From Wincanton to Peru - Rachel's Story

For what it's worth when I was at King Arthur's I may have been quite a keen student, but my favourite parts of the school year were most definitely the school holidays! Instead of appreciating what it meant to have such readily available education I was far more aware of having to suffer the 'early mornings' and classes I just wasn't interested in.

How challenging, then, to meet Peruvian children who have entirely different ideas. When my husband Paul visited a children's project in Huancayo, Peru, 9 years ago he was stunned by the poverty he faced, the conditions people lived in and the little families had to eat. One family he visited had just one small potato each to last the whole day. In that same family a boy of eight was inscribing his maths homework on a cactus with a knife because his family lacked enough to buy paper and pencil. Seeing all this rendered my husband unable to eat for days.

Back in August 2009 we moved to Huancayo (at an altitude of 3,300 meters). This was after spending fourteen months on the Peruvian coast helping people pick their lives up following the massive earthquake in 2007. That experience meant we both now spoke sufficient Spanish to be more useful so we were invited to join the dedicated team of people Paul had met the first time he had visited Peru. Our aim is to help advance a project that had begun over 20 years ago.

The Training Centre

The Peruvian Children's Trust began life as a sponsor-a-child initiative seeking out sponsorship from people throughout the UK. Its aim being to cover the costs a Peruvian child faces in order to attend school. Unlike here where school attendance is obligatory and everything is provided, such as pens, paper, books, chairs and tables, in Peru all that is provided is the school building and the teacher. This prevents poor children from getting an education, and later on, a job, trapping them and their own future families in a cycle of poverty. While many families have been helped by the trust, with 53% of Peruvians living in poverty, the need is as great as ever and the Trust remains keen to hear from anyone interested in sponsoring a child through school.

A second and much more recently developed facet to the work in Huancayo was the addition of a Training Centre. This gives young people and adults the chance to learn a trade in: carpentry, hair-dressing, cooking, textiles, and metal-work - all at low cost. Again, sponsorship for students who are unable to meet these costs is very valuable and welcomed, and could well prove to be the key that allows someone a chance in life. In the short time we have lived there we have met so many people who have been helped by the team.

Amilcar is the tallest one

Amilcar, for example, graduated from the Training Centre, after studying for two years in the Cookery Workshop. He now has a job teaching Culinary Art in a local college. He is also a very changed young man and is now able to help support his needy family. His Father (who abandoned the family after years of physical and emotional abuse), went to the Graduation, and was very moved at the way his son had made a success of his life with the help of 'El Shaddai' (the name of the charity in Peru), so his life was touched as well. Big thanks to a faithful sponsor who has made a real difference to the life of this young man.

Carlos graduated from the Cookery Workshop last December, went to Lima for a job, and was given one as a 'kitchen helper', but after only one week he was promoted to 'Chef !' with a wage of 1200 soles a month (approx £300.00)!! This makes no end of difference to him and his family.

Accompanying the social workers visiting the local families is no easy task. Each family shares its own sad story and, for the most part, it is a challenge not to walk away each time feeling utterly hopeless and yet burdened with the responsibility to do something about their situation. Some people suffer because of making wrong choices - most don't know any better, many suffer because of the choices of others, and yet others suffer because life has thrown at them harsh circumstances that they are powerless to change.

Family stories

This is Elvis who is able to go to school thanks to having a sponsor in the UK. His father, who used to earn a living playing the saxophone, became very ill two years ago after eating infected pork meat. Unfortunately he developed parasitical cysts on his lungs which have required two very expensive operations. Consequently the family are in huge debt. Elvis' father can't play the saxophone any more so they have to rely on his mother to earn money. Because she had to leave school when she was seven to look after her own siblings, she is illiterate and so can't do any job other than wash other people's clothes. The family live on £16 a month, which is grossly insufficient. It means they don't eat properly, which hinders the father's recovery and stunts the growth of the children amongst other things. The fact that Elvis has a faithful sponsor in the UK not only means that he is able to buy what he needs to have an education, but also that the family get regular visits from one of our social workers who tries to address their needs and guide them in finding solutions to their difficult circumstances.

So why are we doing this and what is our aim?

Well, since we don't receive a wage, we certainly aren't in it for the money. We are supported by the generosity of friends, families and churches, particularly my home church, Wincanton Baptist who have very enthusiastically and faithfully stood with us in friendship, prayer and financial giving. Thank you to you all!!!

My husband Paul is trained in social development and I am trained in languages and we both wanted to use these skills in poorer countries to aid others in whatever way we can. We want to help people leave dire poverty behind, begin to makes ends meet and improve their living circumstances. For ourselves in the long term we hope to find paid employment in these fields, but in the short term we have committed to being volunteers in order to gain necessary experience.

Our main drive behind doing such work stems from our Christian faith and our belief that we are called to do what Jesus did. One of our favourite passages in the Bible sums up Jesus' ministry and gives foundation to what we are trying to do in Peru.

Luke 4:18-19
¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
     because he has anointed me
     to preach good news to the poor.
     He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
     and recovery of sight for the blind,
     to release the oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

The Bible teaches us that God's heart is for the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. He is gracious and compassionate and wants to meet the needs of those he loves and we believe that He uses the work of the Peru Children's Trust to do just that in the heart of the Andes.

To follow our work please visit our website www.paulandrach.com

To learn more about the Peru Children's Trust, make financial donations to projects or sponsor a child, please visit their website http://peruchildrenstrust.wordpress.com/our-work/

Rachel Elliston

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