Midland caregiver to open a community kitchen in Peru
9 Dec 2022
The seed of an idea to open a community kitchen was established by Simon and his wife Veronica when they previous lived in Peru seeing first-hand the poverty and poor living conditions in the country.
Simon said previously we helped with giving people in need blankets and clothes and we were appalled to see how children and older people were just forgotten and ignored.
“Over the past few years we have spent considerable time deciding and planning and we believe we can really make a difference to help these people,” he said.
“We have chosen to open the community kitchen in the city of La Union in the state of Huánuco, as it is a very poor city. While it has been hard to gauge the poverty level within the city, the state of Huánuco has a poverty rate of around 80 per cent.
“Our local church, Roleystone Community Church, is providing some financial support to us and we will partner with ‘Centro Evangelistico’, a local Christian church in La Union to establish the kitchen.
“The kitchen will initially run with the help of volunteers from the local church, and we plan to engage local growers, farmers and producers.
“Our vision is to help those people who have little to no means of helping themselves to lighten the burden of everyday living. We will also be talking to local government and charities to find out how they can be involved in the project to support the local community.”
The couple have set up a GoFundMe Page to help raise funds for the community kitchen. All donations will go directly to help those in need.
Whilst COVID has delayed their plans over the past few years, they are leaving Australia in March 2023 to begin the process of setting up the kitchen.
“We know we have a long road ahead and many challenges, but we are preparing for the journey and very much looking forward to opening up the kitchen,” Simon said.
“We recognise it will be a very different life for us and our children, but the people of Peru are amazing and resilient and we eager to help them.”
Simon has previously travelled on short-term mission trips to the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Peru.
Veronica was in Peru as a missionary for seven years before meeting Simon who went there on a short-term mission trip in 2007. After spending a few more years in Peru and Mexico they moved to Australia in 2013 to raise their family.
See their GoFundMe for further information or to donate.
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