Why we go

“Why do you go to Peru,” my friend asked, “when there’s so much need right here?”

We’ve gone to Peru every year since 2010, except during the pandemic and a family emergency. There’s a magnet that pulls us, that keeps us going back. It’s the love we receive, the love we give.

We work with schools for children with disabilities; infants and toddlers, older children with autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy. Some cannot walk. Most cannot talk. Some live in shacks. Many are hungry.

Our dollars go further in Peru. We can purchase more wheelchairs, more therapy equipment, more vitamins, shoes, and food than we could here. 

The world has become so small. Communication is instant. Forty years ago we’d mail a letter to Francisco’s father. A month later he’d receive it. The next day he’d write to us. A month later we’d receive his response. Today we talked on WhatsApp with the director of one of the schools. Our connection was instant. She was as close as our next-door neighbor.

We are one world. We’re sisters and brothers, grandparents, grandchildren. We’re family.

Francisco has been an American citizen for 44 years. But he will always be Peruvian. It’s his heritage, his language, his culture. This is the beauty of the United States. Except for our Native siblings, we’re all descendants of other lands. We all came here, or our ancestors did, some through choice, others through force, from somewhere else.

Yes, there is much work to do here. More and more every day, to be truthful. We are trying to help, by serving in the food pantry at our church. It’s a major part of our lives.

But then we go back to Peru, to the arms of Francisco’s family, to the schools, to our friends, to the children.

We go because we hear the call. Is it the call of God? I don’t know; I hope so. I know it’s the call of my heart.
e go because we hear the call. Is it the call of God? I don’t know; I hope so. I know it’s the call of my heart.But then we go back to Peru, to the arms of Francisco’s family, to the schools, to our friends, to the children.


We go because we hear the call. Is it the call of God? I don’t know; I hope so. I know it’s the call of my heart.But then we go back to Peru, to the arms of Francisco’s family, to the schools, to our friends, to the children.


We go because we hear the call. Is it the call of God? I don’t know; I hope so. I know it’s the call of my heart.But then we go back to Peru, to the arms of Francisco’s family, to the schools, to our friends, to the children.


We go because we hear the call. Is it the call of God? I don’t know; I hope so. I know it’s the call of my heart.