Happy New Year 2007

I'm going this afternoon to Camaná, the beach town in the Pacific coast. Probably I will not be able to write in the next few days. I wish you all the best for the new year.

Happy New Year 2007

Feliz Ano Novo 2007

Christmas presents

These were my Christmas presents. The first one was given me by the family's mother. It says "The coca leaf is not drug". Here, in Peru, the coca leaf is very traditional. And the peruvians try to convince the world that must be legalized also in other countries because, as they say, it's not a drug like cocaine.
Inca Kola is the most traditional peruvian drink (soda) and this is the most famous peruvian t-shirt.

We've already got a very nice amount

We (me and you, of course) have already got a very nice amount of money to help these poor children. I'm very happy to see that this idea was not in vain, and with that money I will be able to give them some essential (material) things, something more that I'm giving them now... LOVE and AFFECTION ... and make them happier, you would never forget their smile :)... they really know the meaning of the word GRATITUDE (in Europe there are so many people who don't know the real meaning of that word)
Today some nuns, who have the monastery near the community, were offering some things and you should have seen everybody running through the fields. There were hundreds of people there waiting to receive something, it was really impressive.
I must remind you that you can still colaborate sending your donation (see my bank data down) until January 5th.

New Year's Eve in the Pacific Ocean

The school, these past days, has been very interesting. We have been recieving more children because, as now the official school has finished, we started with "vacaciones utiles" - active holidays, and other kids are coming. We spend the time doing maths, spanish, english, geography, sports... Some of the kids are not coming anymore beacuse they must help their parents working in the fields - "chacras".
As I wrote in one comment, the tradition here in Arequipa is to spend the New Year's Eve in the Pacific Ocean, and that will be also my case. I will go with the familiy's son to Camaná, a beach town, 3 hours away from Arequipa. We will go on saturday with some friends of him. But I've heard that there the sea water is very cold... I will check it.

Muito obrigado - Thank you very much

Quero agradecer a todos os que já enviaram dinheiro para esta causa tao nobre... podem ter a certeza que o vosso dinheiro, por mínimo que seja, vai fazer mais felizes estas crianças. Volto a repetir que coloquei esta petiçao no meu blog por sugerencia de alguns familiares. Ninguém é obrigado a colaborar e fica à consciencia de cada um. Podem enviar os vossos donativos até ao dia 5 de Janeiro. Por favor, nao deixem de escrever os vossos comments por nao terem colaborado, eles sao tao importantes para mim!

I must thank to the people who have already given some money to this noble case... you can be sure that your money, no matter the amount, will make happier these children. Once again I must say that I started this petition because some relatives gave me the idea. No one is forced to colaborate and I leave it to your conscience. You can send your donations until january 5th. Please, don't stop writing your comments just because you haven't colaborate, they are so important for me!

Wonderful idea!

Some of my relatives thought that they could help the children who have been the main real life characters of my blog, sending me some money, and then with that money I could buy something useful for them. I found a wonderful idea. People are free to give what they want and only if they can, of course. The amout given by each person will be secret, and only I will know who gave money. I know that for foreigners it's not so simple to send me money but in any case I let here my bank data:

Name: Edgar Farias Ferreira
Address: Rua Prof. Henrique Vilhena N11 5C 1600 - 670 Lisbon Portugal
IBAN: PT50 0035 0360 00047418800 78S
WIFT/BIC: CGDIPTPL

If you decide to send me money please send me an email reporting the amount you have sent me. My email is: edgar.effe77@gmail.com

A pedido de várias famílias

Várias pessoas lembraram-se que podiam ajudar as crianças, que têm sido as personagens do meu blog, enviando-me dinheiro para eu poder comprar-lhes algo que elas necessitem com mais urgência. Cada pessoa só dá se quiser e a quantia que desejar. O que posso garantir é que o dinheiro depositado na minha conta vai de facto ser gasto em algo necessário para as crianças e para as suas famílias. A quantia que cada pessoa enviar vai ficar em segredo, só eu vou saber quanto cada pessoa enviou, para isso peço que me enviei um mail reportando-me a quantia que enviaram. O dinheiro gasto vai ser devidamente reportado.

Dados:
Nome: Edgar Farias Ferreira
Número da conta (CGD): 0360047418800
NIB: 0035 0360 00047418800 78
IBAN: PT50 0035 0360 00047418800 78
SWIFT/BIC: CGDIPTPL

O meu mail é: edgar.effe77@gmail.com

Parabéns Ana Rita

Muitos parabéns Ana Rita, espero que tenhas um dia de aniversário muito bonito e com muitas prendas :)

Today it's my god-daughter's birthday (Ana Rita) so I'm sending her happy birthday!

Peruvian Christmas

Christmas is already over... I spend it with my host family, once we already had the X-mas party at school on friday, with the children. In Peru Christmas is very different from Portugal. On the 24th instead of codfish the peruvians eat turkey and they only eat after mid-night. So it's always a big night. Before start eating, at mid-night, people open the presents. I had 2 t-shirts. One a Inca Kola (the most famous soda drink in Peru) t-shirt and the other saying "La hoja de coca no es droga" - Coca leaf is not drug - with a drawing of the coca leaf. I liked it. This morning for breakfast I had turkey, for lunch turkey...
Even if I was with my host family, yesterday night I could feel somehow a kind of lonlyness and nostalgy. But just thinking how the children and their families were happy in the our X-mas party at the school was already worthy to spend X-mas far from Portugal. I think that just to see their faces that day is already priceless.
I must, once again, thank you all of you who via the blog, via sms or via email wished me merry Christmas. I replied to all of you with the same wishes.
MUITO OBRIGADO

Merry Christmas for all

I think it's already time to wish you, and to all your familly, Merry Christmas. You know that this Christmas will be different for me, but even being very far from you are, I don't let to remember you and to wish you all the best.
I want also to thank you for all the Merry Christmas messages you have sent me, via mail or via sms. That's a signal that even being in the other side of the world you still remember me. It's very important to me and I really appreciate that... and I won't forget it. Obrigado

What can I say more...

Mothers and children
more of that...
Luisito and Pablo showing the car and the t-shirt
Me with Luisito, one of the nicest kid
Shane, english volunteer playing guitar

More pictures...

Some of the younger children

A scaried child...because of Santa Klaus

Happy mother and daughter
Children playing with their new toys

Look the nice cars we gave them and the nice t-shirt (on the right)

More pictures...

Santa Klaus playing with the children

Santa Klaus giving presents

Making one child happy...So many happy faces...

Some pictures of the Christmas party

Some mothers coming to the party with their little children
Me with Alejandra, a very nice child
The classroom with some children and some parents
Santa Klaus dressing up :)
Believe me... I was santa Klaus

Christmas Party at school

This morning we made the Christmas party at school. It was reallly fantastic! Yesterday we spend all afternoon shopping for the party and then making the presents. We bought for each boy a shirt and a car and for each girl a shirt and a doll. For each family we still bought a basket with rice, oil, beans and tuna. You should have seen their faces when Santa Klaus (or me :) arrived. Only the older kids understood that Santa Klaus was in fact me, all the other children were completely delighted whit what was happening. I dressed my Santa klaus suit in the van and showed up in the classroom, completely full with children, parents, brothers, sisters... Santa Klaus gave them the presents and played a bit. At the end we had a meal with chicken, juice, salad, fruit and "paneton" (Christmas bread) and gave the baskets to the families.
The party was really nice and just for seing the happy faces of all the people in that classroom was already worthy for me to be part of this project and spend Christmas very far from my family and my country. Just for this all what I'm doing here makes sense already!

Local taxi

This is a local taxi. There are thousands of these cars in the streets of Arequipa. Take the taxi here is very particular. You cannot take any taxi, you must just take taxis from some companies otherwise you can be stolen... I mean that they can take everything from you. A normal taxi ride here costs about 0,5 €. Fujimori broght these cars from Asia when he was the peruvian president.


PS: While I was writing this post I was listening TSF (my favourite portuguese radio) and they passed the The Pogue's Christmas song. That was the first moment when I felt Christmas since I'm here.

Taking children to the dentist

Today I took some children to the dentist. We walked almost 30 minutes to the nearest medical center. It was their first ever visit to the dentist. Even if only one of the children had the SIS (national insurance for poor people) the dentist watched all kids and made some treatments and for that we payed nothing. All kids there had serious problems of infeccions. One of the reasons is that the water they drink is not good and it's contaminated.
You should have seen the medical center... very poor people were there, with their babies... all very impressive.
Yesterday I played basketball. The last time I had played it was last summer holidays in Osijek, Croatia, but before that I hadn't played basketball for the last 10 years. I may say that I still know how to play it.

Peruvian football

Yesterday I saw a football match at the stadium. Melgar from Arequipa against Cienciano from Cusco. It was very funny to see the peruvian behaviour at the stadium... Some women started fighting :) Cienciano won 2-1 and now they will play a final match against Universidad from Lima to find the Champion.
So, on friday we will make the Christmas party for the children and for all the community. And surprise, surprise... I will be Santa Klaus!!! I will wear Santa's suit... and I will say OH OH OH...
We will give them presents, I think a Christmas' basket and something for the children. My idea was to give them clothes, once that in their letters they have asked for it. But I still don't know what we will give them.
Welcome to all new readers of my blog, specially my hunt and uncle, tia Amélia and tio Mário.

Now some words...

Seeing the pictures you can already imagine how the trip was. But what you haven't seen is that when we were hiking on the lake suddenly started a huge storm... thunders, hail, wind. We were completely wet and freezing. Our guide didn't know where the van was and so we had to find a cave to protect us. Finally we could leave the cave and find the van.

More pictures...

Me... It was very cold...

Local people getting salt from the lake


These terraces are 1400 years old, were made by the Incas

More pictures of the day trip...

In the salt lake we met llamas and alpacas (animals living in The Andes):

These are llamas:

This is also a llama

This is alpaca (smaller and with better whool than llamas) from which whool is made the best scarfs, gloves and hats

Salt lake...

Day trip to the salt lake

This was the hiking team: me, Gabriel, Karren, Shane, Carol, Homer and Alton

Look how was El Misti today, with snow at the top

In the way we had a small problem... but nothing serious

Beautiful view over the salt lake (at 4.400 metters high)

Me...

Air Madrid closed

It's confirmed! I will not flight back with Air Madrid, I'm reading that they closed today and they will not fly anymore... I don't know how to manage it from here. In Arequipa there's no Air Madrid office... but somehow I will have to make it.
Today was the teacher's birthday so the children made a party for her. It was nice... I even danced and sang with them a quechua (local inca language) song.
Today was also the last day at school of 2 volunteers. The kids are always very sad saying good bye.
Tomorrow I will have other hiking day... I hope not so demanding as the previous. It will be just for a day. I will put here the pictures.
Once more thank you for those who are reading my blog and spend some of your precious time writing comments here.

The kid is ok - No flight back

For those who are worried about the kid I must informe you that he has already left the hospital this morning and he is ok! Yesterday I told what happened at school to my "host mother" and this morning she gave me a "teddy bear" and some candies for that kid. It was nice from her.
I'm reading now that may be Air Madrid will lose the flight licence. That would be a big problem for me because I should flight back to Madrid from Buenos Aires with Air Madrid.

Crazy day!!

Today the first accident at school happened... a kid was in the playgroung and he fall down to the road (may be 4 metters high). He opened his head and it didn't seem very well... then he lost conscience. I tried to call a taxi that was stopped just a few metters away but he didn't come. Then I stopped other taxi that was passing and we took the kid to the hospital. You can imagine how worried I was... He's ok now, it seems he has nothing broken, however he's still at the hospital.
I've asked the children to write a letter to Santa Klaus. Most of the kids don't want to recieve toys but clothes. In one letter a child said that she wanted some clothes because she has no father to buy it and her mother has no money, and because she has 5 brothers sisters. Other kids asked Santa Klaus to keep their families together... Even in these details these children are so different from european children.

Chrristmas' idea!

Of course, in the video I put here you will feel all the best of Peru. You won't feel the poverty, the traffic caos, the polution, the danger in the streets, the earthquakes... You will feel the traditional dances, the peruvian parties, the peruvians as they are.
Tomorrow I will start my 4th work week. Yesterday we had an idea to make a special Christmas for the children and their families in our school. The goal is to give them a special Christmas this year. Usually these kids don't recieve presents, don't have a special meal on Christmas day... so we will try to change it this year. For me it would be the best way to spend here Christmas.

Feel how Peru is watching this video

If you want to feel how Peru is even being many kilometers away see this video and you can feel it... The first time I saw it was just before my departure, and since I'm here I could confirm that Peru is all of what you can see in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fzbhVxhiC4

Last post conclusion

... whenever you feel down and worried with your problems think that there are children that have much less than you... however they have a beautiful smile!

It's necesary to cross the Atlantic and come to a 3rd world country to have the complete notion of how nonsense are most of the problems that people have in Europe. When I spent almost all day with those children I realize that. Although they have nothing and their life is hard and without any hope, they have almost always a smile in their faces; as well as their parents, working all day at the chacras (fields), but then when I meet them they always smile at you and they say nice things.
Last thursday was Peter's (a canadian volunteer) last day at school. The teacher and the pupils prepaired for him a good bye party. Then I completely realized how much is important for those children what are we doing there. You should have seen their faces begging him to not go... it was very impressive. Then one child told me that I could not go. I didn't know what to say him...

Christmas in Peru

Today I was in shock when, in the way to the school, I started listening "Santamaria's" music in the radio. Santamaria is a very bad portuguese music band and I was so surprised listening it. While I write these words I have a very boring child teasing me... she is the hotel's owner daughter, and she's always around.
The weekend has already started. Tonight we will make a barbeque, with all the volunteers.
I still don't know where I'll spend my Christmas... may be with my host family or may be I will spend that day helping some institution to give Christmas meals to poor people.
Christmas here is different, there's no cold weather, no Christmas' lights... and it's imposible to see the shopping fever that there's in all european cities.

After the pictures, some words

I hope you all have enjoyed my pictures. Today my legs are better and finally I can walk normally. School's going as always... I can notice that kids are improving their skills, specially in maths. Their problem is to get concentrated and understand the questions. They love to learn geography. I make with them a game, asking them to show me on the map where different countries are and their capitals. At the beginning they had a lot of difficulties, but now they can already recognize almost all south american countries and capitals. Europe for them is harder, but they already know where Portugal is and its capital.
On friday is holiday here so tomorrow it will be the end of my 3rd work week. The other day some kids told me that they wanted to come with me to my country... Most of those kids have no future at all here.

The hiking team

Me and Neil almost at the top!

We did it!!!

Look at this sunrise!!!

Isn't it wonderful?! Only to have this vision was already worthy the trekking and wake up so early

We with 2 guides

The guides performed for us the local traditional dance

Edgar in the paradise...

Palm tree... really the paradise

Look at this swimming pool in the oasis!!!

Nice sunset... what do you think?!

Our room in the oasis!!

Views of the oasis

And more...

Here you can see how deep is the canyon... and how much I climbed!!

Other picture

The great alpinist!!!!

First picture

This was the climbing team! Me, Robert (our guide), Neil (irish volunteer) and Shane (english volunteer)

I survived!!

I came back from my trakking trip to the Colca Canyon yesterday. Everything was amazing... but at the same time very demanding. Totally during the 3 days we walked 25 Km (up and down) in very difficult paths! The first day we walked down for 3 hours to the bottom of the canyon and we stayed in one oasis... with pools, palm trees... There was no electricity, no phones, no mobil phones signal... nothing, just water and toillet. We slept in real bamboo huts. The next day we walked (up and down) for other 3 hours to an amazing place in the middle of no where, to an hostel called Llauar. There was only one other turist there, a french lady. In that place we could relax in a termal baths, the ideal for our poor muscles. At dinner the guides performed for us the traditional indian dance. Next morning we wake up at 2:30 am and walked up for more than 4 hours... most of them at night! Then I coul see one of the most amazing sunrises I've ever seen!! At that place the sky is really blue and the stars shine more than ever.
You can imagine how my legs are now... but everything was really worthy!
I hope to put here tomorrow the pictures and then you will see how amazing was everything!!
ONCE MORE THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS!!!

Before the weekend trip

I've already finished my work week! Tomorrow at 6am I'll start my trip to the Colca Canyon. We will go by bus during 6 hours and then we will start trekking. At the Colca Canyon it's posible to see very big Condors.I hope I will be able to take good pictures of it and then you can enjoy them here.
Tonight we will have a dinner/meating with all volunteers and the coordinator.
Due to my weekend trip I think I will not be able to write any post until next sunday... I hope meet you here, and your comments, when I come back. This way I will not feel alone, even being in the other side of the world.

Other pictures

This is the street where I live. My house is the fourth.



El Misti at the sunset

Traditional local workers

Picture taken from the school where it's possible to see other peak

Chachani at the sunset