Yuliana and Mavel's Family

While we were in Peru, we spent as much time as we could with one of the families we became close with. We had met Yuliana and Mavel at a cleaning day at Inti. One Saturday a year ago, the parents committed to cleaning Inti. We were so impressed that a few children, including Mavel and Yuliana, came along to help clean, so we decided to take them out to lunch. Since then, the family has continued to impress us.

They live in one of the poorest, dangerous neighborhoods in Cusco at the top of a mountain in one room (under 100 sq ft), which they barely have enough room for the 2 bunk beds and the propane stove. To get to their house, they need to walk 3/4 of a mile up hill as the road is under construction for the next 6 months.

But they make the best of it, we played jumprope with them when we went and visited their house.

Here's Yuliana with two Cuys (Guinea Pigs). These will be sold as food when they are older.

Anne with the 7 puppies they just had. The girls all pitch in finding food scraps whenever they can to feed the puppies.

Marcelina (the mother) gets up every morning around 5 am to make empenadas. She works all day on her feet travelling around Cusco selling them, making barely $3 a day. She pays for her rent and helps her sister's family (Her sister had recently been hit by a car). Although she does not make enough to get by, she is dedicated to having her two youngest children make it through school.

Anne (17) works on a collectivo between 60-70 hours per week. She had to drop out of school to help support the family.

Yuliana (15) and Mavel's (11) day begins at 5 am helping her mom make empenadas. Yuliana then goes to English class at 7 am while Mavel goes to school. To get there, the two walk the 3/4 mile down the steep hill and then catch a 30 minute ride in a collectivo. When Yuliana finishes English class, she goes to Inti, and then to school. When Mavel finishes school around 1 pm, she goes to a free cafeteria for lunch and then waits until 6 pm for Yuliana to finish school. Its not safe for Mavel to go to Inti or return home on her own, so she waits and the two head back home together.

Despite this, they are an amazing family who love to have fun.

We took them out to dinner to say good bye . . .

Taking the long ride home, which will include the 3/4 mile walk in the dark

On our last day, Marcelina (the mom) and Anne stopped by to say goodbye. Anne brought flowers and the mother brought us Alpaca sweaters, a blanket, and a bag to show her gratitude for everything we did. The cost of all of this was probably 3 months rent. We were blown away at the presents.

While we were there, we put her in touch with Caritas Peru who will be helping the mother and sister by teaching them new skills and helping them find a safer place to live. The Director there believes they will be able to afford a $50/month place in a year, which is a 2 bedroom place with a kitchen and bathroom. They are expected to be moving in to the new place in October. Keep your fingers crossed.

The New Inti

Last July, Inti opened up a new location. We were there to help buy some of the things for the location, but were not there to see opening day. Last week, we stopped by to see it and to meet the kids. Even though, it was all new kids in a different neighborhood. They immediately welcomed us with hugs.

These kids are a bit younger, but they come to Inti for the same reasons . . .

a place to play

a place to learn and someone to read with them (many of their parents only speak Quechua or do not read or write, so they can not help them with their homework).

a place to make friends and be in a safe place off of the streets

and a place to get a warm meal

Thanks to everyone's generosity; all the furniture and most of the books you see were paid for by the fundraiser in March, 2008 before we left for Peru.

Finally, the Olympiadas . . .

The competition began with the Potato Sack Race and Bobbing for Apples . . .

Blue took the early lead wining both of these competitions . . .


. . . but then it looked like the reigning champs, Team Yellow, were turning the corner as it pulled out an upset on the Sponge Relay. Purple Hung Close the entire time and even created its own cheer, which they did before and after every game.

The 3 legged race ended in a tie between yellow and blue, so it would all come down to the final match, a water balloon toss.

With the sunsetting and the kids hungry, the water balloon toss quickly turned into all out chaos, so by default Blue picked up the gold. Somehow, based on Peruvian calculations, silver went to Team Purple. Despite dropping from a gold in 2008, Team Yellow could hardly contain themselves when it was announced that they would be taking home the bronze.

The incredible reactions of Team Purple's Silver Medal and Blue's Gold Medal Ceremonies are not suitable for this blog.

Despite the intense competition, the day ended with everyone gathering for a chicken dinner and a combined game of soccer, volleyball, and jumprope. The Kiwi's (New Zealanders) were in disbelief how 54 kids and 10 professors could have a game of soccer, volleyball, and jumprope all happenning on the same field. I guess Jackie and I were just used to the hazards of dribbling a soccer ball with the chance of getting close lined by a jump roper or a volleyball off the head. At least this field didn't have any cliffs to contend with.

Here are two Inti Olympics rookies proudly displaying their awards on the long bus ride back to Cusco. Definitely, a successful Inti gtames. All are looking forward to Inti Olimpiadas III . . .

The Inti Olympics Goes International

In only its second year, the fan based grew exponentially. The Kiwi friends we had met the other night decided to come along to see what this was all about as well as a volunteer from Denmark.

54 kids showed up - not bad for only 2 days notice. We started the trip at 8 and headed out to Senor Huanchac. Its about an hour outside of Cusco high in the mountains. As we got close to Senor Huanchac, we passed 100s of people and children walking up the mountain to see this religious place where miracles have occurred in the past - people travel as far as Bolivia and Lima to see it.

We made it there a little bit late, so instead of going to the 10 mass, Inti decided to wait for the 11:30. We figured this should be interesting, lets take 54 kids to Mass before one of the most exciting days for them - Inti Olympics II and then have them wait an hour before mass starts. To pass the time, we walked up to a religious bath and the children lit candles and said a few prayers.

waiting outside for Mass to begin . . .

About half way through mass, we were amazed at how well behaved the kids were. Then, we noticed about 20 kids in line waiting for confession. No parents were there to tell them to do it, they just did it on their own.