Since the beginning of the year we have experienced frequent tremors, but never with greater intensity than on Sunday, May 4 at 11:45 p.m., when we experienced an earthquake of five on the Richter scale which left significant damage to the plaster and fixtures of the house. We evacuated all the children from the Home to a safer place. Since May 5th we have been in a house on the outskirts of Cuzco in the district of San Jerónimo from where the children go to school every day. Thus, they have the experience of so many of their classmates who have to go to and from school on the bus, sometimes from the most distant neighborhoods of the city of Cuzco.

Many people were affected by the tremors and they are currently working to rebuild their homes. Until recently, the town hall and the parish of Andahuaylillas had made sturdy tents available to people in which they could sleep and receive food in the town's main square.

The famous “Sistine Chapel of the Andes,” a masterpiece of Andean baroque, was also affected and has been closed to the public since that time and is undergoing restoration.

Thanks to the generosity of many of you, we have been able to begin reconstruction work. We have started with the repairs to the Saint Tarcisius Home to allow the children who live there to return home. After that, we want to rebuild the Chapel and the rest of the buildings.

We ask for your prayers and help in this very peculiar situation, so that we can continue serving the poorest.