perudonations.org Blog

Dear Friends of Perudonations,We hope this note finds you all in good spirits, enjoying the holidays with friends and family, keeping warm, and finding peace in your lives. We are.While we are celebrating the holidays in our own ways, Ely and Nilton are in Chupaca, Peru in a much different setting, celebrating Christmas with the estimated four hundred children.

It’s the rainy season now in Peru. Nevertheless, these children are having one of the most memorable days of their lives, thanks in part to some of our generous friends and family who put smiles on those blessed little faces. Ely received the last of three transmittals of donations from us this week. This, along with the other moneys sent by us and other contributors, enabled her and Nilton to go to Chupaca earlier this week with gift and activities to brighten these children’s lives.

Sheri and I would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to those who sent donations, well-wishes and prayers to Peru.

Once the holiday season is over and the rush of activities has passed, we will be devoting more of our time and efforts working on Project Presli.

Wishing you the best new year ever, Lisa Sturm and Sheri Sturm

Good evening all,

This is just a quick update on our progress on the Chupaca Christmas party. Ely received our first transmittal of donations last week. Amazingly she received it in two days! Now we are collecting the last dollars for the gifts for the children. They will be going to Lima on December 12 to pick up gifts for the expected 400 children who live in Chupaca. Many of these children are either orphans, abandoned and living with extended family or live in homes with many siblings and work in local factories and farms. If you are thinking of sending some money to help with the gifts, please send it to perudonations@yahoo.com through PayPal as soon as possible. It may take a few days to reach the PayPal account (if you use a credit card), and then 2 more days to get to Peru. We will be sending it out on December 10 at the very latest. If you miss our deadline, we can add it to their last transmittal before they leave for Chupaca.

It is hard to believe that it is December already. Where has this year gone? Well, it was a very eventful year for me, so I can’t complain.We are very excited to announce that our first installment of donated monies has arrived safely, quickly and cheaply to Ely in Huancayo. The transfer took some setting up by mom, but it went off without a hitch and Ely is beside herself with relief. We were all worried that the fees would be exorbitant or that it would take too long or get lost or ‘red taped’. But Ely wrote back in just two days that she received it and there were no complications on that end. As contributions continue to come in, we are relived that she will be able to get it in time.I have also read the proposal for her Christmas activities in Chupaca. It’s scope is much larger than I had originally thought. She and Nilton have sent out this proposal, including an expected budget and requests for donations of goods, to several businesses, mostly in Huancayo and Chupaca. The proposal is comprehensive, requesting donations for food, tables, chairs, tents, paper goods, small gifts, decorations, supplies, etc. It turns out that she is throwing a Christmas party for an expected 400 children!!

Their main concern is the orphans, but she and Nilton are also focusing on the children who work at the local factories and those who have many siblings. These children represent the poorest families. She is also doing home visitations to see what other basic things she might be able to help provide for the family. With her background in Sociology, she will be able to act as an advocate and will have resouces and information about social and volunteer programs which might be able to provide aid and services to this community. This is part of their long-term goal, which includes relocating to Chupaca next year and the opening their non-profit volunteer organization “Peru Luz de Esperanza”. As she and Nilton wade through the process of securing the home-base building and obtaining their non-profit status, they are taking the time to get to know the community.

Ely will be making the trek to Lima in just over one week to purchase gifts and supplies, since goods in Lima are embarrassingly cheap, even for Peru standards. My mom and I quickly discovered that whatever you want you can find it in Lima at a fraction of the cost anywhere else. The “underground market,” as I call the three-story maze-like market area of Chinatown, is a veritable gold mine of bargains. You literally trip over vendors in the streets selling everything imaginable at prices that make you feel like you are stealing from them.

On another note, “Project Presli” is still moving along. At this stage we are securing more photographs for the doctors, and perhaps some video of Presli taken by Terry and Alison McCormick (Congrats! I just discovered that you have married since we met you ). Dr. Capozzi, of Rotoplast, Inc. Int’l has taken an interest in this case and I am very moved by the prospect of this dream being realized. Please, continue to keep your eyes and ears open and let us know if you come across any stories of similar situations or organizations who might play a part in this project. We have had some suggestions by our mailling list members and mom is putting out ‘feelers’.

If you have items that you would like to send to Ely and Nilton to take to Chupaca for the kids, please contact Terry and Alison at terryandalison@gmail.com. Don’t delay, as they will be mailing out their collected items pretty soon from Oakland. They may also need some help paying for the postage, so if you do send items to them, please throw in a few dollars toward the shipping fees. Please also visit their websites (ww.terryandalison.com and http://www.geocities.com/andeanoutreachprogram/Index.htm) to see what other work they have done and are continuing in Peru. Their hearts are big and they are truly wonderful people. I have probably not ever met a pair of human beings who are as genuine and caring as these two. May God bless their continued work.

That is all for now. Thanks again to those who have opened their hearts and sent donations. Those who have not sent anything yet but would like to, please be aware that PayPal payments do have a delay period and fees depending on the funding source you chose. If you know myself or my mom personally or would like to send a physical check, just let us know and we will give you the mailing address. We plan to send out that last of what we have collected next week, probably Thursday.

If you are not planning on sending anything for this project, we understand. The holiday season makes many demands on us. We feel it too. However, if you are able to send just $5 or $10 dollars, we would be happy to include it with our next transmittal. We don’t know when or if Ely and Nilton will be looking for help in the future, but we are going to keep these financial arrangements open just in case.

We wish you all a safe December and good times with friends and family. My brother is coming for a visit from Seattle for three weeks. It will be the most time he has spent here since he moved away nearly 10 years ago! He will be glad to be in the warmth of Paradise for a little while!

Aloha no,

Lisa Sturm and Sheri Sturm