Archive for 31 December 2008

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December 2008 Newsletter

31 December 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all the children, staff and volunteers at Hogar de Esperanza. We pray that you and your families will be extremely blessed!

Dave

November 2008 Newsletter

29 November 2008

In November, Peru celebrated the the national holiday, “Day of the Child.” A group of Peruvian and American volunteers put on a wonderful show and party at the orphanage for our 45 children. They played games, sang songs and had a guest appearance from Barney. Hogar de Esperanza was blessed to celebrate the life of each child who has found hope through their doors.

In the United States we celebrated Thanksgiving and continue to remember all of the staff and volunteers who work so hard to continue programs at the orphanage, play with the children and sacrifice their own wants to spend time bringing joy to the lives of the children. We are truly thankful for each person who has spent time in Peru giving themselves to this ministry. The Spanish term used by Peruvians for Thanksgiving is “Accion de Gracias” (Action of Giving Thanks.) I really like their expression because it clearly explains what Thanksgiving is all about.

As we continue our work this holiday season and the days get closer to Christmas, many people have asked, “What are the needs at the orphanage?” Our biggest need is to provide shelter, food, clothing and education to these children, who would otherwise be on the streets. The work at the orphanage continues to grow and the needs increase day by day. And so, our need is to have people, like you, who have a heart for this ministry, partner with us by giving monthly to meet the needs of the children of Peru. I urge you to please pray and consider partnering with us and joining our monthly giving program. Send me an email if you would like more information and/or you may send checks to:

Saving Street Children, Inc.
422 Armour Road
North Kansas City, MO 64068

Thank you for your continued support and I pray you and your family are blessed this holiday season.

Chau,

David

October 2008 Newsletter

30 October 2008

Hogar de Esperanza continues to grow every month.  We are reaching and loving more kids, providing more jobs, giving water to those in need and bringing hope to the otherwise hopeless.  As the ministry grows, you may notice some changes.  In Peru, this means new staff, different kids, more volunteers and new programs.  In the United States it means that things may look a little different.

This past month we have updated our website.  A team of staff and volunteers worked on updating information, text and pictures.  This was a big task.  Please visit our page at www.perukids.com and check out the updates.  I am grateful to Paul Roy who created and designed our original webpage and volunteered to keep it updated for so many years and is now working on the development of another web site for me.  Our website is an important tool to spreading the work of the orphanage.  THANK YOU!

Tim and Andrea Brooks adopted three daughters from the orphanage four years ago. The adopted daughters have taken on a project to help other orphans around the world. A television news crew came to their house and shot the following video and it really made my day.  http://illinoishomepage.net/media_player.php?media_id=43231.

I was in Peru this month, and there was a show down at the OK Coral between the Hatfields and the McCoys.  As it developed, it got serious. The hatred between the two sides of people receiving potable water is enormous, and they will do about anything to cause grief. Lately, the McCoys seized the pipeline and turned off the water to the Hatfields completely. The Hatfields’ leader threatened the McCoys with a pistol, and the police picked her up and threw her in jail for a month.  The Hatfields asked me if we could find a way to get them water service, again.  I thought of a plan where both the McCoys and the Hatfields could have water service – without the McCoys knowing about it. So, one night I went up with Alex, the Director of Projects, and some workers, and we started to change the system. It took us longer than we had thought, the McCoys discovered us, and they sent a mob.  The Hatfields tried to help by calling the police, but it is hard to control a mob throwing rocks. I got into the truck and took off. The policeman took my director to the police station and tried to calm the mob. The policeman could not figure out what was going on, so they made us stop work and wait for a court order. The problem with that is the McCoys do not care about the police nor court orders and, after the police left, they stole all of the tubing that would connect the Hatfields. I am now working with a lawyer to get an order from the court to hook up the Hatfields to the water system. It is so hard for me to see people so angry and out of control that they would deny water to others. I will keep you updated.

Next month, we hope to send out this newsletter a little differently. Our email list is growing and to help manage that, we will be using an email server to help send it out.  The message will still be my own, but we will be able to send the newsletter more efficiently and include pictures. Look for it coming from hogardeesperanza@gmail.com. In the meantime, for those who are familiar with RSS feeds, you can subscribe to our RSS feed on our website to get the latest newsletter delivered to your favorite RSS reader.

With all the appearances of change, please know that the heart of the ministry is still the same – giving a home to countless street children, sharing the love of Christ with those in need and preparing them for their future.  Thank you for your continued support.

September 2008 Newsletter

29 September 2008

September was a month of change at the orphanage. We said goodbye to two long term workers, Melva and Sarita. Both of these ladies have been madre tutoras, taking care of the children day in and day out almost since we opened our doors in 2002. These two amazing women sacrificed their own personal lives to make a home for some of Peru’s abandoned kids. They spent every day getting the children ready for school, eating meals together, helping with homework, doing evening devotions with the kids, praying together and giving our children the love they need. These women have dedicated years to our ministry and we pray God’s best for them as they begin another chapter in their lives. Please continue to pray as Melva battles health issues and Sarita begins a family of her own. Pray for the 2 new madre tutoras who have joined our ministry this month.

We continue to have new updates on our water project and the on-going saga of the Hatfields and the McCoys. It is good to report that they are at peace with each other, but they now each have their own problems. The Hatfields’ problem is that they have 40 families who built their houses on land that is not actually their own and the new owner wants them off. He is playing a real tough guy role to get them off the land. The leader of the Hatfields is a lady named Louise. Louise became so upset with the new owner that she assaulted him and that incident put her in jail for a few days. The new land owner is also pressing the court to not allow any water to be distributed to the families on his property. This situation is very normal in Peru and I’m sure that eventually it will be resolved. The McCoys are very unhappy because they live on the bottom of the hill and they receive most of the water. More water means a bigger water bill, which they do not want to pay. They’ve approached us to lower the bill or possibly cut their service. I have a saying that I have used many times since I first went to Peru, “Peru enseña paciencia”, translated as “Peru teaches patience.”

After so many adoptions and reuniting children with family, we had several vacancies. Unfortunately, there are so many children that are still out on the streets and without a home. We were able to accept 8 new children into Hogar de Esperanza this past month. When these children come into the orphanage, they are malnourished, shattered emotionally, and in need of hope. The workers and volunteers have spent many hours praying for these kids, meeting their physical needs and sharing the love of Christ with them. Thank you for your continued support of Hogar de Esperanza.

Chau,

Dave

August 2008 Newsletter

30 August 2008

We had a lot of activity at the orphanage in August. Joel and Robyn wrapped up a one year volunteer stay at the orphanage. They have been lead by God to adopt five children from the orphanage. They are going back to the US and buy a home and start their home study in order to start the adoption process. On top of that, Robyn will take on administration responsibilities for raising funds and taking on the operational duties of the orphanage.

We had another adoption at the orphanage this month. Fiorella, 10 years old, was adopted by a Peruvian couple from Lima. They do not have any other children and have been waiting 3 years to be able to adopt a child. They spent a week at the orphanage and hosted a wonderful good-bye party for Fiorella. We are blessed to have had so many adoptions this year.

With Robyn and Joel returning to the U.S., we were in need of another volunteer coordinator at the albergue. Samantha Smith, from Virginia, arrived at the end of the month and will be helping with volunteers and some of the programs that Robyn and Joel started and maintained. You can keep up with her at her blog at: http://samtravels08.blogspot.com/. We also will be having 3 new volunteers joining the team in September.

Your faithful support and prayers are so appreciated.

Chau,

Dave

July 2008 Newsletter

28 July 2008

The orphanage was visited for 5 days by a group of youth and adults from First Baptist Church in Kansas City. This great group repainted our main building, front doorways and signs and re-visited the widow’s house they constructed over 2 years ago. The group has a wonderful drama they use to minister to those who do not know Christ. They performed this drama in the main Plaza de Armas of Trujillo 2 nights in a row and again on the main floor of a popular mall. Many people stepped forward asking for prayer and desiring a relationship with Christ.

The leaders of this group, Brady and Trisha Testorff, are also the parents of Yessenia and Paul, who were adopted in June 2006. Yessenia turned 15 during this trip and it was her desire to have her Quinceanero at the orphanage with the other children and workers. In Peru, the 15th birthday of a young lady is very important. We decorated the orphanage comedor, ordered a cake and invited judges and officials from the adoption agency here in Trujillo. Brady led the party with a sermon about God’s grace in Yessenia’s life, songs were shared by Joel, Robyn and a group of girls from the orphanage, and Brady and Trish changed Yessenia’s shoes to represent the beginning of a new journey in her life. It was an incredible blessing to share this important celebration!

There were many tears and long hugs as the group prepared to leave. It was a blessing to see Yessenia and Paul and the way God has changed their lives over the past 2 years. We are so thankful for groups that come and serve the orphanage and families that have a heart to provide a home for the abandoned children of Peru.

The water system is still delivering water to 1500 people in Alta Salverry. We are contracting with a consulting firm for recommendations on how much we can expand with the present system and what we might need in the future. The Hatfields and McCoys are still having problems working things out but at least there has not has been any incidents.

The mailing address has changed for Saving Street Children, Inc. Please update your records with the new mailing address below:

Saving Street Children, Inc.
422 Armour Road
North Kansas City, MO 64068

Your consistent support has helped continue the work in Peru. Thanks so much.

Chau,

Dave

June 2008 Newsletter

30 June 2008

One of the big challenges at the orphanage is training and preparing our older children to leave the orphanage. We have started working with several of our older children. First, we show them how to ride around the city on the local bus system ( a micro is what they call it), and how to act in a given situation in the city. This is not easy because the bus system is a little bit different than the rest of the world. Secondly, we try to find what God given talents that they have and send them for training. Two of our girls are starting baking school in June. Others may take technical or clerical schooling. At 17, they are adults and they leave the orphanage. Our prayer is that they will be well trained, physically and spiritually, for the challenges that lay before them.

In June, I stayed at the orphanage for two weeks to set up some projects for a church that is coming in July. It is very sobering to me ever time I go to Peru because I am confronted with the reality of meeting people that are struggling with the basic needs of life. There was a group that came to the orphanage Sunday afternoon wanting water for their houses. They had water service, but it was cut-off not because of not paying, but because of a land dispute. The people that came are very poor, live in shanties, and they live on land that they do not own by deed. But if they can stay there another few years then they can become owners. Peru has a law that if you dwell upon the land for five years, then you can own that specific land without a deed. The people that control the water are the land owners and they want nothing to do with the settlers. We have come up with a solution to their water problem. These people have not had water for 15 days. My trips to Peru help me to put things in perspective.

The tough guys this month have been silent, but I am sure they are cooking up something in order to shut down the water system. The problem we have now is a dispute between the Hatfields and the McCoys. The Hatfields live on top of a hill and the McCoys live on the bottom. They have a dispute between themselves. The Hatfields have about 2 PSI of pressure in their system and the McCoys have about 25 PSI. Well there was only one meter and they both had an agreement to pay equally for the water. The problem is that the McCoys and Hatfields get one hour of water a day by agreement. Well it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the McCoys are getting 12 times as much water as the Hatfields. Well, it took awhile for the Hatfields to figure out that they were getting shorted, and they decided not to pay. The McCoys said that they agreed to these terms, and they shut them off. Fortunately, there was not a gun battle at the OK corral. However, the Hatfields came to the orphanage and asked what I was going to do about this situation. I decided to put in an independent water line for the Hatfields. However, the McCoys saw me install the line and sent 6 men to discuss the situation. The Hatfields saw the 6 men come, and they came down the hill to greet them. When I saw the Hatfields start coming, I turned to them and in my Tarzan Spanish, told them to go back up the hill, and fortunately they did. The McCoys did not like me installing the independent line and demanded that the Hatfields pay what they owe. To appease them, I told them I would pay but they would have to show me the paper work. The next day they came to the orphanage but lost all the paper work and said that they could not produce the documents. So, I did not have to pay any debt. The Hatfields are afraid that the McCoys are going to do something to their water system, and they buried the water meter so no one could tamper with it. I will keep you posted.

I sent this picture to all of our supporters, to help remind them of the need to pray for the orphanage and the children that are there.

Chau,

Dave

May 2008 Newsletter

30 May 2008

I thought would send out a weekly e-mail that I get from Robyn and Joel Hanson who are volunteering for a year at the orphanage. We have had some terrific volunteers this year which have been a real God send to me.

Hola Dave!

Hope all is well for you back in the US. The albergue is full and doing great!

Amy returned this week, along with 8 more visitors/volunteers – my brother in law’s family and two guys from my brother in law’s church… along with Bonnie and her husband. We are getting tons of work done!

The Navy came out and got a lot of work done. They painted most of the outside of the casitas, fixed front doors, found the hidden pipe for the fountain and repainted the main gates. (I think I already told you all this and Alex talked to you, as well.)

The current volunteers brought the books the workers at the albergue bought in honor of Vickie – 100 books!!!! YEA!!! The workers are very content! We are adding them into the register and getting them shelved. They also brought new clothes for all the kids, more school supplies, supplies for Escuela de Miller, office supplies (ink for the printers), new shoes for all the kids, kitchen utensils, games, balls and more!!! It’s a great blessing!

The brochure should be done this week – so we are still waiting with anticipation.

We have the volunteer duties laid out and we will have 5 long term volunteers from August – May… which is great and we’re excited about keeping so many of our new programs going and continuing them.

We are still going forward with our vocational training with some of the older kids that won’t go to university. It’s going well.

Everyone is looking forward to your visit!

Robyn

Thanks for all your support and prayers.

Chau,

Dave

April 2008 Newsletter

30 April 2008

The saga of the good guys against the bad hombres in Peru to distribute water still continues. About two months ago the bad guys paid off an official to test the water that we are sending to the people of Alta Salaverry. That official claimed that we had high levels of cyanide in the water and we needed to turn off the pumps. That official went to the minister of Health and he issued a statement where the public should not drink the water but use it for other purposes. We were shocked and took two samples of the water and sent it back to the US to get an independent analysis. The results came back and they showed that we had very low levels of cyanide which were well within specifications. We took are results to the minister of Health and he accepted our results and did his own testing and then lifted the restrictions. In the next couple of months we planned to add another 500 families to the water system.

As many of you know, our ministry is supported by many volunteers from the US and Europe who leave their homes, friends and families to come and serve at Hogar de Esperanza. However, you may not realize that the number of Peruvian volunteers has increased, as well.

In April a Peruvian ministry, Nueva Esperanza, organized a medical group to come serve the orphanage for a day. This group of local doctors, nurses, and psychologists spent an entire day serving the children of the orphanage. The nurses and doctors completed a thorough medical exam of every child and collected data we can use to ensure the health of the children. They also have dedicated themselves to continuing servicing some of the health concerns our children may have. The psychologists held a class for the real parents and relatives of some of the children. They also met with the parents individually to talk about parenting and their social situations. The day passed as a wonderful blessing for our organization. We even had local media coverage, as the local news station came and did a story on Hogar de Esperanza.

We also had a group of Trujillian high scholars come do a 2 hour show and activity for the children. They played games, put on dramas and sang songs with the children. The group of 7 high scholars also committed to come serve the orphanage every Saturday, through December, cleaning the orphanage, helping with filing, and making crafts with the kids.

Hogar de Esperanza is growing every day. The work is continuous. There are children to be fed, clothed, educated and loved. Our projects are growing, as well, from our water project to our alfalfa project. Peruvian staff and workers are being trained, discipled and each week learning better ways to do their jobs. We are thankful for each one of you who read, follow and pray for the ministry of Hogar de Esperanza. Thank you for working with us and being a part of this incredible opportunity.

Chau,

Dave

March 2008 Newsletter

29 March 2008

What an exciting month at Hogar de Esperanza. We had 30 Coast Guard Academy Candidates come to the orphanage to totally refurbish the children’s playground. They finished their remodeling project very professionally and really had a big impact on our children. These men and women spent their spring break benefiting the children of the orphanage instead of going to a beach and relaxing. The children gave them a big thanks and may God bless them.

We had a special event at the orphanage in March. Our co-director Liz got married. She invited the older children to the wedding and the children really enjoyed it. Weddings in Peru start about 45 minutes late but last for five to six hours. The ceremony has a government official administrating an oath and then a pastor conducts a religious ceremony. Very interesting and if you visit Peru try to go to one.

We are continuing the water project. We now serve the water needs of 1500 people and we are continuing to add more people. There is approximately 15000 people living in the city and they all need clean drinkable water. In the future we hope to turn over the water system to a newly formed water district where the Peruvians will run it.

The staff and children said goodbye to two of our long term volunteers, Hayley and Erin, who served Hogar de Esperanza for 9 months. These girls worked in a variety of programs, including teaching our kinder class, conducting music and English lessons, guiding reading programs, gardening with the kids, tutoring and working as substitute madres in the casitas. They were a blessing to have around and everyone at the orphanage will miss them. Volunteers make up a large part of our ministry and help implement new programs for the children. If you are interested in volunteering or know someone who would like to come share their talents with our children and staff, please contact me.

Chau,

Dave

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