Pachacutec

Today, September 23, Alison started on her journey to Africa. She left for Philadelphia and in a few days will fly to Mozambique. Of course, we cried as we said good-bye to her on the phone this morning. But we got a chance to cry again later in the day. Crying is good.

Tomorrow, the 24th, Olga starts her class. She will be working in the parochial office of a catholic church in a part of Arequipa called Pachacutec. There are a couple of churches in the parish and we went to mass in this one this morning.
Pachacutec Semi-rural

The priest who is helping Olga is Jean Alain Leroux. He is from France and is working on his second 10-year assignment here. The church is cavernous and it is very hard to hear but you can tell people are involved since everyone went up to get a bath. Father Leroux had six 3-liter soda bottles filled with water that he liberally sprayed on people. Anyone out there who (knows any people who) would like to help a catholic church that needs a lot can contact JeanAlainLeroux@yahoo.com.
A blessing

The father also runs a home for young boys who for one reason or another don't live with their parents. Some most certainly have no parents. The boys do all the cooking so we are told. A big part of the mass is the blessing of all the children. They all run up to give him a kiss.
Another Blessing

I told you I had a chance to cry again. Three times today, Father Leroux mentioned our daughter, Alison, and that fact that she was going to Africa to work with the orphans of AIDS. He called it a "mission". Of course, I cried each time I heard her name.

After church we walked over to the parochial office to leave some supplies. Here is where Olga will hold her class.
La Paroquia
Once Olga knows her students better we will put up some pictures.