Hi everyone!

Things have been silent for a while, so here's an update. There are good news and those that quite frankly could be better.

1. For one, we are all still waiting for the date of the operation. Hopefully, the decision will be made within nearest weeks, and Lucas is still on the list. Yay!

2. Between the two sites, we have been able to gather almost 50% of what will be needed!

!!!Thank you to all who have helped and who have shared!!!

3. In the meanwhile, the conditions have changed in that the clinic's hostel in Lima has been shut down for renovation. This means no free accommodation. We need to find - and pay - for a place for Meri and Mini to stay in Lima.

4. So far, Luquitas, his mother Meri and sister Mini have been staying with a remote Aunt on the outskirts of Iquitos. They need to stay in Iquitos, so to make sure that they are still on the list, and so as to not miss the call, and make it on time (this happened last year!).

4a. Meri's brother

As if staying at the Aunt's was not uneasy enough for Meri, her brother arrived from another city a few weeks ago. We were glad, hoping he would be able to help Meri out. However, he quickly contracted dangerous dengue fever that is spreading in Iquitos. He has been seriously ill for the past two weeks and dependent on Meri's attention. So, Meri was left with no help and no money. The four of them became dependent on their poor Auntie.

4b. Meri's mother and remaining children

But what truly makes things difficult in many ways is this.

As we have mentioned before, Meri's mother had been taking care of the remaining 3 children back in the home village (yes, you remember right, at least 7 days of travel from Iquitos). Which was great, since this allowed Meri to wait in Iquitos and travel with Lucas to Lima.

However, Meri's mother had been calling with bad news for the last two months. She had been suffering from an intensifying stomachache until she became unable to work, move and eat herself. For Meri's kids under her care, this obviously was bad news.

Couldn't Meri's mother see a doctor?

In this remote location, there is only one medical post in a neighbouring village. It is manned by only one nurse with only the rudimentary medical knowledge and capacities. When this nurse is off, the whole Upper Tapiche area remains without even this basic medical assistance. And guess what - the nurse has been gone for weeks. Seriously worried over her condition, Meri's mother decided to embark on a logger's boat and travel 4 days downriver to the town of Requena. And from there, to Iquitos and search for medical attention.

And so, apart from Meri's mother - no one else would take care of the three kids - least of all, sadly, their estranged father who lives in the same village.

Meri's mother has just arrived in Iquitos, sick, unable to care for herself, and bringing the remaining three kids to Meri. Now, she has trouble accessing her state medical insurance. A privately paid USG specialist said: "a tumour in the liver". But this is another Amazonian story.

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To recap: Meri, her brother, her mother and her five children are staying in the poor Auntie's house and depend on what her small field yields. For Lucas, this means that *for now*, Meri is unable to go with him to Lima leaving everyone else behind, even if the date were to be finally known.

But we still do not give up, and neither does Meri. We intend to influence the father to make him feel responsible for his son and family - and to take Lucas to Lima himself (where he would feel much more secure than Meri). And we intend to continue gathering the funds until Lucas goes through his operation, sooner or later, with this or another obstacle. In the future, he can be the one to help his family out.

Could you please ask a friend if she or he can help?

So, as you can see, if you ever get to question your privilege, or complain about your life, you can think of Meri and her family: from the remotest village in the remote and marginalized region of a country that struggles with ubiquitous, incapacitating corruption and a gaping chasm between those who can and have everything, and those who can and have nothing. And her story or the story of her mother and brother are no exceptions, or not even the most dramatic ones. Living in this part of Peru, you come to hear such stories everywhere around you, and you come to accept them as the sad norm! No good education, no even half-decent health care, not to mention the money or honest authorities...