Mennonite Weekly Review

GOSHEN, Ind. — Rachel Hal­der arrived in the port city of Chimbote, Peru, to find an overwhelming smell of fish.

Rachel Halder, a Goshen College senior from Parnell, Iowa, holds a pile of the bracelets she is selling to help young women in Chimbote, Peru, where Halder spent a semester. The bracelets are made by Peruvian teenage girls who belong to a group working for a better future. — Photo by Jodi H. Beyeler/Goshen College

However, the Goshen College senior’s focus quickly moved to the stench of poverty surrounding her. Chimbote is one of the poorest cities in Peru, with 45 percent of the 400,000 residents living in extreme poverty.

Halder, from Parnell, Iowa, returned from her semester-long Study-Service Term in spring 2008 with about 200 colorful hand-woven bracelets made by a group of Peruvian teenage girls.

She was amazed at how quickly they sold, and how much the money she collected would be able to help the people of the Peruvian coastal town of Chimbote, where she spent six weeks serving at a local parish.

“I was definitely surprised at how much it took off and how much people were sincerely interested in the project,” Halder said. “It’s obviously a passion of mine because I have the personal connection to the area, but I’ve been surprised at how supportive others have been. I’ve even had churches contact me saying that they want to help out.”

In Chimbote, Halder worked at Parroquia de Nuestra Soccorro (Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish), run by Father Jack Davis and Sister Peggy Byrne. It offers programs including social services, infrastructure development, health care, economic development and education.

Yet Halder found one group not being served: young women.

She told the parish she wanted to start a group like one created to keep young boys off the streets and away from drugs and gangs. Right away, boys in the group took her door-to-door to see if girls in the community would be interested in joining the new group, Chicas de la Prevención (Prevention Girls). That first day, eight girls 12 to 18 years old agreed to meet with her regularly.

“I was hoping the group would last, and so far it has,” she said.

“Our original goals were to prevent the girls from falling into the traps of other people in the community, like prostitution and teenage pregnancy, and give them motivation and encouragement to not give in to sexual and drug pressures, but also to give them something to do,” Halder said. “We would just kind of meet and hang out. We would sit around and talk about stuff.”