Yesterday Paul had his biweekly meeting with the savings group out in the community of La Merced de Neshuya, and Cael and I tagged along. This was the first time either of us had visited this community and we had a great time.
It takes approximately 1 hour to drive to this community and half of the trip is on the backroads crossing makeshift bridges made out of logs placed across the road. We passed small horsedrawn carts carrying produce (mostly palm oil trees and sugarcane), fields of produce which is the main source of income for the people living within this community, and several juice stands along the side of the road.
There were a few highlights, starting with our stop at one of the juice stands. I had a glass of the freshest and sweetest orange juice I have ever had. The price for three decent size glasses of this orange juice totaled a whopping $1. Upon arriving in the community we stopped to visit the pastor of the local church and were able to meet his wife, Marisol. She took to Cael right away and is pictured above holding him at her house. We were also warmly welcomed by the savings group who to date has saved over $500 and are already talking about restarting the group at the first of the year and including more people from within the community. This has been a true blessing and encouragement to our time here in Peru.
However, the real highlight of the evening was Cael. Because this community is so far away from downtown Pucallpa, it is very rural and there are not too many white people living there. So, to see a white person walking around is unusual and the only thing more unusual is a white baby. We were surrounded by several kids from the community wanting to look at Cael. Then on our way home, in true Peruvian fashion, we were asked to take someone back into town, which by the time we actually left ended up being a family of four and a tank of gas.
All in all we had a great time and plan on returning soon.