Lima, Peru (July 2022) - Service Trip Recap
Trip: Lima 2022
Dates: July 23-31, 2022
Location: Lima, Cusco, & Machu Picchu (Peru)
We were so excited to take a second team to Peru this Service Season! Our team of 10 headed to Lima to serve our partners Kids Alive Peru for a week of service, sports, worship, and community building! Check out our full week recap below.
Day 1
Our team headed to Lima to serve our partners Kids Alive Peru with a total of 1,000 lbs of donations thanks to our donors San Jose Earthquakes Quakes Foundation and SOCAL Soccer. π§³β½οΈπ
After a long travel day, our team started their first day at their service site sorting donations. They also enjoyed some delicious Peruvian food! π΅πͺβ¨
Later in the day, the team took a boat trip in Pucusana where they saw penguins and went fishing with the kids. To fish, they attached some fishing line to a block of wood with a hook at the end. They used live bait, which team members jokingly called "cockroaches from the ocean" because of their appearance. π£π£ββοΈ
Day 2
Our team worked on one of the children homes rearranging furniture, hanging paintings, and organizing shelves. The home projects continued as they planted plants with the children to beautify the campus. They followed with some art activities, which included making thank you cards for the directors who are leaving soon. πΌπͺ΄
In the evening, they played sports with the kids and learned a traditional Peruvian dance that they performed at the Independence Day celebration later in week! π΅πͺππ»
Day 3
Our team toured the family care center called βOasisβ and visited the home of one of the families in the program. They were able to learn more about the living conditions in the community that HFK is partnering with Kids Alive to serve. They enjoyed a nice lunch and went for a hike with the children and their house parents.π΅πͺπ
In the evening, one of the boys who graduated from the program a few years ago joined them for dinner & devotional. They enjoyed some worship time and hearing about his life. They ended the night with a volleyball tournament! πππ
Day 4
Viva el Peru! Our team attended Independence Day celebrations where they learned the history of Peru. The kids were dressed up and acted out scenes from the different time periods starting with the Incas, moving through the Spanish conquest of Peru, and into their liberation. π΅πͺβ¨
They ended the presentation with music and dancing that is still part of their culture today. The team took the stage with the teen girls to perform the dance they'd rehearsed. The evening closed with soccer ("Tony the Tigers" vs "The Army Girls") and girls team took the win! πβ½οΈ
Day 5
After a rainy night, half of the team spent some time working on the house project, while the other half enjoyed art time with the kids. One of our team members, who works for Minted, donated really neat coloring books that the kids loved! π¨π
A few boys who recently graduated from the program joined the team for lunch to share about their experiences since leaving the childrenβs home. After lunch, the wonderful donations from the Quakes Foundation & SOCAL Soccer were distributed to the children. With new soccer equipment in hand, our team and the children played a βPeru vs USA World Cup qualifier matchβ. Team USA lost, but that made for an exciting win for Team Peru on their Independence Day! β½οΈπ΅πͺπ
Later in the evening they had a campfire with everyone and ended the night with a movie about the beautiful country of Peru. π₯πͺ΅π₯
Day 6
Our team said goodbye to the kids & gifted them some scarves for the Peruvian winter. It was sad to say goodbye, but everyone was very thankful for the incredible week! π§£π΅πͺ
As the team headed to the airport, they parted ways with 3 team members who stayed with family in Peru & with our Executive Director who headed to Colombia on a vision trip. The rest of the team flew to Cusco and then drove to Ollantaytambo, where the train station to Machu Picchu is located. They made a stop at the textileria and were taught how the threads for many of the local products are made. βοΈπ§Ά
Day 7
The team took a train to Aguas Calientes & then a bus to Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They took in the breathtaking views and snapped many pictures. π΅πͺβ°
After Machu Picchu, they went back via bus & train to Cusco to say goodbye to 2 team members who headed home early to make it in time to work on Monday. The remaining 4 team members went to dinner & a show at a restaurant in the Cusco city center. The music was a mix of modern and traditional Peruvian folk music. ππΆ
Day 8
The next morning, the 4 remaining team members explored Cusco. They met their tour guide who took them to visit and learn about multiple ancient Inca sites around this beautiful Peruvian city located in the Andes. Cusco used to be a very important location for the Incas. The tour ended at the Catholic Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas where they learned about how the Spanish took over Cusco and ended the Incan empire. π΅πͺβ¨
Our team learned how the Incas found ways to undermine the Spanish through artwork, which can be seen in the Cathedral. There was so much culture and life to see throughout Cusco as the team spent the afternoon exploring. They ran into an outdoor market and art fair where they were able to do some souvenir shopping. There was also a dance exhibition going on in the main plaza. After a long day of tourism, they headed to the airport to journey back home. π₯² βοΈ
Trip Participant Testimonials
At the end of their trip, some team participants shared about their experience, this is what they had to say:
