Recent news
Ten members of St Andrew’s took part in the annual Azul Wasi cycle ride. This year we headed of west of Cambridge, covering 24 miles in beautiful autumn sunshine. We will have raised around £650 which is a fantastic result. Many thanks to everyone who cycled and those who sponsored.
About Azul Wasi
The project started as a dream of Alcides, a policeman from Cusco who had spent many years working with vulnerable children in the city. He wanted to build a home where some of these children could grow up feeling secure and happy and learn the skills they need to stand a better chance of being employed and not living a life on the streets.
In 2005, Mary and Chris Pountain’s daughter, Fran Talavera, was living in Peru for a year and worked with Alcides to get the project started. St Andrew’s has helped the project grow from a field to a happy family home for 12 young boys.
It was really exciting when we phoned Alcides just before Christmas in 2007 to hear the sounds of lots of excited children celebrating the opening of Azul Wasi as the home for the first seven children who had just moved in.
The boys who live there attend the village school. At the Blue House, they are learning the basic skills for living. They help with the cooking and they all do their own washing. They now have a greenhouse where they are learning to growing food, and they make bread in their own bakery. They have a growing family of animals which they help to care for, including guinea pigs, bulls, dogs, cats, and a hen, cockerel and a cow.
The aim is to create a programme of training in various skills so that they can have a better chance of getting a job when they leave the house.
News
This year has been interesting, to say the least. Lots of positive things have gone on, despite the setback when the house was at risk during the flooding last January. The children continue to work hard at school and are doing well. The Blue House is certainly making a big difference to their lives and giving them real opportunities for the future.
We have developed good links with the UK charity Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF). They raised the money for the bread oven, a guinea pig farm and a minibus – their aim is to help Azul Wasi become self-sufficient, though they also fund the children’s schooling costs (fees, materials, uniforms etc.). Another small group in the USA, Connecting Borders, are also helping, particularly with the education of the older boys no longer in the state system. They also fund the monthly electricity bills for Azul Wasi.
Since January 2009, our aim has been to send £500 per month for food and running costs from St Andrew’s. This has been raised by individual donations and through fundraising events, such as the St Andrew’s Has Talent Evening and the Barn Dance last March.
Fran Talavera has recently won one of the 8 places awarded by Vodafone Foundation through their World of Difference International Programme in 2010. As a result, she will be spending a year working for Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF) who we work with very closely to support Azul Wasi.
She has spent several weeks living at Azul wasi and is helping them to create projects that will help them to become more self-sustainable, generate income for the home and give the boys vocational training. In addition she as will be finding further projects in other areas of Latin America to improve the lives of vulnerable children and adults. You can read about her work on her blog and follow @LAFFCharity on twitter.
Alcides and the boys are very grateful to the people of St Andrew’s Church both for their financial support and for their prayers.
How St Andrew’s supports Azul Wasi
The Blue House — or Azul Wasi as it is called in Peru — is a project that we have been supporting at St Andrew’s since June 2006, creating and supporting a home for street children in Cusco, Peru.
The people of St Andrew’s Church first became involved in raising money for Azul Wasi in June 2006 after a presentation to the congregation at one of the church’s regular Gift Days.
The congregation of St Andrew’s has continued to support the project enthusiastically through individual donations and fundraising events at the church. The PCC has supported the project with an annual donation of £1000. The money raised so far has amounted to over £27,000.
Recently a number of people have committed to making a regular donation. Having these regular monthly donations – however small – is really helping towards the sustainability of the project. Since the beginning of 2009, we have been sending £500 a month to pay for the food and running costs.
Recently the granddaughter of a member of the congregation of St Andrew’s spent a month there as a volunteer, helping the boys with their schoolwork, and painting the outside of the house.
The Pountain family visited Azul Wasi in August 2006 and again in August 2007. With regular updates to the congregation and various fundraising events, the momentum to support this project has continued. It has been wonderful for us at St Andrew’s Church to have been involved right from the start in helping Alcides to develop Azul Wasi and to be a part of this project which is making a real difference to the lives of the boys who live there.
How you can help
Please continue to pray for this project: for Alcides, for those who look after the children and for the children whose home this is.
If you would like to know more about the project, or would like to help organise a fundraising event, please contact Chris or Mary Pountain (details below).
Making a donation
Donations for Azul Wasi can be made to St Andrew’s Church and given to a sidesperson, a member of the clergy team or to a churchwarden or sent by post to Mary Pountain (address below). Cheques should be made payable to St Andrew’s Church, Chesterton.
Regular contributions
Having regular income towards the running costs is greatly appreciated. It will enable us to help the project to become more sustainable in the future.
If you would like to make a regular contribution to Azul Wasi by Standing Order, please download the Banker’s Order form or speak to the treasurer or Mary.
Gift Aid
If you are a UK taxpayer and would like us to claim the Gift Aid on your donation, this will add an extra 28% to your donation at no cost to yourself.
If you would like to Gift Aid a donation, please put it in one of the white envelopes which are in the pews (you will need to complete the form on the envelope and label it Azul Wasi or Blue House). Alternatively, you can download the Gift Aid form or contact the treasurer to ask for a copy.
Chris and Mary Pountain
13 Leys Road, Cambridge, CB4 2AP
tel: 01223 311055
email: mary.pountain@gmail.com
PCC Treasurer: Simon Peyton Jones
tel: 01223 523485
email: simonpj@ntlworld.com
Last updated: October 2010