Azul Wasi - Fundraising Report

I know that it's a little bit delayed, but I finally want to give you the report on the money we raised for Azul Wasi, and how it was spent. 


Between us, Petra and I managed to raise approximately £4500 for Azul Wasi - a huge amount of money, so thank you very much for your kind contributions. The donations made to my account came to £1000, and the rest came from a mixture of direct donations to Petra, and donations in lieu of presents for her partner's grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary and renewal of vows.


When the money first started coming in, we arranged for Anastacia, the cook, to have the day off so that she could come shopping for cooking equipment in Cuzco.


We met Anastacia and Carmen Rosa outside of San Pedro Church and headed straight towards the market. Before going in, we came across a well stocked kitchen shop so went in there to get saucepans, a new kettle and some utensils. The owner offered to pack everything up, ready for us to collect later. 

Anastacia was a bit reluctant at first, and kept checking whether she was allowed to buy something. We kept reassuring her that, if she needed it, we could buy it. She soon got into the swing of things and started bargaining with all the stall holders. We made our way around the market buying cutlery, new sharp knives, chopping boards, a  colander, tea towels, and much more... so much that I can't remember what it was! We had a quick break for lunch, and Anastacia and Carmen Rosa opted for fresh ceviche from the market. As I was heading to Machu Picchu a couple of days later, I decided to play it safe and go for chicken milanesa.

Before getting a taxi back to the orphanage, we headed to a shop selling all manner of plastic good to buy new bins, tubs for washing, jugs, storage jars, brooms and mops. I ran down to the kitchen shop to pick up our parcel and we tried to hail a taxi. Numerous small taxis kept stopping for us - I'm not sure how they thought that we would fit everything in - but eventually a large estate car stopped, and we managed to cram everything inside, even so, Carmen Rosa still had to sit on my lap. The boys were incredibly excited when we arrived, and helped us to unload the car and put everything in the storage room.

Alicdes wanted an event to mark the purchase of the new kitchen equipment, so the next day we took all the boys to Tipon, the neighbouring town, for guinea pig! This is the national dish and a huge treat for the boys. They would very rarely get to eat this (the last time being about two years ago) so they all dressed up in their smartest clothes and we headed out for dinner.

As well as the kitchen equipment and the meal, Petra and I decided to use some of the money to buy some new clothes and underwear for the children. We'd asked all the boys what their favourite colours were and spent a day traipsing round for shops looking for warm hoodies in the same size. We also bought socks and underpants for each boy, new shoelaces, toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap, as well as a new mug and plate each. We packaged everything up in a bag for each boy, ready to take to the orphanage. We also managed to purchase some other equipment for the orphanage including toilet seats, laundry powder.


Whilst out shopping we also found a mattress shop and managed to negotiate a deal on 13 new mattresses, including delivery. 


On delivery day, I got in a taxi with all the goodies for the boys, and Petra headed to the mattress shop to come over with the delivery. The boys were so excited when the mattresses arrived, and remade their beds straight away.

The saggy old mattresses

Before we left, we gave all the boys their bags with their gifts inside, they were all so surprised and grateful, and put their jumpers on straight away.

Because we had raised so much money, we were also able to buy new bed frames for all the children, you can see how unsteady their old ones were in the photos. These arrived after we had left, but Alcides sent me photos of the beds arriving.

The old, unstable, beds

During the time we were raising money, Alcides was trying to source a suitable oven for the kitchen. He hadn't managed to find one when we left so was going to keep looking and there should be enough money left purchase one.


We couldn't have done any of this without donations from you, so thank you so much for your generosity. It really has made a difference to these children.


If you would like to donate money to Azul Wasi in future, Petra and I have set up a JustGiving page to raise money to pay for the 'Profe' (guardian/tutor) for the home through LAFF - Latin American Foundation for the Future. Although LAFF supports a few different projects for street children, I have spoken with them and arranged for money raised through our JustGiving page to go directly to Azul Wasi to pay for the Profe. Please visit www.justgiving.com/azulwasiperu to donate.


Money is still needed to complete the new dormitories, and we're looking into ways to raise money for these in the future. If you would like to make a direct donation to Azul Wasi for the dormitories, I can give you the details for Alcides so that you can donate through Western Union.

Birthdays

I had ended up with nothing planned for my birthday but decided there was no way I would rather spend it than at Azul Wasi with the boys. Unfortunately, I'd accidentally got rather drunk at a charity event the night before so was not feeling my best! On the way to Oropesa I picked up a huge chocolate cake - the boys were very excited when I turned up with it, as I hadn't told them it was my birthday. We sat down for tea and cake, and all the boys sang Happy Birthday to me (in a mixture of English and Spanish) before tucking in.

A perfect birthday!

Events at Azul Wasi

The time at Azul Wasi has passed so quickly, but there are a few experiences that really stand out...

Petra and I had offered to cook dinner for the boys one day, unfortunately this coincided with the day we were moving apartments. So, after a sleepless night and an early and stressful morning, we headed to the market and supermarket to purchase all the ingredients for spaghetti bolognaise. This being Peru, I couldn't find tinned tomatoes anywhere, so had to improvise with fresh tomatoes and tins of tomato juice.

When we arrived at the orphanage (later than planned) we took over the kitchen and started preparing the food with Oscar and Arnold eager to help us (and Carmen Rosa keen to be in on the act as well). Cooking for 20 isn't quite the same as cooking for six so it took a lot longer than expected, but we got there in the end. Once everything was simmering away, we headed into town to buy bread to go with the meal (Oropesa is famous for it's bread).

As it got dark we discovered another problem with the kitchen. There is no light over the hob making it nearly impossible to see what you are cooking. Looking up, I realised that there was a light fitting, just no light bulb. I asked Tom, and discovered that there were spare lightbulbs in the storeroom, so he fitted one for us and Anastacia was delighted! With dinner finally ready, we took everything into the dining hall to dish up. The boys normally just have a large lunch, and then bread and milk for dinner, so they wolfed down the bolognaise, and all wanted seconds. I think if we had made twice as they still would have eaten all of it.

Following dinner we had sponge cake, jam and tea. Very British!

A couple of days later we had permission for Anastascia to have the day off so that she could come to Cuzco to go shopping with us for new kitchen equipment. After a hesitant start, she really got into the shopping, and we ended up heading back to Oropesa with a taxi crammed full of stuff! Unfortunately you'll have to wait for the photos of the shopping trip as Petra took them on her camera (I was in charge of the money - you can't be too careful in the market!).

The boys were very excited when we arrived, especially as I had picked up a couple of kites for them as well. After helping us unload the car, they had great fun setting up the kites and flying them in the August wind.

Alcides wanted an event to mark the purchase of the new kitchen equipment, so suggested with take the boys to Tipon (the neighouring town) the next day for a meal of guinea pig. This is the national dish and would be a huge treat for the boys, the last time they went was two years previously. So, the next day, we got to Azul Wasi earlier than usual to find the boys all dressed in their smartest clothes, and set off to Tipon.

I wasn't feeling 100%, and the walk in the hot sun didn't help matters, so I wimped out of having guinea pig and settled for fried trout instead (still a traditional dish). Visiting a Guinea Pig restaurant (Cuyeria) is not for the squeamish as you can see the whole, skinned, guinea pigs being brought out and put into the wood fired oven. Once cooked, they are then unceremoniously hacked in half to be served.

Can you see its brain? I could!

I really enjoyed my trout, but was somewhat put off my food when Ivan (who was sat next to me) picked up his half a guinea big, bit off the foot and started crunching away!

The next day, Petra and I took the day off to go shopping for jumpers, socks and underwear for the boys. We wouldn't have time at the weekend as I was heading to Machu Piccu and Petra was leaving on Tuesday. After a lot of traipsing around we managed to buy hoodies and other bits and bobs for all the boys. We'd asked them all their favourite colours when we were out for lunch so we were able to get jumpers in their favourite colours. While I was away at the weekend, Petra also bought mugs, bowls, toothpaste and brushes and soap for each boy, as well as deodorant for the older boys, and packaged everything up in a bag for each of them. While we were shopping on Friday, we saw a mattress shop and managed to get a good deal on 13 new mattresses for the orphanage.

So, on Monday, I piled into a taxi with our back packs full of goodies for the boys, and Petra went to the mattress shop to travel with the delivery. When I'd been at the orphanage for about and hour and a half, and Petra still hadn't arrived, I was starting to get rather worried. In spite of all the reassurances that this was probably just a typical Peruvian delay, I couldn't help but imagine what might have happened to Petra and a random delivery driver! We tried calling her phone, but there was no response, so Alicides drove us into Oropesa where we could access the internet to try to find the number of the mattress shop. On the way there, I suddenly remembered that the girl who worked in the shop had written down the number in my note book on Friday. Alcides called to ask what was going on, and we were told they'd only left recently. As he hung up, a truck full of mattresses drove past us! The shop hadn't actually found a delivery driver until after Petra had arrived, and then had tried to con her with inferior quality mattresses. Fortunately she managed to argue with them in Spanish, and it was all worth it in the end to see the look on the boys faces!

On top of all that excitement, we then gave the boys their goody bags, and they all posed wearing their new jumpers!

It was really sad for Petra to say goodbye, but I was glad I had another week left at the orphanage.