PERU MISSION TRIP: Second Day

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Second Day

What an experience we are having! There are many taxis all around and that is our main mode of transportation other than walking. Last night coming home, we had 32 people in a 15 passenger taxi van. Tonight we only had 19. Amazing! The kids played and laughed on the swing set today. They had so much fun. Most of them had never seen swings before. About half of the poles have been set for the gym set and it's exciting to see it take shape. The weather has been beautiful- sunny and in the 70's every day. The motel does not have heat so the rooms are around 55-59 degrees. We're glad for warm blankets! We wish we could communicate better with these kids and the house parents but we have a few words and the smiles and hugs are priceless!!

Sent from Mary's iPad- Have a good day!

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What We're Doing In Peru

On July 7th a group from our area headed to Andahuaylas, Peru to install a playground and share our faith in Christ with residents of this mountainous area! Team members are Bruce Mejeur, Pastor Jake and Linda Weeda, Tim Scheffers, Harvey and Deb Leep, Doug and Mary VanDerMeulen, Harold Wykstra and Dave Misner.

Kids Alive team have been removing donated playground equipment from several sites in SW Michigan and refurbishing them for installation in Peru. It’s quite a process to refurbish the equipment before they can be packed in a cargo container. First the equipment is placed on a trailer and taken to Plainwell where volunteers assemble in groups to start the process of tagging the parts so the correct parts end up at the intended site! We are working with multiple sets of equipment from several different sites! Once tagged the sandblasting process starts which takes several nights to complete. After sandblasting is complete the equipment is loaded back on trailers to be transported to Kalamazoo to be powder coated to the original colors (have to have it colored up pretty for the kids). Once powder coated the process of wrapping the pieces in protective wrap starts and again marking the location on each piece for shipment. Once loaded in a container with a shoe horn it is transported by truck to the cargo ship then off to Peru.
On the 7th we fly out of Chicago and head for Guatemala City the first leg of the trip. Then fly on to Lima, Peru. Lima is located in Western Peru along the Pacific Ocean. We board a smaller plane in Guatemala City and fly on toAndahuaylas where we will be staying. Once settled into our quarters and we get our land legs back, we will start the job of playground construction and evangelism! Andahuaylas is in the Andes Mountains with an elevation around 3000m above sea level. Peru is known for pioneering Potato farming.
On the 16th of July we start the trip back to Michigan.