October 2024
The Hay Festival
will take place in Peru from November 6th to November 10th, 2024. We at the Friends' Circle are partners
of the festival.
The children and young people from the Hogar de Cristo house will be able to take part in the festival program as visitors. They will also be there as active participants, performing dances and carrying out various activities, including showing traditional games and inviting the audience to join in.
Bosque de Queñua
Mis arbolitos
Estoy cuidando porque la tierra está llorando.
Bosque de Queñua, ya no estés triste
Bosque de Queñua yo te protejo porque la tierra estoy cuidando
Los pajaritos cantan, anidan en sus ramas para cuidar la vida,
para cuidar la tierra.
Esperando la lluvia, nos llene de alegría
Esperando que venga con
LA PAZ EN EL MUNDO
Queñua Forest
My little trees
I worry because the earth cries.
Queñua Forest, don't be sad anymore
Queñua Forest I protect you because I care for the earth
The little birds sing, they nest in their branches to take care of life, to take care of the earth.
We wait for the rain to fill us with joy
I wait for you to join me
PEACE FOR THE WORLD
September 2024
What was it actually like in Peru?
August 2024
The musical piece Arbol de la Queñua
is currently being professionally recorded in the studio of musician Americo Martinez. This song is already the anthem of Casa Hogar de Cristo and we in Germany are happy to invest in the professional recording so that the piece can be performed as part of the Hay Festival program in november.
June 2024
The Hay Festival
in Arequipa celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. This time the organizers of the festival approached the Hogar de Cristo house and asked whether the children and young people wanted to actively participate in the Hay Festivalito. They will bring in their work from throughout the year: it's about the topic of nature and about reactivating existing knowledge from culture. The topics are actively lived in the house in the form that they recycle themselves and learn to share.
May 2024
The house Hogar de Cristo
is so centrally located in Arequipa that work is currently underway to create a café in the house. The former office space in the house has been moved to another room. Renovations will initially take place and later we want to mobilize funds from the Friends of Arequipa association to finance tables, dishes, microwave ovens, etc. In the future, the mothers will be able to sell homemade items in the café..
March 2024
As part of the Un Arbol una Vida
project, more trees were planted with our help.
February 2024
Collecting garbage campaign
Beach and sun for the children, this time combined with a collection campaign - the children remove plastic waste from the beach.
The collection bags say: We all litter. Today I'm cleaning up and you?
And in the small text: This backpack was sewn in the Hogar de Cristo house.
December 2023
The topic of recycling
The children and young people enthusiastically took part in our campaign to create their own book on the subject of recycling.
The winners wished they could go out for pizza.
The Friends of Arequipa association took part in Radio Arequipa's Christmas campaign.
There was a Christmas dinner together in the Hogar de Cristo house.
November 2023
Participation in the Hay Festival
The children and young people present the dances at the Hay Festival.
Let's dream of a better world (Interview with Radio Arequipa): to the video
Here the dances are rehearsed in the courtyard of the Hogar de Cristo house. The dancers represent the planting of trees.
Further information about the campaign a tree means life: www.hayfestival.com
In the Hogar de Cristo house you can do homework in the common room or play and paint.
People also like to play in the courtyard. The mothers bake in the new kitchen.
The second house with the sewing workshop trains the children's mothers in sewing. The results are very professional, as in the example
can be seen on the bag with our club logo. These T-shirts for the employees of the Hay Festival were also created there.
Whatever laundry occurs in the house is washed by volunteers.
In this video
Niurka Zuniga de Lang and Renate Zengerling conduct an interview with Radio Arequipa.
October 2023
The project Un Arbol - Una Vida
continues: Here the supervised young people in the outskirts of Arequipa are watering the trees that have been planted.
The Queñua tree is life
Saturday, November 11, 2023, 10 a.m., San Francisco Square
In Hogar de Cristo's music and dance workshops, the children and young people, motivated by their beautiful experiences in the HFA 2022, created a musical work full of life. They invite us to the premiere of El árbol de la queñua es vida. It is an artistic performance with Huayno music that requires the active participation of guests. So together we will celebrate this great tree that stands for life. With this work we try to highlight the goodness of Mother Earth and remember that there were once Queñual forests in the heights of Arequipa. By reviving the rituals of our ancestors - who knew full well that Mother Earth was respected and revered - and understanding that dance and music are nourishment for the soul, we will appreciate the relationship between art and nature.
This show is a call to become aware of the importance of native flora. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the streets of Arequipa were full of trees? Why don't we dream of restoring the Queñual Forest in the city's highlands? Together we can take the first steps to make this dream come true. Let's enjoy the Huaynito: El árbol de la queñua es vida.
Head of musical work: Américo Martínez
Musical design: Jesús Alberto Gonzales
Choreography and dance: Noemí Rojas Surco
Head of Hogar de Cristo: Flor Esteban Ninantay
September 2023
The children take part in a competition on the topic of sustainability. All children and their families can submit a one- or two-dimensional book on the topic.
March 2023
The El Pueblo newspaper reports on the action of preparing the tree planting in our workshop in Arequipa and the subsequent planting of the 100 trees.
The Initiative Un Arbol - Una Vida
issued this certificate for the Friends of Arequipa eV for donating 100 trees.
The children who come to the Hogar de Cristo house have recorded their experiences with the Un Arbol - Una Vida initiative in a self-made book. The paper for the book is made from recycled paper that the children also made themselves.
February 2023
Friends of Arequipa eV enabled the children and young people to travel by bus to the sea.
The fun was great and at the same time I learned what to leave at the stand and what to take with you.
Our protégés at Hogar de Cristo were guests for the first time at the Hay Festivalito, which is aimed at children, in October 2022. This took place as part of the Hay Festival in Arequipa. The Video
gives an insight into the extensive program.
December 2022
In the run-up to Christmas we greet all friends and donors with one nice review
to the showcase of our club founder Elisabeth Schwall.
Many thanks to Guerlio Peralta from PERU VISION
for the beautiful short film.
“It’s not the lucky ones who are grateful.
It is the grateful who are happy.”
(Francis Bacon, English philosopher)
November 2022
Hay Festivalito
We support this event, which enables young people and children to take part in cultural activities through low-threshold access. The children are taught that they have rights and that there are opportunities to change something about their life situation and how important it is to form their own opinions. Hay Festival Arequipa, Peru
The dance group from Casa Hogar de Cristo is currently actively participating in the program Hay Festival
in Arequipa.
Un Arbol - Una Vida
In the spirit of sustainability, we plant trees together with the children. With this campaign we are contributing to reforestation in the Arequipa region. Un Arbol - Una Vida
October 2022
Invitation to the Zehntscheuer Schönaich
Elisabeth Schwall's work exhibition
08./09. October 2022
We are very pleased to be able to show you a selection of Elisabeth Schwall's paintings over a weekend in the beautiful setting of the Zehntscheuer Schönaich.
The idea for this exhibition came to us after we viewed and cataloged the works in her possession from very different phases of her artistic creation in the spring. The works range from landscape painting to abstract works, in very different techniques, from watercolor to acrylic.
After she was able to show her work in many successful exhibitions in the past, we wanted to make her work accessible to a larger audience again!
We would therefore like to invite you to the exhibition,
at the Saturday, October 8, 2022, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m
and on Sunday, October 9, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m
The official opening will take place with a short introduction on Saturday at 3 p.m.
We are also very pleased that we were able to win a Peruvian musician for Saturday through the association “Freundeskreis Arequipa eV”, whose honorary chairwoman is Elisabeth Schwall and which – alongside painting – was always her second “heart project”. 4 p.m. will provide musical accompaniment to the afternoon.
All possible proceeds from sales will, in the spirit of Elisabeth Schwall, go to the association for its work in Arequipa. If you are interested, you are welcome to find out more about the work of members of the association during the exhibition.
We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition!
Verena Schwall and Dorothee Schwall-Rudolph with families
www.elisabeth-schwall.de
July 2022
The children, young people and their families have their hands full in the workshop, including sewing costumes. We participate in the organization of the Hay Festival Arequipa, Peru. This comes from Wales/England and is a cultural event with low-threshold access. The version of the event called Hay Festivalito will take place in Arequipa from November 3rd to 6th and is intended to specifically appeal to young people in Peru.
The festival's activities have the following goals:
That people understand how important it is to form their own opinions.
Young people can learn that there is hope and also opportunities to get out of poor living conditions.
The participants learn that they have rights and who can represent them.
The idea of self-efficacy is being spread.
June 2022
There is a project in Arequipa that we are supporting this year: Un Arbol – Una Vida. We contribute financially so that 100 trees can be purchased and planted. Unreasonable deforestation has taken place near mountains and volcanoes in the past, which has become even worse during the pandemic. Many people had no money for heating material and so trees were cut down everywhere to obtain firewood. The current project is about raising awareness of the importance of the area's nature and starting reforestation. The children and young people from the Hogar de Cristo house will help plant the young trees.
May 2022
We at the Friends of Arequipa, with the support of Medicos Solidarios, were able to finance the purchase of tents for the health workers working in the Colca region. These tents can be seen almost everywhere in the Arequipa region and are seen as a sign of hope and solidarity in the fight against the pandemic and its serious consequences for the population.
March 2022
During her trip to Arequipa, Niurka Zuniga de Lang got impressions of the developments in the old house Hogar de Cristo and the new house with the workshop.
She was able to demonstrate the success of our Juntos project (Juntos 2020 Project – HOGAR DE CRISTO) in the smooth processes in the sewing workshop and was thrilled by the hard work of the young people and mothers when sewing in the new rooms.
Friends of Arequipa eV supports during the pandemic Médicos Solidarios. Currently, the Hogar de Cristo workshop is working on a new sewing order through the Juntos project, which the workshop received from Médicos Solidarios. Clothing must be sewn to protect against extreme cold. The clothing will go to health workers who provide medical assistance in the villages of the mountainous region of Arequipa (Colca).
December 2021
We at the Friends of Arequipa are more than happy to support the Hay Festival project in Arequipa:
Next month, Niurka Zuniga de Lang will travel to Arequipa to attend the launch of the Health for All campaign:
The group Medicos Solidarios
has successfully done its part to reduce the consequences of the Covid pandemic as far as it was possible. They are shifting their work to travel with doctors to remote areas, such as the town of Coporaque in the Colca Valley on January 15, 2022, to provide health care to the people there. We at the Circle of Friends are pleased to support the Medicos Solidarios group with our project JUNTOS. to the video
(YouTube)
November 2021
We at the Friends of Arequipa are more than happy to support the Hay Festival project in Arequipa:
https://www.hayfestival.com/arequipa/sponsors
https://www.wales.com/de/visit/festivals-musik/hay-festivals-around-world
The goals of the festival are, on the one hand, to convey the need for critical thinking. Especially at this time, protection against manipulation by groups and populists of all stripes is important.
On the other hand, the project brings culture closer to people by involving cultural workers.
Part of the festival is Hay Festivalito
whose content is aimed specifically at children and young people.
We at the Freundeskreis Arequipa eV are currently supporting the employees of Haus Hogar de Cristo, who are running a pilot cooperation project with Hay Festivalito
and the house's workshops are planning for 2022.
October 2021
After the efforts of the last few months, we are now happy that the Hogar de Cristo house in Arequipa has been able to reopen to a limited number of children. Fifteen of the youngest children are allowed to come back.
Our scholarship holders continued their training online, took a break or even worked actively with their families in the in-house workshops.
We are working feverishly to prepare the next step towards opening the house.
September 2021
OBITUARY
Completely surprising is our dear club member Dr. Fritz Piepenbring died this month at the age of 85.
He was our CFO for twenty years and only resigned last year.
Through his activities in various clubs, he was a source of experience for us on the board. No question, no matter how complicated, frightened him; it was simply a task that he tackled step by step.
His wife Inge Piepenbring, who died over twenty years ago, was a close friend of our club founder Elisabeth Schwall. Through her, Fritz got to know the association and experienced all the special developments from the beginning: how the association was founded and members were gained, how a house in Arequipa was found as a contact point for the poorly cared for children and the vision of the Espiritu Santu hospital , which also supplies the poor in Arequipa, was realized.
The funeral service took place on September 24th, 2021 at the Burghaldenfiedhof in Sindelfingen. The funeral will take place in Cologne. Every single person on the board is deeply touched that Fritz also thought about the children and young people in Arequipa. He would like donations to the association instead of flowers on his final journey.
The most beautiful monument a person can receive is in the hearts of their fellow human beings. These hearts are the pillars of www.freundeskreis-arequipa.com
One of Fritz's characteristics was always being there for his family. The board cannot avoid the impression that the club and everyone associated with it also got a piece of it. Thanks.
August 2021
For one or two attentive readers of our news, it will certainly be interesting to read how the Peru-Vision group's vision of quick and uncomplicated help during the pandemic developed and what they have to do with our association.
Read the article Médicos Solidarios Arequipa - The stars in the heart: www.peru-vision.com
July 2021
The Friends of Arequipa eV supports families and their children in the mountain villages of Pillone and Pueblo de Vincocaya in the Colca area of Arequipa by donating clothing in the form of jackets, blankets, shoes and the like.
This relief operation was carried out by the Giardino Tours travel agency
organized and promoted with the participation of families in Arequipa and, for example, us as an external group.
In July 2021 there was House “Hogar Jose Benito Otolengo”
a fire. Parts of the house were destroyed and the contents of the house, including furniture, were burned. Around 50 children with disabilities live in the “Hogar Jose Benito Otolengo” house and are looked after there.
This house is financed with donations. Most of the children treated there come from very poor families. Many families and institutions from Arequipa have stepped up to help the “Hogar Jose Benito Otolengo” house. Radio Arequipa
has started a campaign and we at the Freundeskreis Arequipa eV association have decided to support the campaign. Another supporter of the campaign is Espiritu Santo Polyclinic. This is interesting for us because we supported the clinic's association ten years ago. Today, the Espiritu Santu Polyclinic is a leading aid organization in Arequipa.
For more information, see this link.
Actions of this kind can only be made possible with the help of your donations. We thank you for that. It is worth it ..
May 2021
Our “JUNTOS” project is bearing fruit
In our Hogar de Cristo house, our team continued to sew protective clothing and make protective face masks with the young people.
For several months now, the Médicos Solidarios group has been purchasing the sewn protective clothing and face masks manufactured by the Asociación Hogar de Cristo and handing over the material to the medical staff of various health centers.
As a result, one donation supports two groups:
The families of the Hogar de Cristo house and the medical staff throughout Arequipa.
April 2021
The employees of the Hogar de Cristo and their supporters defied the pandemic with lots of creative ideas and great commitment: Food was organized (from hotels, companies, etc.) and made available to families at home in packages.
Workshops: The house was closed to minors.
In close collaboration between Niurka Lang and Flor Esteban (the manager of our house in Arequipa), the “Juntos” project was launched in August 2020.
In the mornings at the Hogar de Cristo house, the young people and their parents sewed protective clothing for the health sector. The quality was checked in the health centers. Because they meet the specified standards, the house has received larger work orders. 1,500 aprons have now been sewn, enabling the families to earn money.
Sewing courses took place in the afternoon, made possible by a group of donors from Holland.
Here you can see the protective face masks, the so-called “Facers”, of which 150 were delivered in January. were made in house.
Thanks to our savings from the last few years and the current income, installations could be implemented: pipes were laid and a sink with a tap was hung in the entrance area. In addition, a washing machine was purchased and put into operation.
A distance counseling program was implemented in-house. For this purpose, the children were divided into groups and a team member was assigned to them in the Hogar de Cristo house. Each child therefore had individual care: to ensure that the children were enrolled in schools and to prevent dropouts and school failure. We would like to thank Flor Esteban and Braulia Calderon, who are responsible for our scholarship holders in the house.
First of all, the technical requirements were created by organizing smartphones, televisions and the internet for families to be able to look after them.
Education to prevent infection with the Covid-19 virus
Recognizing stress
Learn to relax
Promote reading comprehension for equal opportunities
Addressing social contexts and life alternatives: Critical view – who are we?
For this purpose, the “Family Museum” project took place and documentary short films of an autobiographical type were created and submitted to a school competition. Two of “our” children became winners in their category.
There were further workshops on the aspect of diversity: cultural, social and political.
See also: Taller de comprension lectora – HOGAR DE CRISTO
(hogardecristo-arequipa.org)
A small change with a big impact:
2March 4, 2021
We have changed our club name and a small passage in our statutes.
Our names from now on “Friends of Arequipa”
and will be able to help children, young people and families in Arequipa without restrictions in the future.
Another announcement needs to be made: We welcome Renate Zengerling as treasurer and Carrie Scafe as secretary to the association.
Invitation to the concert on January 16, 2021
Concert “In Our Hands” – Pelo Madueño & Friends
Thank you for your support for MÉDICOS SOLIDARIOS!
Participation is free - Registration/participation
via Facebook Live.
Youtube link
Song with German translation |
Youtube link
January 2021
Due to the Covid pandemic, the house officially had to remain closed to the children until the end of 2020. The exemptions for some young people and their parents were extended so that they could sew more protective clothing for our “Juntos” project. The protective clothing will continue to be supplied to the healthcare system via “Medicos Solidarios”.
This work has created a way for our families to receive a salary in these very difficult economic times. They are currently being instructed to produce “facers”, which are used as additional protection to mouth and nose masks to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Christmas 2020
I hope for you
that everything succeeds
I hope, you
achieve a victory
I hope with all my heart
I hope for you
Hoping means believing
I love you with
Strength and confidence
To sweeten the Christmas season, I made homemade grape jelly, apple jam and spicy plum sauce and sold it to my friends. The proceeds go to a social project in Peru. “Hogar de Cristo” I support an institution there that helps children and families who are particularly suffering economically from the corona pandemic.
My motivation was the contact from my dear cousin, who is directly confronted with the need and suffering of people and their fates on a daily basis.
Kind regards / Saludos
Isabel Appel
December 2020
The events of 2020 are still influenced by the corona pandemic worldwide. This showed us the differences that exist between countries in terms of their healthcare systems and governments, and the people of Peru were clearly left behind.
Since we couldn't remain idle, this led to an expansion of our activities in the club. So that our help during the pandemic could be used directly for the health sector, we supported the “Médicos Solidarios” campaign.
With our own project “Juntos 2020” we made it possible to set up a sewing workshop in our house in Arequipa. There, our young people and families created protective clothing for the health workers in the city of Arequipa. “Médicos Solidarios” received this protective clothing and distributed it to all health centers in the city. This was only possible with the help of our donors.
The recent events in Peru were peaceful demonstrations by young people who, among other things, campaigned for democratic values. This commitment of young people and their success shows how important it is to support young adolescents: in terms of their education, health and awareness of their own concerns and the common good.
We feel encouraged to continue in the club and to support young people in particular.
There is a Christmas saying from Martin Luther King that says:
The Christmas hope for peace and goodwill
among all people can no longer be considered a kind of pious dream
be dismissed by some enthusiasts.
With this quote we wish you and your families a Merry Christmas.
September 2020
A big thank you goes out to our donors for their financial help, because with this donation we can actively support the “Medicos Solidarios in Arequipa/Peru” campaign.
The aim of this campaign is to ensure that health workers can work with the appropriate protective equipment.
We have now been able to hand over protective equipment to state hospitals, several health centers and to medical students in Arequipa's recognition year.
Over 500 aprons have now been made at Hogar de Cristo by our young people and some of their parents.
These aprons are intended for healthcare workers.
Helping people to help themselves is our most important task and is of great importance for the population of Arequipa.
Your help will provide the necessary relief in this serious emergency situation. More information about the activities of this campaign can be found here: www.medicos-solidarios-arequipa.com or here: www.facebook.com/medicossolidariosaqp/
Best wishes and stay healthy!
August 2020
New pilot project JUNTOS 2020
With the help of our supporters we have achieved a lot. From September 2020, Haus Hogar de Cristo's newly equipped sewing workshop will produce the aprons for health workers. The young people learn to sew and receive a donation for the sewn aprons.
Now Casa Hogar de Cristo is working with the “Médicos Solidarios” campaign in Arequipa. This is how the JUNTOS 2020 project was born.
Here you can find information about our support in Arequipa during the pandemic:
JUNTOS 2020 (Project presentation as PDF)
May 2020
Help in times of pandemic
Through a good recycling idea, 500 protective face masks were made from x-ray images and handed over to the two public hospitals in Arequipa.
Prototypes of intubator boxes and boxes for ventilators were also delivered. Friends of Hogar de Cristo eV was able to secure the financing of these devices in a timely manner. These boxes protect clinic staff from infection and enable health care for those suffering from Covid-19.
These prototypes were made in collaboration with the Católica Santa Maria University. A further 20 of these boxes are to be manufactured in Arequipa. Dr. Agueda Munoz, the students' project manager, is glad that we are by their side during this difficult time.
We are also considering having protective suits made by our young people at Hogar de Cristo to protect hospital staff from the viral disease. Helping people to help themselves is our most important task and is of great importance for the population of Arequipa.
A big thank you goes to our donors. Your help will provide the necessary relief in this serious emergency situation. Our children and young people definitely benefit from this.
Information about the daily activities of this campaign can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/medicossolidariosaqp/
Handing over face masks to clinical staff
Handover of intubation box to Honorio Delgado Hospital
Due to the ongoing curfew, no activities can take place in direct contact with the children. Nevertheless, our employees Braulia and Flor are always on duty for our protégés. Our children's families receive food such as rice and sugar every week. The parents come to our house and pick up the groceries. In some cases, Braulia and Flor travel directly to the families to hand over the packages with basic foodstuffs.
“Old” smartphones were collected and distributed to families without smartphones so that contact can be maintained using communication apps.
The specialist expertise of our psychologist is also in great demand. She gives the children as much support as she can over the phone.
Our children receive lessons via state television.
Our children were unable to return to our home in central Arequipa after the summer vacation that ended in March due to the spread of the respiratory disease COVID-19.
The Peruvian government announced on March 16th. declared a national emergency. All people are only allowed to leave the house on special occasions.
While we in Germany are anxiously looking forward to the economic situation of the future, social hardship has hit the families of our protégés with great force from one day to the next.
Our employees Braulia and Flor are not idle. They put together food packages from our pantry and bring them to our children's families. In addition, donations come from the kitchens of hotels via Lula (our long-time supporter in Arequipa, Peru).
We know, both through the media and through personal descriptions to Niurka Zuniga de Lang, that the situation in the hospitals is precarious for those affected by the viral disease and the medical staff. The two main hospitals in Arequipa had to be closed because all doctors and nurses contracted the virus while working.
Our association has been in contact with the hospitals in Arequipa for years. Our children receive free health care from some doctors there. We donated money to these doctors as emergency aid to purchase their protective clothing.
This is a success for Carolina and all of us. The help of the donors is bearing fruit.
Our board reports on their trip to Arequipa in January 2019
The house will be partially staffed from April. In Flor Esteban, the association was able to recruit an experienced employee who presented us with her concept for the house in detail.
The program with our scholarship holders is running very successfully. We met our soon-to-be graduates again and spoke to the new candidates.
At the end of March, two of our protégés earned their degrees: We congratulate Sandro on graduating as an industrial electrical engineer at TECSUP and Richard as a technical specialist in manufacturing in the mechanical area at SENATI.
September 2018
There are hardly any children or beggars to be seen in the center anymore. These are pushed to the edge of the city, where tourists don't come. Children of single mothers or parents who work to provide the bare necessities of life for themselves and their children come to us. These are usually poorly paid jobs. The children are in the Hogar after school, are looked after in the house, receive food and do their schoolwork with the help of the “educadoras”. It is very important to us that the children have a chance for a better life and the Hogar is very good for that and we want to continue to support it.
There are currently 66 children in the house. Mainly children up to 15 years of age are cared for. We have set up scholarships for older young people who attend technical schools or universities for further education. There are currently 14 scholarship holders. The program for the scholarship holders has gone well over the past six months.
Our employees in Arequipa want a changed procedure for accepting new children, which we are now working on. Previously, we were only able to support a new child with a scholarship once another had completed their education. The staff at Hogar de Cristo don't just see good school grades as a prerequisite for training or studying and want to give the children more differentiated advice about their options in advance.
There are important decisions to be made regarding the preventative health care of the children who come to our home. A donation from us to the hospital (before it was built) provided us with healthcare for five years. Because the agreement is expiring, we will soon have to negotiate new health care conditions with the “Espiritu Santo” hospital.
We wish the children and our many helpers in the house in Arequipa a happy new quarter.