I had an opportunity to visit Trujillo this November (2010) for about my twelfth time and had a very good, long visit. As you will see later, it might have seemed longer to others. It took me 72 hours from my door in Arizona to my room in Trujillo (thanks once again, American Airlines) and my luggage 96 hours to make the same trip. Boy, did that first shower feel good!
Ordinarily I visit Trujillo with the primary focus on the businesses and the business people. Of course, this is not the primary reason that Proyecto Nueva Esperanza (PNE) exists in Peru but it has been my assigned area of focus. But, I wanted to make a trip where the primary focus would be the barrios, the barrio leaders, the barrio people, the barrio churches and the people of Trujillo, all the ones we are there to help.
In the past, I stayed in a hotel near the center of town, where my activities were located. But, this time, I had the grand good fortune to be able to stay where the action is, at the home of Mike, Dani, Skylar and Nicole Bukta, our missionary leaders in Trujillo (yes, these are the other people to whom my stay might have seemed longer). Nicole generously gave me her room and Skylar generously shared her bed with her younger sister for the ten days of my invasion. Thanks, girls!
When I first arrived, I could not help but notice how different the lives and availabilities of the missionaries are from what we have become so accustomed to. For instance, we have and take for granted
State-of-the-art medical care and protection
High quality public education
Public libraries crammed with books in our native language
Traffic (relative and predictable) safety
Reliable utilities
Many, many creature comforts
Freedoms in the USA fiber
Sanitation
Solitude
Support groups with our standards and mores
Stores galore of every variety
A choice of golf courses
Multiple sporting events to attend
Supermarket conveniences
Encouragement
Pure water
Water pressure
Hot water on demand
Full sized appliances
And on, and on, and on and on
So, I noticed that I missed some of these things when I first arrived but that the Buktas did not seem to. Then, when I left, I noticed that I did not miss them nearly as much and I actually became pretty adept at shopping at the nearby Wong’s Grocery Store (a supermarket byTrujillo standards). But enough of this observation.
This trip was centered in three places outside of the Bukta home. First, the PNE offices with the members of the team, from some new members to three of the longer term (read “original) team members, attending planning sessions, training sessions, church services, carrying out plans and programs and just general camaraderie. Second, I spent much of my time out in the “field,” working with the two women (Mara and Deysi, pronounced Daisy) who make the womens’ village function, passing out fliers in clinics, police stations, hospitals, crisis centers and watching them counsel people on the streets when asked, put up posters in the local market areas (much like our farmers’ markets but with many, many stalls), meet with a Police Commandant and generally get the word out to the people about where the refuge center is, what we do there and how they are welcome there. And, of course, there was always plenty of mention of God and our project. Dani was also with us and on several occasions she got the opportunity to evangelize and offer God’s peace to women in troubled situations of abuse of some sort.
Thirdly, I also went deep into one of the rougher barrios, south Buenos Aires, which is located right on the Pacific Ocean (would have been a great resort area with a lot of modification). I accompanied Don Lawrence, another project director whose church had taken a collection and provided a ton of money to buy cooking stoves for barrio homes. These stoves are used to eliminate the problem of smoke in the barrio homes by containing it in the stove proper and venting it to the outside air. It will be a huge improvement to health and general living conditions in the barrios. By the time the funds run out, there will be close to 500 stoves installed.
While in Buenos Aires barrio, we were invited inside some of the homes and I was impressed with the level of development of some of the houses. Keep in mind that these folks start out with cardboard walls at first, with no utilities whatsoever and eventually end up with solid walled homes, with windows and electricity. I do not believe that running water has made it yet, though, as most of the homes had multiple large containers of water in the kitchen area. Most would have small animal farms with chickens, cuyes (a hamster like critter that is a food staple throughout Peru) and other “dinner” products. One place really caught my eye. The man of the house had a regular job. He had moved into the barrio some ten years ago in the cardboard shack and had steadily improved his family’s living conditions over the years. He now has tile floors and walls, framed pictures on the walls (at least one of our Lord in each house), kitchen fixtures, even a refrigerator, a television, etc. He had made many improvements and they seemed quite comfortable. His wife even had a flower garden in front. They also host one of the weekly house church services in their home and their walls were resplendent with training materials and progress charts for the members of his small “congregation.”
It was a wonderfully enlightening visit for me and I feel blessed to have been able to experience the ongoing work and results of the past work that Mike and Dani and the rest of the team have been responsible for promoting and carrying out. It was beautiful but humbling to see! Praise the Lord.
But most of all, my time as a welcome member of the Bukta family was wonderful. Boy do those folks (all four of them) work hard and put in a lot of hours. PTL again!
God Bless! Mack Jennings
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