Due to the torrential rains and flooding in the Cusco area in early February, the children of “Los Girasoles” Center for Street Boys find themselves without a home. Through its Community Outreach Committee, ACAP is reaching out to help the center rebuild. In this issue, ACAP asked Paul Clark, the general director of Scripture Union Peru, to tell us about Los Girasoles, the flooding, and what is needed to rebuild. If you are interested in making a donation, please contact ACAP's office by phone at 222-6359 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ACAP: What is the background/history of the Scripture Union Center in Cuzco and what kind of services does it provide?

Paul Clark: Two years ago, Casa Girasoles, Scripture Union's Home for Abandoned Boys, was opened in Cusco's Sacred Valley.  It was a dream come true. Nine years ago we started looking for a suitable piece of land near Cusco for a home in a beautiful setting, appropriate for boys who would in all likelihood have very few memories of things beautiful in their lives.  And so it was that after five years we came across a beautiful setting between the towns of Urubamba and Pisac (nearer to the former).

It is a story too long to tell, particularly in that the “surprise donor” requested to remain anonymous.  The construction monies were forthcoming far quicker than we could imagine and in record time a beautiful home was built. It was constructed along the same architectural lines as other buildings in the Valley, as it is one of S.U.'s principles to validate local custom as a means of showing respect to the boys who will live in the home.

Forty homeless boys to live in Casa Girasoles were not difficult to find, sadly. But that is the truth in a country where sadly there are too many are left to live their lives out on their own. The services we provide are food, clothing, health services, schooling appropriate to their history (many have never been), and above all plenty of tender, loving care. All this along with their knowing that God has a very special place for them in his heart, as Jesus did during his stay on Earth, is what we seek to give each boy. Handled the boys not so much as a group but as individuals, we attempt to carve out for each boy a future, a hope and a dream.

ACAP: How many children live at the center and what are, in general, some of their backgrounds? 

Clark: We have forty boys in each of our six homes  (the other five being in Ancash, at the foot of Mt. Huascará; Puerto Alegría on the Itaya River near Iquitos; Kawai, 89 kilometers south of Lima on the Ocean;  Ica; and Chosica (provisionally, while their new home is being built in the Lurín Valley.) These boys all have in common the fact of having been abandoned, left to live in the streets on their own. They are rarely seen on the streets (they are not to be confused with children who beg, clean car windows, etc.) but live in hiding, coming out, usually in the early evenings, to steal in exchange for food, etc.  Almost all of them have, as their deepest, saddest memory “mi mama,” the last to turn her back on them (usually “mother” is a simple, very poor and ignorant peasant woman who has been victimized herself).

ACAP: Can you tell us about the flooding and the extent of the damage at the center?

Clark: Héctor and Maritza, the house parents, had quietly (unbeknown to us) been saving up some money during the year with which to surprise the boys by taking them down to the coast to be by the ocean for a week (at our Kawai Home). When word of that got out, a friend in the United Kingdom offered to pay for the trip. Héctor expressed his gratitude but said that the costs were covered. I was very proud of him. We run our program on a shoe-string and it would have been so easy for him to take up the offer! 

When the flood hit at 04:30 a.m. the boys were all sound asleep in Kawai!  Two and a half days later the entire structure (built of huge adobe block) collapsed under the heavy tiled roof supported by large eucalyptus logs. We rushed Héctor back to the scene, but sadly looting had already taken place. Some things were rescued and are in storage, as are most of the tiles. Some things still under water and thick mud. We have given instructions that there is to be no further attempt to salvage items until things have settled down and there is no danger in entering the debris. Héctor later told me that, although the boys and his wife cried, he managed not to until he saw some of the children's shoes floating away, out of reach!

ACAP: What is the current situation of the center? Where are the children staying?

Clark: We have just signed a contract with the owners of a property which at one time was a hotel near Urubamba but is now very dilapidated after the death of the owner and his wife. The four heirs agreed to rent it to us until December 31st for a total of seven thousand soles. BUT we get to put things back in shape.

ACAP: What does the center need to rebuild?

Clark: We need to start again! That means looking for new sites (learning from our mistakes, we shall not be looking for beauty next to the river!), selecting one, and then starting a building process. The gentleman who made the first, big donation, has offered to assist us, and we are grateful for that as well as for any other help we may come by in helping us “rebuild the dream.”

ACAP: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Clark: Just a word of gratitude to any who are able to help us in bringing back to these forty boys, and to the  many who  will follow, the hope of a future.