Iquitos, Peru!

We arrived in Iquitos, Peru on Sunday afternoon (a week ago now) and were met by Osmar, a contact from our friends and church.  He and his lovely wife Nicole took us out for lunch and we had a great time getting to know one another.  We are working with Osmar and Nicole this week helping to rebuild the building that is used for their "club" twice a week and is also where Osmar's parents live.

Iquitos is a town on the Amazon river in Peru.  It is only accessible by air or river and is the world's largest city that cannot be reached by road. We have been intrigued that many residents of Iquitos have Asian ancestry.  This is because the Spanish used Asian people as slaves during the rubber boom that happened here in late 1800s. This means a ton of Asian cuisine is be found as the majority of restaurants are Asain or chicken and rice places called "Pollertias".

 Photo of Asian slaves

Back in 2011 we studied the Amazon & Machu Picchu along with a Vision Forum live adventure.  We watched live-broadcasted episodes on the web, read books, studied the animals and different aspects of the rainforest.  So to be here in person is really amazing!

Osmar introduced us to the club house on Monday.  We hoped to begin work, but the vehicle delivering the wood for construction had several flat tires on the way to drop it off.  The boys enjoyed playing soccer with the local kids and Osmar has a niece SJ's age who was fun for her to hang out with.

Homes in the Sunshine Kids Club neighborhood

Boys playing soccer

Tuesday we explored Iquitos and the Amazon a bit. We started by visiting the Belen market, which consists of homes on floating pads that will rise as the water level rises, and booths of every market-type item you could think of from alligator to skewered worms, and cow head to jungle medicines and herbs.  This is sometimes referred to the "Venice of the Amazon."

Alligator to eat - for sale at the market

Cow head literally cut in half with the brain resting on top

Woman & children exiting boat onto a hill scattered with garbage

Next we headed to the Amazon river and visited some indigenous tribes.  The kids had to pound a drum to announce our entry to the Bora land.  The chief came and greeted us and called his tribe to come perform for us.  They danced and had us join in their celebration.  The kids did well with this new cultural experience, and we all enjoyed seeing the crafts and items these people made with what is available to them in the jungle. 

Announcing our arrival

Dancing with the Bora people of the Amazon jungle

Mom with the chief's wife

We visited the Yahua tribe where we had our faces painted on arrival.  They demonstrated how to use a blow gun and then we each had several chances to shoot it at a target.  3 of the 6 of us hit the target!

G having his face painted on arrival to the tribal grounds

Shooting the blowdart!

Our final stop of the day was to a private petting zoo of sorts, right on the Amazon.  The kids enjoyed this stop as they were able to hold a sloth, parrot, kinkajou, anaconda, and matamata.

SJ not sure about this sloth!

He FINALLY gets to hold a kinkajou!

CB with a boa

G was excited to hold a matamata as he learned about them in Ms. Julie's class!

The temperature here is a humid and constant 100 degrees, and we do not have AC in our concrete dorm room and there is little if any breeze - this is quite the adjustment as only two days prior we were comfortable in an air conditioned yacht.  Osmar has a great motocar that we cruise around in.  It is like a 3-wheeled-motorcycle with a shaded area for the driver, the bench behind him, and then a 3x3 ft area that is like a truck-bed in the back (SJ later told him she liked his "motorcycle truck because it was half motorcycle and half truck").  We squeeze into this along with 2 girls from Guatemala that are here helping with some dentistry work.  There are no lines on the streets and the motorcars are EVERYWHERE - driving is definitely interesting.  Lonely Planet describes it as, "a high school gang of motorcars ganging up on you and racing everywhere," which I thought was fairly accurate!

Riding in a motocar in the streets of Iquitos

Wednesday we were able to begin construction.  Mom and the kids surprised themselves by working these huge beams loose that were stuck in the ground.  They did it by hand as there are very few tools here.  It was interesting to work alongside the Peruvians and share knowledge and application of how to use leverage to accomplish this task.

The pole behind G is 1 of 4 we knocked down!

Dad and Osmar worked upstairs on the walls and floor.  Dad thinks it's funny that he's referred to as the "tall guy" here and was even asked if he was a carpenter for a living back home!  The river rises for about 3 months every year and so the houses are built on stilts.  Many people will often have to evacuate their homes if the water level gets too high, and then they will return several months later. This is just a fact of life for these people.  The wood that their homes are built of typically lasts 3 years before it needs to be replaced.  So while it seems like there should be a better solution to this in American standards, the choice to have club in this area and continue to rebuild the home, is what allows children and families in this poor area to have the opportunity to hear about Jesus.  In addition to human trafficking, alcoholism, rape, and poverty, garbage everywhere, lack of sanitation practices, rodents, and cockroaches have all provided much discussion as we definitely feel out of our comfort zone here.

Osmar & Dad putting up new walls

Wednesday nights are "club" which consists of music and worship, fun activities, and a talk relating to the Bible.  Osmar has built this from the ground up.  We were amazed at how similar to a YoungLife club this was, but it was for kids of all ages.  Our kids had a great time interacting with the new friends and all seem to have a couple of kids that they've connected with which is fun to watch.

Fun with new friends at Kids Club

During club we had the privilege to pray for the Kerr family from our church back home.  We do not know them personally, but they are like family to Osmar, having been here in Peru many times, and our hearts ache for our church family.  Shannon (the mom) and two of the four children were hit by a semi-truck on Monday morning last week.  Here is their CaringBridge site - please keep this family in your prayers.

Praying in Peru for the Kerr family back in MN

Thursday we worked again at the kids club, removing the parts of the floor that were rotted and replacing them with new boards. We sweat just standing still and sometimes don't understand the vision of how a wall or section is to look.  It is interesting to contemplate our efforts here as the Peruvians seem to work so much faster and better than us, but it was a pleasure to be able to serve and even though to us we didn't feel like we did all that much, the people were very appreciative and loving.  Our oldest was able to help the Guatemalan ladies with some dentistry work, which he really enjoyed, and that was a great opportunity for him!  That evening we went out to eat and our oldest tried alligator nuggets while Dad tried a jungle dish of fish wrapped in banana leaves.

The boys helped with new floor boards

Cleaning & prepping dental tools

Friday we ventured about an hour up the Amazon River to "Monkey Island" where there is a rehabilitation center for monkeys. We were able to play with them and see about 5 different types. Additionally, while walking through the jungle to get there, Osmar explained about different plants and trees and their importance. It was a very cool experience.  We'd hoped to fish for piranhas but the water was too low, so instead we headed to an area where there was a good chance to spot the mysterious pink dolphin.  We didn't see one, but we did get to feed piranhas, paiche (the largest fish in the Amazon), and alligators.  On our way back to town we experienced our first downpour!  By the end of this day Dad's foot, which has been bugging him for about 5 weeks now, was quite painful. We were pretty sure the pinky toe was broken as it's been very swollen since our second stop in Guatemala - so much that its new name has become the "little big toe." We figured we should get it looked at, so Osmar drove Dad to the hospital to see a Dr. The doctor barely looked at the foot, never touched it, offered a morphine shot and took an x-ray, which did not show a break (all this for about $30). So we remain perplexed at what is going on here and would certainly appreciated some serious prayers as we head up Machu Picchu in one week. 

Monkeys everywhere!

Saturday morning The Kids Club runs their club from 9-11 which concludes with them feeding all the children (about 100-150 kids). This was an incredible experience to see and our kids participated while being in a play about Daniel taught by Myra (one of the Guatemalan women). They sang worship songs, prayed for us, and had a Bible lesson. Basically a YL club with kids from 2-16. It was a blessing to be a part of. The majority of wood ordered had been used, so there was not much more work for us to do, so we headed off to the local zoo which was a fun easy relaxing afternoon that concluded with a light lunch where our oldest decided to try the local "worm" food.  That evening we all celebrated our time together by going to a beautiful floating restaurant which Osmar's dad had helped to build.  We saw the sunset, were eaten by mosquitos, and enjoyed the fellowship and unique atmosphere.

Acting out Daniel & the Lion's Den

Our family with some of the kids from Sunshine Kids Club

Skewered suri, an Amazonian larvae, or grub... yes, he ate this!

The group we served with at Sunshine Kids Club

Sunday we had tickets to Cuzco, but certainly wish we had more time here. To venture up further into the Amazon for a few days is something we would definitely like to do someday. Additionally, Osmar and Nicole's ministry is heart warming and powerful. They are making a deep impact for the kingdom with their work, and they have made a deep impact on us!  We hope we were able to bless them and the children here as much as we feel blessed to have been a part of their lives.  Their website is www.skcperu.com if you would like to learn more

Our travels from Iquitos to Cuzco was only 6 hours - an easy trip compared to our last few!

We've been asked if we are experiencing any weather/safety concerns due to the earthquake/tsunamis in Chile, and we want to let you know that we are safe and not near the areas being affected.