We had a 4:00 am wake-up call on Tuesday morning to catch an early morning flight 500 miles north to the city of Copiapó. The airplane was full of men headed to work in the mines. We must comment on the interesting airplane experience. When the plane lands, you are instructed to stay seated until your row is called to disembark. First-class always goes first but then it is random after that. Sometimes the very back rows go next, sometimes the middle, sometimes they just tell everyone to exit at once. It is never consistent. We cannot figure out the logic.
THE BEAUTIFUL PACIFIC
We spent the day driving north along the coast. We saw men harvesting seaweed. We passed the cities of Caldera and Chanaral.
NATIONAL PARK- PAN DE AZUCAR
We drove through Pan de Azucar National Park. Think moon landscape with cactus that looked like piles of small cannon balls piled on each other. Very unique. The Atacama Desert is desolate. We look forward to returning in the springtime when the desert blooms.
COPIAPÓ
Our hotel was across the street from the Plaza de Armas in Copiapó. It was a lovely, clean plaza with wide walkways and beautiful old trees.
We found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch.
We met with the director of the CESFAM (primary healthcare clinic) and the stake president to discuss the possibility of a project with them.
VALLENAR
The next stop on our drive south back to Santiago was Vallenar where we met with the director of a homeless shelter, housed in an old, abandoned school. They work in conjunction with a drug rehab center to house people during their treatment. Gardening, baking, and carpentry workshops are part of the therapy. They need kitchen and carpentry equipment.
LA SERENA
Another two-hour desert ride brought us to the Pacific coast and the city of La Serena. We traversed a dramatic descent down a windy road in the Andes back to the Pacific Ocean.
We had a delicious dinner at Tololo Beach Restaurant right on the beach and watched the sunset.
The next morning, we met with a ministry of Education organization that employs teachers who teach children that are hospitalized, and they make home visits to children who under doctors’ orders cannot attend school. This will be an amazing project in eight different northern cities.
After our meeting, we visited El Faro, a lighthouse right along the beachfront and Hermana Lamb finally got to put her feet in the ocean!
We had lunch on the beach. It was another wonderful meal with a beautiful ocean view. We are big fans of La Serena.
We reluctantly left the coast to drive an hour and a half south to Ovalle.
OVALLE
On Friday morning we visited a soup kitchen. They serve breakfast seven days a week to 100 people each day. Volunteers come daily to cook and serve. We had a very tender moment here with these men, feeling that if the Savior was on the earth, these are some of the people he would be visiting and healing. They need new kitchen equipment, among many other things.
We continued south for two hours to meet with the Canela Municipality Education Coordinator about a possible project with their school system. We await their solicitude. Then another three hours to arrive in Santiago. It rained in the city while we were gone so clear skies greeted us along with the snowcapped Andes mountains.
It was a wonderful week with the possibility of five new humanitarian projects, all so different and unique. We are overwhelmed with a feeling of respect for the good people we met at each stop who day in and day out serve the vulnerable in their communities with very inadequate and meager resources.
Abrazos, Élder y Hermana Lamb, (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 