| August 1, 2006 |
From all at Casa de MilagrosDear Family and Friends, Oh, how time flies. It is so good to sit and look back over the last few months, it brings a heart of gratitude and thankfulness. In May Mamà Kia embarked on a journey through Europe to do extensive fundraising and awareness raising, she spent time in Italy, Spain and Morocco. Her journey was successful for the most part, but she missed home terribly and was so happy to return to Peru and the children here at Casa. During May we took a load of clothes to the community to hand out to all of the children, they each get 3 pieces of clothing and a pair of socks and underwear. It is always fun to see our children old clothes on the children in the fields all around us. This year Soraida, Josè Luis and Yulissa helped to hand out and organize the clothes along with Mama Marie, Mama Vicky and Isaura. In May we celebrate one of the most important holidays of the year, Mother‚s Day! The children all participate in a full day of typical dances at the school and we also celebrate here. This year we went to Hanaq Pacha for the day with the whole family! There is just one birthday in May, Sonqo Taki turned 3 on May 9, he has been with us since just 3 days after he was born. His mother died giving birth in her community. His brother, Jorgito and sister, Illary, are also here at Casa. Their father is alive but not involved in their lives. In June there was a ton of action both at Casa and at Sopa Del Dia. A group of 6 students and 2 leaders from 6 Degrees Global came for 10 days to build a playground at the school in Sacllo. It was great fun for everyone having them here and the children of Sacllo are forever indebted. The playground is absolutely beautiful and the children are happier than ever, Sopa del Dia is functioning wonderfully, there are hot meals served three times a week to 98 children and 15 elderly people. For the elderly the meals are delivered as they cannot move about very well. For the children there is also a fruit snack after lunch. The health of all has improved 100%. The mother's of the children that actually attend school in Sacllo, about 28, have also organized to cook just for these children on Tuesday and Thursday when Sopa del Dia is not cooking. In June all of the children participate in the annual National Math Contest, this year Michael made it to the finals of the region and then was only disqualified by 1 point. Belisario also made it into the local finals. Also in mid-June we received the first benefits of the Peter Maffay World Tour, we were gifted a 1996 Toyota Hilux. With our other vehicles all being antiques this is an amazing gift to have a reliable and safe truck for getting around and doing the shopping etc. Peter Maffay and company are also working on a donation of a bus from Mercedes Benz for all the children to be able to travel together and safely. As it stands it is almost impossible to get everyone out of the house at the same time, we have to hire a combi, and fill all three of our vehicles. Thank you Peter and all at Red Rooster for all of your loving support!!!! Allen and Marie were blessed with a wonderful visit from Allen's brother Aaron and his wife Heather. This was their first visit to Peru. June birthdays were celebrated on June 24th, Seth turned 7 on the 2nd, Exwar turned 12 on the 11th, and Belisario turned 9 on the 17th. They all had a great party with the traditional face in the cake and dance party. In July we enjoyed a visit from a group of 16 students and 2 leaders from Global Routes. They were with us for 5 days for their orientation to their work project in a small village down the valley. The children really enjoy having these visitors. We have had many other visitors this month that have blessed this family greatly, thank you!! From the 15th - 17th we had the local festival of the Virgen of Carmen in the patio of the house, this is a local custom that has been happening in this hacienda for hundreds of years. People from all of our surrounding villages come with their typical dances to serenade the Virgin so that they will be blessed in the year to come. It is a beautiful site to have all of the colourful dancers in full costume dancing up the driveway and in to the patio. They party into the night keeping us all sleepless for the 3 days. From the 13th to the 20th we received our first Yoga group at Hanaq Paccha Retreat Center in Arin. It was a huge success, all were very happy with their stay and with helping Casa de Milagros. To see more about Hanaq Paccha please look at he website, www.hanaqpacharetreatcenter.com . July birthdays were celebrated on July 23rd, Illary turned 13 on the 2nd, Marquito turned 7 on the 5th, Jhon turned 14 and Yelmo turned 8 on the 6th, Roberto turned 17 on the 17th, and Sergio turned 15 on the 22nd. They had a wonderful birthday with a birthday party singer and her dancers. The police captain of Calca and his wife animate birthday parties and came for our July party, they have committed to coming each month to celebrate with the children. The gardens and greenhouse are perking up again after an unusually cold winter with several freezes and frost. In the greenhouse we have the usual tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and a variety of experimentals. The fruit trees are blossoming more than ever before, so we are hoping for our first real harvest of fruit, we have apples, pears, peaches, plums, raspberries and cherries. The girls are beginning to produce knitted and crocheted goods for sale; they were able to sell several things when the yoga group was here. They continue to practice with wool, in a few months we hope to be able to start working with Alpaca, it is better to wait until they have a really good grasp at the knitting first as the alpaca is about 3 times more expensive than the wool. They are very good now with the natural dying and knowing the plants and the process. The children have remained extremely healthy even with our cold winter, we have of course had the usual sniffles and coughs, but none in real serious condition, Thank God. The children are all happy, healthy, and thankful for all of the help and funding that comes from abroad. Please remember us all in your prayers as we continue the work here at Casa de Milagros and continue to spread our help to as many as possible. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation please go to our website for details. www.chandlersky.org To see current photos from 2006 please go to: www.casademilagros.shutterfly.com Please click on and see all of the children‚s beautiful faces and their adventures form this summer. Thank you for all of your love, support and prayers. Sending blessings and love from our home to yours,Mamà Kia, Papà Allen, Mamà Marie and all at Casa de Milagros If you have not made a tax deductible donation yet this year and would care to please consider us, 100% of all donations come to Peru. Please make checks payable to: Oasis Preserve International and put Casa de Milagros on the memo, Mail to: Children At Play/Oasis Preserve |