Independence Day

July is the month to celebrate independence - for the United States and for Peru. Here, the streets, stores and taxis are covered in red and white and flags are hanging everywhere.

The volunteers intitiated the month of celebration by hosting a party in honor of both countries and Amy's (volunteer) birthday on July 4th. Another volunteer and I searched all of Trujillo to find any type of fireworks or sparklers. Apparently the only time they are sold here in Peru is during Christmas and New Year's. However, Elias (our Peruvian McGyver) was able to find six firework/explosives, which we set off at the end of our party. The orphanage staff and volunteers gathered on the second floor and we all sang our national anthems - even Joy, from England, sang God Save the Queen. We shared a few stories of why we love our countries and the different traditions we use to celebrate independence. We ate chocolate cake (for Amy's birthday,) popcorn and 2 volunteers made my mother-in-law's apple crisp, which the Peruvians fell in love with. It was a great time of sharing the beauty of independence.Now, we're here at the end of the month where most of Peru takes two days off from work and some schools are off for 1-2 weeks to really celebrate. The streets are filled with parades and children showing off their love for the country by participating in traditional dances, dramas about the history of Peru and marching with their flags and songs.

The orphanage kids and staff ready for the parade

City officials and the Peruvian flag

Living history of Peru

Future military

Our kids from the orphanage - marching with their classmates

Octopus - I meant Squid!

A local fisherman made an agreement with God. If he had a good catch out at sea, he would bring his best to the orphanage as an offering. His last gift gave us lunch and dinner for two days! Here's some pictures of our SQUID with Joy (volunteer from England) and Elias, our Peruvian McGyver.

Training on Preventing Sexual Abuse

After attending a national conference for orphanage directors last fall, our own director, Elizabeth Bernuy, was selected to implement training on Sexual Abuse throughout Trujillo. She first brought the training to us this past month and it was a important day learning how to deal with this serious issue and the precautions we can use to protect our children.

Many of the children in Peru have suffered from sexual abuse in their past. It is a horrible violence that they deal with in silence. This training was first given to our entire staff providing them critical information on how to identify the signs of sexual abuse, preventions and ways to communicate with children about this topic. The next day we spent with the children at the orphanage talking about the importance of speaking out against this abuse, how they can protective themselves and building trust with the adults currently working with them.

The most difficult training was given the last day to the biological families of the children who are in the orphanage. Many of the biological parents and siblings, themselves, have suffered sexual abuse. It is a common problem, especially in the poorer areas. People are ignorant of it's destroying power, how to stop it or take precautions against it. Many of the parents were teary eyed as they shared their own experiences. The timidly listened to the training and thanked us for approaching such a difficult subject.

There is hope and a beginning step of healing. The training is still being talked about and there are windows of hope with some of our most difficult cases. Our director will now help instruct and train other orphanages throughout Trujillo. It is an honor for our orphanage, privately run, to be selected to implement this training.

Death

Today, I opened my email and read about Laura Genelin's passing - after a year long battle with cancer. I had Laura's daughter, Morgan, in my 3rd/4th grade class 2 years in a row and Laura was one of those amazing parent helpers and eventually - friend. Morgan, 11 years old, has been faithful at keeping in touch with me over this past year. She sends emails, silly stories, memories of my class and also her struggles with her mom's sickness. Laura sent me an personal email about a month ago, asking me to continue being a support to Morgan and asked if I would promise to see Morgan when I return to the states. It has been an area of immense sadness for me... and point of reflection of our year here in Peru. After only being here a week, Joel's long time, close friend, Justin, passed away in a car accident. Then, a few, short months later, Vickie Miller, passed away to her second bout of cancer. Now, we are dealing with our third loss - Laura. There are never easy answers or ways to console. Our comfort is in God, the hope of eternal life and His never-ending love for us in the midst of our sorrows. It's hard to deal with the losses being so far away from home. We pray for the Genelin family and all those who knew and loved Laura.