Adventures in the Andes Region

We spent yesterday all around the area of Cusco, seeing more Inca ruins, learning more about how Inca communities were built, their religion, etc.  Anything we could tell you about yesterday would be dwarfed by today's visit to Machu Picchu (subsequent post coming soon), so I'll hold any more Inca discussion until then.  Suffice it to say it was AMAZING!

In the meantime, yesterday we learned more about how the folks of the Andes live.  This is not the city - this is living out in the country without much modernization.  Things that really stood out today:

1.  Your Hat Identifies Where You're From

People wear amazing hats as part of their native dress (which is worn routinely, not just for special occasions). The design of your hat tells what region of the Andes you are from.  Check out some of the hats we saw - how would you like to wear these???

2.  There are Lots of Camels in Peru!  (Well, kind of....)

You may have thought there were Llamas in Peru.  There are actually Llamas, Guanacos, Alpacas and Vicuñas.  Each one of those are considered part of the camel family.  I guess that's why llamas sometimes spit and have feet like camels!

Vicuña:

Alpacas:

Llama:

Guanacos (we didn't see one of these, since they're endangered):

By the way, if you ever wondered what alpaca teeth are like, this guy gave a big alpaca smile for us:

3.  The Pluses and Minuses of Adobe

Folks in the Andes build their homes from Adobe because it's readily available and cheap.  You take clay, mix in straw and water, cut it into blocks and let them dry. Voila - you have bricks for your house!  Start stacking, and soon you have a house.

There's a slight problem though - the rainy season in the Andes lasts 6-months.  Add water to adobe and you get.....wet clay.  Which is not structurally stable.  To help protect the adobe, some folks cover it with a layer of cement. Others cover the house with plastic whenever it rains a lot.

Folks like to build their houses on cliffs and embankments - because everyone likes a house with a view.  In the rainy season, often the earth begins to shift and give way - another danger.  Here's one adobe building on a river embankment:

4.  More about religion.....

I have to say The Andean folks are the most honest people I've ever seen about their religion.  

As I mentioned before, they practice a combination of Catholicism and the old Inca traditions (complete with worship of Mother Earth, water, sun, etc). On top of every house, you will usually find a cross surrounded by other things, depicting what else the person worships.  Often it's 2 bulls, symbolizing agriculture.  Sometimes it's a ladder, symbolizing prosperity (a "step up").  Sometimes it's jugs of water. Or beer, or wine.  Or some combination of these.

It's not a great picture, but here's what it looks like on top of the thatched roof.  This family worships agriculture and beer....

I have done a lot of thinking the last couple days about what would be on my house if I lived here.  There would definitely be a cross!  But for us folks in North America, I think all too often we would also have ladders (prosperity), cars/houses, something representing power, etc.  What would be on your roof?

5.  The Guinea Pigs think they're beloved pets, but they're not!

I LOVE guinea pigs.  I had one as a pet when I was a child, so this one kind of pains me.

We saw these cut little guinea pigs in a cage.  Complete with baby guinea pigs.  They squeaked for us and got all excited when we fed them grass.  We also saw a herd of them (group, pod, flock?) living loose in someone's house.  They all came running over to visit us, squeaking as they ran, like they were delighted to meet us.  I wanted to take every one of them home with me.

Well, if you hadn't heard, guinea pigs aren't pets in Peru.  They are protein.  You get roasted guinea pigs at restaurants or at stands on the side of the road (YIKES!).  I'll spare you the picture.

By the way, if you tell a Peruvian you had a pet guinea pig, they think it's pretty funny.  Almost on a par with having a pet sheep living inside your house.  I've made a lot of Peruvians laugh this week :-)

The Incas - Things My World History Teacher Never Told Me!

Today we visited several different key Inca sites around Cusco, Peru.  FYI - the Inca empire existed in Peru prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the early 1500's.  

The Incas understood there was a supreme being (called Pachacamc) that created everything, and they worshipped him as such.  However, because they couldn't understand what this being looked like, they didn't know how to draw him.  As a result, they began worshipping the created things they could see - sun, stars, rain, lightening, etc.  Inca king #9 (of 14 total) reinforced worshipping the sun god as the primary god.  Additionally, the Incas worshipped Pachacamac's "wife," named Pachamama - or Mother Earth.  Here's a picture of all their gods - Pachacamac is the big shapeless blob at the top.  Other gods are shown in the rest of the pic. 

We found it interesting that the Incas realized that there is a supreme being that created all.  Unfortunately, like so many of us today, they substituted other gods whom they felt were more tangible and understandable.

Several things our tour guide shared with us caught our attention.  Many of her comments would cause us to want to learn more about the Incas, but here are some of the most memorable to us:

1.  The Incas were great engineers.  

This area in the Andes is prone to earthquakes, and much of their temples/palaces are still intact.  The Incas built earthquake-proof buildings by a) pitching in all walls by 7-13 degrees (the building stones leaned in on each other - more stable than vertical walls).  

b) building indented areas into the walls that acted as expansion joints, allowing the walls to flex during an earthquake).  These indented areas also served as shelves to place idols or mummies (more on that below!). 

c) building the walls on top of gravel, which served as a floating foundation and reduced the shaking forceps transmitted to the walls from the shaking ground.

2.  The Incas performed lots of sacrifices to Mother Earth.

Did you have a dream about a naked woman?  This meant that Mother Earth was letting you know she needed something from you - like a sacrifice.  

Black llamas were frequently sacrificed to Mother Earth (black was the color of purity), as well as other animals.  And of course, a virgin sacrifice was really special.  Young girls were taken from families and raised in special colonies to prepare them to be sacrificed.  The girls were trained that this was a privilege, so they looked forward to it (as much as one can).   The girls were sacrificed by burying them alive in the snow in the mountains.  It wasn't QUITE so horrible as it sounded - apparently the girls were essentially OD'd on coca leaves until they were unconscious, then they were covered with snow and froze.  Still pretty horrible.....

3. The Incas worship of Mother Earth continues strongly in Peru today.

When the Spaniards arrived, they destroyed all the Inca temples they could and used the stone to build Catholic Churches.  They forced the Incas to become Catholic, however the people secretly continued their original religion.  They even carved lots of Mother Earth figures into the Cusco Catholic Church choir benches as a form of rebellion (I guess the Spaniards didn't notice anything strange about all the pregnant women carved into the choir benches).  No pic on this one - no fotos allowed in the church.

Today, about 8 million people in Peru continue worshipping Mother Earth, in addition to being Catholic.  We were told they are viewed as symbiotic religions - everyone knows the people participate in both, and nobody says not to.

In case you were wondering, we were TOLD the animal sacrifices have essentially ceased, except in Bolivia.  (No more human sacrifices though, as they are illegal!)

4. The Incas mummified their kings and carried them all over so they could "participate" in religious ceremonies.  

The Incas strongly believed in life after death. People were mummified in the fetal position (sacrificial virgins were also buried in this position) - symbolizing that they would be reborn into their next life.  They were then wrapped in decorative fabrics, until they looked a bit like a giant Easter egg.  Somehow this translated into a belief that the mummified people were still alive, and so they carried them around for ceremonies, and put them on shelves in the temples (see #1 above) during the ceremonies.

In cas you were wondering what happened to all the mummies, the Spaniards burned them.  Don't waste any time looking for an Inca mummy exhibit.

And last but not least......

5.  The Incas used black guinea pigs as X-rays.

Feeling sick?  They would take a black (pure) guinea pig and wave it all over around you.  Then they would cut open the guinea pig and see what was wrong with it.  Whatever they found wrong inside the pig was determined to also be wrong with you. 

We have more Inca stuff to learn in the next couple days, so stay tuned!

For those of you wondering what ever happened to our Amazon travels - they did happen (it was wonderful!).  The fotos however are on the wrong camera for blogging, so we will post about that as soon as we get home.

Meeting Grace - A Very Different Kind of Visit!

We have spent the last two days with Grace, our "Leadership Development Program" (LDP) student.  Grace just graduated college, and it was a thrill to be with her for her LDP graduation.

LDP is a college level program for the most talented students.  Typically, only about 3% of Compassion students in the country are selected for this program.  It is a BIG deal!  

This is Grace, in the middle:

The LDP student speaker summed up the program:  "And now we are servants, ready to bless....God changed our lives through Compassion,"

This was very different than other visits we've experienced previously, for a few  reasons:

1.  Grace is much more mature than past sponsor children - she is now 22, and has just ended university with a degree in sociology and is beginning her career.

2.  Grace and I have had a very strong mentor-mentee relationship for the last 5-6 years, that has covered all sorts of topics.  Over the years we have become trusted friends.  

And so, this visit was not getting to know someone better - this was finally meeting someone that you feel like you already know quite well.  

She also introduced us to many people in her life that I had heard a lot about, so it was great to finally meet them as well.  We learned that she had also been telling them as much about us, and so they were just as anxious to finally meet us!

3.  Because Grace has now completed university, we aren't left wondering if she will be able to continue her education.  We know - she finished, and she finished very well!  

Today, we visited the Compassion project where Grace grew up, and then her home.  She also proudly showed us where she works at her new job, which she just recently began!

Grace now manages the office in her municipality that handles all marriage and divorce certificates.  Because the divorce rate in Peru is high Grace immediately proposed that a Christian-based marriage counseling program be offered to all couples seeking divorce.  Her bosses approved her proposal - and so now she is working on setting up this program with her local church.  We're confident that with her Christian perspective and sociologist mind, she will be finding many more ways to minister to the needs of people.

  

We May Have Just Met the Father of the Year

When we met Lucero, we also met her father.  He was quite a talkative guy, and by the time he was done talking, we were totally amazed.

For starters, he worked in zinc and silver mines for years, until all the toxins and pollutants in the mines made his health so bad he was forced to stop.  I've visited a couple mines (no longer functioning) in the last few years - enough to appreciate the difficulty and danger of the work, and have tremendous respect for the guys that do that kind of work.  

 Like most folks in Chosica, Peru he could not afford a well-built house, and so be started with a house like the picture below.  This is still part of their house today, but he's been slowly transforming it as he's been able.  Note the piles of cardboard - he collects recyclables that he later sells for money to help support his family.

There is no running water in Chosica, and it only rains 1-2 months per year.  So he built a water tank on top of his house to hold water.  A water truck visits town periodically.  He buys all their water from the water tank, which is then delivered to a tank below his house.  He then pumps the water by hand up to the tank of top of his house to supply "running water."  They have no water besides what he buys and pumps in.

Notice the house walls in the pictures above and below.  As he has been able, he has purchased bricks and has replaced the corrugated siding with the bricks.  He then covered the brick with concrete to make the smooth walls.  This not only looks nicer, but it makes the house more structurally sound to withstand the annual storms and also earthquakes, which are fairly common in this area.  

Below is the bedroom which he constructed for Lucero and her mother 2 years ago. It has a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling - it took him about 10 years before he was able to run electricity into his house.  (Lucero's father still sleeps in lumpy bed in the corner of the main room of the house, near the plastic kitchen table.)

The back of the house runs directly into the side of a mountain.  As you hike up the path of bricks and stones, he has created various small farm areas, so he can provide for his family.  

Below is one of his two chicken coops.

He also grows a few of each type of plants, including spices and corn.  Since it doesn't rain very often in Chosica, he has to water his plants himself - pumping water into buckets, and then carrying them by hand up the mountain.

We couldn't get a picture, but as we walked through the "farm" we suddenly came upon a little old lady sitting in the shade of the plants. This was his 82-year-old aunt, who is in poor health.  She spends her day here sitting in the shade, and Lucero's father cares for her without help from outsiders.  

Below is a sink he built in the house - he was very proud of the pump he installed to provide water from the tank beneath the house to this sink.

Last but certainly not least, go back up to the picture at the top of this post.  This is Lucero's father standing next to a pay phone - his very own pay phone that he had installed in the front of his house as a way to earn more income.  Nobody in this town has a phone, so he called the phone company and asked them to install one in the wall of his house. When neighbors use the phone, he gets a percentage of the call fees.

We were amazed at the ingenuity and hard work we saw in this humble father in Chosica. He is a tremendous example of how hard folks in poverty work to improve the lives of their families with the resources they have available.  On top of what he has done, his work ethic has clearly been transferred to his children.

We were so very impressed with this man, and wanted to share his story!

Today We Met Lucero!

Today we met our new sponsor child Lucero - what a delight!  We learned many things we hope will enable us to better encourage her in life and in her spiritual walk.  

Some things we learned (in no particular order):

1.  Lucero loves volleyball!  She plays on a team at the local park.  Sports  are a definite priority!

2.  She likes to eat chicken.  Her family keeps a small coop of a few chickens which they use for eating (not for eggs).  However they reserve chicken only for special occasions .  One of the main staples of their diet is potato.  The family keeps a big pile of potatoes in their house for food.  (pile is ~4 feet wide, 1 foot high).

3.  Lucero had a prior sponsor who only wrote one letter in all the years they sponsored her.  We told her we will try write faithfully!

4.  Lucero has become a follower of Jesus Christ, and she is actively working at growing her relationship with Him.

5.  She is a straight A student in school and hopes to go to college someday.  She is thinking of studying graphic design 

and clearly wants to make something of herself.

All in all, today was a day of surprises. Her personality really popped - it was great to meet her in person, and we are excited about growing this relationship!

Small Church + Missional Vision + Body of Christ = Huge Impact On TheCommunity

Yesterday we visited the church where Lucero attends the Compassion program.  It's on the side of a mountain in a very poor town.  It has only 30-40 attendees.  And yet, the church has a vital ministry to 250 children in the surrounding neighborhood.  We were struck at the size of the ministry this small church was able to have.

I wanted to jot a few notes about how this small church with limited resources was able to have such a big impact on kids and their families.  

1.  Missional vision 

It became apparent that the church has a strong missional focus - they want to reach their community.

2.  Focus on children 

While the church wants to reach people of all ages, they are focusing on reaching children.  Intervention at an early age is more effective than later trying to repair damage done by malnutrition, hardened hearts, poor health, lost educational opportunities, abuse, etc.  They also know that children that become Christ followers also often invite their family and friends to church.

3.  Committed members 

The children's ministry is owned by the members and pastor of this church.  Each person has a role they are responsible for, and they are committed to do that role with excellence.  

Some serve as kitchen workers who cook for hundreds of kids each day.  Some tutor the children after school. Others teach Bible classes.  Some teach the children income generating skills.  Some visit children's homes to understand the issues the child deals with at home, and whether there are any safety/abuse risks.  The list goes on and on....

4.  Drawing on outside expertise

The church did not have the expertise to build this ministry alone.  So they partnered with Compassion International, who provided training, curriculum, connections to medical staff, administrative controls required to ensure the program was well run with integrity, etc.  Compassion all also provides ongoing expert oversight and coaching to ensure the program is effectively achieving the intended goals, and that the children are being faithfully taught the Gospel.

5. Connection to the Body of Christ at-large.

The church clearly lacked the financial resources to do this type of ministry on this scale. Compassion provided connections with sponsors in other countries who help fund the program, and who develop encouraging relationships with the children and share Christ with them through their letters.   This relationship helps reinforce the work of the church workers who minister to the kids and share Christ with them on a daily basis.

With these partnerships, the church was able to put feet to their ministry.  

We learned that Lucero became involved in the local church's Compassion program because a neighbor knew Lucero's family was in great need.  The neighbor brought it to the attention of the church, who initiated a relationship with the family and invited Lucero to join their program.  They explained that as part of the program, Lucero would receive supplemental nutrition, Bible teaching, tutoring in school subjects, etc.  Her parents agreed she should attend.

We asked Lucero's parents how the program has helped.  They said they are not home during the day, and the church has given Lucero a safe place to be during the afternoons. They said it had helped her become more sociable.  And, they are very happy that she is learning about God.  

But that is just Lucero.  There are 250 other children of varying ages just like her, who have a church showing them the love of Christ in a very tangible way, pointing them to faith in Christ, and helping them develop to their full potential. 

All because a small church in a poor town on the side of a mountain had a vision of what God could do, and trusted God to provide help through the rest of the body of Christ.

We're on Our Way!

After a late night of packing, we have just boarded our first plane to Peru!  

Our two sponsor kids have probably just learned that we are coming this week - normally this notification comes at almost the last minute to avoid disappointment in case the travel plans don't work.  Of course, the folks at the Compassion program have been aware for a while and have been planning - kind of like getting ready for a surprise party :-)

After a stopover in Texas, we will arrive in Lima Peru very late tonight.  

Signing off for the flight!