Sponsoring a 9 year old from Puru

[CrealCritter]

I have a pen pal He's a 9 year old young man from Puru, that I'm sponsoring through world vision. The monthly donation is easy, automatic withdrawal. But I'm not a very good pen pal. I can tell you that is 100% truth! It's hard for me to find time to write anything meaningful. I try to stay on the encouragement path. But have drifted into stories of my childhood a little.

I'm trying my imperfect best to write every two weeks. My imperfection clearly shows, I'm a week late . Sponsoring this young man is a true blessing in more ways than I can begin to explain. I would really like to meet him and his dad, mom and sister. But what I would like, is not always what happens. This came to mind tonight. I thought I would share it with you.

May The Lord always bless and keep you. May your dreams all come true. May you always do for others. And let others do for you. May you build a ladder to heaven. And climb up every rung. May your soul stay, forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous, straight and true. May you always know Christ. And His Love surrounding you. May you always be a leader, who's brave and strong. And may your heart remain, forever young.

May your hands be busy. May your feet be swift. May you have a strong foundation. When the winds of change shift. May you always be loving, joyful and kind. May of your forgiveness be a song that is sung. And may you, stay forever young.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[baymule]

Of course you are sponsoring a 9 year old boy in Peru. That’s the kind of man you are.

 

[CrealCritter]

Of course you are sponsoring a 9 year old boy in Peru. That’s the kind of man you are.

It's easy sponsoring a child through world vision. It's making a long distance personal connection through letters with many weeks lag, that's challenging for me.

It's good to put a picture to words sometimes, so here's his latest picture.

And the community he lives in.

And the phase the community is in.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Perris]

You should not beat yourself up about not writing more often; world vision projects benefit the whole community of which this young man is part, and your sponsorship sustains him and them irrespective of how often you are able to write. And they are starting up virtual visits in some places, so in due course you may be able to meet him on zoom

 

[Cecilia's-life]

Just an idea- You could always write about agricultural practices here, and compare it to where he lives!

 

[CrealCritter]

Doing a little more research...

It would seem that I picked a really good time to sponsor a child in Puru. The current USD to PEN exchange rate is about 4.1. So that means every dollar I donate turns into around 4 Peruvian Sol. This is really good news.

US Dollar to Peruvian Sol Exchange Rate Chart | Xe

USD to PEN currency chart. XE’s free live currency conversion chart for US Dollar to Peruvian Sol allows you to pair exchange rate history for up to 10 years.

www.xe.com

I was curious what food cost in Ausangate Puru. There are several websites so, I just randomly picked one. I guess this would be a average or at least I hope that's what these numbers represent.

Cost of Living in Peru

Average prices of more than 40 products and services in Peru. Prices of restaurants, food, transportation, utilities and housing are included.

www.numbeo.com

So now that I have the exchange rate and the cost of food items, I can get a educated guess at some items in terms of USD, minus the tax man of course.

1 gallon Milk 16.23 PEN / 4.1 = about $3.96 USD.

1 dozen eggs 5.84 PEN / 4.1 = $1.42

Etc...

I doesn't seem like there is much difference in food prices than here in the USA.

Did I do this right? Good estimating?

Jesus is Lord and Christ

Edit... Playing around a little bit more with NUMBEO. It says:
Summary:

• Cost of living in Peru is, on average, 56.13% lower than in United States.
• Rent in Peru is, on average, 75.05% lower than in United States.

And you can convert the table to USD, which is nice. So here are the average USD for food items in Puru. I was close . But still not seeing much diffence in the cost of food in the USA vs Puru. Besides for produce and veggies, wow really cheap in Puru.

Cost of Living in Peru

Average prices of more than 40 products and services in Peru. Prices of restaurants, food, transportation, utilities and housing are included.

www.numbeo.com

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[baymule]

Some years back, the preacher at the church I attended went to Peru to teach future preachers. He traveled to other countries to volunteer at schools that taught and trained men to become preachers. He would always bring back stories of where he had been. I remember one of his stories about Lima, Peru. He went to a grocery store and was amazed at the varieties of potatoes. Potatoes originated in the Andes mountains, which run through Peru. he said that different potatoes were for different occasions. For instance, there was a variety of potatoes that was served at weddings. He was in the birthplace of potatoes and he found it very interesting at all the different potatoes there were and the different customs and uses for them.

 

[Britesea]

I remember reading about a variety they grow specifically for emergency staples. It's an extremely ancient variety- possibly even the original. You can't eat it fresh, because it turns green before it's even finished forming, but the ancient Inca learned that if they smashed the tubers and left them out on the highest mountains the tubers would freeze dry, and the process apparently makes them safe to eat. Being freeze dried, they stay good in stores for years in the event of a crop failure.

 

[CrealCritter]

His birthday is coming up in February. I would like to do something special for him and his family. God Almighty has a plan for him, the same as the rest of us. It would be easy if he weren't 1/2 a world away. But I think I'll call world vision and see what the possiblity are.

Thank you all for your replies. It's so Interesting to discover something brand new, like Peruvian culture. The young man has long arms and pulls on my heart stings. But then again I have yet to meet a child that does'nt.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[CrealCritter]

Holding up a flip-flop to take a selfie with his friends. Childern are simply amazing!

Reminds me when I was a child, we would play star trek communicator. Real flip phone have come and gone, ours where pretend ofcourse. How about stretching string a quarter mile to your friends house with tin cans knotted on each end. So you could talk "privately" at night. Who did that?

Hope this picture touched your heart like it has mine.

I must remember tomorrow is writing letter day.

Jesus is Lord and Christ