Sad news from Puno, Peru...

Snack time at school...favorite time for kids everywhere. Hamming it up for photos is also a favorite for kids everywhere...note the two at the far end of the table!

Since we arrived home last night we have continued to hear about the high number of deaths recently in Puno of young children under the age of five. The current toll of over 130 deaths are related to the unusually cold winter they are having, pneumonia, malnutrition, and lack of access to medical care. Since it is not getting the same news coverage as the swine flu, we are having to contact local Peruvians and the General Board of Global Ministry in New York today for accurate information.

Although the death rate is much higher than normal this year, this is often a seasonal situation for this very poor region of the altiplano region surrounding Lake Titicaca. It is a strong reminder of why we both feel called to return in November to work alongside them to build more sustainable healthcare and educational services. Anyone interested in supporting or joining our efforts through the Methodist Church and Rotary International, please feel free to contact us.

Abrazos y Benediciones,
Scott y Bev

Shots to share....

This is what it's about....helping them build a future.

We spent a final day shopping for scarves and purses to sell through Rotary back home to fund future projects in Ecuador. Bob, is this you making your way back to the van?

Book delivery at an elementary school in Quito....always an enthusiastic mob scene.

Suzanne and David dancing in Loja with special needs kids after their orchestra had performed for us. Very committed parents and leadership.....VERY enthusiastic musicians.


And a few photos from the days before....

Teaching staff in the Quichua school at Inka Samana. Amazing curriculum they have designed themselves, which is graduating trilingual students going on to universities in Peru. They teach in English, Quichua and Spanish.

Preserving their culture is another strength of the curriculum in Inka Samana. We were treated to a dance performance by high school as well as early primary girls. Then the whole community, as well as the Gringos joined in!

Intercultural exchange! Often no language is even necessary.

Maria (in hat) and her husband are the founders and head administrators of the school. Both are working on their PhD's in education, are dedicated, motivated and energetic!

Absolutely gorgeous valleys in this Andean region, but they do have their road issues!

Mobile library unit in Samborondon, small town of Santa Marta, which also has a few final issues they are working out to fully implement.

Saraguro, Loja Experiences

We are still alive and well in Quito. I am having trouble downloading some photos to share of our extraordinary recent experiences in Saraguro, a very small town between Cuenca and Loja. We met with an indigenous community that has a very unique and successful school which is graduating trilingual students (English, Spanish, Quichua) and preserving cultural traditions as well. Impressive achievement and leadership!

We have had numerous interactions and meetings regarding water projects, schools, literacy....today we are going to help set up a medical clinic. I see a load of medical supplies is waiting for us across the room!

We are currently staying with our Rotarian friends Richard and Lani Miller, and others are staying in homes of Rotarians as well. Our days have been long, but hospitality abundant and genuine. We leave for home in just three days.....I will continue to try to share photos.

Bahia de Caraquez Education and Literacy Projects

First of all.....fantastic news....Sharon finally got her suitcase after four days, and we hardly recognize her in her new wardrobe! The kids were ecstatic about the new books for mini-libraries in three schools, and computers in four schools. We were able to spend a little time with the kids as they explored these new experiences. Great fun!

Lee and Bev did a workshop and presentation with teachers from the four schools the Rotary grant has impacted with the libraries and computer labs of 5-12 computers. The teachers were so excited to receive information on how to use the new books, how to preserve them, and also had ideas to share with us. Since they are not yet connected to internet, we were able to show them some ideas they can use to teach literacy skills and motivate the kids, without internet. Some had little previous experience....all were very enthusiastic about the new teaching tools.

Lee felt like rock star on stage at some of the schools! Their enthusiasm for the new books was both refreshing and humbling.

Sharon helping kids using the computers for the first time. The parents are also very interested in all going on!

Bahia de Caraquez Water Projects

This is one of the reasons we are here. Endless number of communities have to buy their potable water and have it delivered, in this case via burros and children. The burros get so used to their daily routine, they can sometimes just load them up with water jugs and they take off for home on their own. Indeed, we did see one little laden burro take off for home by herself down the road!

Three communities, however, have received water systems to allow municipal water from nearby San Vincente to be piped to these tanks. Once the connections are completed they will have water coming directly to their home...and they are so ecstatic!

Of course every visit to the communities to inspect new systems means a lot of pomp and presentations, and many many photos!

The women of this community were a great welcoming committee. Each community has a president, and in this case, the woman in the dark blue top and shorts to the right of the Bahia Rotary sign is the current president. We had so much fun with the Rotary Club of Bahia de Caraquez during the three days we were there: fun loving, genuine, very dedicated, and warmly hospitable. Terrezinie, their current club president is the one with the green cap (a gift from the McCall club!)

Cusco, Peru

We rondezvoused with Arturo in Cusco and all stayed with our friends Eliana and Willy at their hostal/lodge. They also now run their own tourism business, and we highly recommend them to anyone wanting to explore Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Pichu. We took the bus to nearby Pisak to do some hiking around the spectacular valley and ruins there, and also wandered the aisles of their huge market. We luckily stumbled into the Blue Llama, a new artsy and very good restaurant in Pisak.

We are so glad we have spent this time down here before our year begins in November. We have made so many contacts thanks to Arturo, and actually have a plan of action (although at times a little overwhelming!). It is definitely a leap of faith, but we now know we have a lot of support from the church, local Rotarians and others we have met.

We flew out of Lima yesterday to Guayaquil, Ecuador and fortunately in front of us in the mob going through immigrations was the rest of our Rotary team from Idaho! Five flights had all landed at the same time, and it took us over 2 hours to work our way through the chaos. What a haven for swine flu to run rampant as we were all crammed into such hot, humid, tight quarters. We hedged our bets....six of our team were prudent and kept their surgical masks on! Part of the bottleneck was a result of the Ministry of Health insisting on using their new high-tech heat sensor cameras to individually photograph each of us to check for fevers. The only thing that got a little hot was tempers!




Willy, don´t play with your food! This small one-room house had over 25 guinea pigs running around awaiting their fate. Guinea pig, cuy, is a delicacy!

A farmer and his wife in the Sacred Valley, on their way back home to thresh their wheat. The donkeys (keep looking....you will see them) help thresh the grains by walking in a circle on the cut wheat, then they throw it in the air to separate from the chaff.

I can´t take these two anywhere.....they managed to join the protest in Cusco with the locals objecting to the privatization of water service. The whole country shut down for a day for a paro, strike, of transportation services (bus, taxi). It was great to have a walking mall for a day, but not so great to drive on the roads that had been covered with large rocks by angry protesters.

Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley still uses the original Inca irrigation and water delivery systems!

Catching our breath in Puno, Peru

Parades and demonstrations everywhere! They love parties and pomp! We just happened to run into this major festivity that took over the city streets this morning...kids were going in all directions.

This parade of little guys was a celebration of integating early childhood education into the school system. We could learn from Peru!





There were little ones in Aymara traditional costumes.....

And others just having so much fun!

A new job possibility for Scott and Bev in Puno!

Or...our new car?

They do love their pan!

We are not only literally catching our breath readjusting to being back at nearly 12,500 feet, we are taking a day to relax. We wandered the town in search of apartments, found a sinful pastry shop, and took in many parades of children of all ages celebrating their various education annual celebrations: anniversary of integrating early childhood education (sounds like a good progressive idea!), celebration of school sports, and an opportunity for school bands that were out in force. Parents, like parents everywhere in the world, were lining the streets of Puno waving and cheering their kids on. Tomorrow we will go to the Uros Islands and check on the status of a water purification project installed two years ago, and of course check out the big market day.

Rotary last night was an excellent connection to make, although Bev will be the first woman to participate! They have been very helpful looking for a place to live, and we were invited to attend their annual recognition of esteemed senior members of their community who have generously given years of service. It was well done, and we are learning here not to be surprised that it started an hour late.

Thank you all for your comments; we have appreciated them!