Peru Plans

The doors are opening in Peru!

We received confirmation that we will get to work on a reforestation project right outside Machu Picchu in April! The project is an ecological reserve called Jardines de Mandor and the focus is the conservation and rebuilding of some of the natural habitat in the area. I am obviously ecstatic….

For the project, they design programs for volunteers to focus on their interests. I will be doing research on flora and fauna and helping with conservation efforts, while Jenna is going to help the project’s supervisor, Erwin, implement a new biodiversity guide program!

So, we will continue into Cusco, Peru sometime in early April and make our way up to Machu Picchu! SO unreal.

Check out more project details at http://volunteeringmachupicchu.blogspot.com/ or http://www.jardinesdemandor.com/

Also, we've been getting in touch with some more awesome Peruvian contacts…

We were connected with a Pastor from Peru who lives in Minnesota and knows a lot of great opportunities to help in Lima. I spoke with him a few days ago, and he got us in touch with the principal of an elementary school called Monterrico Christian School where we may be able to assist the teachers and work with the kids. 

Another prospect: a house for the deaf and disabled of the community run by Without Borders International, which sounds like a great place to spend some time! We will be in contact to see if we're needed there next spring.

Lots of amazing people out there doing great things; it's a blessing to see the openness they have for the two of us to help out :) 

Send us some good thoughts that the rest of the planning goes this smoothly!

Renae

Tickets to Córdoba

Today we booked our flight to Argentina!

We can only be in Ecuador for 90 days, so we had been looking for plane tickets around the end of December to fly into Córdoba. We found some for a good deal and had to snag them up! We will leave Quito on December 28th and arrive in Córdoba, Argentina on the 29th.  Then we need to look for housing in the city so we can volunteer with the university. Now we just have to pay our reciprocity fees and we'll be set to enter the country.

The timeline is coming together more and more everyday... And another stretch of the trip is locked in!!

Plane Tix to Quito in the Bag

We bought our tickets to Quito!!

$1,274.22 later, we have secured our trip down to Quito, Ecuador. We will leave on October, 6th at 9:15 am and have two layovers, in NYC and Atlanta, and arrive the next day on October, 7th at 9:56 pm. 
WAHOO! Can you hear us screaming from there?! We couldn't be more excited!

If it wasn't official before, it is now.

Garage Sale # 1

Our first garage sale was a success! 

We held a sale today at Jenna's parents house in Grand Forks, ND. It was busy the entire time and we ended up with a lot more than we ever could have imagined! A great part of it was due to our donation rocks, which we've been painting all summer to show our appreciation for those who have some faith in us :)

Not only did we make some good trip funds, we met some awesome people! A lot of people shared their experiences travelling down in S. America and gave us words of wisdom! Everyone was very excited for us, which gives us so much encouragement! Thank you very much to everyone who was able to make it today. We appreciate your generosity and support greatly. And a special shout out to Jen's parents, Jeff and Ann, for hosting the party today!

For His Children Info

We got our first site locked in! 

Jenna and I will be volunteering at an orphanage called For His Children. They support about 50 orphans with both normal and special needs between two locations. Check out their site at http://www.forhischildren-ecuador.org/ 

We had been communicating with a volunteer coordinator named Jen Schneider who reviewed our applications and says they could definitely use the help in October!

Look at these cuties...



We will be working at the site in Quito, Ecuador starting as soon as we arrive in the beginning of October. The cost of housing there is $10 a night for full-time volunteers (35 hrs per week). 

Now all we need to do is buy the plane ticket down there...

What an amazing opportunity- We can't wait to start!

Renae

Half Marathon

Picture from our first half marathon in May

We started off the summer of trip-planning and goal-setting by crossing off one of our other goals: to finish the half!

The first steps..

June 21st, 2013

Emailing contacts in Ecuador and Chile 

As of now, planning to be in Ecuador October-December, Argentina January-March, and Chile April-June 

Pastor Fabian and his wife run the Carmen Bajo church in Quito and he says we can come stay for however long we would like, they have a lot of work for us to do there! We'll have to start laying out a timeline as we get more sites.

May 17th, 2013

Met with Dr. Bob Brunsvold, an anesthesiologist from Fargo who coordinates trips to Ecuador for Concordia students. Luckily, he said he would help us plan our stops in Ecuador as well! He has many contacts at different sites

Quito: Casa Adalia shelter for girls, Casa Gabriel home for street boys, El Refugio retreat center, and Carmen Bajo Church in the slums

Shell: Casa de Fe home for children

San Lorenzo: Medical Center Compound for the Medical Missions week in Feb.

We plan to meet with Bob throughout the summer to set the sites up for Ecuador, which would be our first stop. Now we just need to buy the plane tix to Quito... $$$

May 5th, 2013

Met with the Head of the Biology Dept at NDSU, Wendy Reed, and told her of our plans, she hooked us up with a contact down in Argentina: Susana Peluc, an ecology and ornithology researcher who also teaches at the University in Cordoba. She contacted me (Renae) about the research she is conducting during the year and said she'd love to have me intern for her! I hope Jenna can find something similar in her field with the University as well while were there! We'll have to check into work visas i think.. 

P.s. Graduation in 6 days!

Nov 27th, 2012

Contacting centers and setting a timeline. Plane tickets look like they'll be around $650. It'll be about 8 months and 5 different cities for volunteer opportunities.. So unreal.

Getting closer to winter break... almost halfway done with Senior year already! 

Aug 27th, 2012

Day one of the website! The planning has officially begun.