Team Peru: Arequipa

The Team Peru crew is settled in to our new surroundings in Arequipa. This is a dramatic contrast to our previous week - where we suffered through cold showers and hectic days. In Arequipa, the team will be staying at the wonderful Casa de Margot Hotel and enjoying a schedule that is a lot less demanding.

Yesterday was our first full day of work with a number of different activities. We had a group working to complete the "re-assessment" phase of a previous community research project from 2008 (The PACE Study), a group working on the installation of a water filtration unit at an orphanage in Alto Cayma, a group helping with the daily operations of the Mission of Alto Cayma (working in the feeding program that delivers 650 meals each day to the most impoverished members of the community, making home visits with the Social Worker, helping with child care in the Day Care Center, and working in the "brick and mortar clinic") and a group working on a few special construction projects.

One project that HBI will be supporting, but due to time constraints unable to particpant directly with, is the remodeling of a "house" for a very impoverished family in Sector "11 de Mayo" in Alto Cayma. The family, a mother and her four children (the father left a long time ago), currently lives in a one room stone hut with no water, sewage disposal or electricity.

We will be working with Father Alex Busuttil and the Mission of Alto Cayma on a remodel of the home to include a small kitchen area, a concrete floor and an upgrade to the walls and roof to better protect the family from the cold winter nights of the southern Andes. In addition, the collaborative efforts of our two organizations will purchase beds for the family - as they are currently sleeping on mats on the floor.

Stay tuned to the HBI Blog for updates and photos of the remodel.