillo... La Campina de Moche. Some of our good friends coordinated a small fiesta where they hand out bread, hot chocolate, paneton (again, the fruitcake) and small gifts to all the poor children in La Campina. We were invited to participate. As it goes in Peru, the party was supposed to start at 3. When we arrived, the milk for the hot chocolate hadn't arrived and you can't have a Chocolatada without the hot chocolate. They told us to come back at 4:30, so we went to our good friend, Lurdes' house. We went back to the party at 4:30 and helped set up. However, the fiesta didn't start until 6pm. (This happens a lot in Peru, it seems.) I was able to help hand out bread and hot chocolate and then the games began and the gift giving followed. We were so privileged to be invited to participate in giving to the people in La Campina.
They warmed the milk, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar here at the side of the house.
Robyn in the middle of the crowd, handing out hot chocolate and bread.
Javier, our friend, coordinates the event and hosts it at his family's home.
As I looked at all the faces gathered, I couldn't help thinking about the kids in the orphanage. The faces of the mothers and children standing in line for hot chocolate and piece of bread were dirty, worn and tired. Their best clothes were ripped, faded and stained. Hands weathered from hard work in the fields and bodies thin from the lack of food. Most of them live in small, adobe, one room houses with thatched roofs and no running water. The poverty and lifestyle is intense, but the mothers are grateful for their work and their families.
Many people comment that the orphans at the albergue have it so good... clean clothes, running water, loving people around them and a great education. However, I think of what their life would be like if they hadn't been rescued by the albergue. I substitute their faces in the faces of the people gathered at this small fiesta. The difference is not just the poverty. The children at the albergue wouldn't have been able to gather as family... they would have been standing in line alone.
This Christmas means more to me than any Christmas I've experienced. These beautiful Peruvian people who lack so much materially have blessed my spirit and have compelled me to give more of myself.
