I’ve written about my experiences in Ica before. It is one of the properties that my group from First Presbyterian has visited every year since 2002, and it is where I most recently wrote about delivering water. Ica is located approximately 5 hours south of Lima, in the Atacama Desert – considered to be the driest desert in the world.

Wanting to do something fun with the boys for the holiday (and thanks to a generous donor), we were able to rent a bus and go with all of the boys and staff to the beach. Since the city of Ica is about 1.5 hours from the Pacific Ocean, going to the beach isn’t a frequent occurrence for the boys at the home.

Before we had even left the Ica city limits, I could hear some of the younger boys sitting behind me on the bus talking about how excited they were to go to the ocean, what they were planning on building in the sand, and wondering how cold the water was going to be. The closer we got to the coast, the more excited and anxious they got.

Upon arrival to the small beach, we piled out of the bus and walked to the water. Some of the boys immediately dropped their towels, took of their shirts and ran into the water while others sat in the sand and started to build their castles, trenches and one even dug out a mini pool.

After spending a lovely afternoon in the sun and salty water, we headed back to the house to anxiously wait the start of 2012. About 10pm, we gathered in the dining room to talk about the successes and challenges from the previous year, inspire and motivate for 2012 and enjoy a late dinner.

As the clock got closer to midnight, anticipation grew and so did the “what time is it?!” questions. To make sure we could wish each other feliz año right at midnight, an countdown clock was set and we spent the last 30 seconds of 2011 counting down (we couldn’t watch the annual special “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest”).

As soon as the clock struck twelve, the sky over Ica was lit up with colorful fireworks (I’m starting to think that with every celebration in Peru, there will be fireworks at midnight). Hearing this, the boys jumped out of their seats and ran outside to watch the colorful bursts in the dark sky. We set off our own fireworks on the soccer field, lit boxes of sparklers and distributed glow bracelets to all of the boys. They consequently spent the next few hours running around with sparklers and waving their glow bracelets in the air.

First photograph from 2012 at Girasoles Ica.

The next day, both Billy and I were greeted with a cheerful feliz año! from the boys. We spent a relaxing first day of 2012 in the sun, hanging out with the boys and even Skyping with friends in Dearborn.

Happy 2012.

New Year in Ica is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

The city of Ica is located approximately 5 hours south of Lima, in the Atacama Desert. The Atacama is considered to be the driest desert in the world. There are no flies because there is nothing for them to eat. There are locations where not a single drop of rain has been recorded by humans, and dry river beds that have had no water running through them for 120,000 years. But yet, many cities and shanty-towns have been established here.

Our groups that visit Ica have the opportunity to share water in a shanty town not far outside the city of Ica, just 15 minutes from our home, in the district of La Tinguiña.

The area is characterized by low cost, unstable houses built with plywood, sheets of plastic, cardboard or any available material, but little by little, more homes made of bricks are starting to appear. They tend to be irregular structures good enough to protect from the summer sun. The homes lack clean water, sanitation, and usually electricity. Many are built on land without a permit. There are very few official roads and “house numbers” tend to be more descriptive, rather than an actual number.

I’ve made this trip dozens of times with work teams and groups from my own church. Each time, you meet different people or go a slightly different route, but the need is the same. The people in this area need clean drinking water to live.

Since there were many hands helping carry the full water buckets back to their owners, I took advantage of the opportunity to talk to some of the people that were out in the street, asking about their water needs. Many people in the area use a majority of their income just on water. In Peru, the legal minimum wage is S/. 600 monthly (or $219.62 USD a month), but I suspect that most people in this particular area are earning their income “off the books” and not necessarily earning a full S/. 600.

So how much does water cost? Once a month, the government provides free water to the people in La Tinguiña. If a family of 4 is lucky to have an above ground well or tank, this water will last about a week. The other three weeks out of the month, they have to buy their own water. Water that is being used to bathe, wash, cook and clean.

The large black tank costs about S/. 15, and lasts about a week. ($5.49 USD)

The 55-gallon drum outside of this house costs about S/. 3 to fill ($1.09 USD).

Each of these buckets or tubs cost about .50 centimos to fill (0.18 USD)

To freely provide this basic need to our neighbors in La Tinguiña, we rent a truck and fill it with water. The better part of an afternoon is spent walking through the dusty streets of La Tinguiña calling out “Agua! Agua! Necesitas agua?”

The truck rental, the driver’s time and 7000 liters of water costs S/. 100 ($36.60 USD)

But our work does not end here. While we satisfied the need of physical water, there is still the need for spiritual water. We know that God pours his spirit into us, filling us with the living, eternal water (John 4:13-14). Or, that while the physical water can run out and our tongues are parched, God does not abandon us (Isaiah 41:17). I was encouraged to hear some of the people that received our free water thanking God for the gift, and one even saying that God had answered her prayer. I pray that the others in this area will discover the living water and have the same reaction the next time.

We simply cannot survive on one or the other.

Water is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

After he got the go ahead from Augusto, the house parent, we were off to the grocery store to buy ingredients. Let’s just make it clear that preparing a dinner for 50 people is very different than for just 2 or 3 people. Thankfully, we both have had a basic experience with this from helping our mother shop for various events, and a team of interested boys that anxiously helped with the process.

Part of the ingredients – garlic, pasta, kalamata olives.

Abel prepared the spinach.

A handful of boys helped cook the noodles.

Randy stirring the pasta.

Jonas helping prepare the olive oil sauce.

Fredy mixing the pasta and olive oil.

Taste test… the moment of truth.

And finally, the finished product.

Adventures in Cooking is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

My younger brother, Randy, was able to spend the month of August here in Peru with me. As I was heading back to my apartment after leaving him at the airport on Friday night, I was thinking about all the things we did during the 24 days he was here…

We spent a 11 days in the jungle at our home for abandoned boys, Puerto Alegria.

Randy learned how to drive the big boat back to Puerto Alegria.

We learned how to drive a motorbike.

We spent the week in Lima.

And, we visited friends at Girasoles Ica.

More photos from Randy’s month in Peru can be found on Flickr.

Randy is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

Happy Independence Day in Peru! Today, the country celebrates 189 years of independence from Spain.

The last few years, I have spent the 4th of July at the Casa Girasoles home in Ica with the group from my home church, First Presbyterian. Augusto, the house father in Ica, is very patriotic towards his country Peru, and every year tells me he feels honored to spend our Independence Day with us (the Dearborn group) in his home. In the three years I have known Augusto, never have I been able to share in his Independence Day, fiestas patrias, at the home in Ica. In 2008, I was in Cusco and last year, I was still working at the Girasoles abandoned boys home in Puerto Alegria.

This year, after leaving the jungle and returning to Lima, I headed south to the desert – partly to help adjust from the hot and humid jungle weather before going to the cold mountains, but mostly to see friends in Girasoles Ica. I arrived to Ica on Tuesday night, the day before the national holiday festivities began.

This morning at breakfast, I asked Augusto if anything special would be happening for the holiday and he mentioned the parade through the city center. We didn’t think much of it and were not planning on going, but we needed to run some errands and ended up walking along the parade, watching the local schools, army, police officers and every form of civil servant march through the streets of Ica. While this was not my first parade in Peru, it was definitely the most organized.

After the parade, we returned to Girasoles and found the boys humming and singing the chorus of the Peruvian national anthem (Somos libres seámoslo siempre, seámoslo siempre!”) and wearing their escarpelas in honor of the day.

Happy fiestas patrias.

Happy Fiestas Patrias! is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

In this video, Sarah, Brandon and Griffin take you on a ride through Ica to a market where they purchase various Peruvian candy bars to share with the 33 boys living in the abandoned boys home at Girasoles Ica and the children of First Presbyterian Dearborn.

Ica Candy Trip is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

As my group from Dearborn prepared to return to the States, the last few days in Ica were busy with all of the things we wanted to do with the boys, Augusto and Nancy before leaving for the year.

On Saturday afternoon, our last full day at the home, Augusto, the house father, came to me at 3:30 in the afternoon and said, “Let’s all go to Huacachina and rent sand boards. I’ve called the bus driver and he will be here in 10 minutes to take us.” In good Peruvian fashion, we were out the door in 20 minutes and on our way to Huacachina, the nearby oasis in the desert, where the 40 boys and 15 team members would rent sand boards and slide down the huge sand dunes, inevitably covering themselves in sand. This completely unexpected adventure was a blast and was a great way to wrap up a fun week with the boys in Ica.

Alexis with his board.

Alexis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

The line of Girasoles with their sand boards.

Sandboarding, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Getting ready to go!

Boarding, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Sunday and Monday were consumed with traveling, and quickly blurred into just one long day. We left the home in Ica Sunday afternoon to make the 5 hour journey from Ica to Lima, where we went straight to the airport. The team was flying to Atlanta at midnight, and I was heading north to Iquitos the following morning on a 6am flight. Instead of getting into 2 more taxis and renting a hotel room for just a few hours, I elected to simply stay at the airport, which made for a sleepless night.

My flight, which was scheduled to leave at 6am, did not depart Lima until at 7:30, making my arrival into Iquitos at 9am. But, the journey was not over yet. I had to wait until noon for our boat to be ready with all of the supplies and groceries to take me to the home. Once they were ready to go, it was another 45 minutes before we made it to Puerto Alegria where I was greeted by 40 smiling faces, and a familiar work team from the Philadelphia area.

It was nice to be “home.”

From Ica to Iquitos is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

For many people we encounter on the trip, this water is crucial, the difference between being healthy and ill. They can spend up to half of their income on water alone, and the truck does not come through these parts too frequently. The water they buy (or receive from us) is essential to their life and is used for cooking, drinking, bathing and cleaning.

In the States, we take water for granted. I know that every morning when I wake up, there will be water in the shower (hot water, not just water) and there will be clean water from the kitchen faucet. We water our lawns to make sure they don’t turn yellow in the excessive summer heat.

Last year during one of my visits to the medical clinic Scripture Union operates in Iquitos, one of the doctors told me that the majority of the patients they treat have parasites or illnesses that come from not using clean water to cook or drink. He said that if people would have access to clean water, they would not have as many health problems and it would help solve some of the problem.

We equate delivering this clean water as Jesus being the living water of our lives. Without Jesus, life is just more difficult, we might fall ill, or have complications, but with the living water running through us, all things are possible. When somebody thanks me as a gringa for filling their buckets with water, I let them know that it isn’t me giving them water, but God. Yes, I paid for the water, the truck rental, the driver, but I was given the ability to do so from God. And only from His blessing am I able to share with others what He has given me.

Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Sarah, sitting on the back of the water truck.

Sarah, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

A bucket full of clean drinking water.

Water Bucket, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

An old container that is now being used to store water. This was originally used to store phosphoric acid.

Water Bucket, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Water is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

Here are some photos from the first few days in Ica.

Alexis and Augustito.

Alexis and Augustito, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Piles of new t-shirts that were brought for the boys.

T-Shirts, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Somebody from the US Census Department donated a bunch of white hats for the team to bring. The boys were given markers and a hat to decorate as they wanted, and quickly they all started to ask for us to write our names on their hat to be kept as a souvenir of our stay.

Hats, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Group photo of the current Ica Girasoles.

New Jerseys, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Boys with their new Dearborn Soccer Club jerseys.

New Jerseys, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

And finally, Billy made a surprise trip to Ica and was able to spend a few days with us at the home. He was here when we went to the Huacachina oasis and despite it being a relaxing afternoon, he still managed to make a few preparations for his next visiting work team!

Billy, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

More photos from the week in Ica (and the past month in Peru) can be found on Flickr, while videos are online at Vimeo.

Sunny Ica is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

While we were only at the home for a few hours, it was nice to see some familiar faces from the home, like Paul and Luis Polanco!

Paul

Paul, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Luis Polanco, who has grown tremendously over the past year. I first met Luis in 2002 on my second trip to Peru. He was 8 at the time and sort of a little boy for his age. He is now 16 and almost as tall as me! Here is a photo of him from this year, followed by one from just last August.

Luis, June 2010.

Luis Polanco, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Luis, August 2009.

A Stop in Kawai is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.