30th March 2009
Finally got something from our architect today and managed a conversation with him over the phone - wonders will never cease. We're now talking about May for building though, which is somewhat disheartening. One family has now asked about how they go about finding someone else to do the building for them. They are fed up! At least we have a roof over our heads, but we also know where they are coming from.

27th March 2009
A leaders' meeting tonight (always a joyous occasion). Mostly very dull, though social action was again a topic of conversation. When asked, I disclosed that we felt very alone in the role and this was greeted with statements about how the church wasn't ready (and wouldn't be for sometime) and that no-one wants to think outside themselves and their needs at the moment. We agree, but it does rather call into question why we are here!

26th March 2009
Time for those words... We covered a lot of ground today in our pastoral meeting and some of it was good (other parts weren't). He accepted some of the difficult pointers I had to raise, but also went on the offensive and criticised us too. We're to have a meeting on the 4th April with him and Pepe, President of the Baptist Convention of Peru, and Margaret and he's apparently got a long list of things that he wants to complain about about us, so we're now looking forward to that one! Actually, we are, because it's going to be a time to set the record straight and really try and find a solution to the problems that we've been experiencing and the lack of support we're receiving. This was highlighted in the meeting when I asked what he would have us do in our social action role within the church. Basically, it boiled down to him wanting us to provide food and such like for people in the church who didn't have enough and, if we couldn't do it, to ask our rich friends overseas to provide it. Not exactly the kind of sustainable development we had in mind!!

22nd March 2009
My turn to preach again, but it was a difficult night all round. Both the message and the time of singing were met with barely any response. Partly this is due to the fact that I'm difficult to understand (given my Spanish), but it was a strange atmosphere and the fact that the Pastor seems to think that if he's not up the front then he can do what he likes, doesn't really encourage the rest of the congregation to pay much attention either. Words will be had...

21st March 2009
Had lunch and spent the afternoon with a local pastor with his ear to the ground in the area of the rural community that we might start working with more. Went to meet the only church in the area and heard that they have a social vision of a long-term youth hostal and a school. Not too much else seems to be happening in the area though, so sounds like there would be room for us to do something too, if we so decided...
In the evening went to talk with a local family who are experiencing difficulties (drunkness, violence and a general lack of communication between everyone). We had a long chat with them and it went really well - Dad and daughter have now reconciled their differences and we've also encouraged them to set aside some time together to be family (it is crazy the kind of hours they do).

20th March 2009
Spent all afternoon today in a budget meeting with the Pastor and the Treasurer of our church. The idea was to teach a little common sense in terms of what is actually possible with the (very low) levels of income we receive and to show that if we put all our eggs in one basket, it means that other areas have to miss out. After approaching 4 hours of this meeting, I think that this was understood, which is an achievement. I also managed to get them to agree that as a church we should be thinking about our future and saving some money towards it - again, an achievement. Overall, however, it has to be said that the meeting was somewhat of a disappointment for me. We were intially invited to a church that was said to be anxious to start social action work after the earthquake. This has proved not to be the case, so we've been reassured that this remains the vision of the Pastor. We've not been convinced up to now, given the levels of support we've received and if the old maxim "put your money where your mouth is" is to be believed it is clear that there is no concern for social action (I was even asked to remove it as an item from my budget sheet) and only concern to put on big and noisy events from time to time. All our available ministry resources are being channelled into this area which, in my book, is a shame and hardly supports our work with the church.
The events after the meeting were also discouraging. A few days ago a family came to the church hoping for some assistance in funding and erecting a temporary home for a disabled grandma. One lady in the church appeared very taken with the idea of assisting them and we silently rejoiced that the message of 'loving your neighbours' was finally getting through to someone at least. We came up with a plan that we would, as a homegroup, organise a communal meal (a common tactic in Peru) and work alongside the family as a way of developing relationships with them and raising money at the same time. We'd do it as a church lunch and have some much needed 'family' time as a church too. Great plan we thought, but it turns out that the lady from church thinks otherwise - she was looking forward to the prestige of having introduced the family to the rich gringos who would buy them a house out of their own wallets. The idea of doing something to help them herself was too much and she didn't even come to the homegroup meeting we'd arranged with the family to bounce ideas around. Just not interested. And, get this, she is (along with us) in charge of social action in the church! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

13th March 2009
An uncomfortable night, most of which was spent in the bathroom and then a day spent largely in bed. It was the same, though not so bad the weekend before, so I think it is time to visit the hospital for an analysis to see if I have a parasite or some other nasty. Rachel also seems to be having cyclical problems, so hopefully we'll sort both of us out.

12th March 2009
We spent the majority of the day chatting with Margaret, who had decided to stay down for an extra day, coverning the housing project and the local situation here and our difficulties with both. It was helpful to have an alternative viewpoint. We also went for a butchers at Fundo Colorado, the rural community where we might get more involved.

11th March 2009
A day in Chincha with the architect and engineer visiting all the potential 8 families we now have in the housing project. I was occasionally embarrassed for the abrupt nature of the presentation by our architect, but generally the day was a success, with plans agreed and there is now talk of being ready to start the building at Easter. The families seem to be thinking that those who need to contribute financially will be able to by then and it gives us the time to sort out paperwork with the local council (to get construction licences) and with the government, to register the building programme.

10th March 2009
Breakfast with the President turned into lunch instead. First off, it seems that there is no co-pastor as I'd be led to believe. There is an older pastor who has been given a helping role, but he's not going to be on the scene very often. In other words, it is up to the pastoral team in Chincha to lead the church. Do I want to be on the team still? Not unless things change. The President equated our pastoral team with a cross-cultural marriage, where we both come from vastly different perspective, but where it will learn to function well through listening to each other and compromising. The fact that this happens in only one direction at the moment is the very thing that has to change if it is worth the effort of continuing to be a member of the pastoral team.
This lunch came after a meeting with the President, Margaret and the architect and engineer of our housing project. One thing we have learnt about this culture is that saving face is critically important. I found it very difficult when our architect started lampooning me for not doing something and blaming my poor Spanish for not understanding when he knew and I knew that it was his responsability in the first place. Still, more important for him to look good than for me to look bad apparently - it is just annoying that the gringo/cultural card can be played whenever a scapegoat is needed. Nevertheless, the President made it very clear that he was unhappy with the lack of progress and encouraged us all to move full steam ahead.

8th March 2009
Had a pastoral team meeting this afternoon which was difficult. We've been told to pull our socks up with visiting people; to manage the cleaning and welcoming teams better and to involve the youth in the singing (when even I, as leader of this part of the service, don't get a chance to do anything, because the Pastor appears to love the sound of his own voice and go on and on and on...) Nice and encouraging! I was also asked if I've decided to resign yet. Not yet, but with the way things are going...!! Actually, I'm having breakfast with the President of the Peruvian Baptist Church Convention on Wednesday and I'll be able to talk to him about this issue - it seems that he has appointed a new older and more experienced co-pastor for the church anyway so whatever mentoring role I might have been able to have by being on the pastoral team would be picked up by the new guy anyway, so my time on the pastoral team is probably numbered (and I'm not upset about it!)

7th March 2009
Had a lovely time with our friends, but it's difficult to be back in Chincha when we know if it had been us rather than them that had had the plane ticket, we could be back in the familiar environment of the UK by now (not that it will be familiar when we return!). Church in the evening was more of the same and hardly encourages us to feel at home here.

1st March 2009
Popped back to Fundo Colorado with Tom and Ellie. With Ellie as a vet and interested in their animal care, it was the perfect excuse to return for a second look and ask some more questions. We've discovered that they are a community on the margins of 300, with each family having a sizeable land allocation of 2,000m2 which many use for keeping animals. We also heard of their plans for the future, which include a church, a community centre and a school.

20th February 2009
Went to Lima to collect Tom and Ellie, friends from the UK, from the airport and enjoy a week in the mountains around Huaraz and Chavin de Huantar. Photos coming soon!

18th February 2009
We went for a visit back to Fundo Colorado, the community where we inadvertently hijacked their anniversary celebrations and had to make speeches alongside the mayor (see diary entry of 23-24th August 2008), to see how they were getting on. They had obviously moved on in 6 months, with some of the families having received garden shed style housing as gifts from the council. It was quite refreshing to hear talk of community activities and people working together with clear goals and good leadership. For example, they had all en masse gone to a workshop on building with adobe reforzado (reinforced adobe) which is the technique that we would like to use in the building project and then hosted a second workshop in their own community. They are also going to receive the basic services (water, sewage and electricity) sometime in the next year or two and are currently talking with the council so that they get the title deeds for their land too. We're wondering if they are a community that we could work with in the future.

16th February 2009
Got another family registered with Techo Propio this morning - their grant should come out next week and that will mean we have 7 families in the housing project again.
The afternoon was a bit more difficult, since we had a pastoral meeting. I could hardly believe my ears when the Pastor started lecturing me on how we needed to mix things up a bit in the services (after last night was, at last, different); how I had not done as I should by handing over to him to collect the offering (not that I was told to); how he should have time to 'play' his sunday school choruses (when he can't sing or play guitar and this is hardly mixing it up seeing as we get them ad nauseum) and how when we preach people don't understand our Spanish and we speak over people's heads (despite people in the church telling us otherwise and actually asking when we're going to preach so that they can make sure they are there, since they find they learn from us). Not a word of thanks for stepping in last night!
This was then followed up with a lecture about the singing (which he appointed me leader of) and how I should be involving the youth in it (when yesterday was our first time at the front ourselves; when the youth don't come to church and don't sing at their youth group; when there is no-one in the youth who actually can sing and when we've only got one microphone anyway). Apart from that, I thought, it was a cracking idea.
Then came the moment when Rachel resigned. He responded badly to her explanation and ended up telling us that we weren't really doing what he expected of us and weren't up to scratch anyway. Just what we needed to hear and really sets things off nicely for this period of time when I too am considering my position on the pastoral team.
Rachel spoke with Margaret this evening and we were encouraged to be encouraged by what had been said to us last night after taking the meeting and to forget the rather aggressive attacks of today, which were probably are fuelled by some insecurity, and forgive the Pastor. Wise advice!

15th February 2009
Found out this morning, whilst cooking lunch for volunteers at a church event (in quite disgusting hygiene standards - the tap water was river brown for starters!), that the pastor is not going to be around tonight for the start of the service and we're in charge - finally, I get to play some songs!
We had a good time. We both played and Rachel spoke and we both had people at the end tell us how wonderful it was. One girl said that she'd loved the music and then went on to say it sounded just like being in a disco - not sure if that was a compliment or not!! It was certainly something different from the usual fare and, I think, well received.

13-14th February 2009
2 days of important meetings in Lima. Firstly, we got to speak to the elusive Pastor Pepe, President of the Peruvian Baptist Convention and also Pastor of the mother church for the one in Chincha. We had a long chat about the housing project, the church / community centre building project and church life in general. We were listened to and the upshot of it all is that we've been given licence to take a bit more control of things in the housing project and run it as a Convention project, not as a local church project (though they can still be involved if they want). This is, potentially, very helpful. We also have agreed to pray for a few weeks about the church / community centre building project since some major decisions have to be made (like where to build and how!) and we had a very useful chat about our responsibilities in the Chincha church. Rachel is now going to resign from the pastoral team and I am certainly considering the same course of action given that our focus may end up lying elsewhere.
We also managed to meet up with an architectural friend, Jaime, and his fiance, Anna, for lunch and had a nice time with them. It might not have been quite so nice for them, however, since we may possibly have gone on about the housing project and the church / community centre building project a little too much!

12th February 2009
Heard that another Entidad Tecnica (constructor) is holding a public meeting to try and get people from Pilar Nores, one of our target communities, to sign up with them. While this would take people away from our project, we don't mind so long as the Entidad is going to do a good job. Sadly, because the margins using this government scheme are so low, we have heard of numerous examples of companies cutting corners (in a dangerous way) to make more money. I went to the meeting to hear what this company had to say, but they didn't turn up and I got talking to a group of neighbours instead and explaining the scheme. They want to try and register themselves for our scheme.
One of them had a piece of paper which could well prove vital to the future of our project. Apparently, the major of the area is officially lowering the value of people's land (so long as they pay for the paperwork) so that they can qualify for a basically free house. Great news! I wonder if we can apply the same principle retrospectively to help the families already in the project....

10-11th February 2009
Spent 24 hours in Huacachina for a break away from Chincha (our new strategy to get out every fortnight for a breather) and had a nice time making friends with an English lady who lives there and introducing her to the game, Catan - she's hooked, so I should think we'll be back there with it soon!

8th February 2009
Slightly frustrating time at church this evening. I've been asked to lead the singing section, only the pastor appears insistent on playing numerous sunday school songs first so that, for the second week running, my preparation has been a waste of time. I did, however, get to preach - on worship - and I think that went down well, even if I got a conspicuous lack of help in what I was trying to do.

7th February 2009
Another positive development - we've been given assurances by the council that mean land prices don't automatically rise when terrain is subdivided. This means we can confidently give advice to our families on how to subdivide their land (if they wanted to give some to a child for example) so that they create a plot of land of sufficiently low value that they get their house free.

5th February 2009
A tough night - we simply tried to make some biscuits and play a simple game as something social to relax with as a homegroup, but it was a frustrating evening and brought home to us (once again!) how spending time together in community is just so counter-cultural here - the locals don't seem to know how to socialise, which makes building relationships hard.

3rd February 2009
We've been stalling on the project whilst we waiting on the architect to come and properly visit the families, draw some plans, explain them to the families and get agreement over them. We're also going to let him be the one to explain the most recent change in costs since we're fed up with being his whipping boys.
There is, however, a positive development. We heard today that a new building materials supply firm is in town. They're a Chilean company and the equivalent of B&Q or Homebase and, most importantly, are charging about 30% for some crucial materials (bricks and iron rods for example). Hopefully this means that, while families might have to pay for their house, we can give them a bigger one at the end of the day.

29th January 2009
We finally managed to spend some time talking with HQ back in the UK today about our situation. They were good at listening and, in fact, we're going to try to have some regular contact with them, but unable to really supply any solutions (understandably since they're in the UK) apart from suggesting that we lower our expectations to avoid getting so frustrated with everything - building projects and church to name but two things. Really, we're waiting until the second week in February when we can perhaps arrange a meeting with the Peruvian Baptist Convention president and discuss our situation here and agree to make some practical changes to the way in which we do things, for the sake of our sanity. It is necessary, before we burn out.

27th January 2009
We said goodbye to Katie today, which was very sad. It's been great to have her around and have someone to share the experience with. We saw her on her way by going to Pisco for lunch, but before we got to the restaurant we decided to stop in an have a look at this new catholic church that is being built out of bamboo. It's quite special. What's more, we got invited inside for a close look and, what's more, we happened to be there at the same time as one of the other Peruvian architects I've previous met was also there for a look around. Turns out that he's been busy with plans to build houses in bamboo in the rural sector and Techo Propio are about to launch a new scheme to this effect. Perhaps we'll be able to do something in Fondo Colorado... Maybe, we also might be able to do something in bamboo for the new church centre and work with this architect. I've a hunch that it might prove easier (not least because of the distance involved) that working with the one that we've got for the house building project.

26th January 2009
Katie and I went filming today with one of our families - we want to try and document the story of their house (before and after) for their sake (we can make a little DVD for them when the project is over), but also for to collect material that we could use in any promotional DVD in the future to attract other donors to the project

24th January 2009
Margaret arrived to give us some much needed moral support and was then followed by architect's brother. In the 3 hours he had allotted to being in Chincha we managed to see 3 of our 6 families and then tagged another one on the end before he had to go. It's basically clear that the plans are exactly the same ones as we saw weeks ago; that they bear very little resemblance to what the families had put down on paper in their design workshop and that they bear precious little resemblance to the reality of their land. Some families, for example, need a passageway to lead from front to back, but the design covers the whole width!! All very disappointing for the families and us working on the ground...
Margaret and I will visit one of the remaining 2 families tomorrow, but the last one will have to wait as the architect even has yet to do any plan for her.

23rd January 2009
A new development and not a good one. Our architect has, today, revealed that there is a minimum cost of construction of new houses (a national rule) and this means that families we (and he!) originally told would be asked to pay little or nothing at all for their new house will now need to pay the equivalent of £750. This is equal to paying 20% of the value of the whole house and is as reachable for the families we're building for as it would be for first-time buyers to put down a 20% deposit on their new house in the UK - in other words, practically impossible. We have a big problem! Not for the first time, we are thinking about pulling the plug on the whole project. I am really, really not looking forward to having to break this news to the families. We have built solid relationships with them, but I will feel so ashamed to have unwittingly led them on and have been part of something that raises expectations only to dash them so cruelly.
I've also badly pulled a groin muscle playing football tonight, so not a good day all round (and I'm not going to even mention the taxi breakdown)

22nd January 2009
News of an impending visit from the architect's brother - better than no-one! - to explain the plans to the families. Should be here in 2 days time, but will only be flying through, so hopefully there will be enough time to do all that is necessary.

19th January 2009
A telephone conversation today established that the architect and engineer probably won't be coming for at least another week. I don't know whether we'll have really developed patience by the time we leave Peru, or whether we'll have just used it all up!

12th January 2009
We've heard by word of mouth that our engineer is going to come next week to present the plans to the families and go through contracts with them - progress at last! So, it's only taken 2.5 months since our design workshop for plans to reach families (though this is not all that's been happening in this intervening time) - no wonder than one of them told us today that they are feeling quite discouraged about the project. We are too!

11th January 2009
We went round to Daniel's house today for lunch and took trifle with us - which was a big hit! We also used the opportunity to interview them and hear about their housing and earthquake story, some of which we'll hopefully be able to use to put together a promotional video and attract more families and more donors to the project.
My turn to preach again at church and, this time, on one of my alltime favourite passages - Luke 4:18-19. I think the church might have found it engaging material too, since I only counted 2 people who fell asleep (which is good!). We also recorded it, so that I can improve my preaching and spanish in the future, but it does mean we have a copy of it on DVD if anyone wants it!

9th-10th January 2009
Popped down to Huacachina with Katie for our day off and introduced her to sandboarding. Rather bizzare following morning since Rachel got heat exhaustion after trying to sandboard under extreme sun and the hotel where we were staying was inundated with about 20 girls who were modelling new swimwear!

7th January 2009
After easing our way back into Chincha life, we celebrated our wedding anniversary at a local hotel with a pool in which we were able to have a dip after having a lovely lunch and time to let our dinner go down over a game of Catan. Bliss!

4th January 2009
We managed to get an afternoon bus that was non-stop to Lima, but which agreed to drop us in Chincha after the mix-up yesterday. A pleasant journey in the end.

3rd January 2009
Together with Katie, who has decided to come and spend some time with us in Chincha, we went to the bus station to get our bus back north and found that, despite our reservation, they'd decided to replace our bus (the type with extra legroom) for a coach (the one where there is no legroom to speak of). Absolutely impossible to do a long journey under those conditions, so there was nothing for it but to head back to our friends' house and try again tomorrow.