Team Aloha carries on, less our Compadre Jim, who returned to his real world on Sunday.  He is missed.  Still, Carol, Jared, and I continue the good works under Edith’s expert tutelage, serving the special children of PPA.  Jared and Carol spend their mornings sanding and painting doors, to address the challenges of aging buildings, and in their afternoons, bring together sibling groups to strengthen tenuous family ties. I have been spending mornings in a classroom as a Kindergarten teacher’s aide, and in the afternoon provide recreational relief to shut-in children in the infirmary.  As the end of second week approaches, we seem like familia to PPA staff, who greet us daily as we come and go.

Peru has provided the perfect experience through placement at PPA, and the perfect mentor, Edith Rodriguez Perciado, for us to achieve our Team Aloha goals:

·         To share and show aloha

·         To experience Peruvian culture

·         To learn to speak a bit of Spanish

·         And of course, to wage peace and promote justice as Global Volunteers.

Discovering the wonders of Lima and the warmth of its people has been a bonus for us

We will carry our special memories of an incomparable experience as we return to our home on the weekend. Among my favorites are:

Visions of the luminous big brown eyes of our children.

 Forehead kisses as cure-alls for sad faces.

 Knowing you can reverse a mini meltdown with hugs

   Balloon volleyball as a perfect antidote for shut-ins.