Another month, another update. There's been some big news that you may not have heard so get ready. Before I do I'd like to remind you all to pray for the safe travels of Greg and Megan (their kids too). They get back to Arequipa on the 28th and its fair to say that the work has missed them.
I'll start with Cafe Connection. After eight months of being open we were faced with an emergency situation. For months, we had been receiving notices from various banks and stores concerning the outstanding debt the owner of the building had accumulated. Well, at the end of September, a letter came threatening repossession of the building but, more important, it advised us that a bank had received authorization from the courts to enter the building by force and remove the possessions therein. This was understandably a serious concern, so we began to look for a new location in case the situation worsened and the cafe’s belongings were seized. One week into our search, Alfredo happened across an option downtown and after two or three visits we decided to sign the lease. We really like the new location and think it has a lot of potential. It is downtown, one block off of the main square in an old-style sillar building. We hope to reopen by the first of November, though this is still Peru, so we will see.
The micro-loan program is rolling along nicely. Paty is now in charge of more weekly group meetings than I am and she is running them better than I ever could. We are currently at the interviewing stage with one new group and a good number of loans are still available on the website with four more to be added soon (so go check it out (cudaperu.org/loans)! One new development in the micro-loan program is the addition of a new type of loan aimed at low-income homeowners in newly founded, under-developed communities. We hope to offer home-improvement loans at very low (or no!) interest for construction costs on their homes. I plan on posting more about this, including our reasons for offering these loans, but I hope you'll prayerfully consider helping these new borrowers improve their homes. More info coming soon!
As you may have read the public school teachers of Peru went on strike shortly before the McKinzies left for their furlough. About two weeks ago the strike slowly began to lift and Neil Cantrall, who was left in charge of the program, has began to get back to work in the schools. While he has not had a lot of opportunities to be with the kids this month he has had a lot of time to prepare, and to work with the volunteers of Put Them First, the NGO we partner with at one of the schools. Pray for the kids at the schools we partner with. They missed two months of school and must make up that time in order to move on to the next grade. As the school year winds down Megan will begin to meet with Neil and the other library workers to develop strategy and plan for next year. It should be an exciting one and we'll have a lot of things to announce before the year is out.
Well that seems to be all the big news to share for now, with more to come soon as there are some very exciting things in the works. Keep praying for the Peruvians we are trying to help, the CUDA staff and volunteers, and our stateside partners who help make this possible. We are grateful for all of you and your continued, prayerful, support.