Accion de Gracias, Trabajo, y Familias

Post Thanksgiving soccer game


The Team


The Thanksgiving Bunch


Pumpkin Pie!


The house at sunset


Our Group with the Church Family


This past week has been filled with fun, hard work, and a variety of other experiences. Over the past two weeks we have been working really hard on finishing clearing the land where the rest of the lemon plants are going to go. We have spent many hot days sweating buckets trying to get it done. It is amazing looking back on when we first started and seeing how far we have come. The first week we started I could barely swing a machete for more than one hour. Now I can keep it up for a good six or seven hours without feeling sore in the morning. Also, when we first started I could barely lift any of the tablones that we carried out of the forest. But now I have started to master the Peruvian art of log carrying and it really isn't that bad. Although this is some of the hardest work I have ever done in my life I love seeing the progress and knowing that the orchard we our planting will help start the trade school makes it all the more worthwhile. So far we have planted 900 lemon plants with another 700 on the way. Also, this week we finally got to burn the 6 hectarias of land that the contractor had cleared. It was the biggest fire I have ever seen in my life. Some of the group was in Campo Verde which is 4 km. away and they said they saw the smoke! It didn't last long though because after about 4 hours most of it was out. One other thing we gave been working on is cutting good wood and transporting it to the house. We have had Alfredo, who is a chainsaw expert, at the house for the past two weeks cutting up the wood for us. He is a really nice guy and he cuts the boards so straight it looks like they have been run through a sawmill.
Another thing that happened this past week was the arrival of Kaitlin's and Tara's parents for the thanksgiving holiday. It was awesome to have people over and show them what we were doing on the project. For thanksgiving we had incredible food and lots of fun fellowship together. In the evening we played pit and just enjoyed being together.
This coming sunday we began another clinic just outside of Pulcallpa. We really need everyone's prayers because a three week strike is supposed to take place two days after our clinic starts. If that happens we could be stuck at km. 38 for quite a while. Also continue to keep the fundraising projects in your prayers as well. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and God bless!

Giving my frustrations to God

Finishing the sheep roof



Figuring out what to do with the chainsaw



Cutting listones



Checking out the bees



Anita cleaning out the bee boxes



Our home




Over this past couple of weeks we have worked hard, had some new experiences, and grown as a team. During the last two weeks we have been pushing to finish the clearing of the land and the planting of the lemon trees. We made good progress on both of these projects but unfortunately we some other priorities come up that prevented us from completing them. One of them that came up this last week was trying to get the road graded to our house. On both friday and sunday we waited for the machine to come but it never showed up. After talking to the mayor we are supposedely going to have the road graded on thursday of this coming week. However, we really need your prayers because we are having a lot of problems getting this seemingly simple task accomplished. Another thing that came up was trying to get around 10 trees cut and hauled out of the chacra that we are going to burn this coming week. Unfortunately the chainsaw decided to quite working so that put that project on hold. Although we have had a lot of frustrations this past week I was really encouraged this past sabbath because I had some time to think about how small our problems really are. It really helped me to see that nothing it too big for God. All we need to do is put our trust in Him and He will work everything out. One of the new experiences we had this past week was having the meier's come and join our team from Canada. They are going to start a bee program here at km. 38 over the next couple of months as well as help with clinics. Even though they have been here less than a week I feel that we have known them for longer. They are a really incredible couple and I have enjoyed hearing about their lives in Canada as well as in Switzerland were they are originally from. In Canada they live with their three kids and have a thriving bee business. I have really enjoyed there addition to our team and I think that they will be able to make huge stides with the bees! God is doing great things here in Peru and your prayers are the reason for that! Thank you for your prayers and countinue to keep our project in mind!

Random Pictures

Planting the Orchard

This past week has been filled with new experiences and a lot of change. During the first part of the week David, Mauro, and I hacked away with machetes to try and finish the last parts that needed to be cleared so that we could plant the lemon orchard. In the middle of the week we got 900 trees to plant. After unloading them from the truck we started planting, and planting, and planting... During the first couple of days we spent most of our time perfecting the art of planting straight rows of lemon trees. The process ended up being as follows: put up a string line to ensure straight rows, dig holes for the plants with a post-hole digger, and then stick the little lemon saplings into the holes. Although this process seems slightly simple we had several complications that prevented it from being anything but simple. Because the land that we cleared still has hundreds of stumps and small trees setting up a string line can end up taking quite a long time. Also, because there is still clumps of brush which made digging the holes rather difficult. But despite the difficulties we kept on working and by the end of the week we successfully planted around 550 plants that will be used to teach agricultural techniques to students at the trade school. Although the orchard looks nothing like the one's in the US it is a giant step for AMOR projects!
Over this week our group has also experienced some change. My good friend and fellow worker Mauro finished up his last week with us because he will be attending mechanic school. I was pretty sad to see him leave because we had gone through a lot together in the last 3 months that I have been in Peru. Another change is that there are less of us at the house because laura, kristin, and emily are in Constitution which leaves the 4 amigos (kaitlin, tara, david, and I ) at home. Although there are not as many of us at home we are getting geared up to have the meiers come and stay at the house and help with the bee program. Also, kaitlin and tara's families are coming for Thanksgiving so we will have a full house! Please pray for our new fundraising campaign which will be happening over the next couple of months. If we can accomplish our goals for the project it will be a HUGE advancement for the project. Thank you for all your comments and for keeping in touch with me. May God bless you in this coming week!