It’s Three Days Later….

….and we’re still feeling good about Tuesday’s experience in San Miguel. Sometimes during an activity, especially after several trips to a village to deal with problems we lose sight of what we’re doing and why. There were some issues with the San Miguel library, but the dedication ceremony Tuesday… seeing the excitement and enthusiasm of the teachers, parents and especially the students brought our focus back: we were there because we played a part in creating a library. Those of you who contributed to this project…think about that for a moment. We created a library. Short of building and staffing a school, what better way could there be to nurture, develop and educate the kids in these poor villages? It was the suggestion of the school staff that the library be named the Alice Cool Library and rightfully so, but it’s actually a legacy to all of us who in some way had a hand in this project. And it’s still not too late to get involved. There is a lot of empty space in those book shelves. For anyone interested in donating books to the library, the address is:

Sra. Lucrecia Mora

I.E. No. 11520 – San Miguel

Calle Cincuentenario

San Miguel Barrio Antiguo

Tuman, Perú

But be prepared - the cost of shipping to Peru will probably be two to three times the value of the book. Shipping costs have always been a headache for us. Several times we were offered substantial amounts of used clothing from the United States but neither we nor the donors could justify the shipping costs.

Another option would be to donate $10 to Promesa Peru via PayPal. Indicate on the ‘purpose’ line that the donation is for books and we’ll turn the money over to the school director.

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It’s been a busy three months. In May we donated a whiteboard and shelves to the kinder in El Faicalito. In June we provided uniforms and school supplies to 56 kinder students in the village of Eureka. And in July in addition to the library we provided a CD player and three tables to the San Miguel kinder. Personally we feel very proud of these accomplishments and hope everyone who contributed feels the same.

We’re going to take a few weeks off to regroup before ‘hitting the road’ again in August. We have previous invitations to visit schools in four villages, and have been told of at least six other villages in the Lambayeque Region needing assistance of some sort. We never know what sort of situations we’ll uncover in these villages. It’s getting late into the school year so we don’t anticipate school supplies or uniforms being a major request until about next January, though there are always exceptions. We do expect to come across schools needing basic equipment much as El Faicalito did. And occasionally a school director will tell us about a family living in extreme poverty. While our primary purpose is keeping kids in school, school supplies and uniforms don’t much matter if a child is in poor health or without food, shelter or clothing.  We don’t hesitate to step into those situations to do what we can.

We’d like to sponsor at least one chocolatada in December. Regular readers may remember that a chocolatada is basically a combination Christmas party and school activity with hot milk chocolate as the central theme. The kids are given toys, and entertainment – usually a clown is provided. Planning for a chocolatada starts in October, so we need to start looking at candidate villages soon.

Whatever we do, we’re going to need your help. A donation of $16.00 will provide a needy student with a school uniform or school supply kit. A chocolatada costs from $350 - $400…a donation of any amount will help. Please visit the Promesa Peru webpage if you can help us.