220 bites on my little body...

Dock alongside the lake

So my last 3 weeks were spent in the Peruvian jungle town of Pucallpa. To sum it up, there were bugs. Lots of bugs. So I haven't been able to update my blog for 3 weeks but I intend to keep this short. That is to say I intend to, but I probably won't. 
Pucallpa is beautiful and while there I lived on a mission campus called TEC (this stands for teach every child). TEC has an amazing campus on the shores of a large lake home to pink amazon dolphins and apparently piranhas, the campus also has many fruit trees which grow coconuts, papayas, mandarins, oranges, lemons and star fruits. The organisation aims to feed, clean, help and teach to the local children of this poor town. Here I was called Hermana Abi (Sister Abi) which did make me feel like a nun at certain times. 

So while in Pucallpa I helped out with the following programmes that take place at TEC:

Club de Tareas (Homework Club):

I loved this amazing programme that saw so many of the local children come to the TEC. Each week the children would eat with us which included dietary supplements, as many of the children only have one meal a day. Homework club also included a devotional where we would sing songs, and read a bible story, along with small classes practising, maths, writing and other subjects.The kids also have showers here once a week as many do not have the facilities at home.  To be honest my favourite part of this club was just playing with the kids, who were fascinated by how my eyes with the colour of the cielo (sky) and obsessed with asking if I have a boyfriend.


     

Youth Club:

This was very similar to Homework Club however involved teenagers from around the area. As high school starts midday here the kids arrived for breakfast which often included a jungle drink called chapo ( made with evaporated milk and plantains). Then we would have Bible studies and worship, the most interesting incident here occurred when singing Bless The Lord Oh My Soul in Spanish, but the end was in English. I was the only one singing. I cannot sing. As I've learnt teen pregnancy is a massive issue in the jungle, so they had many talks on marriage etc while I was here. Every year at least 1 girl from this youth club gets pregnant and I met young mothers of 15 and 16. This shocked me as I am 18 and cannot imagine having the responsibility of a child. The culture difference between home and Peru really hit me here as the topic of marriage came up. The fact that I have been in a relationship for 2 years but am not yet married is crazy here. The fact that I am 18 does not come into it as people in the jungle can get married at any age with parents permission (although I am not entirely sure it is legal).

OANSA:

In English this is called AWANA and stands for approved workmen are not ashamed, it comes from 2 Timothy 2:15- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.Much to my amazement every club starts with the Peruvian national anthem seen to the right. Then they have games and bible study. The kids in OANSA loved talking to me in English and asked me to translate an English book about Moses into Spanish. This was interesting and I had to resort to performing some of the words that I did not know in Spanish.Unfortunately although it was supposed to be coming to the end of the rainy season, it rained often whilst I was there. When it rains the kids can’t come to TEC. They often live in 1 room with their whole family which means that they are occupied with keeping all their things dry. They don't have many changes of clothes so to come to TEC would mean ruining one pair in the rain. This so upsetting to me and I continue to pray for all the children that attend TEC. 

Guarding me as I watch the dolphins

I would also like to introduce you to the "ferocious" guard dogs that live at TEC. TEC has 3 German Shepherds and a Rottweiler, although these dogs bark at anything they are the most loving dogs ever and often became my personal bodyguards and I sat by the lake.




I will miss all the lovely staff and children at TEC, but I will also miss my personal body guards.
I have loved this place and I will always look back at it with amazing memories of jumping off the dock into the warm lake and trying new foods and driving on motorbikes and "motocars".

Jumping of the dock

Prayer points:
TEC is currently opening a children's home so prayer for this big venture would be much appreciated.
The poverty that occurs there.
The young mothers learning to cope with babies.

I'm on the move again...

Tomorrow I am once again moving on and am flying to Pucallpa. Pucallpa is in the jungle part of Peru and I will be there for just over 2 weeks.

I will be living on a childrens compound and will be helping out with homework clubs, sports clubs and will help run a kids club called Kids Alive. 

For the last week I have been heavily involved in helping run a kids club in Wichanzao. Wichanzao is on the edge of Trujillo and is one of the poorest areas in the city. The Church seen to the right was very small yet we had many children attend our club and many adults attend the salon that we made for those 3 days. The spa included haircuts and manicures and I witnessed a girl getting her first haircut at the age of nine. 

The first day we arrived I was overwhelmed at the poverty that goes on in Trujillo. Many came to Christ over the three days that we were here and I pray that the Church here continues to grow.

My amazing 5th Grade Class

Although I am excited to once again be travelling I am sad to leave behind the school that I have been working at for over a month now.

My students are hilarious and begged me to take "selfies" with them so here is the best one. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching and I am looking forward to September as I start my training to become a qualified teacher. Hopefully when I return to Trujillo before moving on again I will go back to the school and teach further. 

My next blog post will be posted when I return from the jungle.

So bye for now.

Abi

Earthquakes, Landslides, Floods and Dancing Horses...

I have now been in Peru for 3 weeks, time really does fly by.
In my last post I talked of my time spent at the school and it has since only gotten harder and better. My students are now more comfortable with me which although is a lovely thing as I receive lots of hugs and stickers, but now they also enjoy asking me to translate lots of things from Spanish to English. I have had to explain numerous amount of times that the children's names will not change in English. It can get tiring but I love their joy at hearing what zapatos is in english (it's shoes).


I have no began work at the orphanage and it is honestly such a blessing. These children have so much joy to share and I have enjoyed getting to know them. I have so far worked with four young girls who enjoy hugs, shouting and hiding my stuff from me. Unlike the school where I am known as Miss Abi or Miss Ingles, here I am known as Tia (Aunty).  Although I am not supposed to be maternal towards these girls but rather be a friend it is so hard as they are the so loving and funny. Please keep these girls in your prayers as they grow up with no parents but rather depending on the workers and God.

The desert 

Last week  was also fortunate enough to travel to the desert for a Peruvian wedding. Although it was lovely the car lacked air conditioning which means my hair went wild, as seen here. It was amazing to experience the culture, food and people as well as their traditions.







Here in Peru we are experiencing an El Nino year. This means the weather is crazy. I was on the 6th floor up when the earthquake chose to strike although in reality it was only a tremor and reached 5 on the richter scale. The unusual rain has caused landslides, floods and crazy waves at the beach seen to the right. Unfortunately this has caused many mission teams in our Church to cancel our trips. So instead of traveling to San Pablo on the 2nd of April for 4 days running a kids club, I will now be running a kids club closer to Trujillo.
I will also be flying out to the jungle on the 9th-27th of April to work with the children out there.






As for the dancing horses, I was taken to the Caballo de Paso to experience true peruvian culture. Although I was asked to dance, I did not.




Sorry for so much writing.
But thank you for reading about my time here.
Chau

Mi primera semana...

My first week...
I honestly love it here and although this week has gone so quickly I feel like I have lived here for years, despite not being fluent in Spanish. Yet. 
I will try and keep this short for your sake. I am currently in Trujillo and am attending a Church, seen on the right. People are really friendly and all greet me with a kiss on the cheek, as is normal here. I'm not sure if I will ever get used to that. The sermons and songs are in Spanish which helps with me picking up the language and thankfully I can roughly understand what is going on.

Grade 1 classroom

I have started my work in the local school, here I teach English as they have a lack of teachers. The english lessons are really amazing and my pupils are the best. I have so far received stickers, an apple and grapes, clearly I am the best teacher ever. I teach the children alongside other teachers and use hilarious songs which often get stuck in my head.

Small playground in the school

I have yet to find out my timetable with the orphanage that I will be working with, but I cannot wait to get involved. 
I cannot believe how blessed I am to be in this beautiful country and I thank everyone who helped me get here.
Until next time...
Chau. 

I leave soon...

I leave in just under 4 weeks. I have so much to do and I have yet to realise that I will be living in South America for 3 months. It hasn't quite hit me yet. My guess is that it will hit me as I touch down in Lima (the capital city of Peru) or perhaps 2 and half months into my trip, who knows?

Since my last blog I have indeed had all of my jabs and have received a rough itinerary for the trip. I will be leaving on the 6th of March and flying to Lima where I will stay over night before travelling to Trujillo. I will spend the majority of my 3 months here and will be visiting primary schools teaching Christian values along with English whilst also helping out at an orphanage. I will be based in a Church here and will help out with as much youth and children outreach as I possibly can. I am also looking forward to helping out with weekly bake sales which help fund the orphanage that I'll be working in.

I have so far learnt that Peru can be somewhat unpredictable and I will therefore have to plan a lot of my timetable when I get there. However some opportunities have come up and I will hopefully be visiting Cajamarca to work in a children's camp, along with visiting other places such as Pullcalpa with the mission teams that will be travelling from my Church base. 

I wanted to thank everybody that has already sponsored me in my travels. I have had such an amazing time already and I cannot wait for the second part of my year to begin. Thanks to everybody's generosity I have so far raised £1500 and have yet to raise another £800. I trust that God will provide.  
If you would like to sponsor me you can do it ever so conveniently by clicking on the link below.

www.my.give.net/abipennington

I would really appreciate your prayers and support. 
I thought I would add a few "prayer points" for my trip. Trujillo is a dangerous area so praying for safety would really be a massive help, prayer for those that I will be meeting and that I can be a real blessing to those I will be serving whilst away. 
Thank you for reading my essay of a blog, until next time...
adiós.

Counting down

2 months until I set sail for Peru. By that time I must raise £1200, have 3 rabies jabs, a typhoid jab, a yellow fever jab, a Heb B jab, a Heb A jab and buy and consume malaria tablets. Although I am slightly panicking, I cannot wait.

Pullcallpa

While in Peru I will my main base will be in Trujillo which is along the northern coast. But I will travelling to different areas while I am there. I will be travelling to Cajamarca up in the central mountains, Piura or Tumbes is a possible  which is on the coast further north than Trujillo and to Pucallpa in the central jungle in the Ucayali region.

Cajamarca

I cannot wait!

Back in Bonnie Scotland...

Well I have been back in bonnie Scotland for 3 weeks and time has flown by. I am spending my 6 weeks at Cartsbridge Evangelical Church in Busby.

Stepping Stones

I have a somewhat busy timetable, on Monday I help out at a preschool group called Stepping Stones. Although I feel that I possibly wreak havoc more than I help, with children trapping me in the playhouse while pretending that dinosaurs are taking over Scotland, I have enjoyed helping.

Nursery Time

One of my favourite parts of my placement here is story time at a local nursery. Reading out a bible story to a small class has been an amazing experience for somebody who now wants to be a primary school teacher.

Scripture Union Groups

Further experiences which have made me look at the prospect of a career in education have been the different scripture union groups that I have been involved in. It is amazing to see that God can work with such small groups of people both in primary and high school. The primary group is from P5 to P7 which is year 4-5 if you do not live in Scotland. The children in this group are amazing and really seem to be interested in God's word. In the older group which is S1 to S3 (years 7- 9) the boys are really interested in God and have some amazing questions which we try and answer. It surprisingly helpful to me to hear their questions and think of my personal point of view in my faith. 

Wednesdays

On wednesday I am involved in a  kid's club called King's Club. I have so far told the story of pentecost following up with a quiz. After this I go to home group or a prayer meeting.





While in Busby I have been involved with the Alpha course and Girl's Bible Study, here I made some good friends who have been very welcoming. I am now looking forward to preparing for the children's part of a family service for 170 people. I wanted to thank everybody for their support and prayers.