Connected to the world again

No, this is not an excuse! Since Saturday September 24^th, the internet was down at the OSA house, due to a change of phone lines in one of the poles on the street. That Saturday,  I was working on my laptop and saw the connection disappear. A couple of minutes later, I looked through the window of the bedroom, facing the street, when a service car from the phone company drove by. The possible victims of the phone and internet problems were tracked, but what could I do? Later that afternoon, when I came back from the Lutheran church in the other street where we work with the teenagers, it happened that the same guys from the phone company were ringing the bell of OSA. They heard there was a problem and they were checking on it.

Since the following Monday, September 26^th, OSA has tried hard to get the problem fixed, as it appeared that OSA had the phone number of somebody else. In the end of the week a woman called OSA—actually she called her own number—and told us that we had her number. We didn’t know who has OSA’s number, but they only have to connect a modem and they have OSA’s internet as well.

There is only own company who provides the lines in Collique, which means that the service is not too good…

Anyway, we are back online and can update our blog with this post and the website of OSA with the photos of the Paseo, which was September 25^th.

As I started, it is not an excuse, because we really planned to post the photos the following Monday.

Paseo Familiar

Sunday September 25^th, was the annual Paseo Familiar (OSA Family Outing). On this day all the children who are in the OSA program are invited with their families to join us for a day out to a camp ground a little bit outside Lima. The families were divided over four groups with the following names, Aguilas, Delfines, Leones, and Osos (Eagles, Dolphins, Lions, and Bears). Each group was asked to wear a certain color of shirt and the last days before the weekend the children made a coat of arms, a flag, and a slogan for their specific group.

At 7 a.m. the first families arrived at OSA. They were directed to the back to wait for the rest of the group on the sport field. Like the temperature was still a little low, the people had to warm up as well. Some groups practiced their slogan, but it didn’t yet sound the way it was supposed to sound. At 8 a.m. all found a seat in one of the four busses—for each group their own bus—and we left Collique. After a little bit more than an hour we arrived at “Las Retamas” (A day camp and recreational site). We arrived before the big crowd, so we were able to find a nice spot with trees for some appreciated shade. The Bible verse that was chosen as focus for this day was Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” (NIV) For about fifteen minutes the group leaders led the group in a devotional based on this verse.

After that it was time for games. One of them was ski-walking; the other two I can’t recall the names. The last game was one that was prepared by Elizabett. The name of the game was ‘Treasure;’ a combination of mathematics, Bible verses, and treasure-seeking over the whole camp ground.

Then it was time for lunch after which most of the children could be found in the swimming pool. Parents went for a walk to the river, took a nap, played volleyball of soccer, and/or enjoyed watching their children having a good time. Around 4 p.m. everyone went back to the busses, because it was time to go back to Collique. We look back on a great day with the OSA family.

For photos, go to http://operacionsanandres.org/nggallery/page-215/album-2/gallery-30

Kees’ Resident’s Visa

On Tuesday, September 20^th, we got to the immigration office a little bit before 8 a.m. and at 9.30 a.m. we walked out the door with my resident’s visa in the pocket. The process went unexpectedly smooth.

The next post?

I put a question mark, because I don’t know when and if I can add the next blog post.