¡Muchas Gracías!

The students and staff of James Madison University would like to personally thank each and every one of these generous donors who have contributed to ASB for Perú.

Thanks to your generosity, our goals were met and we were able to donate money to fix the roof of the school Señor de los Milagros to help the students of this sector of Trujillo. We also brought school supplies, clothing and much more. Your support meant we could impact even more in Perú in 2010 — and beyond.




Thanks to Adrienne Griggs' family for putting us up and feeding us before our trip, and taking us to and picking us up from the airport.
Thanks to each supporter who helped perform this small miracle.

Service ASB in Trujillo, Perú

JMU students Kelly, Mhairi, Geoff, Dana, Adrienne, Ashley, Lisa, Julia, and Melodie, joined Sara Parrish and Kristina Snader, the student co-leaders for Perú 2010, in this adventure. The student leaders were responsible for the trip logistics, team development, communicating with the partner service agency "Perú 109", and facilitating group reflection sessions. I, Rosie McArthur, accompanied as the Learning Partner. The Learning Partner lends support to the trip as one who can communicate easily with the native population, and as a "mature influence" to encourage students to make wise decisions. I participated in all team activities, took lots of pictures, and recorded each day of our eventful adventures, helping and documenting our service in Perú.

Although the majority of our time was spent in service, we also got to enjoy many of the cultural and environmental wonders of Perú. We spent the first morning sightseeing in the Miraflores sector of Lima Peru, where we landed the night before. We took a nine hour bus trip to Trujillo where we worked and stayed with host families through the week. We ended our week with visiting the Pacific Ocean.

Our mission was to serve the people of Trujillo - PERU during spring break. We helped improve the school El Señor de los Milagros. We took supplies to the children, worked with them doing art, playing soccer, and other games, in addition to painting, repairs, and cleaning. Trujillo, known as the “City of Eternal Spring”, is the third largest city in Perú, and is famous for its neighboring beach of Huanchaco.

We had the most rewarding time with the "Inca Kola" team, as we came to call ourselves. Our students woke up early every morning to work for a school where students go for free. They helped build book shelves, carried blocks, cleaned up the yard, and painted some walls. They brought clothing, school supplies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and much more to leave with the children, and medical supplies to leave with the school. The trip was really incredible. 'Privileged' college students were able to view their circumstances in new light by seeing the needs of underprivileged kids and working toward meeting them.

The group split into three parts at the end of each day to go to our respective host family houses assigned to us from the beginning of our trip. The students got some Spanish lessons, Salsa dancing lessons, and 'papa rellena' (stuffed potatoe) making lessons. We all learned a lot while in Perú!

Reflecting at the end of our trip, all of us came together and pondered our experiences and impressions of this trip to the impoverished south American nation. The incredibly eye opening experience helped to put our lives in perspective. It's not every day we go into a poverty-ridden nation and experience a community like that. It makes us realize we should appreciate our abundancies. The people there were surprisingly happy despite their relative poverty, and were exceedingly grateful for the little help we provided.

The students would say this was a life-changing experience that taught them more than they would ever learn in a college classroom.

I have been simply astounded by the energy, commitment, enthusiasm, motivation, and bonding that has taken place over the week. This trip was an once-in-a-lifetime experience that was shared with some of the best and brightest students at James Madison University. I came to love the wonderful group of students that I got to spent a whole week in Perú with, sharing precious moments that I wouldn't trade for anything in this world. We had a great trip and it was really interesting to learn about Perú. The people of Trujillo were very welcoming, warm, helpful, and easy to talk to. Yet even after a wonderful trip like this one, it was really good to come back to our family and friends.

With thankfulness and appreciation for the this opportunity to witness the love of God and His mercy through His people, I am,

~Rosie McArthur, ASB Learning Partner

The Beginning of our Journey!

On Friday afternoon, the 5th of March, we met at the baseball field parking lot and headed out to Adrienne Griggs' home for the night before they took us to The Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) for our flight to Lima Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. with Delta Airlines. There's nothing like a full 12+ hours of traveling together to kick off some quality group bonding time. By the time we got to Lima, we were tired but excited to be working together for the rest of the week. Our intention was to make a difference during our stay.

Friday, March 5, 2010

On our way to Lima, Peru!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

It took all day Saturday to travel from BWI to Atlanta to Jorge Chávez Lima International Airport airport. Stayed in Miraflores for the night. We arrived just past midnight Saturday, March 6, 2010, that night at 12:32 a.m. We saw Juan Carlos, director of Perú 109, in person for the first time in Lima. He and ome of his close friends picked us up from the airport with smiling faces. We felt right at home the very minute we met Juan Carlos. He is a warm hearted, very helpful, and generous individual. His friend Antonio is also very kind. In Lima, Juan Carlos was waiting with two vans to take us to Miraflores' 656 Larco Hotel.

Trujillo, here we come!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

We got breakfast then we headed to el Parque del Amor (Love Park) in Miraflores, Perú for a little tour of the Larcomar. Before noon we headed to the terminal to catch our bus "Cruz del Sur" to take us to Trujillo, Perú. We traveled for a least 9 hours before we got to Trujillo. We all met at of our host family's house and were introduced around. We split into three groups and all headed out to our respective host families. We needed to get a good night's sleep for the beginning of our work week at el Señor de los Milagros' school.

¡Día uno! ASB Trujillo, Perú

Monday, March 8, 2010

Day one in Trujillo -
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Projects at La Esperanza El Señor de los Milagros' school.
5:00 p.m. explore downtown / desserts in main plaza.
7:00 p.m. At our host family for Dinner and rest

Today we got up and had breakfast with our host family, the Mendozas. Then we met the other two groups at a nearby park where we caught taxis to El Señor de los Milagros' school in La Esperanza where we'll be working for the day. The children of El Señor de los Milagros' school and their teachers welcomed us with balloons, songs, and a little flag of Perú.

We distributed some of the supplies that we brought for the children and their families. We had lunch at the school then worked and played with the children for the rest of the afternoon. We ended our day by going to see a very beautiful park in the town of Trujillo. We had dinner at our host families. My group and I went to the internet cyber cafe to get in touch with our families back in the states.

Welcome to El Señor de los Milagros' School



cancion 'one' es uno ~ 'two' es does



How the school began!



Working to have a nice patio for the students of El Señor de los Milagros' school

¡Día dos! ASB Trujillo, Perú

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Day two in Trujillo -
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Projects at La Esperanza El Señor de los Milagros' school.
5:00 p.m. A visit to La Esperanza community to bring items of clothes, toys, etc.
8:00 p.m. At Juan Carlos place for cooking class and dinner.

We started our work at el Señor de los Milagros' school, had lunch at the school, and afterwards we headed out to the hills of La Esperanza to bring supplies to the people there. It really was an experience for the students to see their living arrangements. We would consider it sad that they seemed so impoverished. On a more cheerful note, we had a chance to play some soccer with some of the peruvian youth members of La Esperanza.

Our students learned very quickly that although learning Spanish would further their experience, a language barrier doesn’t stop one from connecting with others. There were lots of hugs and kisses and everyone felt comfortable and welcomed by the entire staff of Señor de los Milagros school. ♥

In the evening we Juan Carlos gave us a cooking lesson, and we made 'papa rellena' (stuffed potato); dinner was really delicious!

¡Día tres! ASB Trujillo, Perú

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Day three in Trujillo -
9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Projects at La Esperanza El Señor de los Milagros' school.
1:00 p.m. Lunch at our host family.
3:00 p.m. Tour of the Chan Chan ruins
7:00 p.m. Host family for dinner
9:00 p.m. Karaoke night

After the usual breakfast with our host familis, we headed to the nearby park and met with the rest of our group. We took three taxis to El Señor de los Milagros' school in La Esperanza. We worked with the children, cleaned up the school patio, painted the bathroom walls, and distributed supplies to them. In the afternoon, we headed back to our host families for lunch. Afterward, we returned to the park to meet the rest of our group for an outing to see the Chan Chan ruins and their museums. the plan was to have dinner with our host families, but our host mom, Monica, had an emergency and didn't get back to the house in time to fix us dinner, so we got something to eat at the nearby park. Then we all headed to the Karaoke joint and had a blast there! Only 4 soles per person, and we all got to sing and have tons of fun!

Here are some photos of our day in Trujillo, Perú

¡Día cuatro! ASB Trujillo, Perú

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Day four in Trujillo -
9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Projects at La Esperanza El Señor de los Milagros' school.
1:00 p.m. Lunch at our host family.
3:00 p.m. Sandboarding Session on Santo Dominguito's Dunes

7:00 p.m. Host family for dinner

9:00 p.m. beach for reflection time.

Today, we were determined to finish up cleaning the patio of the school, paint the bathroom walls, and leave a very special message from the JMU students to the students of El Señor de los Milagros' school. We were invited to eat some delicious fruits before we headed back to our host family for lunch.

Later we all met to go sandboarding on Santo Dominguito's Dunes. We got back to our host family for dinner, then came back out for reflection and walk at the beach.

¡Día cinco! ASB Trujillo, Perú

Friday, March 12, 2010

Despedida de la escuela!

Here is our final day in Trujillo -
9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Projects at La Esperanza El Señor de los Milagros' school.
1:00 p.m. Lunch in Huanchaco ~Free time to explore the beach (Surfing, beach walking,
handicraft shopping, "caballitos de totora" rides)
7:00 p.m. Host family for dinner, packing to go to home

Our last day at El Señor de los Milagros' school we cleaned, painted, and left our mark (a mural with an inspirational message painted on the wall) in their school from JMU to El Señor de los Milagros in La Esperanza, Perú. In the afternoon we headed to Huanchaco Beach where we got to see the markets and enjoy the beautiful view of the beach, and some students got surfing lessons.

¡Día seis! Back to Lima, Perú

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Today we went to the terminal in Trujillo to catch our bus to Lima. Julia won a bingo game that was played on the bus, the prize being a free ride in a Cruz del Sur bus (which she gave to Juan Carlos since we were leaving). She did a dance of appreciation for us. When we got to the termial in Lima, there were a couple of vans waiting for us to take us to Jorge Chávez Lima International Airport.

Back to the States!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

We flew back all night long, and thanks to God we got back safely. Adrienne's folks were there to take us back to their house where we left our vehicles. Also, Melodie's dad came to the airport to help take us to Adrienne's place. Once there, we all got back in our vehicles and headed back to JMU.

Thank you for all the prayers!