30th September 2009
I met with all the students at the PCT Centre today to outline to them the results of our recent financial review, giving some of them the bad news that their fees would be going up next year. I also launched the idea with them of a 'bring-a-friend' scheme, whereby they receive a discount in their fees. All in all, it seemed to go down well.

27th September 2009
Lovely day out with David, director of the PCT Centre, and his wife, Charo. They took us to Naquinpuquio, a local lake, with some pre-Inca ruins perched on the hill above. With fabulous views over the valley it was a good spot for the camera.

25th September 2009
I remembered today why I found coming to Huancayo nearly 8 years ago so difficult then. I went out to visit some families today with one of Peru Children's Trust Family Social Workers. Ostensibly, I was visiting to try out a new questionnaire I put together to identify housing problems and the potential for offering various courses in the future, but the questionning proved to be very emotionally difficult. One family I visited, for example, consists of 6 people living in one room with no toilet and surviving on the equivalent of 80p a day because the husband spent most of last year in hospital with a serious lung problem (and racking up huge debts in the process) and now cannot work. Such a desperate situation, but such a lovely family.
Before heading out on my tour, I went to the PCT Centre and have now introduced a work schedule and new payment structure for the sewing production workshop, which hopefully will galvanise them into action. It certainly looks like they're going to have lots of work on over the next couple of weeks, since the Peru Children's Trust has commissioned tracksuit trousers for each of the children being supported to be part of their Christmas present.

22nd September 2009
Started investigating the idea of starting a creche at the PCT Centre, but it seems that it's just going to be too expensive to run. It's a great idea, allowing single and teenage mums to continue their studies, but the cost of providing it would mean that each mum would have to pay more for the childcare than they would for the studying, and that is too much for our students.
Also have written a draft letter with the idea of targetting local colleges and advertising the PCT Centre to those who are about to leave school. There are 15 colleges where Peru Children's Trust currently have last-year students and in addition there are the colleges that are situated close to the PCT Centre itself, so it should be an effective way of reaching a large target audience. At the same time, I intend to make the colleges aware of the production services we offer (which can include uniforms, sports gear, food and tables, chairs and other items of furniture). Hopefully, it should be a winning strategy.
I also managed to have the final meeting with our teachers and now have the green light to implement the changes, such as to their pay structure. It seems to be having an effect already, since I heard that some teachers have decided to go on a recruiting drive, which can only be a good thing.
We heard in the evening that the flat we are interested in renting is now going to be occupied until the end of the year. That's fine by us, since we wouldn't have to pay for so long to keep it vacant for us while we're in the UK. Hopefully, the lady there at the moment will leave at some point though, since she said originally that she'd be out by the end of August!

21st September 2009
Had a sad afternoon, sitting in a meeting with the Peru Children's Trust's family social workers and hearing all the heart-wrenching stories of sickness, pain and abuse that is happening in so many cases.

20th September 2009
Church in the evening, though only I was able to go as Rachel had to stay in the house to let Manuel in when he returned from Lima. We had a productive time, I hope, touching on one of the themes that they wanted to cover - relationships - by talking about what an ideal husband would look like. Apparently, according to Rachel, I score quite highly, but there is room for improvement!

18th September 2009
Accompanied Rachel to some of her meeting with a language institute. They want her to start work on Monday!! And, it seems that they will assist her in trying to get a working visa for when we come back, which could provide us with the paperwork we need to stay in the country.

16th September 2009
Feeling much better today, but pretty feak and weeble and not much appetite. Went down to the PCT Centre to collect my trousers that the sewing workshop had been taking in, but after being ill they might have to take them in again!!

14th September 2009
My turn to be ill today. Feeling 100% rough after, I guess, eating something bad yesterday.

13th September 2009
We've had a great day with church, celebrating 3 years of existence and we're joined by folks from the neighbouring Vineyard church in San Jeronimo and a few other new faces from the local neighbourhood and beyond. We started with a bit of signing, then played volleyball, frisbee and football before lunch (quite pleased with my apparent fitness levels, even at altitude). Our contribution of quinoa salad when down well. Then, in the afternoon, I played and lead some more songs before speaking for 10 minutes or so about Vineyard and God's view of church (Ephesians 5). We finished with a good healthy slice of birthday cake before returning home to brave the dogs.
Being armed with some lunch leftovers made our reception friendly and even going out later in the dark to switch off the garden lights was fine. Hope that they still remember me in the morning!!

12th September 2009
Out to a pollada (a chicken lunch event which is designed to gather funds for something else - in this case help with some business needs) organised by someone in our church group, which was delicious! Back at the church house afterwards, we played some games and chatted about tomorrow - 3 years in the life of Huancayo Vineyard!!
Back at the house, we learnt that Manuel is going to Lima and we'll be left in the house with the responsibility of feeding his 3 large, trained security dogs, who have been known to enjoy the odd bite of leg. Not looking forward to tomorrow morning when I have to feed them!!

11th September 2009
Back at the PCT Centre again, where the Carpentry workshop also took the news well (this is going far better than I expected!) as did the students in the Beauty and Haircare workshop who I went to explain things to in the late afternoon (in the middle of a massive downpour). I don't know if it was because they were feeling sorry for me, since I arrived looking like a drowned rat, but they also completely understood why we were having to suspend their workshop and they've decided amongst themselves to go out next week every afternoon and offer free haircuts in the park with the hope of trying to find some more students to study with. You have to admire their commitment and it's great to know that we've now got students and teachers involved in spreading the word and doing publicity for us.

10th September 2009
Broke the news today to the teacher of the Beauty and Haircare workshop at the PCT Centre that we're going to have to suspend it tomorrow unless we get some of the students paying. She took it very well and completely understood.
We had another powercut in the evening - the second in a week - it seems to be related to the wet weather.

9th September 2009
Went to town with Rachel in the morning to enjoy a coffee in a cafe and plan the next month of church. It was both a nice and a productive time. Subject to discussions with Elizabeth, we were thinking about continuing with the themes of prayer (by working through the Lord's prayer) and family over the next month before we go in both housegroup and the church meeting respectively. Rachel had a great idea for an activity tonight, which should make things both educational and fun (always a good combination!)
I also finally got a meeting, with the gastronomy teachers at the PCT Centre, to discuss my proposed changes to their pay, student recuitment and how they use their spare time at the centre for production purposes. Very relieved to report that the meetings all went fine and we actually very productive. I've asked them to come up with production ideas by the end of the month and, in the meantime, they're going to be searching out winning recipes for the new Mill Workshop cookbook that I've commissioned. If anyone out there has recipes that involve wheat, barley, quinoa, porridge oats and wheat, corn or soya flour then please e-mail them in for a chance to feature in the publication.
Housegroup went really well in the evening - they loved Rachel's activity of thinking of characteristics of God starting with each letter of the alphabet and we had a good chat about recognising who God is and that being a motivation to pray.

8th September 2009
Another cancelled meeting - this time through illness. Doesn't look like being that productive a week!

7th September 2009
A frustrating day as far a work goes, with the other half of my meeting not turning up in the morning. Still, plenty else to do!
Got to chat to Mum (and the whole family) in the afternoon via Skype to wish her a Happy Birthday, which was nice. She'll have to wait till the 7th of November before she gets her present though!

6th September 2009
Rachel ill today, but she did managed to join me in town for lunch (Chifa) with some of the rest of the church. It was a nice time with them, but even ice-cream afterwards couldn't prevent Rachel from missing the evening get-together. I initiated a conversation on the characteristics of an ideal family (with the idea that this is what the church should be) which proved to be something of a talking point and I got back to the house much later than normal.

5th September 2009
Found a Bible verse that seems to refer to Peru - Isaiah 28:20!
Went round to David (manager of the PCT Centre)'s place to watch the football - Peru won! - have lunch and to play Carcassonne, which went down well.

4th September 2009
Lunch down at the PCT Centre today with the Mayor's representative (head of the Social Development department) to commemorate the donation of some bags of cement to the neighbourhood for its road and pavements project. Have to say that it was a little dull (Peruvians love ceremony and I don't!), but it might prove to be a useful time as there was talk of the council coming up with more help. The Mayor's representative also told me that she'd send through a list of NGOs who are working in the Huancayo area. It would be great to know what else is going on and perhaps work in partnership, if appropriate. The lunch also proved to be a forum for discussing whether Peru Children's Trust can work in partnership with the council and find a way to build the capacity of the very poor by offering training workshops (for example, in nutrition and food hygiene) in their neighbourhoods and villages. This would be an exciting development, particularly if the council was willing to pick up the bill!
In the afternoon, we managed to finally have our meeting to discuss my findings after having gone over the accounts for this year for the PCT Centre. We have agreed to restructure teachers' pay (to make it more incentive based); to start a student bring-a-friend scheme with the incentive of receiving a discount and to limit the amount of time that workshops can remain open if there are lacking students. All this should help on the financial side as well as improve the service we offer to students. We're also going to start charging a little more (to get closer to covering the actual costs of running the workshops - but we're not going to start the increases until the next academic year). We're making progress it seems.
I've also managed to find myself with an additional responsibility until mid-October. We decided in the meeting that we need a production manager to oversee all the production (Carpentry, Metalwork, Mill, Cooking and Sewing) to try and improve the service we offer to clients and increase our market and thereby income. That's fallen to me to look after until they find someone else - I shall be busy!

3rd September 2009
We went to see a flat that we might possibly rent this morning. It's a lovely place (miles different to Chincha!) but one that we would struggle to fill. We'll have to see...
With Rachel not feeling well, I went out for a walk with Jen and Nathan to show them the city centre, then the city itself from on top of the small hill (Cerrito de la Libertad) overlooking the city and then 2km further on into the hills to a place called Torre Torre (Tower Tower) where wind and water erosion has carved the hillside into some fascinating shapes. We called in at Parque de la Identidad (Identity Park), which has some amazing stonework before meeting Manuel, Ruben and Rachel in town for Jen and Nathan's first taste of Chifa (Peru's take on Chinese food). It was very welcome after all the exertion! I later hung around in town with our Canadian friends while we went souvenir shopping and popped into a cafe for a drink and a chat. It's been great having them here and having the opportunity to get to know them.
Before sadly waving off our new friends, we returned for 'English night' in the house - Manuel had asked for a small service in English and had invited a few people. One came, but between the 6 of us we had a good time sharing our stories, before grabbing some food and two games of Carcassonne before they had to catch their bus back to Lima. We hope one day we'll get to opportunity to take them up on their offer and visit them in Canada.

2nd September 2009
Late morning, I took Jen and Nathan down to the PCT Centre, so that they can see for themselves what happens there. We had a good time, made all the sweeter by being there in time to try two desserts - cream of coffee and chocolate (for which I have asked for the recipe!) and profiteroles filled with chantilly and honey - both delicious!! Aside from this obvious perk, it was a good visit and Jen and Nathan admire the work that is happening here and the future vision for it.
We went out visiting to more families in the afternoon, including a visit to a family who I had visited nearly 7 years earlier. It was great to see how much the family had moved on with the help of the Peru Children's Trust. When I had visited last time, it was breakfast time and the family of 7 where going to be sharing 7 small potatoes and nothing more. The mother, the sole breadwinner in the family, had very patchy work out in the fields and the family was in desperate need. Now, they have some furniture, have enlarged their house and 2 members of the family have paid employment in the fields. Not that they are problem-free - they lack a toilet. It seems to me that we need to develop a clear picture of which families in the Peru Children's Trust lack this basic necessity and then come up with a list of high-priority cases that we can try and help first, should there be any money available for this.
In the evening, after a visit to Hualhuas to look at woven goods, we took Jen and Nathan to church with us for a video night. After a few technical hitches, we managed to see a film and had a good turnout - perhaps just over 20, despite the torrential rain outside - and lots of popcorn and fun. Jen and Nathan really appreciated the atmosphere and the experience.

1st September 2009
A very early morning (4:30) as we tried to find the best price for our journey to Quito next month (the cheaper flights are found in the middle of the night). Eventually, with the help of Rachel's Dad in the UK, we managed to book for £475 which we are fairly happy with and it will give us 2 weeks with Rachel's folks in Ecuador.
We welcomed a Canadian couple, Jen and Nathan, to Huancayo today. They have brought over medical supplies for the Medical Centre at the PCT Centre. They're absolutely shattered after travelling for over 24 hours to get here, so we haven't had too much time with them yet, but we did visit some families in San Jeronimo, a nearby small town, in the afternoon. We visited on family, in particular, who are in a fairly desperate situation, with a single room hut (with plastic walls) serving 6, although there is no room for one of the lads to sleep there. They also have a stick and cloth toilet which is in desperate need of replacing and only manage to shower (under a bottle of sun-warmed water) once a month. The nurse visiting with us, spoke of their malnutrition, but also the psychological problems the children have from a lack of care (the mother walked out on the family and the father is often absent looking for work). We might be able to think in terms of helping them with their housing and toilet situation, depending on finances.

31st August 2009
Feeling a fair bit better today so went to the meeting to decide on colours for the uniform of those attending the PCT Centre - we have chosen orange, dark blue and white as the colour combinations.
While I was out, Rachel got a call from someone at church to ask how I was - really nice to feel loved and part of a family here.

30th August 2009
Feeling fairly under the weather today - absolutely drained, raging sore throat and tummy trouble. Lots of rest.

24th August 2009
We've managed to go backwards today - despite the fact that over 50% of the students opted for the combination of midnight and steely blue, there are some teachers who are unhappy with the selection. We have eventually decided to open up the process again and give anyone at the PCT Centre the chance to recommend colours during this week. We will decide (again) next Monday.
In the meantime, we have established that the internal market for uniforms will provide about 4 to 5 months work to the sewing production workshop, which buys me a little time to try and find ways to make it financially sustainable.

23rd August 2009
Back at 9am to Elizabeth's for a church fasting meeting, a joint meeting with the Vineyard church at San Jeronimo. We didn't start to 10:30 (Vineyard time seems to be universal!!) and there was no real agenda, but we had a good chat, sang a few songs, prayed for each other and then broke the fast together with the Lord's supper and then a small lunch. Felt like a real family time together.

22nd August 2009
After lunch with Elizabeth from church and her family, we went to Parque de la Identidad Huanca, a small park in the west of the city that is famed for its stonework. It certainly was interesting (and we will be returning with a camera!), but it was a lovely social time with Elizabeth and some of the younger members of the church.

21st August 2009
An interesting morning in the city centre. We went with Karina, a girl from church who is interested in studying gastronomy at the PCT Centre, to a fair that our trainee chefs had opted to be involved in, promoting foods made from local, healthy products. It was good to see the enthusiasm with which they went about their business and Karina had a couple of useful chats with staff members about the possibility of studying with us.
We also have the results of our student survey into uniform colours - midnight and steely blue is the preferred combination, along with detailing in silver. Now, we just have to settle on some designs!

19th August 2009
Quite a productive day - finished my general review of the accounts for 2009 and now have a much clearer idea about what ground needs to be made up in order to have a financially sustainable PCT Centre. We also decided on some options for uniform colours, which will be presented to the students tomorrow for them to vote.
In the evening, we went to church homegroup, which was great. A few new faces (the gringo effect hasn't worn off yet!!) and we had a really good session, led by Rachel, discussing prayer and then doing it. Feel like we're making a bit of headway in terms of getting to know people too. Once again, it was very much left to us to lead the group and we need real guidance as to know how much we should commit ourselves to.

18th August 2009
Went with Rachel to the centre today to speak to a language school there that is interested in her services. It was an interesting time with them, but it is by no means clearcut whether Rachel will work there. First of all, there is the question of a visa. We had thought that the company would need to invite Rachel and arrange for a working visa, but they do not offer this service. Secondly, they would want a minimum commitment of 15 hours per week teaching time, only in the late afternoons and evenings, which would rather put pay to Rachel's involvment in any church activities and also mean that she'd not be able to teach English at the PCT Centre as they would like her to.

17th August 2009
Had lunch today with Elizabeth who runs our church which was interesting. With the church basically consisting of her family, she has a really hard time being their nominal leader. We also heard a bit more about her family background. It is by no means unique in this part of the world, but there is a clear need for emotional and spiritual healing. Hopefully, in a way, church will get quite messy as people find the freedom to begin processing some of their past. With this happening, it wasn't the time to address the question of church leadership, but maybe that is for the best, as it gives us more time to get to know the church and for them to get to know us too.

16th August 2009
Another one of those see-how-many-people-you-can-get-in-one-car moments as the majority of people in our small church crammed into 1 taxi for the 10 minute ride to the nearby small town of San Jeronimo where there is another Vineyard church (the mother church). We got a warm welcome, which was great seeing as it was fairly cold inside, with the entire back of their church open to the elements (and the public wandering past). It was a good time and we're gradually getting to know the people in our church a bit more too. Excitingly, they have a social vision and are currently running literacy courses as a way serving the community and also giving people some exposure to church. Hopefully, this kind of thing will be catching and we'll develop a social vision in the Huancayo church too.

15th August 2009
Second year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Chincha and other parts of the Southern Coast of Peru. Still many people are living in 'temporary' dwellings, while accusations abound about how some individuals have done very well for themselves off all the aid money that came into the country.

14th August 2009
Interesting programme on TV tonight, about Social Banking Co-operatives which have been set up in the area with the help of an NGO based here in Huancayo. The microbanks are run either in groups of families or adult or children and teach some important lessons about the value of saving and, especially with the children, building a pattern of thiftiness that will stand them in good stead for the future. It also builds community trust and honesty (which were certainly desperately lacking in Chincha) and raises self-esteem levels (which, again, are desperately lacking). Might be worth investigating for use amongst that children of the Peru Children's Trust...

12th August 2009
At long last - a hot shower!! It proved to be a good start to a productive day, with a couple of meetings getting the ball rolling for another workshop on deciding their uniforms and a finance review proving to be very helpful in giving me a clearer picture of the real costs associated with the PCT Centre.
We went out, in the middle of another thunderstorm, to the Vineyard housegroup in the evening. Again, it was a good time, though it is clear that the stand-in leader is all too happy to let us be in-charge and effectively become the pastors. This is something we need to keep an eye on!

11th August 2009
The first of my lunchtime meetings proved very helpful. I met with the teachers from the International Cooking and Sewing workshops with the idea of helping the latter generate funds by taking advantage of the internal market for chef's uniforms and other relevant bits and pieces. Already, there is an order to 50 cloth serviettes and we shall be having more meetings this week to finalise uniform designs with a view to producing these in-house and selling them to the students. Of course, we have to be aware that some of the students come from very poor backgrounds, so the trick will be to sell at a price that does not impact on student numbers. Uniforms are necessary, however, since being in the kitchens can be a messy business!
We have also, rather excitingly, had buckets and buckets of rain here this afternoon (a very rare occurence for this time of year) and even thunder and lightening. It's quite a contrast, and a welcome one at that, to living in the driest desert on earth!

10th August 2009
Went down to the PCT Centre today to speak with a couple of people there with a view of trying to develop a business plan for one of the workshops - sewing. It was a productive time and now I've booked myself up for lunchtime meetings over the rest of the week to try and make some progress on understanding the situation and taking the opportunity of meeting the majority of the teaching staff.

9th August 2009
My first shower for a week. Here, the water shortage means that the house only gets water for part of the night and that there are only 2 days designated as shower days (Wednesday and Sunday). Unfortunately, the lack of water means that the pressure in the system drops rapidly and by the time it came to my shower (last in the line) it had dropped so far that the heater wouldn't kick in, so I had my first shower here under an icy dribble! Brrrrrrr!!!
For our first sunday in the city, we went to the very edge of town where there is a small young Vineyard church to have lunch with the person in charge of it (there is no pastor at present) and her family who make up the vast majority of church itself. They are very friendly people and make sure that we feel included, to the extent that I was asked to lead the music and preach on our first night!
After praying about it, I decided to preach on Romans 12:4-8, stressing that as a church we are one big family and each has different gifts to bring to the table to serve others, within the church and outside it. I think it was a useful time. We've been invited back for wednesday housegroup at any rate. It was a real pleasure to be part of their meeting and there was a real sense of family that we've missed so much, though that might be because the church is almost exclusively made up of members of the same family!! There are usually about 10 people at the sunday meetings, but since word got round that the gringos were in town, there were at least 20 tonight.

6th August 2009
First real bit of work - a 3.5 hour long meeting (wholly in Spanish) about one of the workshops at the PCT Centre. The upshot is that I'm going to be putting together a business plan to help it become self-sustaining as well as offering a better service to students and clients. That should keep me busy for a while!
Unfortunately, we have also managed to fry some parts of our laptop (electrics in Huancayo seem to work differently to in Chincha) meaning that it is a lot less useful than it was before. All that means that it might result in our website being updated less often. We hope to get some new (to us!) technology when we return to the UK in 3 months time, so it should only be a temporary problem.

4th August 2009
I'm shattered once again - moving heavy stuff at altitude is harder than down on the coast, but now everything is where it is meant to be for the next six months at least!!
The boxes didn't arrive until the afternoon, so in the morning, I took Daniel down to the PCT Centre, where half of their work is based. He was very impressed by what he saw - all the workshops that make up the training centre - as well as hearing about the ethos behind it. He's going to recommend that others from his church in Chincha come and see what's happening here, since they have been thinking along similarish (though less ambitious) lines themselves.
In the evening, to recover from the days exertions, we went out for the best Chinese in Peru and got to see a little of the city in the process. Huancayo appears a much more happening place than Chincha and we're going to look forward to sitting in one of the cafes and relaxing one afternoon with a cup of coffee or, perhaps, a mug of coca tea.

3rd August 2009
We had no problems meeting our friend, Daniel, in Lima and had an uneventful journey up to Huancayo with all our heavy cases (which, fortunately, we seemed to get away with paying very little excess baggage for). Nice to have arrived!

1st August 2009
We made it!! The cargo agency have our stuff and only tried to change the price a little. So, we've now officially left Chincha (as well as BMS World Mission). Can't say I'm too upset to be leaving, on the whole, but I am absolutely shattered...

31st July 2009
Packing up now in full swing with Margaret down to help as well. We haven't got too much stuff, so we should be fine to be all packed up and have the house cleaned for tomorrow morning. Our wardrobe finally arrived (after 4 months of waiting) this afternoon and it's great - done in the local weaved rustic style. Now all we have to do it take it with us!!
We were greatly aided in the evening with the arrival of a couple from church and Arturo's family, and together we managed to bring all the furniture down from the second floor (some through the window or over the roof!) safely and get it all packed up and ready. It was certainly sad to say goodbye to our new friends, Arturo and Martha, but at least we know it is more of an "hasta luego" (until next time) rather than an "adios" (goodbye).

28th July 2009
National Day in Peru, so those who could afford to had the day off work. We went to Arturo and Martha's house to celebrate his mum's birthday with a pachamanca. This is an ancient way of cooking food which involves heating stones and then placing them in a pit around the food before burying it, but it is not very common in the coastal areas (sand doesn't taste that great and you have to place all the food inside metal containers instead). It was good, especially the sweet potatoes.
From there, we went to what we thought was the birthday celebrations of someone in the church, only to find out later that it was our goodbye party. We heard some touching words from people who are going to miss us (and us them), sang some songs and then got covered in lots of glitter, paper shreds and foam! After lots of final hugs and tears, we sneaked round the corner for a bite to eat with one of the families and then headed home.

25th July 2009
We concluded another week of spending time and saying goodbye with specific people with a great day in Huacachina. We had originally planned to go down anyway to say goodbye to our friend Beth, the owner of La Casa de Bamboo restaurant, then we found out that friends from Pisco, Jaime and Anna, would be free too, so we made an event of it (finally having our much anticipated game of Catan!) and then discovered the day before that new friends, Arturo and Martha, would also be in the area with their young family, so it turned into quite a day and a good one at that!

24th July 2009
My final day in Pisco with the Peruvian NGO, Paz y Esperanza, meant an early start. The morning was dominated by a production meeting, discussing the progress of producing materials for their water filtration and sanitation project in which I was able to contribute very little. One of the matters that came up was the question of bad debtors and I think I may have discovered my vocation as a baliff!! I went with 2 others to visit the individual who hasn't wanted to pay his contribution for the work for about the last 6 months, despite frequent visits. I turned up and they immediately handed over the lion's share and could say nothing else apart from remark how tall I was!

14th July 2009
Yet to be fully confirmed, but it now looks like we have flights for our trip back to the UK. We'll touch down on 7th November and be there until 1st Feb, when we have a flight back to Lima. I'm looking forward to this time, but am aware that it promises to be super busy with lots of people to see and also likely to be difficult, to begin with at least, as we re-adapt to a culture that we'll feel we should be at home in, but won't after having going through the process of adapting to Peruvian culture. Will be interesting to see how different everything is - the High Street is going to look different for a start after the world economic crisis!
Heard tonight that our proposed transport for the move to Huancayo is no longer available - back to the drawing board!
Also heard that there are now around 50 cases of Swine Flu in Chincha, with some of the patients in very grave conditions.

13th July 2009
With a recent dip in health, I've been getting tested again for nasties and the results came back today to say that I've got some parasites again. This will be one of the reasons why it will be nice to be back in the UK for a while!

12th July 2009
Might have just had our last carapulcra (local dish and our favourite in Peru). One of the ladies in the church fell six months ago and broke her coccyx and slipped a disk. She needs to go to a hospital in Lima and the way to raise funds here is organise a big cooking session and then sell the result. Especially with carapulcra as the dish on the menu, we were only too happy to oblige!

5th July 2009
Illness cancelled our trip to see Manuel, the head of Peru Children's Trust in Huancayo, but we were able to speak on the phone and it is now confirmed that we will be heading up there for a couple of years to work as volunteers. We'll have an initial look-see period from August to mid-October, then 2.5 months back in the UK to see friends, family, visit our supporting churches and also to see if we can find some financial support for what will be a fully self-funding placement. We'll head back in the new year until summer 2011.

2nd July 2009
Wow! What a surprise!! We had been invited round to some new friends for dinner and been promised a surprise. It turns out that this family (who are not rich by any means, with 5 of them sleeping in 1 room) had decided to buy us a brand new 21" television!!! We are speechless, and not just because of the Spanish! Such amazing generosity.