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Goshen College

Putting Perimeter Rocks in Place and Sharing a Meal in Cono Norte

September 7, 2014

We left our home base at the Buen Pastor church on Friday morning, taking a bus toward Cono Norte, or the northern rim of Lima, where immigrants pour in from the mountains and the jungle, eager to stake a claim to a hillside patch of rocky, sandy soil.

Pastor Benjamin Salas Aguirre and his wife, Livia Achahuanco, met us at the Anglican church mission in Puente Piedra, or Stone Bridge, a district of more than 230,000 people. The district was founded in 1927, but on the hillsides are the shacks of immigrants who arrived in recent years and even recent weeks.

Max, Armando, and Trevor prepare to work.
Max, Armando, and Trevor prepare to work.

With tools in hand provided by the church, Misión San Andres Santísima Cruz, we walked a few hundred yards from the tiny Anglican mission to a steep hillside, where the church is preparing to build a community center to offer classes, workshops and social activities.

Benjamin explained how we were to use rocks to mark the boundaries of the community center property, in effect taking ownership of the land before anyone else might do so. The rocks were easy to come by; walking on the steep hillside, where sand gave way with each step, was the bigger challenge. We worked for an hour or so that morning, marking the perimeter.

For lunch, Livia, who wore an “I [Heart] Goshen College” button, served plates of chicken, rice and a popular Peruvian beet salad known as ensalada rusa.

“Thanks to Goshen College and to your parents for encouraging you to come to Peru,” said Livia, who is a nurse. “Our highest calling is in helping others. I’m praying for each of you each day.”

After a delicious lunch, Livia thanks the students for visiting. Our speaker, Carmina, stands next to her.

A 38-year-old woman and a leader in the church, Jesusa Carmina Palma, told of coming to Puente Piedra from the highlands of Ancash as a 15 year old. In the early years, she said, she and her husband had no water or electricity in their home. She brought in money by working as a street vendor.

Christianity changed her life in a more profound way, she said. “In 2008,” she said, “I found the Anglican Church. Before, my life was sad; now, with Christ, I’m happy.”

On the way to Carmina’s house, and seemingly everywhere we walked in Puente Piedra, Benjamin greeted parents and children, calling out to them by name. On one walk he was peeling a tangerine for his dessert just as a young boy approached; as if by reflex, the pastor gave his tangerine to the boy.

 

Photographs and captions by Karen Stoltzfus

 

Adriene leads the way.
Now Danielle leads the way.
Walking to the church.
Padre Benjamin teaches Danielle a lesson in the church.
Padre Benjamin talks with Shina about a painting in the church.
Sign at the front of the church.
Singing off the wall.
Laura, Elizabeth, Danielle, Shina, Mariah, Armando, and others start to work.
Getting organized and figuring out what to do with our tools.
The view from the church.
An assembly line seems to work pretty well.
Trevor takes a rock from Carmina.
We can do this…
Trevor passes a rock to Karen.
Jessica carrying rocks.
Max, Mariah and Bryan, working at odd angles to put rocks in place.
Maddie, Lydia, Elizabeth and Armando move rocks.
Carmina looks on as the students put rocks in place along the white lines.
Armando takes a break with Elizabeth and Lydia.
Padre Benjamin with his video camera.
Willie poses to the right of our finished project so we can see where the rocks were laid (the nice square in the distance!).
The group poses at the top of the hill with Carmina’s dog.
Willie, Duane, Padre Benjamin, Carmina and Karen pose by the cross on the hill.
Carmen with her friend from Ancash and her little girl, Candy.
Looking downat a small farm, or chacra. Padre Benjamin told us that the whole area used to be farmland.
Adriene gives the sign for ‘vaca’ – or cow – as she points out the stable where the cows are kept.
Cows in this local stable provide milk to the dairy company, Gloria, which collects milk each day from thousands of small producers.
Heading back toward town by the soccer field.
Children play in the local school yard.
Students visit with Padre Benjamin near the school.
A new home under construction.
Walking through town.
Heading back up the hill for lunch.
Jessica, Lydia, Elizabeth, Frances, Mariah, Abby, and Adriene waiting for lunch.
Visiting Carmina’s house.
Driving back to Lima in heavy traffic.