Huancayo - Peru

Many thanks for all the prayers and support that I have received from my church family. As I am returning to Huancayo in December I thought you would like to know more about the charity, also what I will be doing during my 3 month stay.

The Peru Children’s Trust is an independent Christian Charity formed in the U.K. in 1997 to assist orphaned children and families whose circumstances have been so adversely affected by the years of civil war and the collapse of the economy. It operates in and around the city of Huancayo, 11,000feet above sea level. Fifty percent of the population is under 18, and children need help because there is no government assistance -no benefits or health service, the government only providing teachers’ salaries. All other costs for books, equipment, uniforms, and even desks have to be met by the parents or guardians, or the sponsor if the child is sponsored.

Although Huancayo is the 5th largest city in Peru, the housing is very poor with many dwellings having no sanitation, cooking facilities, sometimes no doors or windows. The Trust aims to improve the living standards of children by funding their housing needs. This may include the installation of sanitation, roofing the house, or donating clothing and bedding. The government now provides limited healthcare for children, which covers the cost of medicines but little else. If the parents become ill and unable to work the children starve. The Trust also funds healthcare for their children and their families who do not qualify for the government benefits. There is very high unemployment in Huancayo and the children have to try and find casual work from a very early age to help support the family. This is why the Training Centre is so vitally important, enabling the older children in the Trust to learn a skill which will enable them to earn a living when they leave school, and hopefully to lift them out of the poverty trap. Peruvians are a very industrious people, but without any practical skills the young people will end up simply trying to eke out a living by selling things on the street or in the markets.

There will be a total of 9 workshops teaching different skills, two workshops, the Welding and Carpentry are already up and running, making the metal window frames and the doors for the centre. I have been asked to set up the Dressmaking Workshop, and to teach some of the older children how to make various garments, and maybe handicrafts. Part of my remit is to trust that the Lord will provide either the money to buy the equipment (this is readily available in Peru, and purchase would benefit the local economy, but the money is lacking), or to take some of the smaller items out with me, yes, I do have two very large suitcases! Thank you again for your prayers thus far, please continue to pray for language, a different one for dressmaking! Please ask if you want any more information.

Jill Abell

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