FROM THE FIELD:
PERU

LWR school kits make school attendance possible

What does it mean to a child to own her very own pencil? For children in Peru , it could mean the difference between receiving an education or not.

Although public education is free, families are expected to provide the necessary school supplies for their children enrolled in school. If a family can't afford the basic supplies such as pencils and paper, the children aren't able to attend classes.

Lutheran World Relief sent a shipment of 24,600 school kits to Peru — each one assembled and donated by Lutherans throughout the U.S. — to provide children access to education, and the tools that will help them excel.

“It's everything my mother could not buy me,” said Alicia as she examined the items in her school kit. “I have enough pencils for more than two years!” said Jorge, pleased to find six pencils in his new bag.

Distribution of many of the school kits, as well as quilts and health kits, was part of an LWR project working with rural communities to improve their agricultural techniques and irrigation and water management. Part of the effort included working with the school children to plant gardens in their school yard that could later be harvested to provide fresh vegetables for the children to eat, and a surplus for selling to fund needs of the school.

The school kits were a welcomed addition to the LWR project, greeted with excitement by the teachers as well as the students.

“This surprise fills me with emotion,” said Saul Paisig de Limache, one of the teachers. “Please tell the people who are responsible for sending these kits that we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. The children will carry these gifts in their hearts, and in their minds they will know that there are people in far away places that care enough to share and send help to people in need. I will take responsibility for showing the children how to use each item they received, since there are some things that they have never seen before.”

Because the children now had the necessary school supplies, they were able to attend school.

“We just asked the mothers to buy almost all of these supplies that you sent, and I was so afraid since some of the mothers told me that they could not afford to buy them and would have to withdraw their children from school,” said another teacher in the primary school. “These gifts will really help.”

In addition to provide school kits for the children, their parents also received LWR quilts.

“How wonderful that you considered sending us this gift!” said Martin Gonzales. “My family will be very happy to see this quilt which represents good luck. Thanks to those who sent this and for the effort it took to send this to us from such a far away country. Thank you for sharing with us."

Distribution of the quilts also extended to other farm families involved in the agricultural project, as well as others in the community.

In one case, a woman was selling vegetables in the city square. She had her vegetables spread out over a tattered dirty blanket—the only one she owned. During the day she displayed her vegetables on the blanket and at night she relied on it to provide her protection from the cold. When she received an LWR quilt, she shared deep gratitude for the gift, because now she would have a beautiful clean quilt to cover herself or wrap around her baby, and the old tattered blanket would only be needed for displaying the vegetables.

Note: click here for a condensed version of this story is available as a bulletin insert from the ELCA World Hunger Appeal

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