Pucallpa Paradise

To set the scene 

I've now been in the jungle for a week and a half and I feel incredibly blessed by all the experiences I've had. If I was to write them all down then you would be reading for a very long time so to save you from that I'll just write briefly about a few..



The main area I help with throughout the week is with all the different kids clubs: homework club, youth group, after school club and a music class (I haven't been to the music class yet). It's been amazing to see the number of kids that come along and I love talking to them and helping with their different activities. Last week I also visited some of the children's families in the surrounding villages with another girl from the mission. This experience was kind of like walking into a completely different world from the world I know in Britain. Karrina and I walked from house to house, (even taking a boat at one point) talking to the mums and seeing how their children are doing. In a lot of the houses we visited, the children aren't properly looked after so usually it's Karrina's job to check in with the families and see what the situation is and so last Tuesday and Wednesday I had the opportunity to go with her.

Visitation- a standard house

Transport to and from villages

Karina on our visitation

Homework club

Me with the kids 

On Saturday I went to the zoo with Cristina and Abbie and to get there you have to go by boat, so this was again really exciting for me. Our captain took us on a little detour before so that we could see some  other places where people live and so that we could try and spot sloths on the trees. We managed to see five in total! (and this was before we were even in the zoo!) When we arrived at the zoo we were welcomed by a talking parrot (however it didn't actually talk for us sadly) and then we began our trip round all the different jungle animals. There were monkeys, birds, alligators and at the end I even held a snake!

On our detour by boat- a housing settlement that would be on land in the dry season!

Later on in the day I went to a ladies craft afternoon and made a butterfly pinata (which I still need to finish) and then came back to the house and we had a jungle fruit feast. Cristina had bought every kind of jungle fruit so that I could try them. I can't say I liked them all but it was a lot of fun all the same. Most of the fruits weren't sweet which I found slightly strange and a little disappointing since I love sweet things so much.

JUNGLE FEAST 

So all in all I have loved every minute of being here so far and I feel like I have done so much already in the week and a half I've had- kids clubs, the zoo, baking for different events, swimming in the piraña filled lake, watching sunsets, going to different churches, riding a motokar, riding a motorbike, fishing and visitations. I've just found out that I can stay on an extra week now and then spend the weekend in Lima with the family from Pucallpa because they're going there on holiday so I'm really excited about that! Thank you so much for all your prayers, I really appreciate them and it's amazing seeing how God is working out here and in my life.

Fishing for dinner! (Ceviche and fried fish)