Cycling with Sally

The community where The Salvation Army in Chiclayo is about a 3 Nuevo Soles ($1) taxi ride from the city centre.  Apparently this neighbourhood is rather dangerous, particularly at night.  Although we didn't feel unsafe, the complex is completely encased into a 10 foot brick wall.  Also, we were advised to always walk with a member of the community through the area.   

Firstly, we popped down to introduce ourselves and was warmly received by Major Veronica Cortez, who has been assigned here since February this year.  Over coffee and a snack (that sprung out of nowhere!) we explained who we were and learnt about the services provided here.  Primarily this branch focuses on feeding hungry tummies.  Monday through Friday they serve up a lunch (which is the most important meal of the day here) for some odd 40 adults.  As well, 20 children receive breakfast before school along with assistance with homework after school.  Another enterprise that is showcasing local skills and creating some revenue is making alpaca wool products i.e. hats, socks, scarves, teddy bears and finger puppets.  They each are finished with a "Sally Ann" tag and are really good quality.  

The day we wanted to volunteer also coincided with Peru's National holiday celebrating their Independence. Due to this week long festival, no support with meals was required.  They did however have a job for us to do; good old fashioned painting.  The wall at the entrance of the church was in need of a bit of sunshine.  So we slapped on that paint as well as we could and even broke a brush in the process!  Has anyone else painted brick with a brush the size of your foot?  It's tough going but it looked pretty sunshiny by the end of the day.

Antony and Marco, teenagers from the community (who are aspiring to become Officers of The Salvation Army) had their own projects on the go re-vanishing church pews, tables and the front podium.  It was really lovely having a break with them over a delicious meal Major Veronica had prepared for us all.  Thank you to Major Veronica and Caynoby (the super cuddly dog) for having us and sharing a couple of special days with us.

This experience has by far been the most unique with The Salvation Army to date.  Arriving into Guamote (a small mountain village) we searched far and wide for the red shield.  There wasn't a specific address, just the road name and that it was near the hospital.  After an hour of searching aimlessly, we decided to ask one more person and that turned out to be the right decision.  The owner of a corner store had a phone and after a few quick words with Captain Luis, we soon found ourselves in the company of him and his two sons, Darwin (12 years old) and Johel (2 years old).  After a quick lick and a dab we were bouncing up the dirt road in Luis's pickup towards another Salvation Army site in Cochaloma, which is even smaller than Guamote.  We would have never of found this place in a million years and it's the most remote site we've ever come across.  Even more amazing is that two days prior a wedding was held in the church that had more that 600 attendants.  It's hard to imagine looking out on the land that there is that many people living near here!  Luis primarily wanted to show us this area but we were able to lend a hand doing a bit of a clean up. 

As it happened this day, the 14th July was also Roland's birthday.  And besides starting the day by sitting on an egg, his birthday was to only be outdone by the curiousity of Johel and a shampoo bottle.  While we were singing happy birthday and presenting Roland with a cake topped with a spiderman candle; Johel was occupied in the bathroom applying copious amounts of shampoo and toothpaste to his dry hair and marvelling at his handsomeness in the mirror.  Far more exciting than eating cake!

After sharing a feast together of typical Ecuadoriano food (soup, chicken, rice, salad and not to forget the cake!) we bundled up and piled into the back of the truck late at night and found our destination to be at the top of a country hill.  There was a huge tent filled with local indigenous groups from different churches in the area.  It was an Indigenous Christian Festival.  It involved the women of each congregation performing a song and reciting scripture.  Naturally, we think The Salvation Army performance was by far the best as we are sure you'll agree after watching the video.

Luis, his wife Martha and kids are indigenous and speak Quichua and Spanish.  They have strong roots in this community.  After seeking out a church they decided to become Salvationists with The Salvation Army when they were visiting Quito some time back.  Luis and Martha then went to Chile for training to become Captains.  They then came back to their home village and set up the church in Guamote.  His parent's run the Salvation Army in Cochaloma.  They don't get paid for their service, but strongly believe in what they are doing and consequently work on their farm to make a living.  Currently, they have eight different projects on the go in these communities.  Some of them are supported by foreign countries, such as Canada and Switzerland.  For example, clean water supply and irrigation; breeding of cattle, sheep and guinea pigs (typical cuisine); and building greenhouses to more efficiently grow certain crops.

This was a special day for us on many levels and feel very priviledged to have been so warmly welcomed into this family's home.

We arrived at the Salvation Army in Quito on Sunday, not really knowing what to expect and how we could assist. It did not take long for us to figure out who the two  ¨oportunidades voluntarias¨ were on the weekly service pamphlet and before we could give it another thought, we were ushered to the front and sharing some of our experiences and adventures with the congregation. Feeling both very welcomed and relieved for this to be over, we soon discovered that this was only a warm up children´s service and the adult service would be following shortly. In all honesty it was our pleasure to share how truly blessed we are to be able to do this trip, the amazing people we have met in every country and  the generosity, hospitality, encouragement and support we have received often  at vital times and the renewed awareness of God´s hands in our lives.

Much to our surprise we were invited to lunch with the Capitán, and his family.  It was interesting to discover that Capitán Henry was originally from Peru and his wife from Chile and they had some information about other Salvation Armys further along the road.

The next day was an adventure at the Guardería Mi Casita (a children´s daycare facility). Trying to get little bodies to stay on chairs, getting the food into their little tummies and for lunch to be completed at a reasonable time was interesting and a new experience for us on this trip.  The remainder of the day was spent playing many games, some structured and some imaginary, exchanging Spanish with English words for items and touching Roland´s beard and Belinda´s dreads.