Our local area.

The large water tank in the background is one of many dotted all around the sides of the valley, these were constructed by SEDEPAL, Lima’s water authority.
A commitment was made in the past to ensure that all the people of Lima had access to water. This commitment was made by Alain Garcia prior to him winning the national election in 2006. The water may arrive by one of two ways - piped or water truck.
However, if you happen to be living higher than either the tank or the access roads the water trucks use then you will still have some lifting and carrying to do!
Sometimes I find it very difficult to photograph the living conditions of the local people; it seems to me to be rather intrusive. Yet how will it be ever possible to describe what you see if you do not take the occasional photo in order to try and make others aware of how people do live – and survive in this area.





You get some sort of an indication of what I mean when you look at the above four photos. You must also remember that the weather over the last few months has been absolutely miserable, constant fog, drizzle and mud!

Some faces of Peru.

Motupe worm farm.

The Motupe parish community has developed this well organised worm farm and in doing so has strongly promoted the idea of recycling garbage as well as developing a commercial side by selling fertiliser in the form of worm castings.

The concrete bed in the foreground is similar to the ones under the shade area for the worms.

One of the key factors has the mixing of the garlic skins with usable compost. The strong garlic seems to lessen the odour of the compost. I suppose that is not too surprising because when you think of it garlic can tend to drive off friends!

The site also contains guinea pig sheds and an area marked for further development for fruit trees and vegetable garden. Thanks Trevor for the photos.

Building report - 20th August.

Big developments even though they may not be able to see what they are doing! The niebla, or fog, persists. As we approached the site we had to get to about thirty metres before we could see anything!

The top level now awaits the brick walls, the concrete slab or floor will be the final act of the building program.

The second level will be the kitchen and below that will be the storage area and toilets. This latter area has yet to be defined by the builders, however, the way they are progressing I am sure it will be there next week.

They are presently boxing up the foundations for the kitchen area and then they will fill it by wheelbarrow to the level of where the men are working! As you can see it will be lower than the main community area.

Goodbye to Donna and Trevor.

Yesterday we met up with Donna and Trevor for the last time, they flew into Lima from La Paz for the day. We have had great fun together while they have been in Lima and I am sure that we will share many more good times when we all get together again back home in Mildura.
We shared a fantasic lunch with two Columban priests who are very good friends - Father Leo and Father John. As you can see by the ladies' plates they definitely enjoyed themselves. Marion chose chicharron mundo marino, a Peruvian fisherman's basket, and Donna chose Macchu Pichu which was virtually three plates in one, one of them being the typical Peruvian cebiche, uncooked white fish marinated in very acidic limes from this area. In fact the limes are so strong they virtually cook the fish!

As their final treat in Lima we took them to the Gold Museum and would you believe it but this museum holds one the largest private collections fire arms, uniforms and other military memorabillia. We all thought that we would never see Trevor again, he could not believe his luck. It was like letting a little boy loose in a toy shop! By the way that's Trevor in the background bargaining once again with someone at the front door of the museum!

Some birthday shots - at last!

Saturday 26th July, the night an Aussie birthday party took place in Montenegro. There was the cake with many candles, the singing of 'Happy Birthday' in both English and Spanish, presents, an abundance of food, drinks for all, music - and the salsa! We had great fun and celebrated in style, although maybe a little too long for the slightly older members of the group! Many thanks to Donna and Trevor for all their efforts and for the photos.

What a stellar performance by the Guest of Honour and Raphael, they made a stunning couple. However, it must be said that a strong rumour went around the room that there had been some serious moves being practised in the kitchen beforehand. Who cares, the end result was amazing and greeted with resounding applause.

The crowd were enthralled with the entire performance and more than likely were more than eternally grateful that they were not dragged onto the dance floor.

Marion, Nancy and Pilar, below, as well as Mick, Nancy and Luke, above, - obviously enjoying themselves.

And would you believe it but the old bloke's hamstrings survived to live another day.

The video being shot in the background by John is in safe hands and will be shown only at private viewings!

The 'Dancing with the Stars' couple take their final bow, and a well earned drink! Though there was more than a hint of achilles soreness next morning!

Building report - 14th August.

From a distance the split level nature of the building is becoming more obvious.

The foundations and steel reinforcing are progressing smoothly. You can now begin to appreciate the actual amount of fill the workers had to move to the site.

It strikes me that divine intervention came far too late for the first water tank!