Azul Wasi (The Blue House)
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, to create a home for street children in Cusco, Peru.
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 2006, Mary and Chris Pountain’s daughter, Fran, 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. Other children come at weekends to enjoy the country setting away from the stress of the city.
The boys who live there attend the village school. At the Blue House, they are learning to cook and to look after themselves, rather than have everything done for them. They now have a greenhouse and are growing their own food, and making bread in their own bakery. They have a growing family of animals which they help to care for, including sheep and ducks and a cow which provides them with milk.
The aim is to start a programme of training in various skills so that they can have a better chance of getting a job when they leave the house.
The Azul Wasi website will have news and photos regularly updated.
How St Andrew’s supports Azul Wasi
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 £23,000.
Máximo Nivel, a language school in Cusco, has been very supportive, both financially and practically, and often their students will go as volunteers to help at the project. This has included a group of Scottish volunteers who painted a large mural in the living room, which features the flag of St Andrew (and the Loch Ness monster)!
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 children who live there.
Recent news
The Good News
Over the last year things have been going really well at Azul Wasi. The children have been working hard at school. One of the older boys has recently passed the exam which will allow him to be able to study Mechanical Engineering at University. Oscar, who is the oldest, has been given a microloan to enable him to buy a cart so that he can sell vegetables on a daily basis and gradually become more self-sufficient.
We have developed good links with the UK charity Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF). They raised the money for the greenhouse, a guinea pig farm and a minibus - their aim is to help Azul Wasi become self-sufficient. Another small group in the USA are also helping, particularly with the education of the boys — school fees, uniforms etc.
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 Youth Choir’s performance of Joseph. We have a Barn Dance coming up on 27th March.
We have produced a leaflet about Azul Wasi which has been helpful in encouraging people to think of making a small but regular donation. This is a great help in being able to continue to maintain the same level of monthly giving.
Alcides and the boys are very grateful to the people of St Andrew’s Church both for their financial support and for their prayers.
The Bad News
Floods in Peru - Azul Wasi has had to be evacuated (February 2010)
It doesn't seem to have hit the headlines here, but Peru and in particular the Cusco area have been suffering terrible flooding with the worst rains in SE Peru for 15 years. The exceptionally heavy rain has caused many rivers to burst and cut off towns and villages.
Sadly Alcides has had to evacuate Azul Wasi. The river was getting too high for their safety. The younger ones are staying in Alcides’s own house for now, and the others are with two of his relatives in Cusco. The animals are being cared for by a neighbour at the moment.
Alcides is working hard during the daytime with the older boys and a team of volunteers to build defences to try to protect the Blue House from the river flood water and from the water coming down the hillside. The charity Latin American Foundation for the Future has set up an emergency appeal which has helped to pay for the materials for the defences. We are working closely with LAFF and they are in daily contact with Alcides during this difficult time.
As a result of this disaster, the food and living costs will be significantly more than usual. (Food prices have risen, they are having to eat out in a cafe for the time being and they have had to buy new mattresses, bedding etc.) We have sent some extra money to help them through the coming month, so any donations towards these unexpected costs would be very welcome.
We pray that the buildings will survive this disaster. The children are very upset at having to be separated and having to leave their home where they were very happy. They have clearly become a very close family since the project first opened 2 years ago.
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 some regular income towards the running costs would be greatly appreciated. It would 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 [pdf] 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 [pdf] 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@ntlworld.com
PCC Treasurer: Simon Peyton Jones
tel: 01223 523485
email: simonpj@ntlworld.com
Last updated: February 2010