Hands of Hope Peru Update #2

Dana Renolds is with Spanapark Lions .  .  . Update #2

Dear friends of Hands of Hope,

After waiting to be able to get back to Taucca in August (the road was closed for 3 weeks), I was able to take 48 ponedora chickens (laying chickens) to the school mothers. Each mom received 2 laying chickens and 1 male. These chickens are supposed to be the best - laying 2 and sometimes more eggs a day. The goal is for the the children to have eggs in the mornings and also for the chickens to reproduce (thanks to the males) so the families can have an ongoing supply of eggs. We paid more and bought the chickens a little bigger, therefore their survival rate is almost guaranteed as they have time to become acclimatized to the altitude. 

The Lions club here had bought chicks for another high Andean community a few years ago and the club reported the chickens all died because they were too young. I was advised to make sure they are stronger before taking them up to 12.000 ft. I also bought some laying chickens a few years ago with the remainder of the money I had, but I only bought a few for the poorest families and I didn't think to buy some males. Anyways, learning about ponedora chickens, shopping for, and delivering them safely was quite an education for a city born and raised gal like me! 

Of course, once we got them to Taucca  - all the moms and some grandmothers (if the mom couldn't make it) were waiting with boxes to take the chickens home. It was another heartfelt, emotional exchange with these very grateful mothers. They took turns expressing how thankful they are to us for remembering them and their children every year. 

It was also so delightful to see the real sense of community in action as these moms all look out for each other and each other's children. They each brought some food to make for us all to share before sending them home with the chickens. By the way the moms all promised not to eat the chickens and they will have us visit their homes in December to see how the chicken project is going.

Hands of Hope has always focused on the Taucca primary school  - Kindergarten to grade three and then the children move on to the next school in a nearby community for 4th & 5th grade and then hopefully off to secondary school. For the last 5 years I have watched the children go through the primary school and each year a few more kids enter as others leave. However this year, many of the children went onto 4th and so much of the little community is new.  Due to the number of really young children, the school is now starting kindergarten for ages 3-5 and then gr.1,2,3 in another class. 

Since there are many new families, I also purchased more of the really warm wool blankets to help with the cold nights. Since I am leaving in a few days, a few moms are coming to Cusco to pick up 50lb bags of lentils and rice and a supply of oranges to take back to Taucca for the lunch program. I will purchase everything and then pay the taxi to take them back with the goods.

Once again, thank you all for your support. 

Warmest regards,

Dana