by Trina Siimes, Heritage Park Alliance Church
Today we had our first experience with the construction that will be a major part of the work we’ll be doing in the next several days. We all split up into groups, some of us pouring mixing concrete, some of us leveling dirt, and others sweeping out and scraping excess mortar off the floors of the dormitory for the orphanage that is under construction. As today was our first taste of this, it didn’t seem so bad, it might hurt a bit in the morning, but it felt nice to be productive after so many days of travel.
The next event however, definitely overshadows the construction of the morning. In the afternoon we stopped by the market to pick up some fruit, and proceeded to the dump on the outskirts of Trujillo, whose name in English ironically translates to “The Miracle.” This was a place where some Peruvians worked long hours sorting through piles upon piles of waste and garbage, to get by. Many of them lived and slept in the dump, and it was all they had ever known. Children were recently banned from going to the dump with their parents, to prevent the spread of disease to the children, but some managed to sneak in and were up to their knees in garbage along with the others. No words, and no pictures could ever fully describe what was seen today. The smell was awful, and the sights were upsetting. It leaves a kind of sick feeling in your stomach, just seeing with your own eyes what they struggle through daily. And yet, you see so much hope in these people. Something that sticks out from our experiences and encounters of the day is, while we were walking amongst the massive piles of garbage, and choking back the fumes of the burning garbage. These two girls drive up in this cart, laughing hysterically, and appearing to have the time of their lives. It seemed so out of place in the setting we were in, and I know it caught me off guard. Coming from a North American culture where “ignorance is bliss” and consumerism is force-fed to us daily, there in that moment, they put it all to shame. They literally make do with the small amount that they have, and yet I know that we can’t seem to get enough. They find joy and hope in a hopeless situation, and that is so inspiring to me. I know that none of us will ever forget what we saw today, the images are burned into my brain and I hope that they’ll inspire changes in all of our lives. I know that I’m still processing things, and I’m still unsure of what to feel and how I feel, and I’m just taking in everything that happened.
Keep up the good work sis! Those pictures were impossible to put to words, but im proud of what your doing. keep it up and ill be praying!