This summer will see the beginning of a number of new projects for ICDU and I want to take a moment to let you know about them. While the natural flow of events has pushed the start of these to the summer it couldn’t come at a better time. Not only are we ready to start involving church members in projects but this summer we have three interns to help with the work! Last year Aaron was with us as we began getting to know the people of El Naranjal and this year our interns will help us continue the work we’ve begun there.
Maybe you’ve read Greg’s article on ICDU’s site about the upcoming latrine project. If not you should follow the link above and give it a look. This project will reach, over time, the families living in El Naranjal and their neighbors in Villa de Socabaya. That is almost 200 families! While this project is more quick relief than development we believe it to be an important need that we are in a position to meet. To help build some responsibility in for those receiving the latrines and as a way to provide them with a resource in a replicable way we will be pairing the latrines with a set of animals. We’ll give each family that receives a latrine a pair of animals for them to care for and reproduce with the expectation that they return a set amount of animals back to us. As this project gets off the ground I’ll be updating ICDU’s site (icduperu.org) with pictures and stories. You’ll also hear from the interns as they offer their unique perspective on the project.
Another project for the summer will be a variation on a medical campaign. Due to the existence of cheap, often free, medical care the idea of throwing a full campaign has been put on hold. If we can come up with a responsible way to hold a more comprehensive campaign in the future then we will but this year we have decided to limit ourselves to giving out glasses to kids with a need. With the help of the Rotary Club we are seeking out kids in small schools on the outskirts of town, near El Naranjal, that we can work with and set up a time for us to come and give basic eye exams. Once we’ve identified kids with need we’ll bring an eye doctor to the schools to give them a full examination. Our goal is to provide about 100 kids with a pair of glasses.
The last two ‘projects’ or events are tied in with the library project. We are re-envisioning this project a little bit and focusing in on those libraries that have had the most success. Two specific events we want to hold are a book fair and a sports camp. Both will, more than likely, take place at the Porvenir location because it has had the most participation and it has the most space. We have a good amount of planning still to do on these but think they will be great outreach opportunities in the Porvenir area. Two of our friends, Mark and Laura, will be coming down from Dallas to run the sports camp. Mark has been doing these types of camps for a while now and when he offered to come down we couldn’t pass up on his offer. It should be a great week.
So there is ICDU’s summer at a glance. It promises to be both challenging and fun. Look for reports, pictures, and stories from these projects and more this summer both in the newsletter and on icduperu.org. Your prayers, as always, are needed.