1. ISBN 978-0-904379-69-3
P393
Luís and
Richard
live in Peru
I’m Luís...
...and I’m Richard
Luís and Richard live in a desert town in Peru.
This book explores what life is like for them
by using stunning photographs and the boys’
own story. They tell us about their family,
school, traditions and Christian faith.
Christian Aid
London: PO Box 100, SE1 7RT
Belfast: PO Box 150, BT9 6AE
Cardiff: PO Box 6055, CF15 5AA
Edinburgh: PO Box 11, EH1 0BR
Dublin: 17 Clanwilliam Terrace, Dublin 2
Websites:
www.christianaid.org.uk/learn
www.christianaid.ie
www.globalgang.org.uk
UK registered charity number 1105851
Company number 5171525
Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998

2. Contents
Page
Our family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Our town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Our house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Our school. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Our mum and IEME . . . . . . . 14
Our faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Our church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Father José . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Pronunciation/glossary*. . . . 24
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Note to teachers
Luís and Richard Live in Peru gives
children in the UK and Ireland a brief
insight into the life of two boys living
in a desert town 300km south of Lima,
the capital of Peru. This non-fiction Big
Book was written with RE/RME and
Literacy lessons in mind. It also aims to
encourage children here to think about
their place in the world and to make
comparisons with Luís and Richard’s life.
Text is based on interviews with the boys
and their family.
The accompanying CD-Rom includes
activity sheets for RE/RME, Literacy
and Geography/Environmental Studies,
as well as Spanish. However, it is hoped
that Luís and Richard Live in Peru will
provide a stimulus for thought and
discussion that cannot be planned for
in any lesson notes or worksheets.
The book and CD-Rom are ideal for
use with children aged 7-11.
Feedback: If you have any comments
about Luís and Richard Live in Peru,
or suggestions of different ways it
may be used which would be helpful
to other teachers, please email
schools@christian-aid.org
About Christian Aid
Christian Aid is a leading UK and Irish
development agency that aims to get
rid of poverty and the things that keep
people poor. Christians who wanted to
put their faith and beliefs into action
set it up in 1945. Christian Aid currently
works with around 600 local organisations,
known as partners, across the world.
The partners get on with the practical
work of supporting and empowering
local people in their communities. Some
follow a faith, some don’t. They’re called
partners because they have an equal
share with Christian Aid in making
decisions. After all, they know what it’s
really like to live in their countries, and
what changes are needed to make a
difference to their lives.
Christian Aid also writes books like this to
help children learn about life in different
parts of the world.
© Christian Aid, 2006
Daniel Sinclair asserts the moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
ISBN: 978-0-904379-69-3
All rights reserved. This publication is copyright
but any educational institution that has purchased
one copy may make duplicate copies for use
exclusively within that institution. Permission does
not extend to reproduction, storage in a retrieval
system, or transmittal in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, of duplicate copies for
loaning, renting or selling to any other institution
without Christian Aid’s prior consent.
All photographs: © Christian Aid/Kim Naylor
Illustrations: © Laura Carlin
Design: Kathryn Samson
This book is printed using vegetable-based inks
on Revive matt, which contains a minimum of
70 per cent de-inked waste paper
This is us with our sister, Paula
* Words explained in the glossary are shown
in blue the first time they appear in the text
Luís and Richard
live in Peru
Written by Daniel Sinclair
All photographs by Kim Naylor
All illustrations by Laura Carlin
South America and the United Kingdom
and Ireland drawn to the same scale

3. Our family Nuestra familia
2 3
How many
people are in
your family?
Our dad is a traffic policeman
and our mum volunteers as a
health promoter. She teaches
people how to stay healthy and
to eat food that’s good for them.
Most people in Peru speak Spanish.
To find out how to say our names and
other Spanish words, turn to page 24.
¡Hola! We’re Luís and Richard and we’re from
Peru, a country in South America. We live
in a city called Ica with our dad, Julio, our
mum, Juliana, our sister, Paula, and our
baby brother, Julio César. Our family name
is Pisconte Avilés.
Our family on a day out at the local sand dunes.
From left to right there’s our dad, Paula (7),
Mum, Richard (9) and Luís (10).That’s Julio César
(1) hiding his hands in the sand!
Paula
Mum and Julio César
Our dad, Julio

4. 5
Our town Nuestra ciudad
4
What is it
like where
you live?
We live in a small city called Ica. It is built
on the edge of a desert and is surrounded by
sand and the Andes mountains. It never rains
here so it’s incredibly dusty. Lots of the houses
look half-finished, with struts sticking out at the
top. People haven’t put on roofs because they
can’t always afford to and there’s no need.
Ica is about 300km south of Lima, which is
the capital city of Peru. Lima is by the sea.
This is the part of Ica
where we live.You can
see how sandy it is
A street in Ica
Our city centre.
The green vehicle
is a taxi

5. 7
Our house Nuestra casa
6
Our house has got two rooms –
a kitchen and a living room. Dad
has just built a new bathroom
in the courtyard.
In the living room there are two
beds where we all sleep, chairs,
some bags for our clothes, a
stereo and our favourite things –
the TV and Playstation. We have
to share a bed with Paula who
often kicks us because we snore!
In front of our house is a pretty courtyard
with some benches, some fruit trees and
a vegetable patch. It’s great because there
is space to run around and play football.
What is your home
like? What would it be
like if all your family
slept in one room?
Scoring a goal on
the Playstation
Watering vegetables

6. 9
Food Comida
8
Do you grow food at
home? What food do
you eat on special days?
How do you make it?
For breakfast we have porridge.
For lunch we have salad, raisins
and pecan nuts. Mum says
she doesn’t want us eating
rubbish! For dinner we often
have picante, which is meat
and beans in a spicy sauce.
During the festival of Señor de
Luren Mum makes tejas, which
are delicious sweets made by
dipping pecan nuts in melted
chocolate and toffee.
We grow a lot of our food in our garden.
Mum was shown how to plant the seeds
and look after them by a group called IEME.
It seems to have worked well because now
we’ve got beetroot, radishes, carrots and
lots more growing in our garden.
Making tejas for the
festival of Señor de Luren
This is us
having dinner

7. 11
Water Agua
10
Not having enough water
is a big problem for us
here in Ica. There is a
river, called River Ica,
but it’s very dirty and
usually full of rubbish
instead of water.
We are lucky because
we’ve got a tap in our
garden and in our new
bathroom. Soon Dad
says he’s going to put
a tap in our house – we
can’t wait! The water only
comes on for three hours
in the afternoon so we
have to make the most
of it while we can.
The River Ica is
full of rubbish
instead of water
Where does your water
come from? What
would your life be like
if you only had water
for three hours a day?
We wash up
in our garden

8. 13
Our school Nuestra escuela
12
Our school has 1,800 pupils. Half of us go
in the morning and half in the afternoon.
School is free, but we have to pay for our
books. Although it’s not very far to school
we get the bus because there are too many
busy roads to cross if we walk.
A normal day at school would be:
8.00-8.20 Prayers in class.
We say ‘I trust in God’
and then make the sign
of the cross.
8.20-9.50 Literacy.
9.50-10.10 Looking after the school grounds.
10.10-10.40 Break. We have a tuck-shop
full of sweets and cakes.
10.40-11.30 PE.
11.30-1.00 Maths.
1.00 Home.
On the walls of our classroom we have a
chalkboard, posters of Jesus and Señor
de Luren, lists of who does which jobs and
class rules. These rules include wearing
proper uniform, telling the truth and
respecting God.
Luís (right) in class What rules do
you have at
your school?
Our school badge

9. 15
Our mum and IEME
Nuestra madre y IEME
14
How do we know
what’s good for us?
Where do you go
when you’re not well?
IEME was given money and help by a
charity called Christian Aid.
Our family has been helped
by a group called IEME, which
set up a casa de salud in Ica.
Mum went there when she was
ill after Julio César was born.
We go there too sometimes,
as we get bad coughs because
of all the dust here.
IEME also teaches people how
to eat properly and how to
stay healthy. Now our mum
volunteers for IEME, showing
other mums which food is
good for their children to eat.
Mum sometimes helps run
IEME’s market stall that sells
fruit and vegetables cheaply so
that more people can buy them.
People buying fruit
and vegetables from
IEME’s market stall
Mum uses this banner
to teach people how
to eat healthily

10. All our family are Catholic, which is a type
of Christianity. Peru is a Catholic country.
We go to church every week and pray at
home every day. We don’t have a Bible yet,
but Mum wants to get us one.
17
Our faith Nuestro fé
16
Did your family
have a special
celebration when
you were little?
We were baptised when we
were very little and now, every
Saturday morning, we go to a
class to get us ready for when
we take our first communion.
Communion is when Christians
eat bread and drink wine to
remember that Jesus died on
the cross and came back to
life. It also reminds us of
Jesus’ last supper, which you
can read about in the Bible.
A painting in our
church showing Jesus
at the Last Supper
Richard praying at
his communion class

11. Every time we come to church
we stand in front of the statue of
the Madonna holding Jesus, and
make the sign of the cross. To do
that we use our right hand to:
1. touch our forehead
2. touch our stomach below
our heart
3. touch to the left of our heart
4. touch to the right of our heart.
We make the sign of the cross
to show that we believe in God
and to remind ourselves of
Jesus’ death.
We think our church is beautiful. Inside it’s
bright and warm. There’s a huge painting on
the wall that shows the Bible story of how
the world was made, the history of Ica and
people getting together to take communion.
19
Our church Nuestra iglesia
18
Richard making the
sign of the cross
Us outside
our church
Luís praying in
front of the statue
of the Madonna
What other
important actions
for praying do
you know?

12. 21
Father José Padre José
20
Father José leading the
service at our church
Father José Manuel is the leader of our
church. He’s not really anyone’s father, it
just means he’s in charge of the church.
He’s really kind and likes to make church as
friendly as he can. When he’s explaining the
Bible he asks lots of questions, and he’ll even
say a prayer for our football team to win!
During a church service we will sing, read
from the Bible and pray. Sometimes Father
José asks us to say special
prayers, especially on
festival days.
Have you ever
heard prayers
being said?
Where?
Us at choir practice

13. The festivals we celebrate are Christmas,
Easter, saints’ days and the feast day of
Señor de Luren. Señor de Luren is a statue
of Jesus that came from Spain more than
400 years ago.The story of the statue is very
exciting. When it was being brought here it
fell off the boat it was on, got washed up on
to the beach and was brought to Luren, on
the outskirts of Ica. The statue we see now
isn’t the real one; it’s just a copy, because
the real one got burnt in 1918.
Every Easter and October the statue is taken
round the town and sick people touch it,
asking Jesus to make them better.
23
Festivals Fiestas
22
Which festivals
do you celebrate?
How?
Festival procession
through Ica
Us holding a
poster of a saint

14. 25
Pronunciation
24
Agua (Ag-wa)
Andes (And-ees)
Casa de salud (Cas-a de sal-ood)
Comida (Com-ee-da)
Fiestas (Fee-es-tas)
Hola (Oh-la)
Ica (Ee-ka)
IEME (EE-em-may)
Juliana (Hoo-lee-ana)
Julio (Hoo-lee-oh)
Julio César (Hoo-lee-oh Say-zar)
Lima (Lee-ma)
Luís (Loo-ees)
Nuestra casa (Nu-es-tra cas-a)
Nuestra ciudad
(Nu-es-tra see-you-dad)
Nuestra escuela (Nu-es-tra es-cuel-a)
Nuestra familia (Nu-es-tra fam-il-ya)
Nuestra iglesia
(Nu-es-tra ee-gles-ee-a)
Nuestra madre y IEME
(Nu-es-tra ma-dray e EE-em-may)
Nuestro fé (Nu-es-tro fay)
Padre José Manuel
(Pa-dray Ho-say Man-well)
Picante (Pi-cant-e)
Pisconte Avilés (Pi-scon-tay Av-eel-es)
Señor de Luren (Sen-yor de Loor-en)
Tejas (Te-has)
Baptised
A special event where people
join the Church family and
promise to be Christians.
Bible
Christians have this as
their holy book.
Casa de salud
A place like a health centre,
where people can see a
doctor and get advice on
how to live a healthy life.
Christian Aid
A charity in the UK and Ireland
that works with charities in
poor countries, helping people
of all faiths and none to make
their lives better.
IEME
Instituto Español de Misiones
Extranjeras, which translates
as the Spanish Institute for
Foreign Missions. They run
three churches and the casa
de salud.
Jesus
Christians believe Jesus was
the son of God.
Señor de Luren
A statue of Jesus that came
to Ica from Spain.The feast
day of Señor de Luren is
celebrated once a year.
The Madonna
A statue of Mary, the mother
of Jesus.
Andes 4
Baptised 17
Bible 16, 17, 18, 21
Casa de salud 14
Catholic 16
Christian Aid 15
Christianity 16
Church 16, 18, 19,
20, 21
Communion 17, 18
Dad (Julio) 2, 3,
6, 10
Family 2, 3, 7, 14,
16, 17
Festival 8, 9, 21,
22, 23
Food 3, 8, 9, 14
Football 7, 21
Garden 8, 10
Health promoter 3
House 4, 6, 7, 10
Ica 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 14,
18, 22
Glossary
The cross above
our house
Index
Señor de Luren
8, 9, 13, 22
South America 2
Spanish 3
Tejas 8, 9
The Madonna 19
Water 6, 10, 11
IEME 8, 14,15
Jesus 13, 16, 17,
19, 22
(Father) José
20, 21
Julio César
(brother) 2, 3, 14
Luís 2, 12, 19
Mum (Juliana) 2, 3,
8, 9, 14, 16
Paula (sister) 2, 6
Peru 2, 3, 5, 16
Picante 9
Playstation
6, 7
Pray(ers) 13, 16,
17, 19, 21
Richard 2, 17, 18
School 12, 13
Playing with our friends
outside our house