NEWS

January 2023 Newsletter

Happy New Year! As we enter into 2023, we have taken a moment to reflect on the great work that the PCT has been doing, thanks to your faithful support. Despite the economic challenges that Peru faces, last year we were able to provide:

425 food packages to nourish the children and families; 120 blankets to provide warmth; 100 school supply kits to aid studies; 200 pairs of shoes to protect against infection; 100 toiletries kits to promote health; 12 psychotechnical tests to look after minds… and much more.

Three homes had solar panels installed, providing light to help cook and study after dark. Our social workers introduced new education workshops for parents addressing important issues such as domestic abuse in the home, replacing violence with love and compassion. We also managed to celebrate birthdays this year as restrictions lifted and children were able to come together again.

We also cannot thank you enough for the overwhelming response to our Christmas appeal. With the extra support in funding, we were able to create for the children a programme of celebratory festivities filled with excitement, joy and love. We were also able to provide presents to the children, which included a tracksuit top, t-shirt, a pair of trainers, pantones, chocolates and tins of milk. They also enjoyed a hot Christmas lunch and an assembly on the meaning of Christmas.

David Coe 1940 - 2021

Dear friends,

It is with deep sadness to inform you that our dear friend and brother in Christ, David Coe, lost his battle with cancer and passed away peacefully at home on 9th October. David and his wife Jill have been Trustees of the Board since it was founded in 1992 and have dedicated endless hours of their time and effort to helping improve the lives of thousands of children and families in Peru. David was a wonderful, special person, full of character and joy,and we will miss him immensely. Please join us in our prayers for Jill and their two children Caroline and Jonathan. A thanksgiving service will be held at the church on 26th October.

PCT Trustees

Newsletter September 2021

Dear supporters,Welcome to the latest newsletter. A lot has happened in the last six months and we are pleased to update you on a number of key projects.

As life starts to return to normal in the UK, the situation in Peru is still extremely challenging with strict curfews imposed, limited access to healthcare and some of the poorest families struggling to survive on little or no income. You may have seen in the news that Peru has the highest Covid death rate as a proportionof population in the world and sadly the situation is showing little signs of improving.

Your continued support makes a real difference to the lives of the families sponsored and without this we wouldn’t be fortunate enough to be sharing the following news with you. From all of us, we extend our heartfelt thanks.

April and May were busy months with two deliveries of food packages (totalling 123), including staples such a rice, sugar, flour, oatmeal and oil, made to families who remain in an emergency situation. In addition, 100 basic school supply kits were delivered to the children to help with their studies.

Investment in physical health continues,with one of the children,Diego Armando Calderon Yaranga, beingdiagnosed with conjunctivitis following an eye test. See below photo of Diego having fun choosing his new glasses!

In July the team undertook a big project installing solar panels within homes, enough to power 3 lighting points where previously there was none. This is a big step in improving living conditions for some ofthe poorest families and will help the children study at night.

In the same month the team were also busy organising the delivery of 100 Covid-19 protection kits to the families. Cramped housing makes social distancing harder and allows the virus to spread more easily. In Peru the vaccination drive has been slow with less than 4% of the country fully vaccinated. This is behind many countries in Latin America.

In other news:

As part of the home organisation project to improve living conditions, a delivery of beds, mattresses and dining sets is being scheduled between October and November. Two workshops focusing on savings and entrepreneurship for families are in the pipeline for later this year. This is an important initiative to help set up families in Peru with financial independence.

We welcome back Lizbeth as General Manager in PCT Huancayo and are pleased to announce that Alejandro has been appointment to Chairman of PCT Huancayo. Due to work commitments, our Treasurer Adam Papa has decided to step down as a Trusteeof PCT UK - we thank him for his contribution and support over the years and wish him well.

Thank you againfor your faithfulness in giving financially and caring and praying for the children. It makes a huge difference, even more so as conditions are harder than normal at present. If you are able to give a little extra, please contact Carlos at info@peruchildrenstrust.org.ukor you can donate via the website. Unfortunately it’s still difficult for the children to receive birthday cards and letters but we shall continue to let them know how generous you have been.

May God bless you and keep you safe.

The PCT Trustees

Manuel Reynaga 1947 - 2020

Dear friends

It is with much sadness that we are announcing the passing of Manuel Reynaga. Together Margery Reynaga, they were the original founders of The Peru Children’s Trust back in 1992.

He passed and was promptly buried on Thursday 27th August after a short battle with COVID 19. This has been a surprising shock to us all and it is a reminder of the viciousness of this disease. Dad did have a pre-existing heart and lung condition.

He was hospitalised Monday the 17th and was in the intensive care unit by Sunday 23rd. Since it was COVID burial had to be done that day and with very restricted attendance. Due to travel restrictions into Peru, we were not able to travel to Peru, so as a family we joined virtually. It is indeed a very surreal experience seeing your dad being buried by people clothed in full bio-hazard body suits and gas masks from the other side of the world in a 15-minute slot.

We are very proud of him and his generosity in spirit. There are indeed 1000s of children in Peru who have been supported by the work. There are many who mourn his passing and when the time comes, we will have a service of thanksgiving for his life.

Despite this loss, the Trust is doing well, Manuel had already passed on the reigns to the present team. Since the lockdown, with your help, we have been able to provide two lots of direct financial assistance to all the 100+ families. This has enabled the families to survive without needing to put themselves in harm’s way. The Peruvian government has been providing some assistance, but much of that support was delayed. So, thank you for your ongoing support.

As of today, we are thankful we have none affected due to COVID within the Trust. Peru has the highest death per capita rate in the world. Experiencing what dad went through gave us a direct and unpleasant insight into what many in Peru is experiencing. In many hospitals, there is no oxygen, and there are no ICU beds (someone unfortunately/fortunately had to die and make a bed available for dad). Dad was in a private hospital, the situation in main hospitals is dire.

Thank you again for your ongoing support of the work, it is more critical than ever especially in this age of COVID.

Thank you

PCT

Newsletter May 2020

Dear supporters,

We hope you are all coping in the lockdown and keeping well.

Most of you may have seen that Carlos, one of our newer UK trustees, has written to allsponsors to ask for extra donations. The situation in Peru is extremely difficult for the poorest families, many of whom will have no income at all at the moment.

For many, the daily challenge is very real, either work or starve! Facing this desperate choice, we would also be tempted to breakcurfew to try to bring some income. Not something that is good for social distancing and prevent spread and deaths.

As this is the dilemma of many, Peruvian government has now extended (as in manycountries) quarantine and curfew with the Army and police are enforcing this. No-one canleave their homes between 6pm-4am daily, you can leave home to buy food (ladies one day, men the other and Sundays no-one is allowed out on the streets. This is necessary asintensive care provision in Peru is extremely limited and reports of deaths among the rich andPeruvian political elite due to no oxygen or respirators in hospitals is a stark reminder thatprevention is better than cure. If there is no provision for the rich how will the poor survive?

Thank you!!

We have been so heartened by the wonderful response from so many of you. So far we have received over £2,000 towards the fund which will help enormously in getting food toour families. Thank you all so much, and if you have not given, we ask you to send in your gift. Through your help we have been able to ensure all families sponsored receive food to survive and stay safe.

Things have been busy for us in the last few months. Christmas may seem a long timeago now but, thanks to extra donations from you all last year, the children had a veryenjoyable party at the end of December.

In January this year the team were busy organising extra tuition for those children whoneeded it. So during the long summer holiday (end of December to the beginning of March)many of them were doing extra studies. Others were working – helping parents with suchthings as doing laundry for clients; cooking street food to sell; selling other items on the street;or helping in the fields. In February they had a welcome break as many of the children wereable to attend the annual Christian camp. They enjoyed good food, games, crafts, drama, and Christian teaching, as well as being able to have a bed to themselves – a rare luxury formany of them. There is a video of the camp on the PCT Facebook page.

Then the team were busy buying stock for all the children’s requirements for school.However, shortly after the term began the lockdown was announced on March 15th andthe schools were closed.

Please pray for all the families and especially your own sponsored children and their familiesin this difficult time. Life is hard enough for these people at the best of times, and with littlesupport from the government, it is even harder at the moment.

Thank you all again for your faithfulness in giving financially and caring and praying for yourchildren. It makes such a difference to them. At the moment I don’t think they will be able toreceive birthday cards or letters unfortunately. But we will let the team know how generousyou have been.

May God bless you and keep you safe. The PCT trustees

Newsletter July 2018

I am pleased to report that all is going well in Peru. 

There have been a number of changes of children this year - some who have finished their secondary education; a few whose families have moved away from Huancayo for various reasons; and one or two teenagers who have dropped out of school prematurely. It is sad when this happens, but now that they can go on line in internet cafes they see how other children live and want the same benefits that money can buy, so try to find a job.

The camp in February was very successful and a special time for many of the children. Besides all the fun and games they had some Bible teaching and several children responded to the call to follow Jesus.

We hope that the camp will run again next year but funds are quite low at the moment.

The team in Peru have been running some courses for families.

They have had a course for fathers to encourage them to take more responsibility for their families, and one for mothers to instruct them on health and hygiene, including healthy eating and hygiene for bodies and hands.. 

More courses are planned for financial help for fathers and spelling for the children.

As I have not been in good health recently I have been hoping that someone will be willing to take on some of the work which I do. I am glad to say that I have had an offer of help so will gradually be handing over tasks to her

We are also pleased to announce that we have taken on two new younger trustees in this country recently, Adam Papa, and Carlos Troncoso.

They are both family men and Carlos is a Spanish speaker which will be a great asset. We also have Andy and David Reynaga as trustees so we now have three people fluent in Spanish. Andy and Adam are hoping to be able to go to Peru later this year in order to make a promotional video of the work of PCT-Huancayo. More about that in the next newsletter hopefully!

Once again I would like to thank you all so much for your support, both financially and in prayer, and to remind those of you who want to write to your children or send them birthday card of the address :-

Child's name and number

PCT-Huancayo

Apt. 096,   Serpost

Huancayo, Peru

For any extra donations please send to our treasurer:-

Mrs Janet Booker,  28, Woodlands Park Avenue,  Maidenhead,  SL6 3LS

With many thanks to you and to God,

Newsletter September 2017

Dear Supporters, 

I am sorry that I have only been able to produce 2 newsletters this year but illness and other events prevented me from writing one sooner. 

We have recently heard that some students have successfully graduated and also that the economic situations of a few families have much improved and they would like the help to now go to poorer families. Alongside the good news there are also the usual losses of one or two children leaving school prematurely and others moving away from Huancayo with their families. So I will be writing to some sponsors about changes to their children when we return from holiday in a couple of weeks. 

The team in Peru are helping those students who have graduated to obtain suitable jobs. Although the economic situation in Peru has been improving during the past few years there is still much poverty and underemployment in the mountain areas where our children live. 

The team are already making plans for the Christmas treats for the children. So we need to raise extra money to pay for the Christmas celebrations. Last year our donations did not cover the costs, partly due to the change in the exchange rate and also since prices in Peru have gone up. So we are asking those who are able if they could contribute £25 per child this year. Please do not feel that this is obligatory as any smaller donations will be welcome. As we know, children in this country receive so much at Christmas so I hope we will be able to give the Peruvian children at least a small proportion of what our children and grandchildren will receive this year. We have already been blessed with one large donation. 

Please send cheques, earmarked 'Christmas' to :- 

Mrs Janet Booker, 28, Woodlands Park Avenue, Maidenhead, Berks, SL6 3LS. 

If you prefer to pay by bank transfer the bank details are : 

The Peru Children's Trust 

Co-operative Bank 

Sort code : 08 92 99 

Acc number: 65297308 

If you wish to send Christmas or birthday cards to your children, if in Spanish, the address is: 

Peru Children's Trust-Huancayo 

Apt. 096 

Serpost 

Huancayo 

Peru 

I can do short translations if you want to write more than a simple greeting, but please get your card or letter stamped with the appropriate postage before sending it to me. I will then translate it and forward it to Peru. Let me know if you require the list of Spanish phrases. 

Thank you so much for your continuing support, both those who sponsor children and those who contribute to the General Fund or the salaries of the team in Peru. We could not continue to bring hope for the future to many families without you and the grace of God. 

Jill Coe and the PCT trustees