Another wonderful Latin Music Night

We had a good turnout for the annual Latin Music Night at the Yardbird Suite, a special thank you to all the performers, volunteers and Pam and Nico from the Yardbird.

Follow the link for photos from the event:

http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2018_10_28_supc_latin_music_fundraiser_at_the_yardbird

Looking forward to another trip to Arequipa in January to visit the agencies.

Annual Latin Music Night Coming Oct. 28th at Yardbird Suite

Our annual fundraising Latin Music Night will be Sunday, October 28th at the Yardbird Suite. Tickets at https://yeglive.ca/events/standing-up-for-peruvian-children-society/oct-28-2018/yardbird-suite

Performers are:

Jorge Vargas Jorge is an accomplished guitarist-singer-song writer who has participated in many music projects in Chile and Edmonton with numerous bands and also as a soloist, performing in different festivals including North Country Fair and Edmonton Folk Festival.

 

 

 

 

Los Rebeldes Musicales is a music project that started with talented students from Jasper Place High School some years ago. They have performed in many events in the local Latin community, including Edmonton Latin festivals. They perform an eclectic repertoire that highlights their talent as accomplished musicians. Be delighted to listen to music by Enanitos Verdes, Los Lobos, Carlos Santa and others!

Sebastian Barrera is a guitarist and singer who lives in Edmonton Alberta. His music has a lot Latin influence with a touch of Bossa Nova and flamenco. Sebastian sings in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

Oscar-Jose Garcia and Judith Garcia have been performing and teaching flamenco for the past 40 years in and around Edmonton and area. They have been putting on full-scale flamenco production at the Tim’s Center for the arts, the Kaasa theater, Horowitz theater, Arden Theatre. They take regular workshops in Spain in the summer to bring back new information for their students.

Save the Dates

We will be holding our two annual Fall fundraisers in October, the Peruvian Dinner will be Saturday October 13th at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037 84 Avenue. Once again, we are fortunate that Carla Tamayo Aragon has agreed to cook for the dinner. 

Advance tickets are $35 single, two for $65, children six to ten $15 and under six free. In addition to Carla’s great food and pisco sours we’ll also have a silent auction with both Peruvian and local items available. We’ll also have entertainment by a local performer.

The Latin Music Night will be at the Yardbird Suite Jazz club on Sunday October 28th tickets are $25. Lineup details will be announced soon.

We’re offering a special price of $50 for both events.

Tickets are available by calling 780-289-2405 or through supcsociety@gmail.com

Visit to the Cuna Jardin, Corazon de Jesus.

It’s almost Fall in Arequipa and the school term is beginning, including at the Cuna Jardin Corazon de Jesus. When the parents, usually single mothers, don’t have alternative child care arrangements the children come to the Cuna Jardin over summer holidays – January and February. Once the regular term – for nursery and kindergarten as well as the homework club for the older children – commences then about 120 children attend.

The Cuna Jardin is open from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, providing both pre-school and after school care for the children.  Because of the extended hours parents are able to work knowing their children will be well taken care of. Without the Cuna Jardin many parents would not have alternative child care arrangements; a common sight in Arequipa is a mother selling goods on the street with accompanied by her child (ren). Although extended family care is still the norm in Peru, many of the poorest families have left their traditional homes in the country to come to Arequipa in the hopes of finding employment and to provide for their children.

Pictures from the visit can be seen here: http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2018_03_06_cuna_visit

Visits to Cuna Jardin and IRID

I was in Arequipa for a few weeks and visited both the Cuna Jardin, Corazon de Jesus and IRID. So far this year the weather has been better than last year and there’s been no issue with rain. Because of summer holidays the Cuna Jardin doesn’t have the full number of children, but there are some in the homework club and several younger children come daily while their mothers work. A volunteer has been coming in to work with the children. Photos from the visit here:
http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2018_01_18_cuna_jardin

There are 35 living at IRID, an American group is volunteering several days a week with the children, and doing work around the grounds including building benches and picnic tables. The Government has required IRID to make changes to emergency lighting and fire extinguishers but is not providing funding for making the changes.
Photos from the visit here: http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2018_01_24_irid_visit

Latin Music Night a success !

We had a huge turnout at the annual Latin Music Night at the Yardbird Suite,people came to enjoy the music bid on the wide array of Silent Auction items and to support the work of SUPC in Arequipa, Peru.

Thanks, as always, to the musicians and dancers for volunteering their time and talent: Los Rebeles Musicales, Jorge Vargas, Mariachi Mundo, Oscar and Judith Garica and Marco Claveria group.

Thanks as well to the volunteers for helping at the door, with the food and the silent auction: Board members Brandy Berry (and her daughters Skye and Sage) and also Aisha Oboh,: volunteers Hope Martynuik, Doris Lachat, Cecilia Acat. And special thanks to Pam Josey of the Yardbird Suite.

Photos from the event here:

http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2017_10_29_supc_latin_music_night

Peruvian Dinner a success

 

Volunteers, Board members with cook Carla Tamayo Aragon .

We had a good turnout at our 7th annual Peruvian dinner with food once again provided by Carla Tamayo Aragon. In addition to the food and a dance performance by Ines Castañeda we held a silent auction of Peruvian and local items. Photos from the evening can be seen here:

http://www.pbase.com/tracyk/2017_09_23_supc_peruvian_dinner

Visit to IRID and Home visits

This past week we visited IRID and also with the Director of the Cuna Jardin, Corazon de Jesus, and a social work student doing her practicum we also visited  to homes of some of the children who attend the Cuna Jardin.
The Director of IRID, Dra. Mary Luz Barreda , presented me with certificates of appreciation –for me and for the SUPC Board members.

IRID is located on the outskirts of Arequipa and did not suffer damages from the intense rains that fell throughout January, February and most of March. However, in discussions with Dra Mary Luz we went over some of the issues affecting the Centre. The main issue is the lack of Government funding, including lack of support for the therapists, who work with the residents of the Centre. As well, funding support from Europe has also decreased as the former support is now being directed to the needs of refugees arriving in Europe.
We also went to visit some of the families whose children go to the Cuna Jardin. Most of the parents are single mothers whose partners have left, however we met a single father caring for his child as well.
The area where many of the families live was affected by the rain – the roads are made of gravel and were washed out, we had to make a long detour to get to one of the homes.
Another road was also blocked and we walked to the home..
The homes are basic, two have tile floors; the others were concrete. One mother, whose partner had left her, was living with her child in a single room the only furniture a single bed and a two burner hotplate for cooking.
The Cuna Jardin does more than just offer classes for the children. They keep longer hours than most nursery schools or kindergartens also provide child care while the parents work, and study time for older children in the afternoons after their regular classes are over.
More photos can be seen at:  Cuna Jardin Visits and  IRID Visit