An experience way beyond the normal expectations of our children, thanks to the support we are able to give them!
Everyone in our refuge in Peru was dancing for joy as they set out for their annual seaside holiday, camping out in a church beside the sea, and taking everything with them on a coach from the refuge to Playa de las Tortugas, about five hours to the north of Lima.
First they find the bright yellow T-shirts, sent in one of the previous cargoes from the UK. Then they load the food and saucepans, the sleeping mats and everything they for ten days, and including a blow-up pool for the youngest children and games and drawing materials … in short everything! Everyone eats on the coach and finally they reach the church next to the sea: then it is time to unload everything and arrange it in the ‘hall’ … but first everyone rushes to see that the sea really is there!
Everybody from our refuge can then enjoy great days by the sea: el mar, el mar … the sea, the sea … children jump in from the ‘diving’ platform … and once again those UK umbrellas are transformed into parasols. The youngest children play in the pool as the older ones keep going back to the beach … beside the pool are the tents for the male staff. The tents too have a link to the UK as many years ago a group of scouts donated them to Project Peru. And everyone loves drawing and colouring … and they still love a jigsaw too … including the youngest!
There’s a great backdrop of the foothills of the Andes; beautiful view but not when you have to somehow perch your your wooden /corrugated iron house there in the shanty towns! Though the very real challenge of walking to the beach up steep slopes and over the rocks … but worth the effort!
This is of course the Pacific Ocean: very tranquil here but playing a key role in the following issue …
