Why the City of Arequipa?

There are, no doubt, a good number of smaller cities and villages dispersed throughout Peru that have at-risk children.  However, Peru is not like many Western countries that have an abundance of resources in their different cities.  Nor are all of Peru’s locations what we would consider ideal to receive and restore a child.  It is for this reason that we have chosen this particular city to establish our new girls’ home.

The Family Court System, located in the city of Arequipa, receives children from diverse areas of the large southern end of that country.  The reason being is due to the size and nature of that greater metropolitan area.  It offers the amount of resources that other cities in that part of the country simply do not have.  Additionally, Arequipa currently has only 16 children’s homes that are all endeavoring together to meet the ever-growing need to shelter Southern Peru’s abandoned, abused, and exploited children.

To properly restore and rehabilitate a child, a number of matters must first be taken into account for the “Whole Development of a Child”.  A few of these include:

1. Education
2. Health
3. Spiritual Orientation
4. Clothing
5. Nutrition
6. Sense of being part of a family that forms spiritual and moral values: Loyalty, honesty, responsibility, solidarity, love, humility, peace and truth, justice, dignity and respect.  In order to form these values as noted in #6, items 1-5 are needed

Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city, offers all the above in abundance, including areas of recreation and a very pleasant climate that lends itself to help create a happy environment.  Coupled with this, our Peru staff has a number of years of working with the court system there and we are very familiar with the city and its workings.