With just under a month left in our trip to Peru we are excited to see the construction of a new school near completion. As of now, we have fully constructed two walls and part of a third, moved the current school to make room for the new one, and leveled off the ground which was a pretty huge task considering that we only had 2 wheelborrows and a handful of buckets to carry a hefty portion of dirt. We plan to finish the new school and organize the classroom in the next two weeks while the students are on a break to celebrate Peru´s independence.

The past few weeks we have also had the chance to celebrate this holiday with the students through various activities in the district of San Juan. We played a big futbol (soccer) game with students and mothers from other schools. Gabe and I played goal keeper and we did such a great job that after regular time we had a tie at 0 and were forced to go into a kick off. Gabe´s team won off a questionable call but we still had a fun day. We also celebrated with two parades; the first was a candle-lit walk through our community. Because it was late at night Gabe and I both ended with sleeping children in our arms. We know we are a part of this community because the parents don´t even offer anymore to take the children when they fall asleep :) For the second parade we traveled a half hour by bus and all of the children had on costumes. Comstumes ranged from soldiers to farmers.

As said before, the next few weeks will be dedicated to organizing the new school through the purchase of bookcases, tables and other things that will make learning a less daunting task for the children of San Juan de Lurigancho.

Thanks again for all of your help here in Lima.