give me five (Carrie in Aldea Infantile)

Two new boys came to the Aldea Infantil in Trujillo this past week. One is tall, quiet, nice and his name is Pedro. The other is Christian. Christian is about 8 years old and is missing all his front teeth yet still insists on biting people—myself included. Yes, I was bit by the toothless child and, impossibly, it still left teeth marks. I gave him a hug, and he gave me three red sores on my stomach.
As you can probably tell, Christian and I didn’t take to each other very quickly. I suppose this is understandable considering he had been picked up off the street only days before and may not be very used to affection. I tried to talking to him instead but that was a disaster too. Trying to understand a child that lacks all of his front teeth (very important for articulation purposes) and insists on screaming every word that comes out of his mouth is a struggle for someone who is still learning Spanish. Christian, for me, I could tell would be a difficult child to grow close to.

On Friday Christian, Pedro, and another new girl in the Aldea had to get their shots so we all piled into the truck for the hospital in Trujillo. I wasn’t terribly excited for Christian, the boy with possible ADHD and an anger problem, to sit next to me in a confined space for 40 minutes. That was just asking for a few more red sores, I thought. But, surprisingly, the whole ride he quietly held my hand and smiled as I counted out his fingers, “uno, dos, tres, cuantro, cinco—dame cinco!” (one, two, three, four, five--give me five!) It made me reevaluate the importance of holding someone’s hand. Christian, a boy who may not have received a lot of love in his life, deserves just as much affection as you, me, or the next person. Something seemingly so simple means so much. I’ve learned there is a renewed confidence, a sense of safety, and a feeling of belonging in the simple intertwining of fingers. Why do you think lovers hold hands? Why do children cling tightly to their parents’ palms? Why do best friends take each others’ hands before jumping off of anything?
Living at the Aldea has reminded me that, before we leap into life, we should have open arms and willing hearts because sometimes we ALL just need a hand to hold.
Sort of gives new meaning to giving five.

Amazing two weeks at Aldea Infantile (Brian)

It´s been an amazing first two weeks here at the Granja Porcon. The people here are amazing, their love is extended to anyone, including those who have come from far away to learn from them. That is what Alex, Corey, and I have come to learn from this amazing group of dedicated and hard working people.
When we first got here they quickly took us in and provided everything that we could need and have also treated us with such great respect. Recently, we have started working with the tourism division here in order to broaden their tourism and also improve it using what knowledge we have. One assignment that we received is to create four new pamphlets advertising the amazing community here in Porcon. Along with this assignment came the opportunity to go and work along side the people in their daily work. This has led us to do such things as helping to milk cows, weaving native tapestries, and vaccinating over a 150 bovines over two days time. And all along the way we learn a little bit more about these people and the truly unique culture they have to offer the rest of the world.

Part of the research for the creation of the pamphlets was to participate in their activities to be able to describe them accurately. However, I feel that the things I have learned from these hard-working people such as Don Alejandro, or Don Pedro, or the hundreds of others we have rubbed shoulders with are inexpressible in a pamphlet. I just hope that what little we can offer will be enough to make a difference in their lives for the better, because they truly
deserve it.

bon bons (Jason - Aldea Infantile)

One of most touching things that has happened to me here happened last night. We were eating dinner and had some plain bread at the end of it. I asked the tia of the house if the kids had behaved, if I could get some peanut butter to share with the kids. She said sure.

I asked the kids if they wanted some crema de mani. They excitedly said yes. They loved it and then i gave them each a Bon Bon (a chocolate coated candy with peanut butter inside) and they took forever to eat it. They literally savored each layer, finally finishing off the peanut buttery inside. This made me think about how spoiled I am, because these kids have only the bare necessities to survive, and sometimes not even that. I hope that the website will get these kids more funds and improve the quality of the facilities here.

Anyway, I gotta go. Thanks for giving me this opportunity.

quick news from Aldea Infantile (Jason)

I will have to get you a picture later, since I don´t have a ton of
time right now. Things are getting really busy around here! I am
excited to teach photography to some of the children here. They are
great! Some of them are really excited to start. There are some
particularly well behaved children here.

One boy named Frank is a gentlemen and a scholar. He serves me well at dinner by making sure I have jugo to drink. Also, he wrote poem for mother´s day (he is nicknamed ¨poet¨) here. His mom came and she bawled upon hearing him read the poem outloud in front of everyone.

Overall these kids are great! I am working on a video that should be up on the website as soon as we get that running. The girls from Europe here are great fun and so helpful, and they believe in some very beautiful things and love to serve here. That inspires and leaves me awestruck.

The Parable of the Butterfly (Brittany)

Yesterday I shared the Parable of the Butterfly and the message in the story with the kids and afterwards we all drew butterflies. It´s one of my favorites.
Parable of the Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Message: Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Our trials strengthen us. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Meet Chelsea

My name is Chelsea. I am from Spanish Fork, Utah, and I just graduated in December of 2008 from Brigham Young University with my Master’s Degree in Communication Disorders. I work in an elementary school and at a special ed preschool as a Speech and Language Pathologist for Alpine School District. A great perk from working in a school district is that we have summer vacation. Woohoo!

I knew that I wanted to spend my summer travelling somewhere and volunteering for some type of humanitarian program. Through Southern Cross, I have been given that opportunity. I cannot wait to come to Peru! I feel humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve with the Perpetual Education Fund program. I have been very impressed with the leadership of the Southern Cross Organization. I have also been impressed by the interns who are offering their time and energy to this cause with hearts full of love for their brothers and sisters in Peru. I have every confidence in their ability to make a great difference for good.

I hope that my work and service will be a valuable asset as well. I am coming down ready to work hard, and do my best to make the most of this experience. Specifically, I will be working to help individuals master the English language. I will also be using my knowledge in Communication Disorders to further the work of the Perpetual Education Fund program. Though my motives are to benefit others by giving them language skills that will give them greater educational and career opportunities, I can’t help but think that perhaps I am the one that will be gaining the most from this experience. Two months seems like such a short time, but I plan to use that time well. I feel that this is a great opportunity for me to learn about the Peruvian people and culture by immersing myself in it. I know that they have wonderful lessons to teach me that will shape my mind and heart and make me a better person.

Meet Carrie

Carrie is a sophomore celebrating her acceptance to the public relations program at Brigham Young University. With minors in editing and international development, Carrie hopes to one day lead communications and creative efforts for an international philanthropic non-profit organization. (Think UNICEF or the American Red Cross.) She is very excited to serve in Trujillo with Southern Cross Humanitarian this summer! Her heart is in helping others and she sees PR as an innovative way to give a voice to those who need to be heard. When Carrie’s not writing, designing or practicing her Spanish, she is most likely blogging, reading, dancing or traveling home to Minneapolis, Minne-snow-ta to play with her family and adorable nephew. She also enjoys pole vaulting when possible, eating breakfast cereal and volunteering.

Meet Alex

I returned a few years ago from my mission to Peru, Lima East and I can't wait to go back. I love Peruvians and everything that has to do with Peru. I hope to be able to contribute anything and everything that I can to Peru, and I have been preparing to go back to Peru ever since I left!!!

I'm on the left in this picture