Local Students At Work In Perú

Resource: The Charlotte Observer

By Jennifer Baxter

Students from SouthLake Christian Academy in Huntersville, North Carolina are working in the mountains of Peru on the school’s annual senior trip May 19-29. Seniors have been embarking on this journey since its inception in 2004.

Susan Smith, lower school principal at SouthLake, said the idea for the trip came after she and two other SouthLake staff members worked as part of a missions team in Peru, in collaboration with Scripture Union, a group working to renew Peru through the power of the Gospel. Their team was assigned the task of constructing a home for orphans known as “street boys” in the Andes Mountains, near the town of Yungay.

“The three of us thought that this project would be an excellent connection and long-term project for our seniors and our school,” said Smith.

The trip is open only to seniors and typically has an attendance of more than half of each graduating class. This year, they have the largest group to date, with 38 of their 62 seniors going. Nine parents and three school personnel also went.

The original home has now expanded into several buildings and a school. For the first five days, students were to participate in construction work that includes making adobe bricks for building. The process begins with the students mixing mud, water and straw using their feet and then pouring the mixture into molds. The bricks are left to dry in the sun for several days and will later be used to construct more buildings in the village.

The students will also dig foundations, clear land, construct rock walls and apply stucco to the front of completed buildings. Female students also develop and teach Bible lessons in the local school, while the male students organize a field day for the boys at the home.

After five days in the Andes, the students were to travel south to the desert city of Ica to visit a shantytown with no electricity or running water. The group purchases several trucks of drinking water and walks throughout the community giving water to residents who would otherwise have to wait on the city for days or possibly even weeks.

Although the trip includes a lot of hard work, the students will also take a day trip to a glacial park high up in the Andes, as well as a boat trip to the Paracas Islands, south of Lima. The islands, known as the “mini Galapagos Islands,” are abundant in sea life and rare birds.

Read more...