Week 3: Recycling

Last week was lots of fun, as we explored the theme of recycling.  We have discovered that competions and team games work really well in lessons, and so we began with a recycling race.  2 volunteers from each team needed to sort through a bag of rubbish and allocate it into different recycling piles.  It was designed to help the children think about the amount of things that we can recycle, where possible.

The main activity was meant to be making recycling paper, but after a disasterous trial run (and a nearly blocked sink), I decided that it wasn't the best activity to do in a single lesson.  I then had a go at  making recycled paper beads, which actually worked very well, but were quite messy and would take too long. Therefore, after getting slightly desperate, I opted for recycled bracelets.  We folded 2 strips of old paper to make bracelets, rings and necklaces.  I am pleased to report that Christianity magazine made particularly good bracelets, being made of thicker paper!

The original plan for the lesson was to make the recycled paper, and plan letters to write to the local council about recylcling on the paper.  However, when I spoke to the children, they thought that there were good facilities for recycling in Cusco.  When I have spoken to other people, including others from Cusco, they have said that recycling is very difficult here.  However, it didn't seem appropriate to ask the children to write letters when they didn't think that there was a problem.  Instead, we created a couple of spur of the moment Christmas decorations for those that finished early, which turned out to be very popular. In fact, a girl in a normally well behaved class was crying as her friend hit with her a piece of cardboard, as it was in short supply to make the 3-d Christmas trees!  She soon recovered and was happier when she was re-united with the cardboard.  It was another great lesson and the children participsted in all of the activities. Next (and final) week - reusing...

Bags of Fun

Last week was the 2nd week of the environmental project.  Our theme this time was reducing waste as we learnt ways to make small but important differences.  During the main part of the lesson, we designed and decorated our own reusable bags.  Finding the bags was a mission in itself, as I couldn't see reusable material bags in Cusco.  I knew of a shop where the lady makes her own bags, and after lots of discussion and visits, I successfully ordered 100 perfect bags!  We are visiting 3 different schools and they all really enjoyed the activity.  Children in Peru seem to be very artistically gifted and every child was engaged and took and a lot of pride and time over their work.  It was therefore a great activity for them as it brought together a practical way to make a difference with their love of art.  We  adjusted the lesson to allow more time for this activity. In the first lesson, which was longer, we gave them a group activity of suggesting ways to reduce waste,  It was meant to be more of a brainstorm, but they produced wonderful, detailed posters - they take a lot of pride in their work.

 They worked very hard on their designs and like with UK children, where one went, the others followed.  There were lots of fruit bowls and mountain ranges.  And a few portraits of Tupac Amaru, an Inkan hero/martyr.  The lessons are being received very well and I am looking forward to spotting the bags being used in place of plastic bags while I am out and about in the community.  As one girl said, unprompted, 'When they try to give me a plastic bag in the shops, I will say, 'No thank you, I have my own bag!'   

 

Every Drop Makes a Difference

I recently successfully applied for a grant from BMS' Eco Challenge Fund to run a series of lessons on the environment in local schools.  After some background research, lots of meetings with local schools and a crash course in how to write log frames for the grant application, the lessons have finally started!  We are running lessons in 3 schools, 2 in the local area and the other in Huambutio, where the church is hoping to develop a church and cell group.

The theme of the project is 'Every Drop Makes a Difference', and the aim is to support the children to find small, everyday ways that they can make a difference to the world, specifically the environment.  Last week was an introduction.  We had a quiz where the children had to guess whether the facts aboutthe world were true or false.  For instance, bats always turn left when they fly out of caves and we are losing rainforests at the rate of 1.5 football poitches a second.  We also discussed our favourite places in Cusco, and looked at photos of the local area showing both its natural beauty and contamination.  Thanks very much James - the children loved this part and shared some excellent observations.

We also thought about the world as a gift from God.  We read from Psalm 8 and thought about God's wonderful creation and our duty to care for his gift.  This is a great unifying point with the Catholic schools, as there is often division between evangelical Christians and Catholics in Peru, but the need to care for God's creation is a unifying point.  I was really encouraged that the children already felt that they could make a difference, and we looked at this quote from Mother Theresa so that we coiuld be encouraged that our small actions can make a big difference:

'We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.'

Over the coming weeks, we will be exploring reducing, recycling and reusing as ways to make a difference, with lots of practical activities.  Please pray that we can all link our day-day behaviour and actions with the effect that we have on God's wonderful world.   


And now with photos!

The Ropers' Round-Up

A lot has been happening recently, and we are finding it hard to keep up with the blog.  So, here is a quick round-up of what has been happening:

• The Peru Action Team are here!  The Peru Action Team arrived a few weeks ago, but we have realised that we haven't mentioned them on the blog. So, a belated but heartfelt welcome to Jess, Amy, Liz and Rob.  It has been great getting to know them, and beginning to work with them.  My personal highlight so far is pretending to be animals with Amy and Rob in a classroom while we were teaching English.  Please pray for them as they continue to acclimatise to the culture and language.  Action Team is the BMS excellent gap year - for more info, click here where, incidentally, you will find a pic of our very own team.
• Last weekend, we were part of the church's first weekend away in Pisac, a town in the Sacred Valley.  We stayed at a school/residential centre set in lovely grounds, surrounded by mountains.  I came here with some young people for a youth camp a few months back. It was great to have an opportunity to spend time with our church family, as well as eating good food, playing volleyball (badly) and trying to avoid the spitting llamas. For many, it was an important time to listen and respond to God. 

• This week has been very busy as we started the first of 4 environmental lessons in local schools (this will be a separate blog post) and the church building is moving.  The building before was in a great location, but had no provision for childrens work on a Sunday.  The leaders found a new building with separate rooms for a creche and a children's room.  It is a few minutes walk from the old building.  Neil has been helping with some of the moving this week, and we have a ceremony tomorrow to celebrate.
• For now, that is all, apart from a birthday party, a great afternoon spent with friends, Giardia, disgusting treatment for Giardia, difficult theological questions from 5 year olds and preparation for the concert of the year starring a tiger. 

Daniel's Birthday

A couple of weeks ago it was Daniel's birthday, and he had a party English/Peruvian style!  There was cake, dancing, fizzy drink, lots of food and friends.



 Daniel now has 11 football shirts and this is in large part due to the fantastic variety that he received on his birthday and at his party.



He had a pinata in the style of cars, which was greatly enjoyed.



Earlier in the day Daniel received lots of lovely presents, here is a picture of him enjoying one which his Dad was also very keen on.



Daniel had a great day, and it was great that we got to spend it as a family, happy fifth birthday Daniel.

The Day of the Dead

We have just had a public holiday today, for the Day of the Dead.  This is a special day in the Catholic calendar, as people believe that there is a special connection today between the dead and the living.  People visit the cemetery, and we have been told often have picnics and drink beer to celebrate and be close to their loved ones. 

We visited the cemetery this morning, and there were many families tidying the graves, along with various priests who are paid by families to perform a short ceremony.  SOme families leave a glass of water the night before, as they believe that when their relatives come back, they will be thirsty.  It is hard to see, but there is a glass of water in this picture. The grave also looks very different, as people are not normally buried in the ground, but in concrete blocks several storeys high. 


Elements of the day reminded me of UK customs.  People care for graves in the UK too, and perhaps visit on special occassions such as birthdays, or the anniversary of a death.  These times are perhaps more personal and individual, whereas today the cemetery was packed full of people, with a market taking place outside.  I think perhaps we all need to grieve and remember, and elements of the Day of the Dead reflect this.  However, for some people, there is a strong belief that the connection between the worlds of the living and the dead are closer, the veil is thinner, which is a very different belief to evangelical Christianity and why many evangelical Christians do not celebrate or associate with it.

Perhaps the saddest part of the day was walking along to a different part of the cemetery, reserved for poor people.  If you can afford a proper grave, the bodies are cremated and left in unmarked graves. In a culture where honouring the dead is so important, how must it feel for the families to not have a place to visit, to mourn?  Even in death, poverty can not be escaped.