Earthquake in the state of Cusco

 Saturday night between 9:30 and 10:00 pm we had a 5.1 earthquake in the state of Cusco.  We felt it here in the city long, but not very strong; Sandy and I stood under a beam  trying to decide if we would go get the babies.  The epicenter was in community call Misca, a 2 hr. drive from us.  The school is damaged.  100% of houses are inhabitable.  Eight people died, and four were injured.  In total 575 people were directly affected by the earthquake on Saturday.  

I (Albino) went to the community with ATEK (a partner organization of La Casa del Maestro) to see the damage and what the needs were. A man we spoke with said, "We lost everything we have… food, clothes, animals, house, money.  Our children do not have any school supplies.  It is hard for us; it is like starting all over new."  Currently. they are living in tents.  Those tents do nothing to protect against the cold in the altitude and protect little from the rains that are starting the rainy season. 

As I write now, it is raining and chilly.  I’m thankful for the roof over my head and the safety of my family.  I wonder what we can do to help.  Pray.  Send food and blankets.   What is the best and most effective way to lend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters in this difficult situation?  They need immediate help now but in a month or two they will still be rebuilding their lives.  Others will have forgotten.  What can we, as a family, as La Casa, as ATEK, do to not forget?  (Contact us if you want to be a part of giving aid.)

I wonder what these families will do to rebuild.  Will they build new adobe houses and stay by their fields--their livelihood and only life they've known?  Will they migrate to the city and find employment?  Where do you go and what do you do when you have nothing but the clothes on your back? 

Potato Facts and Our Financial Support

The Incas had many uses for potatoes other than dinner:

• Placed raw slices on broken bones to promote healing
• Carried them to prevent rheumatism
• Ate with other foods to prevent indigestion.
• Measured time: by correlating units of time by how long it took for potatoes to cook.
• Various folk remedies recommend using potatoes:
• Treat facial blemishes by washing you face daily with cool potato juice.
• Treat frostbite or sunburn by applying raw grated potato or potato juice to the affected area.
• Help a toothache by carrying a potato in your pocket.
• Ease a sore throat by putting a slice of baked potato in a stocking and tying it around your throat.
• Ease aches and pains by rubbing the affected area with the water potatoes have been boiled in

-copied from http://www.potatogoodness.com/all-about-potatoes/potato-fun-facts-history/

We are 99% funded now!  We thank all the individuals/families and churches who have joined our financial team.  Let us know if you have any leads or contacts for anyone who would like to join .  Donations can be made at www.rca.org/rodriguez. Or better yet, three year pledges can be made by writing to kbogerd@rca.org.

10 body parts for 100%.  Help us keep him whole.

Noises Where We Live

I lay (layed? laid?) down to take a nap today while the kids were sleeping.  I rested for sure.  Slept... far from it.  I have no idea how Tobias and Doriana sleep through all the noises; I guess they're still babies :)  I think people sometimes have the mistaken idea that we live in the mud hut in the middle of nowhere.  (That's where our youth come from.)  In fact, we are in the middle of it all.

Though far from being a modern city, even with all the construction going on, Cusco is a busy place.  Our house is in a quieter neighborhood, meaning not as many people pass by our front door.  Despite this 'quiet'; sometimes I feel like people and dogs are trampling through our house.  Our house is made of adobe and concrete block--no insulation. We hear planes going overhead nearly every hour; the valley is long and narrow, and the flight path is right over most of the city (no escaping it).  I can hear our neighbors' conversations and children playing outside in the alley; though I feel like they are in our sunroom.  Car alarms sound regularly; one in particular is very sensitive and frequently goes off due to thunder or a heavy truck rumbling by.  Some neighbor has recently purchased an electric saw.  I can hear neighbor's doors close throughout the day; in the middle of the night I hear people on the stairs.  One house away is the Mormon temple's basketball and volleyball court; at night youth can be heard cheering. The strange part of all these sounds is that I can't see any of them.  We are completely enclosed by a wall with no outside view.  I can't see the sources of the noises; but I feel like they are in our playroom, in our kitchen, or upstairs in the bedrooms.

A heavy rain and hail sounded on our glass and tile roof this afternoon to provide us a white noise and send kids and dogs running for cover.  Finally complete silence this afternoon. I almost drifted off to sleep until yet another chorus of dogs interrupted.  That's why I have time to write this blog entry.

Paperwork

Paperwork never ends for our family, or at least it seems that way.  We are in process of registering Doriana as a Peruvian citizen and also registering our civil marriage that occurred in the US.  After two months of trying to get the right documents in order (the list and requirements for things on the list kept changing) and also waiting for the registrar to return from a 2 week vacation, Albino finally handed everything in.  Hopefully all checks out and by Thursday we will do the final signing. Then, we'll go to get Doriana's Peruvian passport, which she must have to leave the country.  We'll finish all that, and then start on Baby's US and Peruvian paperwork, after which will be my residence visa.

February Update:
After more days in the office to sign for the birth certificates, we had them in hand.  We brought those in to apply for both kids' Peruvian national IDs, waiting over an hour to pay the fee in the bank, and then waiting in line to actually hand in the paperwork.  Doriana did enjoy getting her fingerprints and thought it was funny to give Toby's footprint.  This week we'll hand in their applications for Peruvian passports; we should receive these in a couple weeks at most.  We had to wait for Albino's updated ID that shows he is married. The kids need these passports to leave the country.  Then, three of the four will be able to travel to the US.  Toby still needs me to get his paperwork ready in order to apply for his US birth certificate and passport; we should receive everything in six weeks if there are no questions.

Our House

The rental house that we found actually found us.  After looking at numerous houses and apartments in all parts of town, we hadn’t found THE place where we felt comfortable.  Apartments were on the 3rd or 4th floors without elevators--imagine that with two little ones and groceries; houses were too expensive or not in the ideal location.  We had wanted to look at this house several times but were told that it was already rented.  One Sunday evening the owner called US to say that it was available.  We made an appt. for early next morning and by that afternoon we called to confirm our desire to rent.  The house is close to the main road, buses are right out the door, it’s in a safe area, near friends, and a comfortable price.  An added benefit is a covered patio for Doriana to play in and also heats the house well when the sun is shining.