Today was our first full day in Chimbote. Full isn’t even the word to describe it. It seemed like four days crammed into one. This morning Father Jack took us on a walking tour of his parish. We were greeted with dirt streets, garbage and stray dogs (covered in disease) everywhere. Jack did a great job of really entering into the community and when a volunteer who only spoke Spanish asked him “Cuanto Anos” which is ‘How old are you?,” he said, “cinco.” Ah a proud moment for a mother…my son knows the word ‘five’ in espanol.
We were followed by a couple of volunteers of the parish (who Brad thought were bodyguards) and one of the church residents, Jaime, who is mentally challenged and has a couple of other handicaps. They joke that he is a ‘ladies man” as he likes to pat all the girls and tease them. Very sweet.
We entered several projects of the church we are here to work for. 3 soup kitchens of which only 3 days are subsidized by the church – the other days people have to come up with the money themselves. 3 boys clubs in which there are members of different gangs – and effort to keep them out of trouble, in school (only a very few even get out of grade school), and to keep violence to a minimum. One shelter for battered women…a severe problem in Chimbote. A hospice for dying people which was the nicest building I’ve been in since we’ve been here. Another youth center in the works. A compound where young men come to get out of drugs and alcohol and into another trade. This compound is where animals are raised (cows, goats, guinea pigs, fish, ducks, turkeys, one sheep and a bunch of roosters and chickens), and men work in carpentry building tables, chairs and other furniture.
By this time, it was very hot and humid here in Chimbote and we were all sweaty and tired, but no more than Jack. The walking tour took its toll on Jack and he begged to “go back to the hotel”…So Uncle Gene took him to get a 7-up and a good rest.
The next portion of the tour is where I struggle to explain. It is very hard to express the severity of the poverty here if you are not here. This I know, because it has been explained to me, but I couldn’t grasp it until today.
We entered several people’s homes in which the floors are dirt. They have maybe 1-2 very small rooms. The walls and ceiling are made out of woven reeds. Their toilet is a hole in the ground. There is no sewer so they usually throw their raw sewage into the streets. Their kitchen is a cinder block with a burner in the hole that they put their one pot over to cook with.
Yet, these people are proud of what they have and greeted us all with a warm smile. The kids would follow us and ask us our names and just want to touch us. They would all run to Father Jack and say “Buenos Dias Padre!!” and greet him with a kiss and he to them.
After lunch and a short ‘siesta,’ we gathered our work gloves and proceeded to the home of people in the parish. There are two families that we will be helping. Their woven-reed walls and ceilings are caving in and so we will be helping to construct new ones. Today we spent our time ripping down the celings and walls. Seemingly easy, until you figure in the fact that Chimbote is VERY dusty. We were all COVERED in dust (see pics below). Jack got bored pretty quick and some of the neighbor kids started swarming Jack and asking him, in spanish, to play soccer with them. To my surprise, he jogged right out there and played a game he has never really played with kids who don´t speak his language. I was a proud mom. The kids begged us to take their picture and fought over who would sit next to Jack.
I have never been so proud to have a floor in my home. And a stove to cook on. And a toilet to flush toilet paper in (not allowed here in Peru). I take for granted so many things in my life and have missed the thankfulness for basic needs met. I have never ever felt like a suburban princess until today. I have too much and give too little.
Jack’s favorite things in his own words: The soccer game and practicing to play soccer.. The meeting (don’t know what this is). I liked church. Liked playing with the kids but got kinda embarrassed when the girls picked me up.
We were followed by a couple of volunteers of the parish (who Brad thought were bodyguards) and one of the church residents, Jaime, who is mentally challenged and has a couple of other handicaps. They joke that he is a ‘ladies man” as he likes to pat all the girls and tease them. Very sweet.
We entered several projects of the church we are here to work for. 3 soup kitchens of which only 3 days are subsidized by the church – the other days people have to come up with the money themselves. 3 boys clubs in which there are members of different gangs – and effort to keep them out of trouble, in school (only a very few even get out of grade school), and to keep violence to a minimum. One shelter for battered women…a severe problem in Chimbote. A hospice for dying people which was the nicest building I’ve been in since we’ve been here. Another youth center in the works. A compound where young men come to get out of drugs and alcohol and into another trade. This compound is where animals are raised (cows, goats, guinea pigs, fish, ducks, turkeys, one sheep and a bunch of roosters and chickens), and men work in carpentry building tables, chairs and other furniture.
By this time, it was very hot and humid here in Chimbote and we were all sweaty and tired, but no more than Jack. The walking tour took its toll on Jack and he begged to “go back to the hotel”…So Uncle Gene took him to get a 7-up and a good rest.
The next portion of the tour is where I struggle to explain. It is very hard to express the severity of the poverty here if you are not here. This I know, because it has been explained to me, but I couldn’t grasp it until today.
We entered several people’s homes in which the floors are dirt. They have maybe 1-2 very small rooms. The walls and ceiling are made out of woven reeds. Their toilet is a hole in the ground. There is no sewer so they usually throw their raw sewage into the streets. Their kitchen is a cinder block with a burner in the hole that they put their one pot over to cook with.
Yet, these people are proud of what they have and greeted us all with a warm smile. The kids would follow us and ask us our names and just want to touch us. They would all run to Father Jack and say “Buenos Dias Padre!!” and greet him with a kiss and he to them.
After lunch and a short ‘siesta,’ we gathered our work gloves and proceeded to the home of people in the parish. There are two families that we will be helping. Their woven-reed walls and ceilings are caving in and so we will be helping to construct new ones. Today we spent our time ripping down the celings and walls. Seemingly easy, until you figure in the fact that Chimbote is VERY dusty. We were all COVERED in dust (see pics below). Jack got bored pretty quick and some of the neighbor kids started swarming Jack and asking him, in spanish, to play soccer with them. To my surprise, he jogged right out there and played a game he has never really played with kids who don´t speak his language. I was a proud mom. The kids begged us to take their picture and fought over who would sit next to Jack.
I have never been so proud to have a floor in my home. And a stove to cook on. And a toilet to flush toilet paper in (not allowed here in Peru). I take for granted so many things in my life and have missed the thankfulness for basic needs met. I have never ever felt like a suburban princess until today. I have too much and give too little.
Jack’s favorite things in his own words: The soccer game and practicing to play soccer.. The meeting (don’t know what this is). I liked church. Liked playing with the kids but got kinda embarrassed when the girls picked me up.
Jack and Father Jack
The house we have demolished and are rebuilding.
Jack cleaning up the house.
Jack with the boys he played soccer with.
This is what dirty looks like.
