Monthly Archives: September 2014

Systems in need of repair

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It’s Tuesday, mid morning, and I can hear kids playing on the road above our house. On the way to teach my class, I pass groups of kids playing marbles on the streets, chasing chickens. Why aren’t the kids in school? Their teachers are on strike. This strike has been going on for about two weeks, but we have heard of a strike a few years ago that lasted for three months. It is hard for your country to excel when you don’t have regular classes for school kids. There are many, many days off classes: for teachers’ regional soccer tournaments, for parade practice, for Student Day or Mother’s Day or any number of holidays, or, I guess, for strikes.

The line at the hospital has been especially long every day, which is unusual for the the months of what we call summer and early fall. The local doctors have been on strike since May! As we understand it, the doctors in Peru all have their own private practice and are required to work in public government hospitals part-time. If they want to demand higher pay from the government, the doctors strike, the public hospitals close down, and the poorest people have nowhere to go. Those who can afford it can go see doctors in their private clinics and hospitals, but Diospi Suyana Hospital has been inundated with patients who can only pay government hospital prices.

Please pray that God will provide for the victims of broken public systems and that He will use the leaders in Peru to change the way things are run.

Cutie!

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This little girl is not dressed up to make money. This is the way her community dresses. Her mother was dressed the same way. If you go to Cuzco, you will see people dressed like this, but they are doing it for tips. They let you take a picture, then you pay them a small gratuity. This girl was not used to having her picture made, and she was in constant motion and so all my pictures are blurry. She is cute, isn’t she!

Where shall we live?

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Would you pray with us for God to show us just where to move next year (or before)? We found a good house above town on a paved street and we moved on it, since there is a Western-style housing shortage brought on by the influx of foreigners. We have been working with the landlords to fix up the house and make it nice for our family. It is not at all ideal since we will not have any guest bedroom or extra space, and we do have visitors. We are thinking about renting the house next door when it empties next summer, but it will not be a completely seamless blending of houses (a pretty good level change).

This past week we had a difficult negotiation with the landlords. This makes us wonder, “Should we wait and see what comes available in the next few months? What does God have planned for us?” Right now, we cannot see another good option for our family, but God knows.

Please pray for Will and I to have wisdom and peace. We will have another meeting with the landlords tomorrow. It is not fun talking about money matters with people from another culture and language, especially if you suspect they are being less than wholly honest and hoping to make a lot of money off you. I am praying that we can all understand one another and have a good working relationship or dissolve the relationship peaceably. Thanks, friends.

God at work

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There is a Peruvian boy in our English speakers’ class who grew up spending several months in Curahuasi and several months in Miami, Florida every year of his life. This year his grandmom has been sick, so he and his mom stayed here in Curahuasi and enrolled him at Diospi Suyana School. Right away I could see that it was no accident that he was here in this place, at this time.  All the kids really like him (he is one of our boys’ best friends at school) and he is very bright, but more importantly, he has shown at first a spiritual curiosity, and now a spiritual hunger. His mom told me tonight that he wants to go to an after-school Bible study, that he always talks about what the Bible says, and that she sees a real change in him. Amazing! Praise God for His faithfulness to draw people unto Himself and for His mercy in letting us witness it.

Volunteerism at its Finest

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It is nice to get some help around the house!  One of our sweetest housekeepers.

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Little helper.

A post shared by Will Caire (@willcaire) on

Showing the Way

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Here is a nice post from the Diospi Suyana Hospital website.  You never know when you are making a difference in someone’s life.  The article challenges us to stay faithful in all circumstances remembering that we are often serving as the hands and feet of God on this earth.  It is amazing that he has chosen to present himself to the world through us, such weak vessels.

With Sir Eldryd Parry and Lady Helen Parry in London

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To meet again after 31 years

Prof. Eldryd Parry and his wife Helen have devoted their entire lives to Africa.  They have given invaluable construction work for the health system of Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana.  For these exemplary services the professor was knighted by the Queen.  When the medical students Martina and Klaus John visited Ghana in 1983, they met the missionary doctor in the town of Kumasi.  Without the encounter with the Parry couple, the Johns would probably have abandoned their dream to become mission doctors three decades ago.

Yesterday, Dr. John showed the old professor (84) and his wife the presentation on Diospi Suyana.  The couple was deeply touched when they heard what a great influence they had been to the John’s.  The German-Peruvian couldn’t resist reading a passage from the English book “I Have Seen God” out loud.

Ghana 1983: Medical student Martina John observing the people taking the bus.

Ghana 1983: Medical student Martina John observing the people taking the bus.

We were wondering whether to just ditch our plans to serve as missionary doctors when things suddenly took a remarkable turn. We made the acquaintance of Professor Dr. Eldryd Parry, a gaunt, rather serious physician from Wales, who proved to be the positive influence we had hoped to encounter during our internship in Ghana. Not that he dispelled our misgivings with clever reasoning or patted us reassuringly on the shoulder: he did nothing of the sort. In fact, he said very little. Still, he was the incarnation of hope in the midst of injustice. Much to the sorrow of his family in Britain, he had left behind a promising career in order to help build up the Ghanaian healthcare system. Wherever he went, he was preceded by his noble reputation. “He even shared his last slice of bread with his gardener,” some whispered. Others murmured, “He is a good example from head to toe.”

Shortly before leaving Ghana, we spent the night at his home. As we drifted off to sleep, we heard him singing softly – not radio hits, but psalms from the Bible. The man had not allowed his unanswered questions to derail or defeat him. He drew his strength from his faith in God, a steady faith that seemed unaltered by mood swings or tumultuous circumstances. Professor Parry’s life was a clear message to us, and he became one of our most significant role models….

Update: In 1983 Prof. Parry was 53 years old, the same age as the Johns today.  Yesterday morning Dr. Martina John was able to send greetings to them by email.  Through the research of a New Zealander, the Johns were able to reconnect with the legendary physician in 2012.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

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I did not see hands deformed like this very often in the U.S. The changes are a consequence of rheumatoid arthritis. Here I see them every week. Rheumatoid arthritis has gone from being something I felt a little unsure treating, to something I treat without even opening a book. Most of the time people get better with simple medications, but there are unresponsive cases, and I often wish I had better access to some of the treatments available in the states. But I am so glad and thankful that we can help so many with what we have.

I did not see hands deformed like this very often in the U.S. Here I see them every week. The changes are a consequence of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis has gone from being something I felt a little unsure treating, to something I treat without even glancing at a book. Most of the time people get better with simple medications, but there are unresponsive cases, and I often wish I had better access to some of the treatments available in the states. But I am so glad and thankful that we can help so many with what we have.

Taller de Cultura (Culture Workshop)

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A couple weeks ago we celebrated a Cultural Workshop at Colegio Diospi Suyana.  For us parents with was a welcome respite from hours of homework every night.  The schedule for our kids is Peruvian classes from 7:45 AM to 12:50 PM.  Then they have an English speakers class, which is taught by Allison.  In this class they learn American and world history, English grammar and spelling (spelling is a real challenge for the kids learning in two languages), English literature, and Spanish as a second language.  They also have a devotional time.  That class ends at 3 PM, and our kids come home for a rest, and then start a couple hours of homework.  The length of homework is longer for our kids because of the translation work that needs to be done to do it in the first place.  Our kids do not get as much done at school because they don’t always understand what they are seeing on the page or the instructions they get in the book.  So they come home with more homework, and we sit down and try and translate and work through it.  There is a lot of Spanish / English dictionary work during this time.  Well, during the Culture Workshop week we did not have homework, so right off the bat we were all happy.  All the teachers of the school chose a topic area, and the kids were free to join whichever topic interested them for the week.  David joined a project on Chile.  There were some seminary students from Chile volunteering at the hospital, and they helped the teacher instruct the students in regards to Chilean culture, history, geography, music, etc.  David especially enjoyed creating a model of the topography of Chile, and he enjoyed doing research to create a PowerPoint discussing all the great things about that long, skinny country.

David and his friend John Paul in front of their display of Chile.

David and his friend John Paul in front of their display of Chile.

Annie and Peter were excited to join a group studying Sayhuite and Incan history.  Sayhuite is an Incan ruin about 30 minutes from Curahuasi as you ascend the mountain pass to travel to Albancay.  They enjoyed a field trip to the ruins, and then enjoyed creating a model of Sayhuite to show the parents on Friday night as we toured the school and saw all the work that had been done that week.  Annie especially enjoyed welcoming guests to the room, stating please enjoy the model without touching it.  “Bienvenidos a la maqueta de Sayhuite, sin tocar, por favor!”

Annie and Peter in front of their display of Saywite, an incan ruin just up the road from where we live.

Annie and Peter in front of their display of Saywite, an incan ruin just up the road from where we live.  Click on the pictures below to see them larger.

Annie with a new friend she made during this week named Britzseida
Annie in front of the monolith of Sayhuite

Poor Sarah was sick for half the week, so she did not get to participate to the full, but she chose a workshop on Austrian and German culture.  They did research on Austria and wrote letters to volunteers from Austria that had served in Curahuasi in the past.  Sarah especially enjoyed sharing some food from Austria with us on our tour.  Sorry, no pictures.  The night ended with a dinner where all the different cultures represented cooked food to sell in the lobby.  There was Peruvian food from all the geographical regions, as well as American food and German food.  We represented America with apple pie and chocolate chip cookies.  It does not get more American than that!  It was a great week, a lot of fun for the kids, and we were especially proud of the effort and progress that the school is making for the sake of our kids, the town of Curahuasi, the mission of Christ in Apurimac, and especially for the sake of the education of the children of Curahuasi.

Serving dinner. They like boiled oats in the Apurimac and they eat them with lots of water a little water depending on the meal. This is with a medium amount of water, and it is basically like a rice pudding or oat pudding desert.

Serving dinner. They like boiled grains in the Apurimac and they eat them with lots of water a little water depending on the meal. This is with a medium amount of water, and it is basically like a rice pudding or oat pudding desert.

Running Club – Stephen Wright Makes a Difference

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We are struggling with internet slowness.  We bought a post pay stick, because it is cheaper for the amount of GB you get, but it has turned out to be painfully slow.  Often, I cannot get even get Gmail to load.  However, we have refreshed our pre paid sticks, and we are ready to go again.  Here is a post from the Diospi Suyana Hospital website about our friend Stephen Wright from Tennessee.  He arrived about two months before we did to Curahuasi.  He is full of fun, full of laughter, and he really is great with kids.  He will also be our new next door neighbor when we move to our new house in the upcoming months.  If you look at the last picture of this post, you can see the front door of where we will be living soon.  Check out this post about the running club Stephen has started with the kids in town.

“The Runners” Club of Curahuasi

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Dentist Stephen Wright inspires the children

Dr. Stephen Wright works as a dentist at Diospi Suyana Hospital. With his good sense of humor one is already grinning when he says “good day” each morning.  His friendly and fun nature easily attracts people, especially the children.  A year ago, Stephen founded a running club for the youth of Curahuasi.  Since the beginning, the group has steadily grown.  Usually runners train three times a week and occasionally the dentist organizes a real race.

Many children have no athletic shoes.  Instead, they run in their sandals, which have been made from old car tires. But this does not diminish the fun.  Meanwhile, the parents often come to the races and of course are pleased with the performance of their offspring.  For the award ceremony a wooden stool serves as the pedestal.

This running group is not considered a financially expensive proposition, but Stephen invests his time and attention for the kids and makes the whole thing a real success.  Before the races he gives a quick devotional thought and the children are all ears.

Uphill with an iron will

Uphill with an iron will

Number One (our new house is the white house with the brown door to the left in the background)

Number One (our new house is the white house with the brown door to the left in the background)

A call to love a little more

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Mom and Dad wrangling the grandkids. We were bribing them with gummy worms, but clearly it wasn't working!

Mom and Dad wrangling the grandkids. We were bribing them with gummy worms, but clearly it wasn’t working!

Today marks the third anniversary of my mom’s death. I know that absence makes the heart grow fonder and that there is a tendency to elevate the dead beyond what their living years deserve, but my mom was pretty wonderful. One thing I have been thinking about was her amazing ability to love. Yes, she was funny, adventurous, zany, energetic, and talented, but what made everyone feel like my mom’s dear friend was that she loved so well.

The five love languages? My mom was fluent in all five.

Time? Yep. She would sit down and listen and also she invited us into the things she was doing so that we could be together.

Gifts? Not crazy extravagant ones, but my mom took great pleasure in finding things that reminded her of her friends and family so she could have a “sussy” for the next time they saw one another. Mom’s gifts were always so thoughtful.

Service? Since a couple of friends are pregnant, Konika and I were talking about the help we received when we had our babies. Oh, man. My mom did so many wonderful things for us—meals, laundry, finding the newest Caire absolutely beautiful, cleaning, errand running.

Touch? Now I’m crying, but she gave really nice hugs.

Encouraging words? Mom wrote me a letter every week while I was in college. Every week. Her words and the sincere belief behind them had a Pygmalion effect, making us into better wives, daughters, moms, friends, husbands, sons, and fathers.

I write this blog not for sympathy, because feel I nothing but gratitude for having had such a mom. I write because a person like my mom deserves honor and remembrance and I write because we all need a push to splash some love like a sweet perfume on those around us. A gentle compelling plea to try an expression of love you don’t normally employ and bless someone.