Charity, you are welcome: Chapter 4 |

Let me recap & backtrack a bit…

In the planning stages of our trip, we decided to do some good while in Peru. During our brainstorming process, we watched an indie surf film, Castles in the Sky, which has a Peru segment. In the bonus footage, something caught our eye… Waves for Water. This organization’s motto is…

One surfer, one suitcase, one hundred lives.

Through this we contacted the founder of the organization. He gave us the details on the 25$ a pop ceramic drip water filters. They never expire & can turn dirty river water into clean, potable water! So we had an epic charity yard sale. We advertised in our local paper, on the internet and by word of mouth. It was a smashing success with perfect weather! We raised 545$ and purchased water filters. Along with a gross of toothbrushes & toothpaste we now had our charitable contribution.

The filters were heavy and took up my whole checked bag; the brushes went in the board bag. We were ready to shed some weight and find the right home for these goods. After talking to some Peruvians, we decided the orphanage would be a great place to start. “Casa roja” or Hogar Meridional was the home for abandoned children nearby. We approached the orphanage with samples of our donations and tried to arrange a time to come by and bring all the goods to the children.

This conversation turned out to be quite hilarious due to my southern United States drawl underlying the bits of Spanish; at least we got the kids laughing!

Upon entering the “home” we were viciously greeted by a Peruvian hairless dog who was unaccustomed to the color of our skin. After the adults confirmed that we needed nothing in exchange for the goods, we were escorted to the depths of the playground. Here were many excited children, along with a few caretakers.

We placed the large, green duffle bag on the table & the kids swarmed like flies to a turd, pushing others out of the way to see what shiny, new treasures filled our satchel. “They must be rich,” I heard one kid yell out in Spanish. Some were perplexed, staring intently on the toothbrush, giving a look like “what the hell is this for?” I motioned the brushing of teeth to them and the caretaker replied,

“They will all have clean teeth for three years!”

We also bestowed them with the water filters. We included some necessary tools to put them together, along with instructions that I painstakingly translated into Spanish at an internet cafe the night before. Now it was time to move onward with our journey after the many, sincere thank-you’s followed by our de nadas. Ya’ll are so welcome.

This ding dang deed was so damn rewarding. Pacha Mama showers us with love and kisses to this day. Good vibes lingered along the rocky roads of the northern coast of Peru. The sun winked at us from the distance; our first sight of our glowing ball of life since flying above Mount Huscaran during our intergalactic journey. What a rejuvenating, warm & revitalizing feeling. The sun slowly set over the western most part of the glimmering sea. We snapped photos, laughed gaily & embraced the moment in time.