A very different place.

The Refuge of Hope.

When I visited Peru in 2009 with my sister in law, Deedee Estevez, the director of the non-profit foundation that have been established to support El Refugio de Esperanza (The Refuge of Hope) in Pucallpa, Peru; from the U.S., I was surprised at the number of handicapped people living in the rural areas around the Amazon River, a very poor area with minimal resources to live.

The Refuge of Hope was founded in 1987 by Pastor Victor Manuel Izquiero Lora, together with his wife, Ana Mendoza Lopez.  Because Pastor Victor was physically disabled after surviving polio as a child, he understood the unique needs of people with disabilities.  He was inspired to create a place for individuals like himself to personally develop, to study, to learn a profession, and to know the love of God.  This vocational school for handicapped children and adults not only teaches reading and writing, but it provides each student with a vocational skill such as shoe repair, metal work, electronics, sewing, cosmetology, or sign making so that these children can one day live independently.

I definitely fell in love with this place, not only for the special people who works, studies and lives in this very unique place; practically a quarter of the population has some sort of disability due to polio, snakebites, or accidents, but all of them are very happy and religious people. Despite the poor conditions and the disabilities of the students and the staff of the Refuge, The Refuge is a place filled of love, hope and is working hard to provide education, vocational training, rehabilitation, and care to the disabled in Pucallpa, Peru.

I spent a week in this amazing place, my sister in law and I were provided with a small room, with two single beds, some clean sheets, and a very simple and noisy fan in the “woman area”. It was a very hot place, our room could reach the 100 °F at 7 a.m.  In the other hands, the food was extraordinary delicious, having a river very close they cooked everyday fresh cached fish combined with real organic veggies, I can tell, there is a huge difference in taste. 

Watching this school operate I was amazed at how much the staff accomplished on a short budget was one the most encourage feeling about team work, believe in God and true love for each other.

The Refuge students