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.
CUDA News: September
Our work here can be hard sometimes; and not for the reasons you might think. Sure being away from family and friends is hard. Learning a new language and culture (and learning how to survive in it!) is very difficult. Adjusting your thinking and work habits to be completely self-starting and constantly motivated is tough to be sure but all these things can be overcome with time and dedication to a vision. The part of working here that I have found hard lately is that I am constantly in contact with desperate people. People with little to no hope, people who have been hurt before, people can’t (or don’t want to) trust anymore. This isn’t the desperation of watching your children die while being unable to help - that is happening as I type this article and as you read it - but it is still desperation and I can feel its effect on me.
The lives of the people we work with have been hard. Unless their parents were able to afford a decent private school, they were educated in a system that is underfunded, understaffed, and underperforming. Bending or breaking rules is the norm. The police can be bribed at any and every opportunity which only helps to reinforce the generally vague feelings about the laws the government enacts. I mean, when your government passes laws in direct contradiction to each other, it is hard to tell legal right from wrong so why bother, right? Machismo still holds some sway in the lower classes so while a husband may spend his afternoon watching the soccer game, drinking with his buddies, his wife spends the day taking care of the kids, house and her side business with little thanks and no voice in her own home. This side business is the only income the wife will see as generally incomes are kept separate with each spouse taking individual responsibility of the various needs of the household. And when either one needs capital to help their business the banks are ready to step in and charge 50% interest (or more) per year, but that sounds pretty good because the money lenders down the street start out around 100% and go up from there. When that loan becomes too much to bear the individual, or family, will simply not pay because they know that, usually, the banks won’t actually take away their collateral and instead will just write the loan off. That’s good, but bad also because the next time they’ll have to borrow from friends, family, or that moneylender with his 100% interest.
I’ve only listed a handful of the situations we find ourselves facing and working in. When all of that comes together in a person I can’t help but see them as desperate. Desperately hoping that we will provide a small loan to keep their business going, or add that one little thing they never can save up enough to purchase on their own. Desperately waiting for someone to give them the time of day and listen to their words, to give their voice a place. They are desperate to receive a small solar panel in their home so that their kids can do homework with good lighting and not get candle drippings all over the homework (not to mention the damage being done to their eyes). Desperate and in need of friends that will build them up instead of tearing them down. This is what we do and I don’t mind admitting that it is hard. It is hard to connect that often and that deeply with desperate people because once they realize that we are willing to connect with them, and once they feel safe, they are all in. Filling in those gaps, sharing our beliefs, building up, encouraging, teaching, lending, learning. That is what we aim to do in Arequipa, to see desperate people and (acknowledging our own desperation) live in community with them.
Big Things are Happening
I feel like I start every library article this way, but... things are really exciting in the library program. I wanted to write an article on all that is going on so that you are well-informed when I come in for furlough. I have several things to share.
1. I went with the CUDA staff to talk with the directors of the education and psychology departments about our program. My job is to model for the teachers reading comprehension strategies that they can use across the curriculum. But what I have found (among the third grade classes where I am working) is that many of the students we are serving cannot benefit from learning the strategies until they learn to read fluently. In order for the children to work on fluent reading, they need daily one-on-one attention. We went to Alas Peruanas (one of the major universities) to ask for student volunteers to come and read to students. I hope to see this paired reading program kicked off by the end of this month before I leave. The directors were excited about the opportunity, and gave us permission to advertise the need among their student body. Please pray for this program, and pray for open doors to share the gospel message with university students.
2. Along with one-on-one attention, we need to know exactly what reading level these children are on. I feel immensely blessed that God has brought a fellow missionary onto the field here in Arequipa, Neil Cantrall, who is equipped to train us in the ways of evaluating these students. Neil just recently moved here with his family. They are looking to partner with other NGO's and Christian groups where they can be used. Neil taught 4th grade reading in a bilingual setting in the US. It really does seem like God knew exactly what we lacked in the program and sent Neil our way. There really is no other way to describe it. What is even cooler is that Neil will be working with the classes and training my good friend, and sister, Nadia, in the evaluations. They are taking over for me, and they will be leading the volunteer program while I am gone. Please pray for their work, and pray for the evaluation component of the program to help us serve the students' needs even better.
3. The program has some really exciting opportunities in the near future. Greg and I will be talking to different Rotary clubs to raise awareness and initiate a discussion of applying for grant money to go toward our library program. The grant would come from an international partnership between a US chapter and a chapter here in Arequipa. For those of you that don't remember, Alfredo, the executive director of CUDA, is a past president of the Arequipa Rotary Club chapter. Pray for our presentations, and pray for open hearts of Rotarians to see the needs of the Peruvian school children that we serve.
4. I am in contact with the directors of education at both Harding University and Abilene Christian. I am scheduling times to meet with faculty and students in the area of education to plan for future internships, a possible education campaign, and just to bounce ideas off of professors that are more knowledgeable than me. I am very excited to share about the program and meet new contacts to further the good work God is doing among us. Pray for all of those things that I will be discussing.
5. And finally, working in these schools has opened a door for us to become more active in the school culture. We will be offering a series of talks on different topics for parents. Schools want to offer education to parents. We are blessed in our Peruvian church family with many who are experts in different areas. So please pray for the planning of that series, and the ones that will share with others that may have never received the opportunity otherwise. Now do you see what I mean? It is overwhelming to me to think of the potential of this program and where it is headed. God is in control, and he has blessed the work immensely. Glory to his name!
Some of you may have already been thinking this way, but something new struck me the other day. We are serving in Arequipa, trying our best to live out a holistic ministry– serving the whole person. I have reached a conclusion for one end goal of the library work. We are teaching children to read fluently. We are teaching children to use comprehension strategies to better understand and delve into texts. If those children can master those things, what can stop them from picking up a Bible and understanding the gospel story? So many Peruvian adults cannot read well or comprehend the passages we read with them. It is my deepest longing that out of this program, Peruvians will be equipped to read the Gospel message for themselves and proclaim it among their family and friends.
CUDA News: August
Last year we wrote about the “plan” we had for CUDA. That plan included bringing three Peruvians (Alfredo, Paty, and Abraham) on board as paid full-time employees. Like all plans, good or bad, they run their own course and the new year found us only able to bring Alfredo on as the Executive Director for CUDA. Though we really wanted to hire them all at the same time the funding simply wasn’t there so we started with Alfredo and decided to work towards a middle of the year hire for the other two. Well we missed that mark as well but thankfully we found ourselves in a position to hire Abraham and Paty on a part-time basis starting in August. So it is with a lot of joy and thankfulness to God that I can announce, officially, that CUDA now has three Peruvian directors working together to bring about justice, wellbeing, and joy in the city.
Megan’s article gives an in depth update in her article this month so you should check it out and pray over all that is happening with the teachers, volunteers, and students involved in the program. On the micro-finance side things are running better than ever. We have added two new groups in as many months and have one new group that just began forming this week. Bringing Paty on board this month has been a huge blessing to the program. Instead of just diving into the middle of things (which is where she already was) she decided to go back to the beginning and re-familiarize herself with all of our plans and practices regarding the loan groups which has led to some healthy questioning of our policies. Abraham jumped right in this month and began the difficult process of becoming familiar with everything we do, every program we have and every person we work with so he can help make all of what the NGO does more holistic. Sometimes we get bogged down with the details and mundane process of running a program that we can allow the spiritual side of our work to slide to the back burner. Abraham’s job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. One thing he did this month was plan and hold a seminar on motivation (a necessary topic for college students who just began a new semester) at Alas Peruanas, a university where we are making connections. Pray for our directors as they learn to work together as a team, ministering to the city of Arequipa.
One last thing to mention and petition prayers for is our continuing education. While on the field we are always learning. Sometimes that learning happens through books or classes and sometimes (often) through trial and error. In September Alfredo will begin a masters program from a university in Lima (via distance learning) in NGO management and I will begin an online program in international development from a university in England. Our hope is that with further education we will be better equipped to serve the people of Arequipa to whom CUDA reaches out.
CUDA News: July
During June and July we have had seven interns from the US living and working alongside us. They came well prepared to be learners and servants; we have been so impressed with them. While here they have worked at the cafe, served in our house churches, built solar panels, covered library books, visited borrowers and more. Always ready to help, each one of them did their part and helped us out during a very busy time in our development ministry.
Each of the interns were encouraged, and required, to choose a specific facet of our work to dedicate themselves to during the summer. For Emily and Sean that project was the libraries. Almost every week they accompanied Megan to the different libraries to work with the classes on their reading projects. Sean was even asked to sponsor one of the classes during a recent celebration at one of the schools. In the boys class the students were divided up into groups and tasked with choosing a book, reading that book, and presenting the story to the whole class. Sean and Emily were in charge of planning the party that the kids earned from doing a great job on their projects. It was your classic kid party - snacks, ice cream, and soda - and they all had a great time.
Two other interns focused more on our micro-loan program. Taylor and Rebecca are both business majors studying at Harding University and decided to come to Peru to see what our loan program is all about. While here they were able to participate in forming a loan group from the very first interview to handing over the loan and signing the contract. As their major project they will lead two meetings of this group. In the meetings they will facilitate relationship and trust building, teaching on business principles, and receipt of the weekly payment. During our meetings this summer they have helped me refine some of our processes, solve problems with various borrower groups, and start forming a more comprehensive entrance and exit interview.
Extensively trained or not each year’s interns bring something unique to our team. Fresh perspectives, extra hands, willingness to serve, business acumen; whatever we are lacking God provides. Thank you Sean, Katie, Rebecca, Ann, Emily, Taylor and Jordan. The work in Arequipa, the Peruvians you came to know, and our families have all been blessed by your presence.
CUDA News: June
It is always a blessing to have your supporting church highly involved in your mission work. We love our relationship with Cedar Lane and were excited when they contacted us over a year ago with a desire to put their talents to use here in Arequipa. Since the Cedar Lane church is blessed with an abundance of engineers (even some rocket scientists!) we began to think of ways for them to put their technical skills to use. What came of our planning/praying was the idea to build and install solar panels in a poor community. The team that Cedar Lane put together rose to the challenge and arrived this month ready to get to work.
The process of choosing a community to receive the panels was long, frustrating, and God-led. Due to some early mistakes and assumptions we found ourselves a month-out from the arrival of the solar team with no community committed to working with us. We eventually decided to stick with Naranjal, Manuela’s community where we installed water tanks and built latrines, after a few weeks of praying and looking for an open door. After the community-chosen directors of Naranjal asked for our assistance in resolving some in-community issues we felt like we were being told to stay in Naranjal, to put the solar panels there. After a few weeks’ discussion we have decided to install panels in the seven homes that are currently occupied and one or two panels for the community building.
God certainly blessed our week with the group as we were able to get more work done than we had originally planned on. Thanks to our interns we were able to get all ten of the panels constructed! Even better we were able to install five panels when originally we had hoped to get one installed. As of now five of the seven families that live in Naranjal can turn on their lights at night and the other two should have their panels installed soon. It was a sweet moment when Manuela conveyed their gratitude to the group from Cedar Lane with lots of hugs and even a few tears.
While here the three engineers from Cedar Lane (Joel, Brian, and Mark) 1) held a press conference, 2) gave various radio/tv interviews, and 3) presented at two universities. Abraham really outdid himself in creating these opportunities to let Arequipa know about CUDA and our programs/businesses. During these interviews they were able to not only talk about solar energy as a viable power source but they also had many opportunities to share their faith as what motivated them to come to Arequipa.
Our hope is that we can continue this program using the simple design created by the engineering team without the need for repeat trips by American engineers. We will be looking for Peruvian partners to help make this a reality. Already we have had a community send their president to talk with us about acquiring panels for their homes. Join us in praying for God to lead us in this, and every other, project.
CUDA News: May
One day after we returned to Arequipa from furlough I went to the airport to pick up David Fann. David works for Vanderbilt, is an adjunct teacher at Lipscomb, and is one of CUDA’s board members. We were really excited to have David visit and see what CUDA is up to, meet Alfredo and Paty personally, visit our worksites and basically just get a feel for Arequipa, its people and its needs. He visited 3/4 of our church groups, met a few of the borrowers in our loan program and was able to visit a few of our libraries.
The timing of David’s visit was perfect as he was also able to help us with some of the prep-work for the solar panel project that will take place in June. Over the years David has been a part of numerous mission trips with an engineering focus. He has helped design, build and install solar panel setups in Central America, so has the experience to help us get prepared for the team coming next month. We were able to show him the community where we will be installing the panels so that he could give input on the design and installation ideas being thrown around. We also took him to a few stores so he could see what kind of tools and materials were available. His input on all levels has been extremely helpful.
The CUDA board has been a big blessing already but having one make the trip down sure made everything feel more official. These men and women have years of experience and knowledge gained but don’t know Arequipa nor the people we interact with on a daily basis. Personal knowledge of the city, workers, projects and people being reached will help them as they make decisions for the organization. A number of other members have begun to think and pray about a time they can visit. We look forward to having them here!
Let me give you a short list of things/people that we would ask you to be actively praying about as we head into the summer:
- CUDA Board (David, Ileene, Monty, Mark, Sheila, Budd, Greg, Alfredo, Kyle)
- Summer Interns (Rebecca, Ann, Sean, Emily, Taylor, Jordan, Katie)
- Library Program - the kids and teachers that Megan works with on a weekly basis
- Solar Project - team from TN coming in June to build and install 10 solar power units
- Loan Program - growth in borrowers’ businesses
- Cafe - that we utilize the space for more than just selling coffee, and that we would sell more coffee!
- Alfredo - wisdom as he leads CUDA in Peru
- Paty - funding for us to be able to bring her on board full time
A Glimpse into the Library Project
It has been a week since we kicked off the program with the teachers here, and it has been quite an adjustment for me. First of all, I feel like I am officially working part-time. We are hiring Manuela to work an additional day in the house to care for Cohen so that I can have the freedom to work with the schools on Thursdays. This has been different for me. Even though I have always played an active part in the ministry here, I have either been pregnant, nursing, or tending to a toddler. Now that Ana and Maggie are in school and Cohen is weaned, it seems that I have entered into a new phase for my ministry role here in the library program... and I love it.
I am in contact with a professor I studied under at Harding who teaches staff development conferences all over Arkansas. I am basing my entire curriculum of reading strategies on some books that I bought in his class. I skyped with him last month to talk about our program and get some feedback and advice on how I was doing it. He told me that if I want to see results in this first year I need to have as much face-to-face time as I can with the teachers. It is a modeling system. I model for the teachers, they model for the students, the students model for each other, and hopefully, by that point, the majority of students can use the reading strategies independently. I have taken his advice to heart, and I have coordinated a class visit with each of the teachers once a week and a monthly meeting for all the teachers to come together and discuss and share what has worked for them throughout the month.
It is all very exciting. I am enjoying the curriculum planning, I am learning more and more about the Peruvian methods of instruction (ways I can learn from them and suggestions for improving upon what they do), and I am developing a whole new set of relationships with Peruvian women that are share a common passion with me—teaching children. I had a one-on-one meeting with a teacher this week that asked if I might have extra time to meet with just her outside of class. She expressed to me that the teachers are not given much support and don't have the opportunities for staff development. She really appreciates the opportunity she is receiving through CUDA and considers it a huge blessing to her work. That made my day, and it opened my eyes even more to see that the children aren't the only ones lacking in educational support. We will serve such a purpose in providing staff development opportunities for the teachers. Something I know I took for granted in my home country.
As I learn, I hope to journal my thoughts and share with you all back home what is going on. It is an exciting road that we have started, and I look forward to the ways in which God uses this work to bless the futures of many Peruvian children. Please pray for the teachers and directors that I will be serving beside: Rosa, María Rosa, Betty, Graciela, Erasmina, Nadia, and Mariela. Thank you for your support and the prayers you have lifted on our behalf before this time.
Living Libraries 2012
We are off to a great start in the Living Library program. After three years of opening community libraries and struggling to make them work, we have a new strategy, and I am very excited to share this with our supporters. In our community libraries, the people in the neighborhoods were very supportive and encouraging toward our goal of seeing the library succeed. However, we learned that getting members of the community to volunteer their time free of charge was next to impossible. After seeing several open and close, we chose to invest all of our man-power into the Porvenir location. I believe that the children that attended those Saturday library events appreciated every moment they spent there. But at the end of last year, we received a final word from the Miraflores mayor asking us to leave the building because he wanted to use it for other purposes. I was really bummed over this situation. How could a mayor not see the benefit of this community library. But politics are politics, and they definitely played into that situation. I was very sad for the children we served, but we had no choice. And looking back, I think it was God's hand closing that door and pushing us toward another opening.
So we have a new plan. And I am so excited to share this with you. First, I need to fill you in on Naranjal. We have a long-standing relationship with the people of Naranjal. We decided to open our final community library there. I worked during the summer months with the children at that location. It was a very short time, during a very wet rainy season. Only 4-6 kids came to the events, but I pray that over time that program will grow more and more.
Now for the brand new part! We are collaborating with three different public schools this first year to try a new method in promoting reading comprehension in the lives of these students. We are targeting just the third grade classes. I know from my experience as a teacher and my time here, that the key to making this a success is equipping the teachers. We had such a problem with finding a volunteer base in those community settings. Why not go to the places where people are passionate about the kids and already trying to teach them? So that is exactly what we have done. The staff at these schools are thrilled to have the extra help and staff development opportunity. Here is how it is all going down:
- Alfredo and I met with the staff at all three of the locations. They have listened to the plan, know what is expected from them, and have signed a formal agreement stating that they are on board.
- Alfredo and I made a visit to the classes the last Monday in March in order to have the kids evaluated at the beginning of the program. I am hoping that this assessment coupled with an end-of-the-year assessment will show positive results.
- I am planning the first meeting for the teachers where I will begin to share my knowledge on the subject of reading comprehension strategies. It is my hope that we will meet once a month to discuss how it goes in the classes. I am excited to build these relationships with the teachers involved.
- I will make visits to the classes once a month to do an example lesson using the different strategies. We will also provide the classes with a start-up school library (if you have donated books in the past, they will either be found in Naranjal or these schools. And don't hesitate to send more!)
- Our plan is to incentivize the students that perform well in the program half way through the year and then end of the year.
A couple of stories I would like to share with you that happened this past Monday:
I walked into the all-boys school class, and a little boy shouted, "Profesora!" (which means "teacher" in Spanish). It was a little boy, Joel, that came to our library location in Porvenir. I also ran into one of our girls in the all-girls school. It is such a blessing, and affirmation from God, that we will still be serving the same children that could have come to that community library location.
In one of my assessments with a third-grade boy, I could tell he was one of the sharper ones. His reading fluency was excellent, he answered every reading comprehension question with ease. I got to a question, "What is your favorite book?" He told me that he didn't have one, shrugging his shoulders. I asked, "But do you like to read?" He looked up at me, "Yes. But I don't have any books to read. That is why I can't tell you my favorite."
That, supporters, is a huge reason you are making a difference here. It is my hope that we can make an improvement in reading comprehension, but something simpler than that is to make it easier for these children to have free access to books. It is my prayer that they will discover a world of knowledge through this program and the stories that they will have access to read.
Café Connection
Café Connection is (finally) open for business! After delays by the carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter and the rain we were able to open our doors on Feb 17. A few days later we invited friends and contacts to the cafe so they could see the place and try the different drinks and baked goods. We are very excited about the opportunities this new business presents us with. Not only do all profits go towards expanding our development work but we now have a solid base of operations for reaching out to the college students just down the road. We are confident that God will use this location and ask that you pray that He do just that. Here are some pictures so you can get to know the place, that is until you are able to come in person.
