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: A Life in the World.

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: A Life in the World.

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: A Life in the World.

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: A Life in the World.

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: A Life in the World.

Because of the flooding in the Cusco/Sacred Valley region earlier this year, the original plans for the 2010 trip had to be changed. Instead of spending a week again at the Girasoles home in the Sacred Valley, the team was rerouted to the jungle city of Iquitos and our Girasoles home at Puerto Alegria.

This was the first time that the group had ventured north to the jungle, and I was extremely excited to show them the place I had spent a few months at during 2009, and introduce them to the people I had come to work with.

While the heat, humidity and large bugs are not what the group was accustomed to dealing with, the week went smoothly and provided a new experience, completely different than anything they had ever seen or done in their 11 years of trips Peru.

Thursday we head to Lima to spend a few days in the city, before heading south to the desert city, Ica.

Since photos are much better than words, and my mother brought me a new camera lens, here are some photos from the week in Puerto Alegria.

Replacing the screens of the dining room.

Sarah sanding a piece of the wood trim.

My brother, Randy, on the boat to Iquitos.

Markers for an art project.

Hox, one of the older boys at Puerto Alegria.

Alvaro (7) and Luis (5), two of the younger boys at Puerto Alegria.

Alvaro and Luis playing with bubbles.

Emily and Luis at Quistococha.

Just playing around with the new lens, a shot of the team sitting on the balcony of the dining room.

Dearborn Comes to the Jungle is a post from: A Life in the World.

Marcelo, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Marcelo with his new Tigre tennis shoes.

Oriel, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Oriel, one of the youngest boys at Puerto Alegria.

Victor & Marcelo, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Victor and Marcelo examining the lens on my Nikon.

Stiver, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Stiver, one of the older boys at the home, watching the France-Uruguay World Cup game at a restaurant in Iquitos.

Segundo, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Segundo, one of the twins at Puerto Alegria, intently watching the World Cup game.

Jherry & Luis, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Jherry, the educator, helping Luis with his lunch.

Xavier, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Xavier enjoying his pollo a la brasa in Iquitos.

This Friday my next work team arrives in Iquitos/Puerto Alegria. I am particularly excited for this group since they friends and family from my home church in Dearborn. While many are “Peru veterans,” this will be their first time in the jungle at Puerto Alegria and I’m looking forward to showing them the place I have been working.

New Shoes and the World Cup is a post from: A Life in the World.

(More videos will be posted soon.)

Flickr & Vimeo updates is a post from: A Life in the World.

If that was my “best gift ever, ” this would be a short post and most likely not named “Peruvian Christmas.” If you haven’t figured it out, I was given a plane ticket to return to Peru for the holidays, 12 days with good friends, the Girasoles and the beautiful sunny countryside – all accompanied by my mother and brother.

We leave tomorrow morning, yes on Christmas Day, and will spend 5 days in Ica, 4 days in Kusi (including New Years Eve) and the final day in Lima.

So as of tomorrow night, I’ll be back in one of my favorite places.

(Videos, photos and stories will be posted upon my return.)

Peruvian Christmas is a post from: A Life in the World.

This past week, somebody from a work team donated an Elmo sweatshirt to the boys at Puerto Alegria.

Luis was the lucky recipient.
More photos from the past week are now online at Flickr.

Elmo is a post from: A Life in the World.