News

Hola a Todos,
We are entering month nine of our volunteer assignment and we are feeling good about what we have been able to accomplish thus far. May was a big month for some of our biggest projects. We have completed the Playground Project at the Fransisca Mayer Orphanage, we are moving to yet a better location in the Andean School, we published the new Tinkuy Peru website, and we launched the beta website for the Andean Outreach Program. We have also started a number of new projects here in Huancayo. We are starting a window replacement program at all of the Orphanages that our volunteers work in. Terry has started working at a school for special needs children. He is working with deaf children, autistic children, and children with Downs Syndrome.

We also had a tragic setback in the month of May. Terry’s cousin, Scott Hanselman, passed away in Chicago from Bacterial Spinal Meningitis. Scott was a good friend to us and we created a special page in his memory. Please click the link below to view Scott’s page.

The New Andean School for English:

May was a good month for progress at the Andean School. After we returned to Huancayo from Cuzco, Terry only had two students in his morning class. Alison decided to take both of the students into her morning class so he could work at a new school with kids with special needs. Alison continues to teach the only morning class at the school.

School coordinator, Nilton Condor, has finished his ID card project for the students. Now, when the students arrive at the school, they present their ID card that has their photo, their attendance record, and their grades. Nilton, Eli, and Tino have secured a new location for the school. The location is a little smaller, more affordable, and has owners that they can work with. Tino is excited about the new location and has decided to invest in repairing and renovating it. We all feel that the new location will improve the image of the school and increase enrollment. We plan to move in June 1st.

We have made a few minor updates to the Andean School website and they can be seen by clicking the link below.

The Aldea del Rosario Infintil Orphanage:

The month of May went by very quickly at the Aldea Rosario Orphanage. We currently have three major projects at this Orphanage that we are trying to finish. With the completion of the water reclamation project, we are painting the columns that hold the cisterns. The columns are currently concrete and are depressing to look at. We plan to paint them bright colors and designs to liven up the mood at the orphanage. We hope to be finished with this project in the first week in June.

The other project that we are undertaking at the Rosario is a computer education class with kids. We are teaching typing classes on donated laptops by having the kids write their personal stories. Please click the link below to see our thank you to Laura Chapman for the computers, some photos, and some of the stories.

The Aldea del Fransisca Mayer Orphanage:

The busiest part of May was at the Fransisca Mayer Orphanage. We worked almost everyday to finish our new Playground Project at the Fransisca Mayer. We helped dig the foundation footers, clear the site, we coordinated all donations including ours, we bought all of the materials, we painted the structure, we paid for the labor, we separated gravel from sand, we covered the ground with gravel and we threw the inauguration party. This orphanage is in the middle of farmland and these orphaned girls have no place to play. We strongly believe that this project will create a positive change in their day to day lives that will improve their self esteem hopefully giving them a better chance for the future. We had an inauguration ceremony in May to celebrate the completion of this project. The program included speeches from the orphanage director, the director of Tinkuy Peru, and from Terry. Alison handed out donations that we have received from family and friends, shared some words, and also catered the event. We also had some help with from some other volunteers and friends, Meghan and Kristen, as they directed a play with the girls using the play structure as the stage. The project has been a huge success and we are very excited. Please click on the link below to view the construction process and some photos from the inauguration.

 

We are also to continue to work directly with the girls and want to continue to share their stories. Please click on the link below to read two more stories from the girls at the Fransisca Mayer Orphanage.

Estudial Prolivalente por Niños Especiales:

Terry has started work at a school in Huancayo with children who have special needs. The school has children who are hearing impaired, blind children, autistic kids, children with physical and mental disabilities as well as children with Downs’s syndrome. This is a very special place and we are very happy to be doing work here. Terry is busy learning sign language and making new friends with his mornings at the Prolivalente School.

Tinkuy Peru:

May was an average month for the Tinkuy Peru program with eight total volunteers. We had people from the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. It was great to have everyone here in May because we received lots of support on all of our projects. We are also starting to receive lots of donations from Tinkuy Alumni for the school as well as the orphans.

We are excited to announce that the new Tinkuy Peru website is finished and has been published. You can visit the new website by clicking the link below.

The Andean Outreach Program:

We are pleased to announce that we have finally launched our Andean Outreach Program. We have created a Beta version of the program’s webpage as well as an email address to handle correspondence. The website is only a temporary page and we will add more information as soon as we can. More importantly, we have received donations and will have grants available in the next few months. Visit our new page by clicking the link below.

A new way to contact us:

We have discovered SKYPE, which is an online messaging company out of England that has a great program for computer calling technology. You can download their software by visiting: http://www.skype.com/download/ Our user name is terryandalison. Give us a call if you get some time.

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