We got the visit the Peruvian YMCA, which serves many of the local schools in addition to providing many services to the community. It was surprising the surreal size of the building and they give so much to the community. The gentlemen that we spoke with said that just 15 years ago when he started, it only had about 200 members and now they are at about ten times that much. Its amazing what they have done, even without doing fundraising. That is something that we have noticed on this trip, culturally, it does not seem that fundraising is done in Peru. However, the shear determination of the people seems to achieve so much!
The YMCA had a huge swimming pool and all sorts of indoor sports going on. In true Peruvian style, the also had some really fun looking dance classes occurring. They also had an area to support youth in after school programs that was very admirable.
We had a brief lunch and all rested for a bit, but next we were to be with the Rotary club that sponsored me in Peru, Neuva Era. As the sun was beginning to go down, we were taken on a bus tour. We were going to one of the highest points in the city to view a giant cross that overlooked that overlooked the city. It was a long ride and we rode along the river, learning some small things about the city from an audio guide as we left the Plaza de Aramas, the cities central square. We passed several very old churches on our journey, that of St Rose of Lima and St Martin de Pores, as well as an old monastery. As we began our assent up the mountain, the roads began to become smaller and smaller.
As we reaches the peak the city was far below our feet and the buildings looked like tiny doll houses. Words cannot describe the breathtaking view was from our high perch; we got a group photo in front of the giant cross, that must have been over 25 feet in height.
We were off to attend the Neuva Era meeting, which was normally on Wednesday, but moved to Tuesday in order to accommodate our attendance and the telling of our story. They took a bit of a different approach to their meeting and before our presentation; they showed all the programs that they had done over the last year, and what they had planned for the following. They finished the night with a nice surprise, we were going to see the movie, Avengers, and in English!