Luz Divina... November Campaign

I walk around the curtained off corner towards pharmacy as Kristin comes running in the door. "She had the baby… I need vitamin K, 2 Kelly clamps, a scalpel…uh, 25 gauge needle, 1 ml syringe…" and the list continues as I call for Kaitlin to help us scour the "pharmacy" (really a small curtained off 4x6 section of a school building) for the needed supplies. Before we knew it Emily was dashing in yelling that she needed the kelly's and scapel stat. We hand them over and she flies out the door, Anita close on her heels. Half an hour ago a women approached us at the corner store explaining that her neighbor was in labor. She said that she hadn't been in labor long nor had her water broken, meaning there was still time… or so we thought. Jenni, Emily and Kristin went to the house to check on the mother's progress. Four contractions later, and out came a beautiful baby girl… way ahead of any of the needed preparations, leaving us to run around like crazy trying to find the supplies. This was the second of two births during this clinic… such an amazing experience. During the first one we had much more time and all the needed supplies. Doctor was there and we were merely bystanders watching the procedure as Jenni delivered the baby. However, the second one we were definitely more involved, and it is so wonderfully indescribeable to know you helped (if even in such a small way as prepping the shots and tying off the umbilical cord) bring a life into this world. Watching the pain fade from a mothers face as she gets her first look at her brand new baby girl is priceless. Now, this isn't a normal clinic experience… after all we have only had three clinic births this year (all girls now with the name of Jenni) but it is definitely something I will never forget, and has yet again reinforced my desire to become a doctor. There are days in clinic that make me wonder if the medical field is really for me. Every time I get handed a prescription with a shot on it, my heart still skips a beat and my hand shakes as I prep the medicine… I suppose calmness and self confidence is something that only comes with time and practice. But, those moments of nervousness are significantly outnumbered by the power of the toothless smile of an old man as he buckles his belt and thanks you for getting rid of his pain. The tears of joy and satisfaction streaming down a mothers face as she accepts the medicines for her sick child make the complaints of the randomly impatient person fade into the background. Bringing spiritual and physical healing is what our team is here for… not to shove the Bible down people's throats or claim our church is the best. We are here to show them Jesus, and the love of the great physician…. And this is what I hope to do for the rest of my life. Whether it be in the untouched jungles of ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Peru, or a huge hospital in the United States… or even if it has nothing to do with medical work, I know one thing for certain, and that's the fact that God has an amazing plan for me, and He has an amazing plan for you too. Let Him use you however He will and I promise you will not regret it. I hope you are loving life just like I am… I have found my place in this world for this moment and my wish is that you have found your place too. The place that puts a smile on your face and fills you with sighs of satisfaction… the moment where you know you could ask for nothing more to increase your happiness… the place that leaves you with one word to describe it, no matter the good times or bad, it's bliss.

Home

Home isn't a building, a country, or even a destination. Home is the smile that I can't stop each time I walk along the road to Campo Verde. Home is the hug from my daddy after being gone 4 months. Home is the longing in my heart when my mommie's voice says "I miss you sis" from the other end of the line so many miles away. It is the jokes in the kitchen about me looking haggard at 6am, and the plop monk makes when he lands on my shoulder. It isn't four walls and a big front door, or a thatched roof and dirt floor. It's craving MaMa's cooking and the excuses from friends telling you why you should eat at least one more piece of chocolate. Home doesn't change whether you can choose the temperature of your water, or if it's always cold, nor whether you have a shower head and curtain or buckets and half a tarp. It matters not if you use candle light only on special occasions, or everynight. Home is found in the smells that bring happy memories. It's the toothless grin saying "Buenos Dias Professora", and Sabbath hugs at Km. 38. It's the question of "Are you ok?" and the prayers from loved ones near and far. Home is more than a place could ever be... it's really a bouquet of feelings. Love and comfort, belonging and smiles, freedom and kindness, jokes and sunshine. It's the letter from a dear friend or a video from Matt. It's the promise of a lifetime in heaven and guidance here on earth. Home is the song in my heart, the bounce in my step, and the spirit with in me. Most of all though, home is the ability to be yourself, it's who I am, and what I love.

Meal Time

"¡A comer!" these words ring through the house and out to the jungle signifying mealtime again at km 38. This is always one of my favorite parts of the day. There are many wonderful things to love and look forward to about mealtime. I suppose the first and foremost enjoyment of a good meal is well…eating it. Food has the amazing ability to altogether change a grouchy mood to a smiling face. Secondly, the opportunity to use ones creativity for (hopefully) the enjoyment of all is another wondrous aspect of mealtimes. Thirdly, the necessity to eat gives a very plausible excuse to stop what he or she is doing and take a break and spend time with others. In Peru meals encompass so much more than even these three aspects, for they represent a journey all their own. So, let's go to the beginning of this adventure, that in the ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States we so simply call "food".
Quick trip to the grocery store? I think not. First of all, in a third world country, nothing is quick, and not being able to speak the local language slows down ones pace even more. When I first arrived in Peru, one of the most intimidating places was the market. People are bustling everywhere among the rows upon rows of fruits, veggies, raw meat, and randomly wandering animals. It is easy enough to point at an object if you don't happen to know its name, but this only shows your ignorance as a foreigner and makes you subject to high prices. So, our first lesson in Peru was to learn market phrases, food names. After mastery of Mercado Dos was achieved, mostly by trial and error, these trips have become less intimidating and actually enjoyable. It is so wonderful to go and converse with the friends we have made in our "little old bread lady" who showers us with kisses, or our "cute grandfatherly fruit man", who always throws in something extra for us to try. These experiences make up for the constantly varying time that it takes to actually get to and from market and the periodical frustrations of shopping.
Once arriving back to km 38 first priority is sorting out the smashed tomatoes and broken eggs as well as making everything ant and monkey proof. Now, it's time to cook. Well, that is if you have already soaked the beans and sorted the rice…every lunch must actually begin at breakfast if the meal is to be edible. Many of our foods here in Peru are similar to what we know from home, they are simply cooked in a different way. Much of the food we Americanize, bringing a new taste to our Peruvian friends. There are also many things they have taught us, such as how to NOT burn rice. Lunches usually consist of some form of beans, rice, salad, and bread. Suppers are usually small and almost always contain cancha (popcorn), while breakfast is based around some form of hot cereal prepared so kindly by the boys in the wee hours of the morning. The hardest part of cooking is the time it takes. I love spending time in the kitchen, chopping, mixing, and experimenting. Cooking is a great way to unwind and release the stress of a busy morning, but some days one just doesn't have time for the two hour lunch preparation. Many hands do however make for light work, and with all the willing hearts and smiling faces we have here at A.M.O.R Projects, no meal is ever a bad adventure.

Donate to Emancipate

A.M.O.R. Projects' "Donate to Emancipate" Fundraising Campaign The Current Situation Could somebody please free us? We are stuck in a hostel room, which we have affectionately named, "The Cage." Spending almost all sleeping and waking hours in the same 8'x12' room, you can see the appropriateness of the name. The problem is we can't leave, at least not now because we have responsibilities and tasks to complete, but it sure would be nice. You see, we are trapped by the necessity of electricity, but unable to leave because we lack electricity back home at km. 38 where the rest of our family lives. Emancipate us! Machete. Machete grass. Machete vines. I wish I had my lawn mower from home because I am feeling like one. Machete some more. I wish we had a tractor. Ouch! Got stung by a wasp. Again. Now out to the chacra to machete trees. Of course, once we cut them down we have to haul them…on our backs. We don't have a chain. Could they be any heavier? Oh yeah, we could use a cart, which we pull by hand. I wish we had a tractor. Machete some more. If we had a tractor, we could bushog the back acres, mow the lawn, haul logs for the carpentry shop, and pull the chicken poop in a cart, all in a day's work, not a month's. Emancipate me! Emancipate. What does it really mean? Freedom. Independence. Liberty from something or someone. Absence of obligation. Over the centuries, the word has been used by various religious, political, or minority groups to represent their desire for freedom from a particular cause. What if 'emancipate' was used to describe those who are poverty stricken, those with physical illness, or those who are struggling spiritually, but want to change and break free from the bondage of life they are currently under? The Plan A.M.O.R. Projects has a plan to emancipate the people in the Amazon Basin of Peru. Poverty, lack of education, health problems, and unemployment plague the jungle villagers. A.M.O.R. Projects' purpose is to found a surgical-medical clinic and trade school to serve the villagers' need for health care, health education and trade development. Through the clinic, health issues can be addressed and treated. With the trade school, useful skills such as carpentry, mechanics, bakery, dairy, and fish farming can be taught. The people can then use their newly learned skills to make a living, thus reducing poverty and unemployment. In order to continue moving towards building the clinic and trade school, we have two big needs: electricity and a tractor. Electricity is vital for the development of industries, on-site administration work, use of quality power tools, project site security, and much more. Right now our volunteer team enjoys a simple lifestyle of candlelit evenings, but electricity is very important for project advancement. Below is a breakdown of the costs for electricity: $10,450-poles, hardware, equipment, and wires $9,000-transformer & meter $1,700- equipment installation $3, 850- wiring buildings/other expenses $25,000USD This is a lot of money to raise, but God is good and anything can happen with His leading. We are setting a goal to raise this money for electricity by Christmas Day! With God's help and yours, we can reach this goal!! A tractor is essential for the development and maintenance of our 249 acres of land. Hauling logs, cultivating, upkeep of dirt roads/driveways, and pulling out stumps are just some of the many jobs around the property that would be made a lot easier if there was a tractor. Below is a breakdown of the costs for a tractor: $28,500-John Deere 5403 tractor $5,000-attachments (bushog, boxblade, cart, etc.) $1,500-transport from Lima to Pucallpa $35,000USD A huge project, yes, but definitely possible. Goal is to raise the money by New Year's Day 2008! You can help Each and every donation, small or large is very much appreciated. To help with electricity or tractor, there are two ways to donate (all donations are tax-deductible): 1. Send donation by mail (please make checks payable to A.M.O.R. Projects and mark electricity or tractor) to the following address: A.M.O.R. Projects P.O. Box 212 Loma Linda, CA 92354 2. Online donations possible mid-November at: touchofloveperu.org Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Attached to this email is a flyer for the electricity project and one for the tractor project. Please share this with a friend, family member, or someone else who has the same vision of helping others. We are so excited to see how God will lead in this fundraising campaign. Please continue to pray for God's guidance as we work towards emancipating the people of Peru! In His Service, The A.M.O.R. Projects Team (Dr. Richard Mathews, Jenni Goodwin, Laura Clark, Kaitlin Elloway, Kristin Goodin, Emily Moore, Brent Sherwin, David Skau, and Tara Weeks) P.S. if you are interested in having our fundraising flyers please leave me a comment or message and I will be more than happy to send them to you!

Ciudad Constitucion Campana

… 7 people in a 5 seated truck, an 8 hour four wheeling trip through the mud of a beginning rainy season, a weeks worth of luggage and medical supplies strapped to the back and you know you're in the mission field. I know for sure that I will forever think twice about complaining on a long or crammed trip in the car. In all reality it wasn't that bad. I mean yeah, my left leg was asleep the whole time, but when you are in great company and a slightly goofy mood (when not sleeping… which only happens for like an hour when you get the privilege of being on a paved roadJ ) no time can be a bad time… there is nothing liked cramped quarters to help you reach a new comfort level with those around you. Besides the smelliness of the monkeys diaper and the difficulty of eating crumbled granola with one hand it really was great.

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The basic medical part of this campaign was really similar to all the rest. Every day 140 (more or less… well forget the less part, but anyways) patients…. Mostly smiles and (in this particular city) stomach problems. Nothing to out of the ordinary as far as the basic work done in pharmacy. We are getting a lot more organized and now that we speak more Castillano and know the meds better things there usually flow pretty smoothly. There were a few interesting cases though…. The bad thing however is that the interesting cases are usually the sad ones. For instance, we did parasentisis on a lady who had so much fluid in her belly that she looked like 10 months pregnant… no joke, we got at least 8 liters of fluid out of her. She had to have been so miserable… and if she doesn't get something done, the problem will just keep returning. It's awful because people in her situation don't have the money or ability to travel to somewhere such as ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Pucallpa or Lima to have anything done. Another woman we saw was terminally ill with cancer…it started as cervical cancer and had eaten up her uterus, part of her bladder, ovaries, and possibly more. If death and despair has a smell, I smelt it on her. It is so saddening… she is trying to raise money to go to Lima so she can "get better" and all we could do for her is give her some vitamins and something for the pain. So many people without a way of hope or survival…I can't wait until we eventually have our own medical clinic at the home base so we can do some surgeries to help prevent some of these things from happening and offer help to so many who come to our mobile clinics looking for it. I know that this won't be a possibility in the time while I am here in Peru, but when it does happen, it will definitely be a cause for celebration.

This campaign really gave me a more in depth look at the lives of many Peruvians and opened my eyes to new viewpoints. Ciudad Constitucion is in an area whose main crop is coca plants. It is easy for one to say "this is so wrong…. Reform, reform, reform!", but when you look a little deeper you see so much more. In this land there is such a vicious cycle… it isn't about bad people growing drugs to use and get others hooked on, but about a people making a living the only way they know how. If you don't grow the crop that sells, you don't eat and don't live. It isn't about a choice of what to plant, but a matter of survival. To them it is the same as planting corn or potatoes… it's simply a crop that puts food on the table. Even if one felt it was wrong and wanted to no longer participate in this crop, getting out would be dangerous, for what you know can get you killed. The people who live in this area have to either deal with the fear of death because of the crop they grow, or the fear of death for not growing. There are commonly gun fights and shootings…. Not such nice people live there… especially if you get on anyone's bad side or the wrong side of town. There is much controversy over this crop and it is best to remain neutral… when I first heard about this way of livelihood my instinctive response was "this is wrong"… but once I learned more of the affects and impossibilities involved I don't know how to respond. I can't imagine a life surrounded by so much difficulty. There is so much more to say on this subject, but more isn't always better and offense can easily happen… from either side of the fence. I won't go into thoughts of those higher in this never ending chain or those who make unsuccessful and damaging attempts to stop it, but lets just say that there are so many unknown depths… of really any story or situation. This is definitely a lesson and reminder to me to not form opinions to quickly… one can never really know the immensity of a situation by simply glancing at the surface.

my life in a nutshell... a really big nutshell

Sunday: This is a day of planning, cleaning, sleeping in and playing catch-up. We usually sleep in until about 7 am and get up and make a special breakfast that we normally wouldn't have time for (such as cinnamon rolls, jungle muffins paired with fried potatoes or tortillas—Peruvian omelets). After that is laundry time, which takes seemingly forever… I really should wash clothes more than once a week, because it takes so long to catch up. WE carry our clothes down to the well, haul up water (good for the arm muscles… it's a deep well) after washing, attempting to rinse all the soap out, and hanging the clothes on the line to dry (I have issues with this part because I always seem to pick a day that it decides to rain, leaving my clothes damp for days and smelly to boot). After that task is done and the house is clean we do meal planning and go to market. Meal planning is difficult, for there is no such thing as quickly running to the store… you have to buy what you need for 2 or 3 days of meals and know exactly what and how much you we'll need before leaving the house… a task we are still far from perfecting. Whether in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Pucallpa or Campo Verde market is an interesting experience. I prefer Campo for its closeness and smaller size, but I prefer Mercado dos (there are like 5 in Pucallpa) for the selection and better quality. The things I like most about market are the relationships built. We have our favorite bread lady who always gives us free samples of some new bread, our weekly fruit people, and odds and ends stands at both markets. It's especially great in Campo now that we've begun teaching, for we see students and their parents all the time. Catching a moto into town is always fun… I love motos, but some days you can walk nearly all the way to campo before finding an empty one. Three km might not be far, but at noon in the Peruvian sun it gets hot and tiring. After returning home (with hopefully no broken eggs, smashed fruit or leaking sugar… all of which are very difficult feats to overcome) we break out our lesson planners and figure out what to teach next. Kaitlin and I try to stay two weeks ahead, but things change so constantly that it almost seems pointless. At 5 we make our way back to campo to teach classes… we are there Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights at 6 pm. Kaitlin has the beginners and I have the more advanced students… 2 classes in one classroom… difficult for the attention spans and noise factors, but doable. They are hard to stay ahead of, but they are great students. I've never seen students so eager to learn. It's odd, for half of them are older than me, all are wondering how I plan to teach them English when I don't speak Castillano, and each one is becoming a dear friend… constantly reaching out to me with kindness. A return trip home and the boys have supper waiting (they take such good care of us). We are greeted by the barks of our dogs and a birdlike chirp from the monk. I love having animals. After Campo classes we go to bed around ten (which is late for here) and try to get rested for the next day.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are all pretty similar to one another… the only exceptions being Wednesday and Friday market trips, and Friday prepping the house for Sabbath. On these mornings we ride our bikes to Los Pinos where we teach our favorite class. Professor Jorge leads our students out in the Peruvian national anthem and pledge as the kids go through their marching routine. It's so cute to see them all lined up, especially the kindergarteners. These are the kids we go on field trips with and stay after school to play games with. The teachers here like to involve us in everything… I love how much you can tell they love their kids. We teach an hour of English and an hour of music with the primary students (ages 6-12), and then an hour of music to the kindergarteners. Each day has it's challenges, but for the most part these kids are well behaved, eager to learn, and very loving. The 3-5 year old kindergarteners have very short attention spans, but we are slowly earning their respect and love. They are getting great about participation, always requesting "Las Gallinitas" and "Dios es Amor" to be sung a gazillion times. I love spending time outside of class getting to know them… having little ones fight over who gets to hold your hand as you walk with them through the zoo, or laugh at you as you try to play their games and get stuck while trying to slide under a 6 year olds legs are definitely unforgettable and precious moments. After class we stop by Bria's house where we always receive some homemade gift, fresh fruit or refresco. She and her family are so giving. Bria spent a year in the U.S. when she was younger and we go to visit her and help her learn more English and get practice speaking. Next it's off to the house to make lunch. I love cooking! We turn on some music and get to chopping. Everything is homemade here…it takes a long time, but is (almost) always delicious. Cooking is a time for unwinding and bonding and is one of my favorite parts of the day. It is an excuse to take a break from the other stresses and things that are happening. I didn't want to come here with the sole description of cook, but I am glad that it is now "part of my job". That is along with being the group "mother". Old habits die hard I'm afraid and no matter what I do I can't seem to shake my mothering qualities…thankfully no one seems to mind me being caretaker yet so it isn't so bad. The afternoons are spent either planning and cleaning inside, or helping with what we can out in the jungle (more stories on that another time). Supper, a dishes assembly line and off to bed around nine fills the rest of the day.

Tuesday and Thursday…the bike trip to Yerbas Buenas…Yay! Three km back a dirt-filled bumpy road lies this little village. I am slowly overcoming my great disdain and slight fear of bicycles and they are no longer the bane of my existence after making this trip so many times. Hilly and rocky, it is very uncomfortable on our not so decent bikes. They've redone most of the road now so it isn't terrible anymore… unless of course it rains, and then we are talking an 1 ½ hours of pushing/carrying our bikes up and down hills through the mud… oh what fun and entertainment that is J The teachers at Yerbas Buenas are much more detached from their students than those at km 37 (Los Pinos). I often feel that they see us as a break from teaching more so than as a help to their students. We have a class of 25 5-10 year olds with short attention spans and discipline problems… although with time it has gotten much better. Also at Yerbas we have a group of 20 ranging from the ages of 10-18, all of which are fairly bright and finally starting to see us as teachers. It is so awesome to see the progress made from "I'm too cool for this" to "can we do that again PLEASE". I am glad that they are starting to open up. Of course we have our favorite students at each school, but that will have to be in another blog as well… this one will be long enough as it is. Once we are done at Yerbas Buenas we bike home and repeat yet again the process of cooking, cleaning, planning, and working and yet again head to Campo for night classes.

Sabbath… my favorite day! We all get to hang out and relax. Friday (and Saturday) evenings we get to have longer worships than we normally get to in our morning devotions… it is so great to have that time of worship with others… no matter what race… but getting to come together not only as a "family" but as a family in Christ and a family in the Adventist Church. It may not be vespers at Southern, but it is wonderful. We sing tons of Spanish hymns and have dual language worship… I can't wait until I know enough Castillano so that translations are no longer necessary. Church is often times frustrating, for the language barrier makes things hard…but it is good to be with people who are SO excited to sing and to worship God. It also offers good time for journaling, Bible reading, prayer, and simply spending time with God… which is what church should really be about, God time. Many times we do spur of the moment special music's, piano playing, and sermons… apparently being white automatically makes you capable and a volunteer. On the way out everyone showers you with hugs, kisses, and greetings of "Feliz Sabado"… truly showing Christian brotherly love. Often times our Sabbath afternoons are filled with choir practice and youth meetings, making having our Sabbaths to ourselves a rare occasion. It is at these times I have to try hard to remember that I am here to serve and here for the people, not myself. I miss my Sabbaths… the way they are at home, but I am here for a different cause and when I return hopefully I will be more willing and ready to spend more of my Sabbath helping others out at home too… After all Sabbath isn't only for spending time with God, loved ones and resting, but also for sharing Christ's love with others. Some Saturday nights we have youth games (which will take a whole blog in itself to recount and explain) and others we S.M.'s sit around and hang out… playing games and just chillaxin. I love our group here… we make such a great team. Although it is times like these Saturday nights that I most miss Southern, my friends and Matt, they also remind me of how lucky I am to be with the wonderful people here. We are like a family and fit together so well. The people here will obviously never be able to replace or keep me from missing my family at home, but it is a wonderful and irreplaceable feeling to feel so handpicked by God as a team for this year. I am sure we'll come across problems and have some squabbles or disagreements, and I am bound to really get on someone's nerves sooner or later… but to all who I love at home, know that I am in good hands… both in God's and those of my team, and am being well loved and taken care of. And that is the conclusion of my (normal… if there is such a thing) weekly happenings here in Peru. Stay tuned for more blogs on the other aforementioned topics plus Pucallpa excursions and our upcoming clinic J

Animals

n addition to our 7 sm's, 4 Peruvian workers, Jenni, Doctor Richard, and Domingo our team also has 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 monkey, 2 frogs, 13 sheep, a jungle full of wildlife, and soon to come puppies and 3 cows.

Lola and Cheva are our "guard dogs". They act awful fierce if htere is a stranger (or thunder) aothough around us they are nothing but playful and full of smiles. Lola (our mutt dog) likes to play tag with our sheep and cat, while Cheva, our rotweiler and soon to be mom, is a definite animal attacker. Right now she is tied up for eating a baby lamb. She also has managed to barge into the house and attack our monkey twice. Thankfully our monk has good luck... a few squeals and a lot of slobber and all is well.

Joey our cat is super unique. Never before have I seen a cat whose favorite place is on top of a girls head. He loves hair. At any given moment he'll leap onto your back, place his front paws on your head with his claws tangled in your hair and rest his head on top of your own. His other favorite past times are exploring outside, and playing games with the monkey.

Our monkey, Frankie (just because) ASUito(little wow and the initials for Andrews, Southern, and Union) Gordon (after gordon hospital our last clinic group) is a riot. He's super clingy and when he isn't climbing on the rafters, taunting the dogs or cat, or keeping our environment bug free he is sure to be found perched on a shoulder or curled up in a lap. He is soo people dependant. He loves to be curled up with one of us while holding your finger just like a baby. Although he is a bit smelly and can be a pain when he steals the food right from in front of your mouth, he's a wonderful team addition. Changing his diaper and bath time are always great adventures... he squeals like he did when he was Cheva food... youd think being clean was painful. He loves to play with pens while I am journaling... I don't know if you have ever tried it but writing with a monkey attatched to the end of your pen is quite an impossible task. He chirps like a bird and purrs like a cat, but no typical monkey sounds come from our monkabunk.

The two frogs are our toillette buddies... every time thei toilette is flushed they practically jump out. They are no longer surprising although the first time it scared me quite a bit. Now the worry is when one of us accidentally flushes one... that has been known to cause quite a rucus.

Lastly the 13 sheep (there were 14 but Cheva was appearantly hungry) They are a result of the money from cheva's first litter of puppies... who knows, maybe she was resentful...anyways each night before we got to bed someone has to count sheep and put them away... kind of ironic, but none the less true.