Peru Update

Here is some fairly detailed information at to what has been happening here. Some of it is older, but better late than never. More is to come later and same with pictures.

Aug. 23-28, 2009
During this week we finished the house at Km. 8. The nursing team moved in and is now set to stay there for the remainder of the campaign there. The nursing team spent the week visiting families asking if they were interested in the health classes to be given for the next two months. Each nurse has an average of 25 families each. The dental team arrived back at Km. 38 after a successful clinic at Masisea. They worked with the manual labor team building the house at Km. 8 and in the lemon fields. Our community ambassadors, Matt Hartman and Deborah Roquiz, have been teaching classes all week and visiting their students. Matt has begun night classes with his adult students and Deborah was offered a night class on Tuesday s from 6-8 pm. The ecological team worked with the manual labor team and has begun clearing land for planting. The project promoter has done various paper work (informs, packages, schedules, etc.) as well as helped the manual labor team. Below is a list of day to day general activities of each team/project workers.

Aug. 30-Sep.4, 2009
Dr. Mathews outlined our projects at the beginning of the week. The manual labor team would be working on three things: cleaning the lemon fields, making doors for the hanger and cutting a lot of wood. There have been at least two workers in the lemon field all week. Daniel and Colt have been working on the doors for the hanger; Martin and Dane built new shelves for the pharmacy; Lucho and Ever have been hard at work cutting wood; Erick, Hector, and Daniel worked on replacing the plumbing for the bathroom which was all clogged up. The toilet now has new pipes as well as a new water pump.
The Ecological team is clearing lanes to plant more trees. However, there has been some confusion and miscommunication that they would like to have clarified. Dr. Mathews would like them to clear a path 3 Km. long and 15 meters wide. The rest of the workers here say that a 15 meter wide lane is a bit excessive and two three-meter-lanes with brush in the middle will work just fine. The ecological team seems to think that a lane that long would take more time than they are allowed if it is to be 15 meters wide.
Josh is doing great! At times he’s a bit stressed out but is getting used to making trips to Pucallpa and buying things for the project. He is coming into his new position well. Thursday and Friday he drove the motorcycle while Andrew advertised at Km. 8. The two were given a megaphone and told to go out and announce the upcoming eye clinic. They announced Thursday at noon and at night for about an hour and a half each time. Friday they plan to go again in the morning and go once more on the 8th right before the clinic.
The Nursing Team started classes this week. Their visitations are going well and they are enjoying their new home at Km. 8. Last Friday night, however, there were some things stolen from their room. The team has now become more aware of their things and has taken steps to make the house more secure.
Aletha arrived Wednesday. The team enjoys having her here and has been very welcoming to her. She is doing a great job of orienting and familiarizing herself with the team and with her job here at 38. She attended meetings with Dr. Mathews at Km. 8 and went on town runs with Josh and Andrew.
Deborah seems to be connecting with the community well. Had a birthday party for herself at school on Tuesday and has been visiting the local families in Yerbas Buenas. She seems to know a lot about certain families in the community, ages, children, birthdays, siblings etc.
Matt is still soldiering on at Km. 8. He has started his night classes with the adults at night and is still enthusiastically working. Supplies were bought for him as well as Deborah for their classes and activities as Community Ambassadors.
The Dental team had a clinic on Sunday at Yerbas Buenas. Earlier Josh and Andrew went to Yerbas to drop off a letter for the president. Upon arriving they asked around the community and received about 5 different names as to who the president of Yerbas Buenas was and where he/she lived. They left the letter with a woman who said the president lived with her. Unfortunately this information was incorrect and the letter never got to the president of the town. So because of this and other reasons the dental team had a grand total of three patients all day long. Their campaign in Santa Elvita this weekend seems more promising because the people there seem extremely excited to have them and have been spreading the word through the community.
In other news…
- The newsletter was dropped off to the printer this week and is expected to finish on the 14th.
- The floor of the dog house is now cemented due to a recent infestation of fleas. After the floor was dry Josh and Erick poured boiling water all over the house to kill any remaining pests. The dogs will be washed by Friday night.
- Poor Curious George (the monkey) had a hemorrhage in his stomach due to the dogs. He died on Sunday and has a nice little cross next to the front house.

Sep. 6-11, 2009
The week started off early on Monday morning. The manual labor team built a shelter for the Gordon Group at Km. 8 before their arrival. The group decided that they would like to stay in tents at the clinic site. Also on Monday, Aletha was assigned to help our team of nurses and Bible workers at Km. 8. She has a lot of experience with international health and has been a great asset this week. During the week she familiarized herself with the group, attending visitations with the nurses and Bible workers as well as helping with the eye clinic.
The Gordon group arrived Tuesday morning and moved into their newly built shelter. By Wednesday the clinic was up and running with a total of over 100 patients. On Thursday, with the help of the nursing team and Matt Hartman, they were able to see over 160 patients. The clinic will go on Friday, Sunday, Monday and on Tuesday they will return to the United States.
The Dental Team held a clinic over the weekend at Santa Elvita a town about 2 kilometers away from 38. Unfortunately, the team didn’t realize that the town would be involved in all sorts of events and programs that weekend in Campo Verde. The team saw around 10 patients. They are working with the eye clinic at Km. 8 with only two people at a time. While half of the team stays at Km. 38 to do manual labor the other half works at the clinic. So far they have had an average of 15 patients a day and have been learning to work without the supervision of Dr. Filman.
Our Community Ambassadors have been hard at work this week as well. Matt decided to help out with the eye clinic as well as teach all of his normal classes. Deborah picked up a new 2-hour-night-class in Campo Verde. She is teaching mostly adults in this class which meets every Tuesday. She also volunteered to teach in-home-classes for a local family near Campo Verde.
The Nursing Team is continuing their visitations and in-home health classes at Km. 8. This week their focus is on nutrition. Tuesday they held a class at Km. 8 headquarters and had the class separate foods into categories to teach them the main food groups. Attendance for these classes is consistent and more than expected. Thursday they planned to have a cooking class. They decided to postpone the class until Tuesday when the eye clinic will no longer be running. For the rest of the week as well as the beginning of next week they will be visiting and helping with the eye clinic.
The project promoter took pictures and documented much of the clinics over the week. Thursday was a long day updating the website with new newsletters, articles, and pictures. The quarterly newsletter is printed and will be sent with the Gordon group on the 15th of this month.
The ecological team was happy to acquire the coordinates for the land here at Km. 38. They are currently clearing a long, and now straight, border between the land belonging to the church and the land belonging to AMOR projects. Later they will plant trees along the path to clearly define the border.
Our team was sad to see Daniel Shin, one of our manual labor workers, complete the last of a month of service here at Km. 38. He left early on Friday morning. The team also welcomes two new members who arrived on Thursday. Jose Duran and Michel Brival will be working on the manual labor team for the rest of the year.
In other news…
-The axle on the tractor broke Thursday night. It was only drivable after the workers held it up with rope and drove back to Km. 38 from the lemon fields. It is currently being fixed.
- The motorcycle is being repaired after a small accident bent the front tire and the shifter. The lights and electrical starter will also be fixed as well.

Sep. 13-18, 2009
This week we welcomed Hannah Rodriguez to the team late Monday night. She will be working with Deborah as a Community Ambassador in the surrounding areas of Km. 38. So far this week Deborah has taken her to the different towns where she has assisted in teaching.
The Dental Team experienced their first full clinic without Dr. Filman. They worked for 5 days seeing more than 70 patients total. Sunday and Monday of this week all 4 Dental Team members were working. They saw 15 patients on Sunday and 25 patients on Monday. There were some difficulties but they learned a lot about keeping calm and patient with each hard case.
During Sunday and Monday most of the AMOR Team helped with the eye clinic. Those from the Km. 38 who had their day off chose to stay until mid-afternoon to help fit glasses and translate. The nurses came back and forth from visiting families to help test vision and keep order amongst the large crowds of people. In total the eye clinic saw over 800 patients having an average of 220 patients per day during this week. It was a highly successful clinic and the community, as well as AMOR Projects, is extremely thankful to the group from Gordon Hospital for their work here.
Matt Hartman also helped with the eye clinic this week. His afternoon classes were generally canceled because of the large crowds that still remained in the building during class time. This week he has continued teaching English as well as History, Math, and even a bit of Physics. He is working on plans to try and stay there with the school for a little while longer than previously planned.
The manual labor team has been working very hard this week. It’s been hot and humid but they continue to clean the lemon fields, clean the yucca fields, build doors for the hangers, cut grass around the property, spread weed killer, and build benches. The benches are to be distributed between the church at Santa Elvita, the church at Yerbas Buenas, and headquarters at Km. 8. The teams work has been evident this week, as was told to them by Doctor Mathews during the weekly meeting.
Andrew has been busy catching all the action happening with the eye clinic, projects around Km. 38, and evangelistic work at Km. 8. The AMOR websites and blogs are now up-to-date for this year. He spent some time getting video and photo footage of our evangelistic team at Km. 8 on Wednesday. Recent projects have been getting the monthly E-newsletters up-to-date as well as Project Finances.
Deborah has been busy orienting her new partner around the towns and schools. She has had multiple meetings with teachers defining work hours as well as class content.
The nursing team has been visiting their families and holding more classes. This week the topic was water. The families were extremely receptive and surprised that cleansing water was so easy. The nursing team also helped with the Saturday program held last weekend. They are now in-charge of the youth program, which had 45 attendees last Sabbath. Next week they will begin evaluations of their families. They will give each family a form to record their drinking, eating, and bathing habits. Each form will be evaluated to see if the team’s work is effective and what they can do specifically for each family.
In other news….
- The motorcycle has officially been fixed after another spill involving Andrew V. and Matt. It is now equipped with new battery wires, a new electric starter, working lights, and a straight shifter.
- Dr. Mathews was called into Km. 8 after the Dental Team spent almost 3 hours extracting the roots from a child’s mouth. The doctor spent around 10 min. getting the roots out and left the patient’s parents thinking he was an orthodontist.
- The team at Km. 38 has successfully killed around a thousand flies by placing copious amounts of fly paper throughout the house. The tactic was obviously a success though more flies always seem to find their way to the house during meal time.

Sep. 20-25, 2009
The Peruvian National Police hosted our dental team this weekend at Km. 30. On Saturday the team saw 15 patients in 2 1/2 half hours. They seem to be working more efficiently and their confidence is growing. Sunday only 8 patients came to be helped. The rest of the week the team did manual labor.
The manual labor team worked at Km. 38 this week. The hanger now has new doors with bolt locks, electricity and a new wall. Many of the fields near the base have been cleared either by weed eating or fumigation. After a meeting last week with Dr. Mathews, the team decided that Thursday would be dubbed a “guys day out”. All the men from the AMOR team left early to fish near Peru Projects. Later they ate lunch, played futbol and finished the day off with pizza.
The nursing team added a new project this week. Every night after visitations, they join with the Bible workers to give evangelistic meetings. They are in charge of the youth that come regularly to the meetings. The benches that were made last week for the series are said to be completely filled with people every night. The health topic this week was keeping a clean home and making a proper latrine. During the Sabbath they teach the children their lesson, attend the youth program at 4, then come back to do social games at 7:30.
The ecological team continued clearing land along the border this week. They are making a lot of progress and are excited to start planting trees along the trail to clearly mark the border. On Wednesday they worked to make a compost box in place of the whole behind the house. The compost will be great for planting extravaganzas later on.
Matt Hartman had another successful week at school. During the week the first day of spring arrived which called for many community celebrations. Matt had a field day followed up by a meal with the entire school. He serenaded the students the guitar he bought locally. He is now teaching 9 classes total. “But remember,” he said, “some classes I can use the same lessons so I really only need plan for around 5 classes.”
Deborah and Hannah worked on classes together this week. With new-found recorders and batteries for the key board they charged forward with music classes. Their new schedule seems to be working well Hannah is starting to make connections with the students as well as the community. Thursday they both taught a night class and later became food critics for “Dia de Jovenes”, a community holiday celebrating the youth.
Andrew and Josh ran many errands in town this week. Monday, they helped out Peru Projects by taking some of their older equipment off their hands. They took the truck in for an oil and fuel filter change and checked prices on posts for the fence which will be started in the very near future. Finances were also a huge part of the week. They both worked hard separating receipts, making spreadsheets, and getting up-to-date with expenses and records.
In other news….
- Josh got bit by Pooty (Dr. Mathew’s dog) and was left with two big holes, one in his shin and another in his calf.
- Tara arrived on Wednesday. She is now moved in and the office is a lot more orderly than it was.
- Andrew W. and Jose bought a motorcycle

Sep. 27-Oct. 2, 2009

The End of a Campaign, The Start of a Friendship
“Gringa, Gringa Gringa!”
Those were the first words Lauren Kelley heard from Dora. Dora had watched her walk up and down the street and wondered why no one had yet come to visit. From then on Lauren made sure to visit Dora every day. The two became friends quickly and Lauren went from being “Gringa” (white girl) to “Laurenita” (Little Lauren) and “Reina” (Queen).
“She has become one of my favorites,” says Lauren, “She reminds me of my grandma, cheerful and loving.”
Over the last few weeks their visits have become more frequent. One afternoon Dora invited Lauren and Mindy Schreven to her house and taught them how to make empanadas, chichamorada, and cocona juice. But this isn’t all that Lauren has learned from Dora and her family.
“I’ve also learned how to be compassionate, how to give and how to be joyful,” says Lauren. “I’ve re-learned what it’s like to have that first excitement God. I see that in her.”
This week is the second to last week that our team will stay at Km. 8. The subject for the week was “Cures for household illness”, something practical and very appreciated by the people here. The group of Peruvian Bible workers working at Km. 8 spent the week teaching the importance of baptism. The first baptism will take place this Sabbath, Oct. 3.
Lauren knew that Dora was having Bible studies with one of the Bible workers Eduard. This Monday when she went to buy groceries from Dora, Lauren saw Eduard filling out two certificates of baptism, one for Dora and one for her 16-year-old granddaughter Milagros. She was so excited to see the incredible effect the entire team had had on this wonderful family.
“Language barrier isn’t important when it comes to friends,” says Lauren. “Even if it’s just with a smile, you don’t have to understand each word to have a friend.”

Beginning to Find a Purpose
Jose Duran arrived in Pucallpa, Peru Aug. 10, not knowing what to expect from his work. Today, 22 days after his arrival, he is a manual labor worker, an English teacher, and a Church director.
He first began working in the yucca fields with Ever Salcedo, one of the Peruvian workers. Later he did other various jobs with Daniel Pua and Eric Salcedo, also a part of our Peruvian worker crew.
“I like the people here because they’re laid back and I love that!” says Jose. “Daniel Pua is quiet but really nice and Eric is always cracking jokes in the Hanger.”
This week Jose and the rest of the manual labor team have been cleaning the yucca fields as well as building the last wall for the Hanger. Jose has also joined our team of Community Ambassadors as an English teacher in Campo Verde. His class currently has 10 students that meet every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6:30-7:30. The roster for this class includes many Project workers such as Ever and Eric Salcedo, Hector and Lucho Leon, Daniel Pua and his wife, and even Dr. Mathews’ wife Shirley and daughter Guillianne. Students from the community include a woman named Bria, and a couple named Lisandro and Leidi (also known as “coconut lady" by those of us at Km. 38).
"I feel like I’ll find a purpose here,” says Jose. “God wouldn’t open doors if He didn’t want me to be here.”