New furniture piece for water-color classes at 'Estrella de Sauce'

The southern hemisphere school year starts next week.  Lourdes asked me to make this unit that accepts 14 boards for the children to place their wet water-color works of art so they have a protected place to dry.

I used a combination of plywood and solid wood to make the piece followed by using Stockmar water-color paint and varnish to impart a pleasing subtle color wash to the boards and the furniture unit.  It has a drawer to store paper, paints and brushes above.

Rowing/sailing 17 foot skiff repaired and painted.

It used to be blue and was out of the water for about a year,

I finally got around to repairing some rotten wood followed by repainting in a new color scheme with the idea of making it easier to see, especially by jet-ski operators who have drunk one too many beers.

This is a fun and versatile little boat that can be paddled like a canoe, rowed with long oars or sailed with a single mainsail, plus it converts into a mini speedboat by putting our 6hp Evinrude outboard motor on the stern.

Season's greetings to all

Dear friends, family and volunteers past and present, greetings from our little corner of the Amazon jungle here in Peru.

Love is what it has always been about and love is what continues tp be our basic reference and motivation.

Another amazing year is drawing to a close and a new one awaits.

Happy holidays everyone!

End of year celebrations in Sauce

Our wonderful volunteers from Germany Liene and Franca sang Christmas songs in various languages and played the flute during three different end of year celebrations for different age groups. I played guitar and harmonica.

All the children and senior adults received gifts and edible treats as we wound up the southern hemisphere school year.

Now Franca is spending two weeks in New Zealand while Liene explores southern Peru starting in Arequipa.

When they get back we will be starting our 'vacacciones utiles' summer camp for 120 children in three different locations.

Celebrating the Archangel Michael

September and October is traditionally the time of the year to make a connection with this sun being who is the spirit of our present age.  He is usually depicted slaying the dragon of ignorance with his sword.

I made about 30 swords from balsa wood in my workshop for children in Sauce and Tarapoto to sand down and paint as a tangible symbol for this angelic connection.

Construction completed

We are now doing some landscaping after finishing construction on an additional classroom and back wall with steel door for our 'Estrella de Sauce' headquarters.  We also raised the bathroom floor  to try and avoid the flooding that had plagued us previously during tropical downpours.

Thanks to the 9th graders from 'Das Goethehaus' Waldorf school in Lima who came and painted the bricks. Also many thanks to the students in Germany who worked to raise funds during WOW-day, the annual effort by participating Waldorf schools to help initiatives in developing countries such as Peru. We used WOW-day funds to underwrite this new construction at 'Estrella de Sauce'.

Welcome new volunterrs

We have two new volunteers from Germany who are already doing a great job with the children in our various classes and our group of 26 grandmothers.

Liene is from near Hamburg in the north of Germany and Franca comes from a village near Bonn in the central part of the country.

Here are Franca (L), Lady from our Friday senior citizens group (C) and Liene (R) in traditional dress from the nearby town of Lamas.