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Week 2 in Peru - Final Update

4/19/2015

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PictureJuan Jose in his new glasses!
 Just arrived back after 3 days of travelling! Apologies for not updating this sooner but the second week was frenetically busy.  The beading trainees have taken to the complex, bead-embroidered bracelets brilliantly, with the exception of Juan Jose who tried valiantly hard but didn’t have the fine grip needed to handle the tiniest beads.  He’s great at the making the pearl and silver jewellery, which is easier to handle, and to give him more variety in his work I decided to try teaching him how to use a sewing machine – beginning with making fabulous bunting from the local stripy fabrics. He can’t use his feet on the pedal but can use it with his left hand whilst guiding the material through the machine with his right. Surprisingly easy with a bit of practice! He was extremely pleased with his new bit of kit. Juan and the other beaders will meet regularly at the church mid-week, bringing their work, getting paid for what they’ve created, receiving new materials and designs for the week to come. For people who would struggle to travel to work every day it’s a brilliant way of working ,as they still get regular social interaction with their fellow out-workers.

On our last morning in Arequipa I set off early and raced around the city picking up last minute equipment and materials, delivered  a final bead-work session with the team, taught Juan Jose how to use the sewing machine, explained to all the trainees about how the project will provide them with employment and talked Bethsaida ( the project leader ) through how to use the forms I had created for her (invoicing, stock control etc etc etc), all at break-neck speed, before saying hurried and emotional goodbyes. I arrived at our guest house with less than 3 minutes to pack before leaving for the airport – to find that Grace had already done 99% of it in my absence. I’m so proud of how she’s  risen to every challenge on this intensive trip, she’s been truly amazing. The whole team have been absolutely brilliant. 

Retuning now to the UK I am keenly aware that the most difficult part of the work lies immediately ahead. Starting a social enterprise  and giving people skills is one thing, making it a success in the long-term is quite another. What we need most are customers, in Peru and the UK, if we are to pay the people making the crafts a good wage so that they can support themselves and their families with dignity and pride. There’s still masses of work to do on marketing, further designs, financial management, fundraising to cover initial set up costs and equipment etc... the list is daunting, but not insurmountable. Thanks to the wonders of Skype I shall be able to support Bethsaida, her team and the new fledgling project every week over the next few months and years as it develops and grows. We also plan to send out a long-term volunteer, a design graduate, to work alongside Bethsaida for 12-18 months, hopefully from September if we can find the right person soon enough. That’s the job at the top of my long list as soon as I get home. Those of you who do, please pray we find the right person swiftly. We so want Juan, Maribel and their friends to be truly, transformatively blessed by this new project, but we can’t do it without the help of lots of people all doing their small bit to help. If you’d like to, you could donate towards equipment and materials, host a jewellery party or just buy some of the new Peruvian products. Together we can make this a massive blessing for all the 35+ people we trained, and many more disabled people to come.

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Raise your glasses!

4/14/2015

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Today's the day that Juan Jose gets his new glasses, after over 5 years of waiting. Maribel, Vanessa & Rocio needed them too, and they'll be getting their's along with Juan today. They had a fantastic morning in town on Saturday, first at the opticians and then enjoying the sights in the central square together. It was one of the very few times they've ever been to the centre of the city and they had a fabulous time.
Much more to say, but we're about to start a new day of craft training so I'll have to end here and continue this later.... thank you so much to everyone who's made it possible for us to be here.

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Training Day 2 in Arequipa

4/10/2015

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The training's gone really well today, although the time has flown by far too fast. We started with Juan José, Maribel, Rosa, Vanessa and her sister Rocio in the morning who are all learning highly skilled beadwork. The majority of these five fabulous young people (who have physical disabilities) rarely get to leave the house, sometimes being shut in for months at a time; so to be out two days in a row was a massive high for them.



​We were soon joined by the inimitable Pablo and his friends from the larger group (who have learning disabilities). They were keen to get stuck into card making with the Sizzix die cutting machines that we introduced them to yesterday. These brilliant machines make it super-easy for anyone to cut out paper, card and fabric with total precision, merely by turning a handle. They're perfect for people who might otherwise struggle to cut in straight line, let alone produce perfectly cut  flowers, leaves, birds. etc. .... the possibilities are endless. 

Life for the majority of people in Peru, like any developing country, can be very tough. We passed a man in a suit selling sweets at a dangerously busy junction, another man trying to make a living selling nothing but shoelaces ... when ordinary Peruvians are struggling to make ends meet, you can imagine how hard it is if you have any sort of disability. They are absolutely at the bottom of the pile, the poorest of the poor in their society and the least supported. Even the most basic things in life are denied them.
 We discovered today for example, that Juan Jose (pictured above right) had been told 5 years ago that he needed glasses; but without the means to pay for them he never got them. He now struggles to see without lifting things to within a few centimetres of his face and his eyesight is getting worse. So, instead of training them tomorrow morning we're going to send all 5 beaders to the opticians. Craft Aid will pay for their eye tests and for their glasses too if they need them - which they were all massively excited about. (If anyone would like to make a donation to help with this, it'd be very much appreciated).  


This evening walking through town we met a man in a wheelchair selling biscuits. We watched, horrified, as he defended himself from an able-bodied man trying to steal some from him. I can only imagine how many times he has to fend off such attacks, working late into the night as he does just to make a few pence to live on. I dearly hope that one day the Craft Aid project here will be big enough to offer him employment, and the many other people we saw in a similar position begging on the streets of Arequipa tonight.

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Peru - Craft Training Day 1

4/9/2015

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After a day of orientating the team around Arequipa and collecting final bits of equipment and materials yesterday, we finally welcomed our first trainees today, who arrived with great excitement. We started with the physically disabled group in the morning, who're learning beadwork; and added the larger group of folk with learning disabilities in the afternoon who learnt how to make cards using die-cutting machines and local fabrics. Everyone was really keen to learn and we were really surprised at how quickly they all picked up the new skills. Within a few days they'll be experts! Despite our lack of Spanish, the warmth of the welcome and the affectionate enthusiasm of all the participants meant we were able to start building really lovely relationships with all the trainees very quickly.  There was a fab surprise for us at the end of the day; we were all enthusiastically entertained by Richard the Karaoke King and Laura (above) who performed a local dance for us all. We were even presented with hand-made chocolates which they'd made especially for us. It's been an extraordinary day, especially for the Leeds volunteers who've never experienced anything like it before. Grace - our youngest team member at 13, has been a total star and has made a lot of new friends, as have we all! ​

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Day 1 - Joyful arrival in Peru

4/7/2015

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PictureThe team about to leave from Leeds, 7am Monday. (Grace, Shelagh, Maureen, Leonora, Norma & Carol). We were really touched how many lovely St. Margarets' folk turned out to wave us off.
After a 5.30am start, 5 hours in a minibus, 3 epic flights, 2 non-stop days and one sleepless night on the go, we've finally arrived in the teeming city of Arequipa. We're all shattered but very happy to be here. En route we've flown over vast oceans, mountains, snowfields, forests, frozen lakes and desicated deserts each of which has stretched as far as the eye could see . It's been quite literally awe-inspiring.
​We stopped en route at a guest house in Lima between flights, the shambolic roof of which was populated with kittens, an unfeasibly fluffy angora rabbit and a pen full of enormous guinea pigs being fattened-up for the pot. 
Arriving in Arequipa we were surprised by a fabulous welcoming party from Neuvas Fuezas, one of the groups of adults with disabilities we're going to be training over the next couple of weeks. We were massively touched that they'd gone to so much trouble to celebrate our arrival. 

Finally settled in our guest house on the edge of the old part of the city, we unpacked the vast amount of craft equipment and materials we've brought with us and then got stuck into an evening of serious Uno-playing, before falling exhausted into bed. Busy day ahead tomorrow! 

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Surprise welcoming party at Arequipa airport ! We were so touched at how much trouble they'd gone to. So lovely and also very humbling.
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    Authors:

    Susie Hart MBE
    Director of Craft Aid International
    Textile designer, Crafts instructor, Social entrepreneur, CMS Mission - Associate

    Liz Cluderay
    UK Programmes Officer and Volunteer Coordinator

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