Nuestra Senora De La Paz, Motupe, Lima, Peru

2005-06-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

Project: Community Centre for Simon Bolivar & Santo Toribio

Here at the foot of Santo Toribio on the outskirts of Lima (Peru) the very first community centre for an area with almost ten thousand people is being built. The area ranks on a level with the poorest areas in Lima.

History:The project began when the community of Simon Bolivar offered a site to the parish. What a site. It was half covered with rock. The “experts” said that the rock would come out easily. However once again the “ experts” were wrong. The rock was solid. It turned out to be largely granite. So Sunday mornings, women and men came in turns from the various communities and levelled the site. Shovels, pick-axes, finger-blistering mornings from 6 A.M. to 10A M for months.

The first storey was roofed this Friday ( June 24th) and the second storey will be finished in about six weeks time.

It will be a new experience for the Senior Citizens to have a meeting place.

It will be a boon for the thirty women in S. Toribio in the sowing project. Upstairs will have the Library. It will be a library for children where the school books will be available together with reference books and dictionaries. Most children here have no schoolbooks. The only have their copies and very often there isn’t a table or space in their little houses to do school exercises.

The kitchen will be used to provide some meals for children and the place will be linked up with The Vaso de Leche (Glass of milk) programme.

Without the help provided by the people from the Parish of Christ the King, Bass Hill, Yagoona, NSW, Australlia this project would not have been possible.

The photos below of the site leveling and construction were taken in April and June and show the work in progress.

2005-06-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

Celebrations for roofing of the first floor

2005-06-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mike, Margret and Clare at the celebrations for the roofing of the first floor

2005-06-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Local children at the celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Noemi at the celebrations for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

Celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:53:00.001-07:00

Celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Speach making

2005-06-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Local kids at celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Celebration for completion of the first floor.

2005-06-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ned

2005-06-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

Local kids watching the roofing of the first story

2005-06-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - end of the day

2005-06-27T16:42:00.001-07:00

Finished first floor roof

2005-06-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Finished roof of the building first floor

2005-06-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - filling the stairway with concrete

2005-06-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - close to completion

2005-06-27T16:36:00.001-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - filling the iron with concrete. The building has to be designed to withstand earthquake tremors.

2005-06-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - bring up the concrete

2005-06-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - some of the local kids who will use the centre on their way to school

2005-06-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - cement

2005-06-27T16:18:00.001-07:00

Roofing the first flooring - preparing the concrete

2005-06-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - filling the pulley bucket

2005-06-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - carrying the concrete

2005-06-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - preparing the concrete

2005-06-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

Roofing the first floor - a next door neighbour watching

2005-06-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - preparing for laying the concrete

2005-06-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Cutting wire cables

2005-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - finishing the iron work before laying the concrete

2005-06-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - the neighbouring kids watching the proceedings

2005-06-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - the building (just below the blue sign), lies at the foot of two cerros (hills) where some of the poorest people of Lima live

2005-06-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - the cerro township of St Toribio in the background

2005-06-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - electricty for the pulley is taken from the nearest pole

2005-06-27T11:16:00.001-07:00

Roofing the first floor - preparing the pully system

2005-06-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - the black on the rock face is where it was heat to enable the space for the building to be cleared

2005-06-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - Mario and Felix planning operations

2005-06-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-27T11:12:00.001-07:00

Ground floor and second floor plans

2005-06-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor - Mario the engineer

2005-06-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor (22nd July)

2005-06-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

Roofing the first floor

2005-06-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Thomas and Felix - finishing the ground floor

2005-06-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Ned, Margret and Thomas

2005-06-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

Toasting the first floor

2005-06-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Margret at the front door

2005-06-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Margret and Ned on Site

2005-06-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ground floor, the final touches

2005-06-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Start of the Stairway to Level 2

2005-06-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Clearing the site, the first wall

2005-06-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Clearing the site

2005-06-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Clearing the site

2005-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Dusty

2005-06-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

The Environment

2005-06-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

Next door neighbour

2005-06-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Thomas

2005-06-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen

2005-06-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

All hands on deck

2005-06-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

View from below

2005-06-06T12:37:00.001-07:00

The front door

2005-06-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Clearence - a portion of the stones removed to clear the site

2005-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

The neighbours

2005-06-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Trench - Digging the sewerage system