Patrick is a builder and a carpenter who came to cusco with a goal in mind: Building a house for someone who lost his home in the recent flooding. The world has conspired to help me and we happened to meet quite coincidently at a local bar.

(Saint) Patrick is now part of the team and I feel extremely blessed with it as he’s not only a very skilful builder but also a great guy who’s committed to help those in need.

Yesterday was a long day for both of us. Saint Patrick and I spent the morning calculating how much material we need for the new house. We also drew a new plan as the old ones were simply too expensive.
Next step was to go to Chinchero and get an approval from the house owner. The family consulted and agreed to the new plan which includes 4 rooms, one at the attic level. As soon as approval was granted we took the bus back to Cusco in order to get for the best deal in town. We didn’t want to compromise on quality and eliminated any factory that had cheap products. We still needed a good price though so we explored every shop in 2 industrial areas of the city.

Finally in the evening, just before it turned dark, we closed deals with 3 different factories for the initial martial we need, around 5 tons in total. The cost: Close to $2800, quite a bit more than what I’ve fundraised but it was definitely not the right time to back off.

Currently there is a glaring minus sign on our donation status but both Patrick and I have a good faith that the universe will help us along the way.

Donation numbers till this date are:

Total Donations: $2273.65 (42 People, Thank you!)
Total Expenses: $2989.5
Donation Status: $-715.85

Back in town we both agreed its time for beer. We sat at the bar and discussed our next day. Patrick will start placing stones and leave enough room for the cement and I will be responsible for delivery & payments. As we’re discussing the guy who sat near me offered his help. He’s a engineer in Canada and have a lot of experience with structures. Again, the world conspires to help us!

Big hug from Peru
Tal

For Donations: Donate page

Photos of Visits 4 – 6 (18-22 March 2010):

We also took some measurements and the plan is to build a 8*4 meter wooden house. Half of it will be a two stories house. Quite a vision for a 3 weeks project..

Right now there is a lot of mud so in the next 3-4 days the main job would be to prepare the ground for the base of the house. Then we’ll start the construction phase. I’ve requested some volunteers from an excellent local hostel called Loki and hopefully few volunteers can join me on Thursday & Friday.

Se there’s a lot of physical work for the next few weeks but tomorrow my Spanish teacher and I going to check materials prices (Wood, tiles, etc) and perhaps hire a local builder. Wish me luck with the prices, The locals simply don’t like to haggle and it took me more than 15 minutes to get a a few dollars discount today. All with laughs, of course.

My local Spanish teacher offered his help so we’ll both go to a cheap market tomorrow and buy/deliver a new mattress, blankets, food, etc.
We’ll also take some measurements and on Wednesday start the reconstruction phase. A builder, believe it or not, costs $15 for a whole day so we will use this help as well.

A good friend of mine raised a question so I just want to let you know that 100%, and not even 1 percent less of it, of your money goes to this rebuilding project. The money will not go to any institution or other NGO and will be used solely by me on materials and construction for this specific house and the featured family on the site.

I can’t keep thanking you enough. You have just done something amazing.
Much love from Peru

As some of you know I’m in Peru right now and plan to stay here few more weeks, mainly to help locals who lost their homes in recent floods event.

I need some help.

Well, not me personally, but a family I have got to know recently.
A week ago I volunteered with a group of travellers ripping down and cleaning the remains of homes in a tiny town near Cusco. A friend of mine found this village during a motorcycle trip as most of the roads are not laid out for cars very well and also quite narrow. It was quite a devastating day; Furniture covered with mud, broken toys lying on the ground, torn books & ripped clothing everywhere. Memories lost forever.

At the end of the day the old man who owns the house started crying like a baby in my arms. When we left he just stood there in his torn cloths sobbing his eyes out, looking a bit embarrassed. He asked us to come back.
He was actually begging. Some went back the next day but they all had to continue their trip so in few days I’ll be the only one who can help this family. The Peruvian government has to deal with more than 10,000 people who lost their homes so this poor family can forget about getting any local assistance.

I went back yesterday and made a list of what they need in order to rebuild their house and also to have some food to survive the coming months. I then checked with some people here: A small metal roof for example, cost only US$10…

I couldn’t believe it either. For the price of a CD or a movie this family can have a proper roof instead of the nylons they currently use. To be honest, you wouldn’t let a dog or horse living in these conditions. Imagine everything you have is taken away. Imagine sleeping in the cold. I have been seeing it all week and it really puts things into perspective.

I’ve currently collected $100 for to help build the house and to help the family survive the coming months. I’ve also built a website and put some photos/video of the family asking for your help:

http://www.helpingtheneedy.org/index.php/2010/02/12/cusco-floods/

If you are able to offer any help, as little as it can be, or if you know anyone in Cusco’s area who can join this life saving project, or even if you just want to drop me a line, please do so.

In any case, I hope all’s well wherever you are

Much love from Peru
Tal

For donation: Click here

For donation: Click here