This past weekend, I was able to return to Iquitos for a brief visit with a work team from Scotland. They were interested in seeing the jungle, Amazon River, our medical ministry and I was particularly interested in visiting the new Girasoles home in Iquitos and seeing some familiar faces at Puerto Alegria. Like Marcelo, above.

Since the group had quite a busy itinerary during their 2 weeks in Peru, they only had 48 hours in their schedule devoted to the jungle.

We managed to spend a few hours in Puerto Alegria, painting the faces of the 40 boys that live there.

And, we spent the evening at Girasoles Iquitos – the newest home for abandoned boys in the city.

You might remember I wrote about a week I spent in Iquitos this past summer? During that week, I was working with another group from Scotland on the construction of the new home. We spent the week sanding, painting, plastering and all sorts of other things, preparing the building for its August inauguration.

On August 13th, 18 boys from Puerto Alegria made the transition from peaceful, quiet Puerto Alegria, to the busy, bustling city of Iquitos. All of the boys 14 years and older packed their belongings, said their goodbyes and moved to the city. While it was sad for many to be leaving a place they called home, the move to the city brings new opportunities; a better high school curriculum and a slow reintegration process back into the busy city life.

I was particularly excited to be visiting the home for the first time this past weekend. Over the past few summers, I have gotten to know quite a few of the older boys and have enjoyed their company over board games, stories and soccer games. When I left Puerto Alegria in August I was sad, knowing that the next time I came back, they would be on to bigger and better things, but also grateful and excited for the possibilities that were ahead of them.

Even though a couple months had passed since we had seen each other, the jokes and stories and laughter flowed as if it had just been a day or two. While our time visiting the home passed quickly, I am grateful for the brief opportunity to reconnect.

As the 25 boys in Iquitos continue the transition process and adjust to life in the city, I ask you to continue praying for them as they deal with larger class sizes, new staff workers, new boys in the program, temptations that come from living in the city, and separation from younger brothers at Puerto Alegria.

The 25 boys that live at Girasoles Iquitos (18 from Puerto Alegria, and 7 new to the program).

The patio and bedrooms lit up at night.

Want to see more? More photographs can be found on Flickr.

Weekend in the Jungle 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.

Here are just a sampling of what you will find on Flickr. (Be sure to check Flickr for the rest of the photos!)

Willinton, a 7 year old who is still learning Spanish. He speaks Tikuna.

Luis, who at one time was the youngest of the house, has now grown up.

Parading with the antorchas, for Peru’s Independence Day.

Jherry and Veronica, the directors of Puerto Alegria, along with Hox, Romario and me.

My brother Randy came to visit, and we learned how to drive a motorbike – something I have wanted to do for the past 2 years.

The three Comeque Coello brothers – Luis Enrique, Harold and Xavier, plus little Alvaro in the red.

Bryan and Dexter, two brothers who are nothing alike.

Rene, Mario and Leyner

Translating for Jherry

The 47 Girasoles boys, plus staff at Puerto Alegria.

Jacobo, God’s miracle from the Amazon Hope.

Jherry with the 18 high school boys that moved back to Iquitos to continue their studies in the city.

And, that was just a small sampling of what you will find on Flickr.

The Summer in Photos is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

It’s faces like these that reassure me of my calling to work in Peru.

Every day during the 2010 summer, something reminded me of my calling to leave my life in Dearborn and move to Peru to work with Scripture Union. It might have been something small, like being greeted by 40 smiling boys when walking into the dining room in the morning, to something more noticeable like receiving thoughtful letters from some of the older boys when I left Puerto Alegria, to even the most direct, having visiting volunteers tell me how much I truly care for this ministry and how it shows through everything I do.

To me, this isn’t a job. I have one of those – it is purely to make money so I can put gas in my car and be able to live. While it had its great days (like a $5400 sale, or being top seller for a straight month), it definitely is not my calling and some days I simply just do not want to go into work. But regardless of how I was feeling, I was there, prompt and fulfilled the task at hand.

This “job” is the complete opposite of everything I felt before at the store. I wake up in the morning excited for what the day will bring. Most days are the same, meals with some combination of rice and chicken, translating, helping with homework, making adobe bricks, but regardless, I can’t wait for the following day’s activities.

It’s about the people – not just the Girasoles, but the house parents, support staff, schools workers, directors, and medical staff that make this so much more than “just a job.” And that’s just the people I work with at Scripture Union.

I can’t begin to describe the number of conversations I have had with taxi drivers, people on the street, and fellow plane/boat/bus passengers all wanting to know why this gringa is traveling alone (or leading a larger group of gringos) in Peru. Each one of these conversations is an opportunity to share what Scripture Union and, more importantly, God is doing in their country – not just with abandoned boys, but in the schools, through medical clinics, camping programs and the deaf.

Being able to spend summers with people like Segundo or Tercero, Rosa, Augusto, Roger, Sixto, Pepe, Jose Abel, and Nancy has reassured me that this is what I am supposed to be doing.

Calling is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

While the work team was at Puerto Alegria, we took one night to celebrate the birthdays that were in July – Oriel, Leyner, Joel and Xavier all turned one year older this month. As part of the celebrations, Gene, the director of Girasoles Iquitos, led us in some party games and songs.

Gene, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

As part of their fiestas patrias (independence day) celebrations, the boys paraded through the playground of their school with various tissue paper lanterns. Each lantern had a lit candle inside and at the end of the parade, the students select a the best design and they win a prize. Here Jair is working on putting the tissue paper on his star.

Jair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Waldair, who is 10 years old, trying to fit into my duffel bag so he could travel with me around the country visiting the other Girasoles homes of Ica and Kusi.

Waldair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Luis, the youngest boy at the Girasoles home in Puerto Alegria, during one of the traditional afternoon soccer games.

Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

One of my many photos with Luis.

Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

With Mansur.

Julio Mansur, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Moises, Mery and their three boys – Elias, Dan and Timoteo – came to say goodbye to me at the airport in Iquitos.

The family, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

The Week in Photos is a post from: Twelve Degrees South.

Luis, at 5 years old is the youngest boy at Puerto Alegria. He was not too keen on watching the World Cup final game on Sunday and was more interested in making silly faces.

Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Jair is one of the boys from Caballococha who speaks Tikuna and not very much Spanish. Because of this, he is usually quiet, but has a beautiful smile.

Jair, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

One of the groups brought packets of glitter for an art project. Of course, the glitter never made it to the project, but rather all over the faces, arms, backs and legs of many of the younger boys, not just Dairo and Junior as seen here.

Dairo, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Junior, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

It has been hot and humid this week, which means lots of swimming in the river!

Xavier, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Segundo and Tercero are the oldest boys at the home in Puerto Alegria. After the last work team left on Friday afternoon, the older boys returned to their rooms and I now have neighbors. The twins’ room is just a few doors down from mine and every morning, afternoon and night they walk past my room trying to startle me, share some silly joke, make a comment, ask to borrow a magazine or just look in to see what I am doing. I can’t help but laugh when they do this because they act just like they are my little brothers.

Segundo & Tercero, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

When there isn’t a team at the house, life is somewhat slower and more time is spent on chores, homework, school and just hanging out. When I started to read some of the magazines I brought, pretty soon I had a group of boys wanting to read too. Even though the majority of the magazines are in English (afew are Spanish or bilingual), they still enjoyed looking at the photographs and seeing what is going on in the world.

Luis Enrique & Marcelino, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Reading, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

And finally, here’s a photo of the 40 boys who live at the home, plus the house parents, directors and staff.

Girasoles Puerto Alegria, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

The Week in Photos 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.