From Kung Fu Panda to Quyquyhó!

From 24th June to 4th July, a Group of 10 young people from a church in California, led by Guillermo, a Paraguayan ex-student of Sam’s, came to serve in the home and community of Quyquyhó. Guillermo works for DreamWorks as an animator and has been involved in the animation of such films as Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 3.

The team had an incredible range of gifts and skills and these were exploited to the full!

Their ministry in the home and community consisted of Bible studies, games, music, sports, English, drama, dance, and jewellery and card making. We had great fun one evening learning how to make American cookies. They showed 3 films in the village and shared the message of God's love with testimonies. Their energy seemed endless!

They did a children’s club in a nearby poor community and bought t-shirts, socks and underwear for the children. Their activities included face painting, games, and an evangelistic puppet show.

They ministered in 6 primary and secondary schools throughout the area doing face painting, games, balloon animals, music and art. One of the group was a computer expert and helped the schools improve their computing facilities as well as giving training to the teachers. A social worker and training psychologist gave educational talks on life skills, women’s health, drugs, sex and abuse. These proved to be particularly powerful as no-one had ever given young people talks on these topics before. There were many questions and we were able to talk and pray with young people afterwards and see God begin a work of deep inner healing in their lives.

The team made many generous donations to the home including a data projector, medicines, DVDs and winter coats. The highlight, however, was the donation of 5 new laptops all installed with free open source software in Spanish, educational games, and word processing and spreadsheet programmes. Wi-Fi was installed as well as classroom management software so the teacher can see the screens of the students and they can see the teacher’s for demonstration purposes. Sam will begin computing lessons with all the older girls in the July holidays using the guides Rupert produced. Once the girls are trained we hope they will teach young people from the village. We are particulary excited about this as it has been Osvaldo and OSA's vision for some time to open a computer lab for the community.

On the final evening the boys decorated the dining room for a special meal in honour of the girls. They escorted them to their seats, served them their food, and afterwards gave small presents to each one. Their intention was to show the girls that as daughters of God they are precious and should be treated with honour and respect. In a culture where women are often maltreated by men, they wanted to demonstrate to the girls the attitude that a Christian man should show towards women and to encourage them to settle for nothing less. It was a unique and memorable occasion.

We were all extremely blessed by their visit. Guillermo (below) planned the mission carefully and prayerfully. They were a beautiful group of Christians who came with a heart to serve and bless the community and the Lord honoured their desire.

Supporting Education in Paraguay

In a previous post we mentioned the OpenOffice/LibreOffice guides that Rup had produced to support free, open source software in Latin America (link to guides on the side bar).

When Rup read that the Paraguayan Ministry of Education was planning to introduce computers in schools using open source software, he realised his guides may be useful to them. Aware that the government is beginning to train teachers in preparation for this, he sent the Ministry an email informing them of the link and free access to his resources. He was greatly surprised and encouraged to receive the following reply:

Dear Mr Rupert Parsons

Your ICT guides are extremely interesting, particularly as they provide a clear and easy introduction to people who are accessing these programmes for the first time. So with your permission, it would be an honour for us to use them in our next training session with teachers, which will be in March. Your resources will be a great help to the teachers.

Yours very gratefully

Director of Teacher Training for the Introduction of Information Technology in the Classroom,

Ministry of Education and Culture, Paraguay

God of Surprises

Last November Osvaldo and Maria Luisa's computer broke down irreparably and they did not have the funds to replace it. It is essential for their administration and communication with donors and the girls use it for their school work and writing to their sponsors. It is also vital for the monthly accounts which Maria Luisa produces with help from the girls Rupert trained.

In December a surprise donation from a friend arrived which was enough to buy not only a new computer but some much needed sandals and toiletries for the girls and cleaning materials for the home.

Osvaldo, Maria Luisa and the girls were overjoyed at God's generous provision, arriving at the perfect time, and the kindness of people in the UK who have never met them and yet have been moved to support them.

Special Educational Needs

State schools in Paraguay cannot afford educational games, readers or special needs teachers. This is a great challenge for educators here. If children cannot follow the pace of the teacher or access their "chalk and talk" methodology, they get left further and further behind until eventually they drop out of school.

Classroom in Quyquhó

Emotional trauma often inhibits learning and many of the children in the home and Feeding Programme were unable to read. This was also affecting their self esteem. Much of Sam's time in the home is dedicated to teaching literacy and maths in a loving, affirming environment. The children here are hungry to learn and this makes teaching a real joy. Since 2009 over 20 children are now reading, writing and improving their numeracy and it has been particularly encouraging to see the effects of this on their behaviour and confidence levels.

Marlene was Sam's first student

In December we were once again overwhelmed by a generous donation from another friend towards educational resources for Sam's work which enabled us to buy much needed text books, games and story books. The delight on the faces of the children says it all.

Hope and Refuge

I’m Sandra and I’m 18 years old. I came to the home when I was 13 in order to continue my secondary education. My mum lives far from the school and could not afford to send me any longer. Now I am about to graduate from school and was voted best classmate. My hope is to go to university to do Business Studies next year.

Rupert taught me and another girl to do simple accounting and we were delighted when we received our certificates! Now I help Osvaldo and Maria Luisa with the accounts in the home and it is great preparation for my course.

With the girls we do dancing to Christian music and use it to share God's love. I love choreographing the steps to this and teaching the girls.

I could never have done any of this if I had not come to the home and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given through being here.


Pamela and Vanesa

We are Pamela and Vanesa and we are 9 years old. We came to the home last year because our mum left us and our dad is very poor.

We are very happy here in the home because now we have plenty of food and new clothes. We did not have much to eat before and only a few old clothes to wear. We used to wash in a pond near our house but now we get to have showers every day and even brush our teeth! We love playing in the toy library as we never had toys before.

When we arrived we could not read or write. We thought we would never learn as our teachers could not help us. But we have been studying with Sami and we are SO excited because now we can read and understand our lessons at school!

Paraguay's Bicentenary

This is a special year for Paraguay as it marks 200 years of its independence from Spanish colonial rule. In true Paraguayan style it was a peaceful revolution with the governor handing over the country without a fight to the leaders of the revolution on May 15th 1811. He even formed part of the new government for a while! Fulgencio Yegros, one of the key figures of the revolution, was from none other than the village of Quyquyho, where the Children's Home is situated!

It was great that we had a friend, Vicky, to stay during this period as we might otherwise have missed some of the festivities. It was wonderful to wander through the centre enjoying the sense of celebration and optimism in the air - even the oranges on the trees had red, white and blue ribbons tied round them! We were also able to see Paraguayan dancing and listen to some young harpists, who played especially for Vicky.


Of course no trip to Paraguay is complete without a trip to the spectacular Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, near the Paraguayan frontier. And they did not disappoint! The trampoline in the hotel was also great fun, though we are not sure if it was meant for the children?



We completed Vicky's holiday by doing the Bicentenary Walk in one of Asuncion's public parks, which seemed an appropriate way to end her very enjoyable visit.

The Kindness of Strangers

The children in the Home have always washed their clothes by hand. It is time consuming and very cold in winter without warm running water. Their prayers never lacked a petition for a washing machine!


Thanks to a generous donation from Rotary Spilsby and Rotary International, the girls have finally got their washing machine! On receiving it the girls said, "We are thrilled with the machine. We now have more time to study, play, rest and read. This is a dream come true for us!"



But it didn't end there.

The Home and Feeding Programme needed more cleaning materials, cups and plates. These too were provided with Rotary's donation.



Next came the automatic water pump control. The Home has a well and a water tower but the water pressure was so weak it took hours every day to water the vegetable garden. Because of this they have been unable to grow many vegetables. However, with the automatic pump control they now get excellent water pressure and can irrigate their crops using a sprinkler. This is saving them a lot of time and energy and as a result they now plan to plant carrots, peppers, lettuces, cucumbers, radishes, onions, tomatoes, beans and various herbs. These will all be used for the girls and the children in the Feeding Programme.


And finally the chickens! 2 years ago they had a henhouse built but have not had the money to buy the chickens. With Rotary's donation they were able to buy 100 laying hen chicks, chicken feed, chicken feeders and water troughs. In 6 months they should have enough eggs to provide for the children in the Home and the Feeding Programme.


So a HUGE thank you to Rotary for their generous donation which went much further than any of us could have imagined!

U2 in Argentina

At last, having seen them in 3D in BA 5 years ago, we were abe to see U2 live in La Plata, Argentina in March. Sam, being diddy, had an excellent view of the big screens and the head of the guy in front her, while Rupert had a fantastic view of the whole concert. The outstanding show came complete with an inspiring message from Bishop Tutu and the participation of Amnesty International.

But there was so much more! Street tango in Buenos Aires, the stunning cathedral in La Plata, beautiful walks along the river front at Puerto Madero and delicious Argentinian steak! What more can you ask for?

Burger and chips please!

Part of Osvaldo and Maria Luisa's vision is to provide employment opportunities and training for young people in the isolated village of Quyquyho. For years it has been their dream to open a burger bar and provide a clean, pleasant environment for families to go out with their children and young people to meet. After a very generous donation this year, they were able to open for business in November! (Photos below)




The response has been overwhelming. The village council gave them permission to use a beautiful piece of land in the centre of the village next to the park and police station! Osvaldo said: "Many people are coming and are commenting that at last there is a place in Quyquyho where people can go out and there is wholesome environment for all the family. We have provided regular work for 2 young people in the village and in the summer we will employ 2 more. On Saturday 13th November we invited 22 children from 2 very poor, small schools on the outskirts of Quyquyho. These are children who would never normally get the opportunity to go out for a hamburger and they were thrilled. Our desire is to provide a service that will bless the community." Photos below.





And we can personally testify that the food is delicious!