My last month has been completely packed with
different experiences and adventures. Joanna and I were staying in Anne-Laure
and Luis's house for two weeks before going to another city in the mountains.
We taught english in schools, we taught valores (values) in schools and
orphanages, we spoke in the ladys' prison where we attempted ceilidh dancing,
we went surfing, we led kids' clubs and we visited a small church in Cascas. I
have too many stories and memories to go along with each of these different
activities to write down but I can definitely say that it has been a time where
I've had to depend on God in every circumstance, a time where every activity
has taught me something new and a time where I felt God's love with every
step.
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| Teaching english in a school |
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| About to go surfing |
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| Joanna catching the wave |
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| Ceilidh dancing in the ladys' prison |
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| Joanna with the children in the orphanage |
I then had about a week left in Peru and it was
between staying in Trujillo or going with Joanna to a place called Huaraz-
3100m in the mountains - to work with children. I decided on the later and I am
so thankful that I managed to see this new place. There is no way I will be
able to describe Huaraz so I think photos are the best way.
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| Lake 69- 4600m high |
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| Lake 69 |
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| Being patriotic |
We taught at another school in a small community in
the mountains called Huayawillca where most of the children spoke kechua (a
local language in the mountains) and not Spanish so this was challenging but
funny to hear.
On our day off we hiked up to one of the snow
mountains -4600m- which was absolutely stunning and then on my last day we
helped out with a feeding programme for children in the town. Everything I saw
and experienced in Huaraz was completely different to anything I’ve known and
again it opened my heart and eyes to a new culture and a different way of
living.
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| Teaching valores (values) in a school |
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| Having snack with the children in the school in Huayawillca |
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| Teaching Daniel- the British flag is the king's robe |
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| Walking back home |
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| The children in Huayawillca |
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| Two sisters |
I arrived back in Trujillo on Friday morning, ready
for my last weekend in Peru. I felt like the list of things to do was enormous
but in the end everything worked out perfectly. I managed to spend time with
all my friends and on the Sunday night they had a ‘surprise’ leaving party for
me. I was between feeling excited to go home to see my family and feeling
really sad about leaving. If I could have gone home, spent time with my family
and then returned to Peru I would have.. but unfortunately that’s not really
possibly.
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| Hugo pushing Paul into the water fountains |
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| Emma showing off her strength |
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| My 'surprise' leaving party |
Being in Peru has changed my life. It has given me
a new hope and a new love for God. Through watching the Peruvians I’ve met live
their lives, I’ve been challenged to have more faith, to give every aspect of
my life to God and to try and glorify him in every way I can. They’ve taught me
to love more, to share more and to serve more and I only hope that now, as I
try and fit back into my life in Scotland that I will live with a changed heart
and a changed mind.
God is big. But now, after four months in Peru, He
is even bigger and I can’t thank Him enough.
