30th June 2008
We had a great team meeting this morning, covering lots of ground. It really made a difference that I had learnt from last time and prepared what I was going to say in Spanish in advance and also written an agenda for the meeting which everyone could follow and see what we were going to cover. Encouraging, since it feels like we are coming together as a team.
Tried out a housing project/community survey that we've been designing for the first time this afternoon with people from the church. It was our first visit to some people's houses and certainly the first time that we were able to ask them questions about their living conditions. One individual stands out. As is common here, the house belonging to the elderly lady in question fell down during the quake and now she lives in a temporary structure of thin woven sheets of bamboo strips and plastic sheeting. She lives on approximately £4 a week, which is all the money she receives from relatives. She's desperately poor and, to cap it all, she has a papaya tree growing through the roof of her shack. Despite this, she probably has the biggest smile out of anyone we've met so far.

27th June 2008
Went to the main square in our area for a large-scale Christian outreach event (there are 100 short-term missionaries from the US in Chincha this week) which, predictably enough for Peru, didn't manage to start for the time that we were there. Despite this, we actually had a really nice time. We just got chatting to the owner of a pharmacy shop and her daughter who were very friendly and bought us mazamora (local dessert) from a street vendor and have invited us back for some tastings of Pisco Sour (local alcoholic drink). Their generosity and warmth stands out in our experience here in Peru so far.

25th June 2008
Very sad day today. Yesterday, a very public campaign to search for a missing 6 year old girl was launched with posters attached to all the public transport. This morning as we went to visit someone in the church, we were told that the body of a different girl had been found closeby to their house. We had heard of horror stories before coming to Chincha (see entry on 21st April 2008) and this is one of these; the girl was found without her organs, indicating that she was murdered in order for these to be sold on. Please pray for her family, for the family of the missing girl and for justice.

23rd June 2008
I've been feeling as though I've been out on that limb (see previous entry) the last few days. I broke a tooth nearly a week ago and, consequently, my mouth is quite sore (seeing the dentist later today) and, on top of that, I've been confined to bed for a few days due to a slight fever, an headache and eye problem and just sheer exhaustion. I have managed to sleep and sleep (and am now feeling much better), but have generally felt useless and bored and it's at those times when you wish for some home comforts (even a radio to listen to while you're stuck in bed). I'm not very good at being ill anyway, but it is even harder here.

19th June 2008
Just said goodbye to Margaret and Stuart, our boss, who came to visit us for a couple of days and was generally very encouraging about what we've managed to do so far. Nice to feel that we've got some support as it would be easy to feel that we're a bit out on a limb here!

18th June 2008
The housing project nearly died a death yesterday, but has been saved by the bell (of a telephone). The rules of the scheme we hope to build under prohibits anyone joining if they have received other monies from the government. In Chincha, after the earthquake, the government has slowly been giving grants of about £1000 to each family (many are registered to receive it, but haven't seen it as yet) and we had been thinking that this would prohibit these people from joining our scheme. It had become apparent how widespread this scheme was and, for that reason, we were ready to pull the plug, but a telephone conversation has confirmed that the earthquake relief grant will not prohibit people from joining the scheme and, in fact, they could use the £1000 with our building project to create an even bigger and better finished home for themselves. This news means that the percentage of people in Chincha we could potentially help through the scheme (but not all at once, seeing as we've only got funds to build 8 houses at a time!) has now gone from probably around 0.5% to over 50%. Result!

14th June 2008
No diary for a while, because we've been very busy moving to Chincha and also found it very difficult to find an internet cafe that would allow us to update our website. The main things to report are that the move went well. We did, after a repack and after having to sit on pillows and hold bags on our laps, managed to get everything we own in Peru (apart from the coffee which we accidently left behind in the freezer) into Margaret's car for the journey down to Chincha and we only had to stop once to allow feeling to return to our limbs!
Next item to report is that we eventually decided to take up the first housing option (see 1st June) and that the area we have moved into is said to be highly dangerous. At least, that was the view of everyone in the church when we mentioned where we were living! More than slightly concerned, we immediately sought alternatives, but no quick solution could be found. As of next week, we would have the option of moving elsewhere, but we are growing more accustomed to the area where we are living and, more importantly, the people there are growing more accustomed to us - the longer we stay the more secure it feels. We're still not sure what will happen, because ideally we'd like to be close to the church and the community we'll be working with, but the apartment itself is nice and safe where we are and we're not sure we could face moving again so soon!
The final item to report is to do with the housing project. We were left in Chincha by Margaret and given instructions that the first thing we should do is use the relatively straightforward qualification criterea to find a suitable family whom we can build a prototype with. We visited a few families and I have put together a questionnaire to use with the community for this purpose, but the job is easier said than done, since no-one's situation is straightforward and because there seems to be a lot of confusion about the nature of the government scheme (there are rumours of people getting their fingers burnt through it). We are now waiting on our friendly Peruvian architect friend to provide answers to our plethora of questions, but the questionable reputation of the government scheme (even though, in this case, it is we and not the community who would shoulder all the risk) might make it difficult to more forward quickly.

1st June 2008
Just returned from two very long days in Chincha scouting out the place to see what is available to buy there. We were encouraged to find that, while it has a much more limited range of good available than Lima, we were able to find most of the things we had on our list if we looked hard enough and long enough. The central market is an amazing warren of tiny alleyways, with stalls on either side selling anything from dresses to chickens' feet! I can see us getting lost the first few times we enter it.
We also attended a pastors' meeting (all 4 hours of it, in Spanish) to find out what each church in the city is doing and to listen to a presentation on environmental damage in Peru and the need for churches to be at the forefront of addressing problems of waste and pollution.Of course, considering the environment is important and must be a factor in whatever projects we decide to in terms of projects, but Peru is a long way from being geared up to address environmental damage. There is, for example, no system for recycling, so it's hard to be 'green' even if you wanted to.
The most important aspect of our trip, however, was to see two places where we could live in the short-term. The first, a second floor apartment (and, therefore, relatively secure), was nice and spacious (we might well have others staying - for example, that group of 7 Peruvian teenagers), but cooking and water arrangements would be difficult and it is quite far from the area of the church and the area is not safe, particularly at night. The second, a bungalow, is a bit smaller, dark and currently unfinished (no bathroom, kitchen or security railings installed), but is very close to the church and in a safer part of town. I think that the general shortage of available accommodation means we'll have to take one of them, so we're having a meeting today with Margaret to discuss the pros and cons of each place and to make our decision. This will largely depend on how short-term the measure would be, because the plan is still that we would build our own house at some point and have it as an example to the community of what can be constructed relatively cheaply (without concrete and brick), easily and still be earthquake resistant.
We also scouted around for land, firstly for our future long-term home and, secondly, for the proposed community development / church centre. This is difficult to find. There is plenty of unused land ('pampa'), with remains of houses on it, but questions of ownership or complications in mortguage arrangements mean that it is very difficult to buy. If you want more than one plot (for the community centre, for example) the problem becomes much more difficult since you need to work and make agreements with different owners.

28th May 2008
Had a really lovely evening last night meeting up with a former fellow student from Cambridge and his wife. We went to an exclusive and rather grand private members' club in the centre of Lima, which enjoys views over Plaza San Martin (St. Martin's Square) to catch up after not seeing each other for so long over a beautiful meal. In that environment, it was very difficult to believe that only 120 miles down the coast there are thousands of people still living in tents and makeshift accommodation.
On the subject of accommodation, there is still no sign of anything being available for us in Chincha at the moment, but we are going down tomorrow for a couple of days to see if we can find anything, because it's in only a little over a week that we're due to move down there. We can always stay in a tent for a while, but the lack of security that that would offer means we (particularly as white Western foreigners) could barely take any belongings down with us, which isn't a very satisfactory option. But, if needs must...

27th May 2008
Heard the exciting news today that a specific church in the UK has given money for a building project to BMS World Mission (in recognition of the money it received for its own building expansion project) and we're going to get some of it for construction work in Chincha. How timely!! Also heard that the Peruvian Baptist network is sending a team of 7 teenagers to come and help for 3 months in Chincha, starting in July. Looks like everything is coming together!

20th May 2008
Well, the good news is that tests at the doctors have proved that I don't have any nasty bug or parasite in my system. My ongoing problems with diarrhoea can only be put down to problems with adjusting to the new foodstuffs and levels of hygiene in Peru. And that's the bad news - in a way, it would be preferable to have discovered a problem, treated it and got on with life but, according to the doctor, I could well spend a few months in this state while my body gets used to what's being put inside it. Ho hum!

18th May 2008
A long day! Visited the doctors in the morning and got referred for tests and then, in the afternoon, we piled into a car for a trip down to Chincha. During the week, when we'd gone to Pisco, we stopped in at Chincha and Margaret was involved in putting the finishing touches to a deal that saw our future church get its first permanent home - a house with a large living room that could be used for meetings while the church is small and with a garden big enough to be able to do something with in the future (there is talk of a community centre, which the church would also use for its meetings). They were having their first service in the new building, so Rachel and I went down to support them. The service was good, although the fact that I was asked to film it and had to concentrate on that meant I understood less than usual! I could tell at the time that it was quite emotional, and was told later that some people in Chincha (including the family that sold the house) believe that the earthquake was a wake-up call to put their lives in order, not least with God. It was good to be there, but we didn't get back to Lima until after 1:30am!

17th May 2008
Been busy with Spanish lessons (5 verb tenses in 1 week!!) and ongoing health issues (seeing a doctor soon to sort me out hopefully). In between though, I have managed a recent trip down to the Pisco area to see a rural rebuilding project. It was really interesting visit. By its very nature, the project is quite rustic and might well not be directly transferable to the city, but it was great to see that it is possible to build something on a very tight budget. There are people, those without land rights, who can't access government money and who would need to build something with the little money they have. Something like this, if it could be adapted, could be useful.
We've also been in contact with a number of architects who work with bamboo and adobe about doing some scheme together in Chincha using government funds. We need to act quickly, if we are to act, as there seems to be a narrow window of opportunity when they are all able to be involved. It feels a bit rushed. Ideally, I would have preferred to spend some time in Chincha first getting to know people and finding out from them what they want, but it is clear that housing is a priority and winter is also coming. Perhaps some corners have to be cut when there are things that cannot easily wait...

10th May 2008
Heard today that a new couple have pledged to help financially support us being here in Peru. As I've said before, we just couldn't do anything without your help and your help really means a lot to us and, we hope, to the people of Chincha, since it allows us to provide assistance to them as they recover from the quake. We're now up to receiving almost two-thirds of the money that we've been told we'll need to live on, so thank you to all who are contributing in this way - it's much appreciated!

7th May 2008
No surprise that we've had a busy time of it since last posting something here. We've been down to Chincha for our first look around, been to Huachipa to give a presentation we spent two days preparing for, finished our orientation and moved house!!
Taking these in reverse order, I can report that our new flat (a temporary measure for a month) is small, but perfectly adequate and in a nice part of the town where we can go out on our own again (hurrah!).
Our orientation finished last night with a great finale - a four man band came to play Peruvian music to us and, in between times, we were given a few things to remind us of our orientation time. We finished off the night with a farewell meal. It was sad to leave, having made good friends there, but we're already making plans to do some things together soon.
The Huachipa experience was proceeded by manic preparation as we tried to get things ready for it. Being an highly evangelical community and having spoken with them about their dreams at our last meeting (see previous entry), Rachel and I decided to use the Biblical story of Joseph to communicate the essence of community development. It was a lot of work and we were disappointed at the reception, but the community leaders seemed to think it was dynamite and want to work through our material at a slower pace with the community in the coming weeks.
And that leaves Chincha, which overall was a positive experience. The bed and the shower and the dust definitely weren't. The dust in particular is awful and for one of the community visits we did I could barely see anything as my eyes were streaming so much and I'm still having to use eye drops now! But it was good to meet our future pastor and some of the people in the church. It was also good to see the city and know more what to expect when we move down there next month. It was generally in better shape than I imagined it would be after such a severe earthquake, but that is not to say that there aren't still huge problems than need to be overcome, particularly with winter coming and housing in short supply.

29th April 2008
Just had a couple of really interesting days. First of all, we went to Huachipa, a largely evangelical and very poor community living right on the edge of Lima. They moved to the capital from the poorest area of Peru because they were persecuted during the years of the war with the Shining Path guerrilla group. We went along because the group orientating us are hoping to start work with them and so we went to begin the process of participatory development (letting the community decide the way it wants to develop rather than being told which way to go). Because of the lack of education and a language barrier (the women in particular only speak Quechua, an indigenous Peruvian language) we could not hold a discussion forum to do this. Instead, we had made lots of paper 'frames', which we used to ask people to identify what was important to them in their community and we had made lots of differently coloured salt dough so that different groups in the community could model their hopes for the future. It was an interesting and well-received way of getting to hear from the community themselves and it is clear that microenterprise is at the top of their agenda since they desperately need a way to generate income for the community. This can then be taken forward in future visits (like next sunday when Rachel and I have to give a 30 minute photo presentation to them on the subject of development - though not in so many words - and their dreams!!)
The next day we went to Carabayllo, a very poor community living on the other side of Lima, where World Vision have what we've been told is one of the leading development projects in Peru. They've been going for 13 years and so the project is very mature. They've been able to tackle some real issues in the community such as anemia (by setting up mazamora - a local dessert - feeding stations which are staffed by local women who have been educated about nutrition) and illiteracy (by setting up reading clubs, which are glorified sheds with a few tables, chairs and books inside, but lots of kids and creativity - we went to one and were treated to an excited welcome and shown a puppet show that they had prepared from one of their story books). It was great to see so many lives touched in a real and tangible way.
We also learnt lots for the future:
(1) That we have to listen, first and foremost and throughout our time living in a community - see diary entry on 1st Feb.
(2) That we have to consider all we hear and see against what we have (even if it isn't monetary) and, for the sake of sustainability, have to consider using nothing that isn't available or can't be taught locally
(3) We and any projects we're involved in need to have a clear identity so that people know who we are and what we stand for (sadly, but understandably, there is a general absence of trust in Peruvian society)
(4) When projects start, we have to set goals and make at least one of them attainable in the first couple of months, so that the community can see progress being made (and learn to trust more)
(5) That we will, at least at first, have to cope with being seen as walking piggybanks (even if we're empty!)
(6) That building partnerships with the community leaders, with other organisations and churches as well as local government is absolutely essential
(7) That, unfortunately, Chincha is the centre of HIV/AIDS in Peru

25th April 2008
Just started round 2 of the diarrhoea, so been to the pharmacy for the heavy duty treatment. Hope to have it sorted soon because we're due to go a a fair few trips in the next week to other development projects and for a 3 day camping trip (not as much fun as it sounds) in Chincha, which will allow us to have our first look at the place. Really looking forward to going down and seeing more of what lies in store for us.

21st April 2008
Having respite at Margaret's flat for a couple of nights in order to try and recover a bit from the week. I've had traveller's tummy (diarrhoea or, as it is more politely known here - 'estoy con bicicleta', 'I am with bicycle (in my insides)') for the entire week, which hasn't been a whole bundle of laughs, while the area we've been staying in, a very poor area on the fringes of the El Agustino district, seems to party every night outside our window and keep Rachel awake! The programme they're doing with us there is full-on spanish and cultural training and while I don't understand all that much with my limited language skills, I still feel that I'm learning an awful lot. It's an ideal programme for us too, since it is run by the wife of the head of World Vision in Peru and so is especially geared to development work, so we're learning all the vocab we'll need for our work down in Chincha. We've found out a bit more about Chincha since we've been here and will visit it ourselves in a couple of weeks. What we've learnt is that it's very hot down there and the people speak very fast (unfortunately!!). There is also an exciting mix of cultures with people from the mountains joining the coastal people and the Afro-Peruvian population that is based there. Since the earthquake though, crime levels have been much higher (a common phenomenon after disasters) as people try to survive by whatever means possible. We've heard some horror stories, so we're hoping that we don't become the subject of one in the future!!

12th April 2008
Finally we are here in Peru! We're settling in well after having arrived three days ago following a long but pleasant journey (for both legs, including the 13 hour flight from Madrid to Lima, we were able to get seats with extra legroom which was a real blessing!). We're staying with Maragret at the moment, until Monday, when we'll go to join a 3 week orientation programme at a project in a poor neighbourhood although the only thing we know about this is that it'll be intense! We've seen where we'll live for a month or so after than and we've also had discussions about life down in Chincha, when we eventually get there. It sounds a harsh place, with levels of violent crime high as people use whatever means possible to survive in the aftermath of the quake, but at least those we'll be working with know that we're going as volunteers to serve the community and not as rich Westerners. Hopefully this news will quickly spread amongst the community so that we won't be targets for would-be thieves. Somewhat surprisingly, we've also managed to do successfully do most of the paperwork at this end that will allow us to remain in the country and we've also had out first (very slight!) tremor! I'm feeling a little lost with the language most of the time, but not letting that stop me from trying to follow and speak when appropriate, even if i do end up asking for 2 Chinese restaurants rather than 2 short-hop bus fares!!

7th April 2008
We had a wonderful send off from the friends we've been training with in Birmingham, with cake and song ('you're going to Peru' sung to the tune of Happy Birthday!!) providing the inspiration needed to work out how to get all our stuff in Rachel's Dad's car. It was a squeeze and there were plenty more squeezes as we said our final farewells to our friends and also Rachel's extended family who we popped in on on the way to Somerset. Now we are in Kent, with our families meeting together yesterday for a meal and to hand over us and our luggage so that we're close to the airport for Wednesday morning. They'll be more goodbyes over the next couple of days before, finally, we take to the skies.

4th April 2008
We managed to arrange an helpful Skype conversation with Margaret, the other BMS worker in Peru who was able to give us some last minute advice on what we'll need to bring with us and also to tell us about what to expect when we arrive. As yet, no language and orientation programme has been arranged, but there is a possibility that we'll go to live on a complex in a poor region of Lima to learn language and culture for a couple of months before heading South. And it's in the South, where we'll eventually be based, that the biggest headache seems to be. Because the earthquake destroyed 85% of buildings in Chincha, it is proving very difficult to find somewhere for us to live. There has even been the suggestion that we may end up having to build our own house on a plot of land that BMS acquire. This would have the definite advantages of not taking up a property that Peruvians need and, also, help us to better identify with local needs and understand the processes and costs involved in physical reconstruction. We wait to see what transpires!

3rd April 2008
After a very early start and a long, cramped coach ride, we made it to the consulate in London shortly after it opened. It was exciting to hear that the visas were there and ready for collection, but less exciting to learn that we needed flight confirmation (which we had to arrange to be faxed to the consulate) and that we would need to come back tomorrow to collect them! Since they were not busy, we asked if it was possible for them to be done while we waited. They agreed, but the wait was 2 hours and the visa stamp looks like something you could knock up at home! Still, nevermind, we have it now and we are officially going!! However, it is sobering to think that the endless paperwork is going to continue when we get to Peru, because it transpires that the visa is only to allow us to apply for an identity card when we are in country and that that has to be renewed each year!

1st April 2008
Woohoo! We received confirmation that are visas are now ready for collection in London. In fact, it turns out that they have been waiting for us to collect them since 12th March (a week before we were told we were still waiting for one more signature!) The fact that this has happened without any explanation just confirms to us that all the timings for our departure have been in God's hands and that it's been good for us to remain in the UK for the past 3 weeks. We're now waiting for news that our flight booking for the 9th April has been confirmed and then we can get on with all the practicalities of leaving the country and saying good goodbyes to friends we've been training with and to family.