Who let the dogs out? - Peru part three

To quote another song, dogs are everywhere here in Peru, well especially in Caraballyo, although most are pretty inactive and docile. However we have learned that Peruvian dogs seem to enjoy the Peruvian way of life which tends not to be too fast paced. Powerwalking in a European way to get back to the petrol station from which we get the bus back to lima seems not such a good idea, as the hole in my t-shirt from an overexcited dog now demonstrates. No skin broken so no fear of getting rabies. We've been working in San Martin in Caraballyo for two weeks now. The roof on the community house is now complete, there's a 3m hole dug for a latrine, and there's now a fence running along the back of the kids playpark and the path shielding the sight of the rubbish dump in the background. We've discovered some of the genius of HSBC's local knowledge ad from the local handyman and community leader Crescento who with a chain and piece of wood took out a pole concreted in the ground in two minutes which took us a couple of hours with our rocking back and forth method. We´ve loved working with Luis the carpenter putting up the roof, one of those people with a constantly smiling face who we managed to have great chats with in spanglish. The universal language of football is a great starter. Paul and I and a few of the girls have been getting into playing football with some of the kids and the guys who drive the mototaxis. We've seen the sun and blue skies in Caraballyo for the last week which has meant lots of sweating, even when just doing nets. The Paul and Sam combo is becoming a pretty fearsome attacking force. For those who are aware of my footballing prowess, the stony bumpy pitch and the dust seem to help. It's exciting to see how AEGUP (thePeruvian IFES movement) are committed long term to community development in partnership with the community. The last couple of days we've been able to do a bit of mini kids club with arts, crafts, songs and bible stories. The kids seem to get it all, which is great. This weekend is independance weekend so there's flags everywhere and we're getting the chance to see some of the big parades in Lima. We've settled in really well, helped immenseley by Rob [Rob Clay Rivers - to give him his full title], anamerican doing a year here with LatinLink. Sorry a North American, as we've realised that american refers to any native of the two continents of the americas. Watching the Copa america final at his house was pretty good too. One of Rob's other contributions has been giving us another team member. His friend Jo came to stay with him for a week and get involved in the stuff he was doing and has ended up joining us for the whole time. Its been funny thinking back to this team almost not happening but we've got a great bunch of people with Emma and Cara staying from the Jordanstown team, and now Jo. Its added a great dynamic, perspective and banter. As a team we've been digging into Colossians which has been great, and i've been rereading Colossians Remixed - which is one of the best books i've read in the last couple of years, both for the context of the Roman Empire and for translating Paul's subversive message into a global consumer culture. Lima is no different with McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut et al in evidence - although Paul and I's sneaky Pizza last night from a local joint was pretty heard to beat... the girls weren´t so impressed but it was his birthday...

Soapbox - currently enjoying a free (involuntary) weight loss and detox regime