After our first trip to Pucallpa, Peru last October, we came back to Memphis with two potential candidates for a clean water system. Refuge of Hope – the school for handicapped, at risk and family-less children and their siblings – was high on the list due to the number of people who would benefit from the clean water on a daily, and long-term, basis… the majority of whom would be kids. However, they had issues with their new well (that are ongoing), which meant a clean water system would be pretty redundant for now.
One of the other locations we tested was Centro de Nativo – The Indian Center – which serves as a shelter for the native Indians from the jungle when they come to the city to do trade… and it’s home to the Bible Institute, where young people and married couples from different tribes come from the jungle to be trained in all things “church leadership” before going back to their villages to serve in their local communities. Last year alone, they had over 38,000 adults come through their doors… and who knows how many children!!
Yep – The Indian Center was getting a clean water system!!
Our Highpoint Church family was incredibly generous last fall and donated enough money to the Pour Me Out Campaign not only for us to purchase the entire filtration system, but also to send a team of 5 of us back to Pucallpa this past February. We want to share our trip with you… but since we felt like we might have bored the living breath out of some of you with stories from our previous adventure(!!), the next few posts on our blog will be photos from this latest trip with minimal commentary.
We hope you enjoy the journey…
Remember Abuelo? Yeah… he gave us a warm welcome. He remembered both of us. Still loved Peet. Still had it in for me… but not as much as he did for someone else on the team!!This is Glenn. One third of the water team.Our arrival coincided with the start of the rainy season… and boy, did it rain!! I loved watching the kids at the Indian Center play in the puddles… even though it messed with my OCD-ness!!There are buzzards EVERYwhere… and after it stops raining, they line the rooftops and spread their wings to dry out. Watching them kept me entertained for quite a while. #itsthesmallthingsThis place is home to more people than I can imagine. For some, it’s just a night or three. For others, it’s long term. For all of them, it’s a safe haven… providing them with community, security, firewood and water… albeit unclean water!!All the kids were very intrigued by us.John, Peet and Glenn (the water team) listening to Tom explain something important. Where they’re standing is the future site of clean water access.One of the children doing laundry. She’s listening to Tom talking with the guys in a language beyond her realm of understanding… planning the logistics of a commodity she has no clue about that will change her life.The boys transitioned up to the roof to check out the location of where they’ll be installing the clean water system.Here’s a broader view of where the system will be installed. See those big black tanks? That’s where their current water comes from and there are all sorts of germs and critters living in those things. Ugh!! The filtration system will go directly underneath them… and there’ll be a pipe that takes the water down to the ground level for people to have access to.Nearly everyone there has a cell phone with a camera. These girls were having so much fun modeling for each other… and then they got really embarrassed when they realized they were being watched… and photographed!!A couple of the Bible Institute students. They found a corner with natural daylight to work in and no kids to distract them. That’s quite the achievement!! See what they’re using as a desk? That’s one of the benches our construction team built during our previous trip. Nice to see it’s still holding up after 4 months of use!!Our favorite John and Robyn in the world!!
