Current State

In the wake of some truly devastating flooding to the Cusco area, God has provided Soles for Soles with some awesome fundraising opportunities.

- This Friday, February 12th Blackbird Coffee in Milledgeville is kindly hosting Yo Soybean (a folk alternacoustic band from the Alpharetta area) for a concert to benefit Soles for Soles.
- Concert starts at 8pm
- Admission is $3, and we'll have coffee mugs, a few extra shirts, and some hot bags to sell. SO excited!
- Blackbird Coffee is located in downtown Milledgeville on Hancock street

- The GCSU Colonnade is publishing a feature article about Soles for Soles! It'll hit the GCSU stands Friday. (Pick one up if you're in town for the concert!)

I received this email about Cusco and the Sacred Valley's current state:

Foreign press have been focusing on the evacuation of tourists from Machu Picchu due to the severe damage caused by floods and landslides in the Cusco region. However, the experience of these tourists being air-lifted out has no comparison with the atrocities locals in the Sacred Valley and southern Cusco valley have had to endure. Over 13, 000 houses were swept away and more than 60,000 people have been directly affected by the flooding. In the normal rainy season the Vilcanota river has a volume of between 600 and 800 m³ but now 1100 m³ a second was measured. Thirteen bridges over the river have been destroyed which makes logistics very difficult. Hundreds of hectares of corn crops have been ruined and this will cause serious economical setbacks for hundreds of families in the coming year. Local communities organised themselves with group kitchens and received basic food supplies and started cleaning the rubble of their houses, but these efforts lack co-ordination and there is no sign of any major reconstruction or rebuilding effort by national or regional authorities. The lack of leadership and organisation in most districts is obvious and disheartening.


- Right now, I am in prayer for the direction of the funds being raised this month. While Manuel certainly and quite desperately needs medication, the region effected by these floods directly touches all of the students. Unfortunately, the kids are on summer vacation and we will not know about their well being until March.  


Thanks for checking the news, friends. Love to you all. 
- Sara C.