Leaving Huancayo Today

We depart from Huancayo and the bus ride down into Lima in about an hour. This part of the project is finished. We are leaving a core group of 5 people, including 3 teachers and several professional artists, with a real enthusiasm for music, the instruments, playing together and a desire to use music and the skills we have been sharing to work with children in Huancayo in a therapeutic way. I really hope the project is sustained and I think it will be :)

Week 3

Week 3, our last week here, is underway. Staff are beginning to lead sessions so things looking positive. A few sessions lost due to stomach problems but still on course. Just 4 days left before we head back to Lima on Saturday.

Week 2 underway

With week one finished, the instruments bought and used for the first time, the second week of the project is now underway.
Daily sessions and staff workshops (info/pics at the Music as Therapy blog http://www.musicastherapy.org/news/blog.html) mean doing everything we can to embed and make the project sustainable when we leave in less than 2 weeks.
Some pics of Huancayo and the local area now posted down the side of the blog.

Link to photos

Try following this link for photos of our trip so far.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150728803440347&set=a.10150728803125347.718876.601375346&type=1&theater&pid=20173385&id=601375346
Hopefully that will work.

All good in Huanacayo

Yesterday we bought the musical instruments for the project. Some funny looks that were wondering what sort of a band we were planning on forming with that selection of instruments but after some hard bargaining I think we got a good deal. Start with sessions tomorrow. Sun so bright up here and wearing thermals. Learnt to play volleyball today, left breathless by the altitude.

Arrived in Huancayo...

Made it to Huancayo late last night after amazing bus ride winding up through the mountains. Brilliant blue sky this morning but a chill in the air too! Talking and thinking about the project... exploring Huancayo a little today before we begin tomorrow.

all good in Lima

Safely arrived in Lima, walk by the sea and bus into the mountains and Huancayo this afternoon. All good

Leaving tomorrow...

We leave tomorrow - after all the fundraising we set out for Peru and Huancayo tomorrow morning from Heathrow. Heathrow ~ New York ~ Lima (a day to rest) ~ Huancayo (by bus). Should get there by Sunday evening Peru time so early Monday morning UK time - Peru is 6 hours behind. Excited, nervous.. wondering what we'll find.

Leaving in less than a week...

We leave for Peru on Friday 22nd July - less than a week now and we start work there on Monday 25th all being well. We work in a nursery school in the morning, an after school project with teenagers in the late afternoon and then the evenings are spent with the local staff - thinking about and working with some of the basics of music therapy. An interesting and exciting 3 weeks in store. I'm not sure it will really become reality until the plane takes off from Heathrow on Friday morning!! Over £1500 raised and between both Carine and myself I think we may break the £3000 mark.

Thank You VOCALITY Singing

A big thank you to VOCALITY Singing. Two fabulous concerts last Friday and last night have raised £460 for the Music as Therapy International Peru Project.
http://www.vocalitysinging.co.uk/

3 Weeks Until We Depart

In 3 weeks we will be getting ready to leave the capital of Peru - Lima - to head east on the 300 mile trip to Huancayo, the principal city in the Junin region of Peru - the central highlands. At 3200 meters up in the Andes mountains Huancayo is the cultural and commercial centre of the whole Peruvian Andes Range. Final details and plans are being sorted for the project and the list of personal equipment is done including sun screen for the day time when the temp may get up into the 20's and warm layers for when the temp. drops down to 5 degrees or below in the evening and over night... winter in Peruvian Andes sounds like a mixed bag!

Fundraising Concert in Richmond - rescheduled

This means the concert in Richmond and Putney Unitarian Church, scheduled for 26th June will be moved to after we get back - an opportunity to listen to music and for us to share our experiences in Peru.

STOP PRESS ~ Fundraising Concert - Sunday 19th June. 7pm

Peru Project Fundraising Concert - THIS SUNDAY - 7pm start.  At the Only Connect Creative Arts Company - Kings Cross.
http://www.oclondon.org/
Do come if you possibly can - a varied evening of music - and all in support of the Music as Therapy International Peru Project.
£5 entry - or free if you have donated via the virgin.com donation page - just let me know you're coming!

Flights Booked

Flights to Lima are booked. We leave on Friday 22nd of July at 10.05am. Fly via Newark International Apt to arrive into Lima at 21.01 on Friday 22nd. We then rest for a day before the bus ride out to Huancayo ready to make a start on Monday morning. Then return leaving Lima on Monday 15th August at 22.30 again via Newark International Apt to arrive into Heathrow at 07.40 on Wednesday 17th August. All set.

Inn Way Completed - Stage 6 Finished 1st June.

Castleton - Edale - Hayfield. 'the old packhorse route between Edale and Hayfield... For many centuries people have walked this way, toiling up the steep slopes, braving biting winds and stinging rain. Before the days of maps and guidbooks, it would have come as great relief and reassurance to see the crudely fashioned Edale Cross at the top of the pass giving both geographical and spiritual guidance... your companions, now as then, are tumbling streams, distant vistas and towering slopes... trade and industry was carried out on foot for many thousands of years; these old packhorse routes were the motorways of their day.' A late afternoon start meant arriving in the evening as the sun went down ~ a fitting end to the Inn Way. Photos on Flickr.

Inn Way Stage 5 Finished, Only One To Go Now...

From Baslow to Youlgrave - 12 miles through Chatsworth Park - 'it straddles the banks of the river Derwent at the heart of which stands the magnificent Chatsworth House, affectionately known as the Palace of the Peak and home of the Duke of Devonshire... created during the mid 18th Century with the help of Lancelot (Capability) Brown, England's greatest landscape gardener'. Then village hopping through Beeley, Rowsley, Congreave, Stanton in the Peak, Birchover and Youlgrave. A wet day... great for ducks.

Inn Way Stage 4 Complete

Stage 4 complete - 17.5 miles over the southern Pennines from Hayfield on the west side to Hathersage on the East. 'Through the dramatic ravine of William Clough then down alongside the infant River Ashop, taking in the starkly beautiful landscape... through sodden peat and across steep clough-sides'. Some rain and wind and the Peak District's Dark Peak was looking dramatic today. Photos on Flickr.

Fundraising Concert - Richmond, Evening of 26th June

Delighted to announce a fundraising concert in aid of the Music as Therapy Peru Project on the evening of the 26th June in Richmond and Putney Unitarian Church. 
Artists to include:
Jessica Lee ~ flute
Fontane Liang ~ harp
Sofie Almroth ~ voice
Filipe Sousa ~ piano
Andrew Darlison ~ flute
More soon....

Leg 3 Of 'Inn Way' Complete

Just completed the 16 miles from Youlgrave to Tideswell.
'The limestone valleys of the White Peak are the crowning glory of the Peak District, hidden gardens of Eden where nature abounds and beauty triumphs... a wonderful world of crystal clear streams, ancient woodland, towering crags and steep slopes'
43 miles done ~ 42 to go.
Do enjoy the photos if you have a moment - click on the link below right to view the flickr slideshow.

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated to the Peru Project so far. The donation page has been up and running for less than a week and there is already nearly £500 in the account. Donations made online can benefit from 'gift aid', increasing their value by 25%! Flights to be booked soon with an outbound date most likely to be Friday July 22nd.

On-line Donations Page Now Up and Running

Glad to say that the on-line giving page with 'Virgin Money Giving' is now up and running. Click on the link on the right hand side of this page to donate or visit:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/andrewdarlison  
Many thanks. AD

Fundraising Walk - Peru Project

Over Easter I began walking the "Inn Way" as a fundraiser for the Peru Project. It's an 84 mile circular walk around the Peak District divided into six day stages stopping in Hayfield, Hathersage, Baslow, Youlgrave, Tideswell and Castleton. The route also passes 51 'traditional English pubs' - hence the name! Two stages completed and 27 miles covered so far. Four more stages to go. The donations page should be up and running in the next few days. AD.

Donations ~ HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

A huge thank you also to those people who have already offered donations... for reasons beyond my control my 'JustGiving' online donation account will not be available until after Easter. It should be working by the beginning of May. Please hold on to that thought and either get in touch with me via email/phone or wait until the on-line account is up and running ~ i'll advertise that when it happens! Many thanks, AD.

MANY THANKS!

First post is to say a huge THANK YOU to 'Vocality' and 'lifebulb' for their support of my involvement in the Peru Project.