Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad, or as we say in English, Merry Christmas to everyone

London to Northern Ireland Part 2

On Monday 12th December, I arrived safely home to Northern Ireland- the plane was very very bumpy so was glad to touch down at the other end.

It is nice to be home even though it was very windy yesterday, but today when I woke up and looked outside all I could see was white, it was snowing - lovely to see as there will be no snow for me in Peru next year.

I will be in Northern Ireland now until the 3rd February, so if you are in the area, come and say hello.

Latin Link Crew

Here is a picture of the Latin Link Crew at All Nations. Includes

Latin Link Staff: Andrew, Catherine, Jon and Lesley

Striders: Claire and Emily (Argentina), Jess (Brazil), Mark (Colombia), Amy, Anna, Cecily, Christi, Jenny and myself (Peru)

A trip to Ware

The 5th December saw me leaving London - leaving my home of 8 years behind - this was quite emotional. I was not heading straight back to Northern Ireland, but was heading to Ware to spend a week there at All Nations Christian College.

This was a very busy week but was also good because I learnt lots of useful information and also met lots of very nice people.

I spent Monday to Friday doing Enroute Express run by the college - this is a course aimed at people going on cross cultural missions. We had sessions morning, afternoon and evening which were broken by coffee time, lunch, coffee time and dinner. We learnt lots of useful information about different worldviews and culture shock and also had great time getting to know each other and playing Evil Uno.

On Friday Enroute Express ended and we said goodbye to people and then us from Latin Link stayed on til Monday to do Latin Link orientation - this started with a walk and a trip to the pub, always a good thing.

We spent the weekend focused on Latin America, learning about their culture, politics and religion and also spend time looking at other issues which might affect us e.g security and safety, health issues etc. However, it was not all learning as we did find time to play more evil Uno and other games. The games were always fun due to everyone being competitive and cheaters as well.

All in all it was a very good week.

Nuevas Fuerzas

At my party on Friday night, I showed some photos which included some of Nuezas Fuerzas, the project I will part of in Peru. I thought would add some here, so all could see them.

Learning to Chop

Making Chocolate

Making Cards

Making a Cake

A day trip out

Goodbye London, Hello Peru Party

On 25th November, I held a party for all my London friends to come and say goodbye to me as well as learn more about what I am going to do in Peru. It was a lovely night, lots of people and lovely food.

During the evening, I did a presentation, and I thought I would make it available for those unable to make the party to see.

Peru presentation

View more presentations from Jo Kennedy

Arequipa is known for its architecture and mountains, so I included pictures of these in the presentation for people to see.

And when the slides for Nuevas Fuerzas, the Children's Home and the Local Church came up - I spoke a little bit about each of these places and what I will be doing in them.

Nuevas Fuerzas

Nuevas Fuerzas was set up in March 2011 to work with disabled young people (aged 16-30). These young adults had previously been at Shalom, a school set up for disabled children, but age 16 is the school leaver age

This project was set up to help these young adults gain new skills to help them in their lives. The skills they are currently learning are computing, craft and cooking. It is still in development, so more skills will be added.

They currently meets two days a week for four hours each day (Tues and Thurs) but hopefully this will be extended.

As well as teaching new skills, another aim is to provide encouragement and care for the young adults and help them feel included as in Peru disabled people are excluded and do not get the same opportunities as able bodied people.

They also provide discipleship for the attendees, with one to ones etc. And when my Spanish gets up to scratch I will be involved with this as well with the girls.

As well as getting to know the young people, I will also be involved in the planning and leading of the activities working alongside Paul Turner, a long term Latin Link missionary in Peru and other volunteers as well.

Children's Home

I will be working two days a week in a local Children's home. The home currently has 27 children and is called 'Casa de Amor' meaning 'House of Love'. The couple who started the home, and who run the home are José and Gloria Ingalls who are both Christians. They have one worker in the home, Bertha.

There are only three people working in the home as they want to keep it as homely as possible and not turn it into an institution. As a result of this, the children all have their duties, and have to do cleaning, washing their own clothes etc.

I will be working with the children on Saturdays from 8am to 2pm when Bertha has her day off, helping them do their washing and their homework. I will also work another day a week to help with cleaning, cooking, seeing the children home from school, and having lunch with them before going home.

Local Church

The plan is for me to be involved in the children’s work of the local church which is a Baptist church. It is a lively and friendly church with a Brazilian pastor and set up by a Brazilian missionary.

I will be helping in the Sunday School and roganising other activities and events for children. And in July, they are planning a holiday Bible club in July, so I will be involved with that as well.

I will also go to the youth group. In Peru, the youth are from 16 to 30 year olds, so I will still be considered a young person!

The church has five cell groups so I will also be going to one of them

London to Northern Ireland Part 1

Well my move to Peru is taking part in different legs, first of all my stuff is being moved back to Norn Iron, and then I am going.

The first part of this move to Northern Ireland has happened, today Arnold, the removal man came to collect all my belongings and now as we speak they are sitting in his van somewhere in London, ready to drive down England to go on boat and then arrive with my parents on Monday.

It was sad seeing it all go and now my room feels big, empty and bare - there is no turning back now... the adventure has started... and as well as feeling sad, I am very excited about it all.

Here is a picture of my room all packed up:

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The second part of the move to Northern Ireland, will see me leave London on 5th December, to go to Ware for a week before flying back to Belfast on 12th December, where I will then stay until February 3rd when I fly to Peru.

Supporting Me

In order to carry out this work in Peru, I would be grateful for people's support, both financial and generally.

Many people ask me how I am going to support myself whilst I am away and how much will it cost to go to Peru? Well, the answer is I am trying to raise £9,000 which will cover costs including:

· Travel
· Insurance - medical and travel
· Language Lessons
· Living expenses whilst in Peru

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if you would like to give to me, your support would be very much appreciated. You can give in two ways: by standing order or a one off dondation.

By standing order

If you would like to support me monthly with a standing order, this can be done by going to www.latinlink.org.uk/donate and go to the ‘specific person’ list and search for my name

Or by a one off donation which can be made avia JustGiving: http://www.justgiving.com/KennedyJoAnne

If you are a UK Tax Payer, Gift Aid can also be claimed, this means that 20% can be claimed back on every donation made.

What will I be doing?

I will be working with disabled teenagers with an organisation called Latin Link. I will be working on a project called Nuevas Fuerzas which works with young adults with disabilities (aged 16 – 30) giving them companionship and teaching them new skills in computing, crafts and cooking etc . In Peru it is seen as shameful to have disabilities and they are not given the same opportunities as other Peruvian children i.e. the chance to go to school which is why Nuevas Fuerzas is very important and is welcomed by these young adults. They are very appreciative of being taught skills

The project is linked with a centre called Shalom – the aim of this centre is to help these people and give them a home and a place to be themselves and providing care for them and helping them learn new skills.

I will also be working two days a week in a children's home and helping out the local church with their children's work.

However, before I get to do any of that, my first three months will be spent learning Spanish in language school.

Welcome to In Search of Paddington

In February 2012, I am off to Peru - not really in search of Paddington, but am off to Arequipa to work with Latin Link. I will be working with a project called Nueva Fuerzas which works with young adults with disabilities, giving them companionship and teaching them new skills in computing, crafts and cooking etc.

I have set this blog up to keep you updated on my time away and the work that I will be doing with the other Latin Link Mission Partners. I hope that you enjoy the tales and photos of Peru - and maybe Paddington Bear will show up one day with his pot of Marmalade!