President Irene Kaufman welcomed 19 members and guest speaker Isabelle Zimmerman to the Merry Makers meeting on May at Jamesway Manor in Clifford.
Joyce Yost introduced guest speaker Isabelle Zimmerman who used to live in Clifford and work at the post office, and retired from her job as Post Master in Elmwood. Isabelle shared her adventure on a mission trip to Peru. She thought she would be spreading the word of the Lord and never imagined she would be crawling on her hands and knees cleaning up bird droppings from inside a storage closet at a daycare centre.
After raising funds, being inoculated, and cleared by the Canadian and Peruvian embassies, she was on her way to a foreign land with a distinct culture foreign to her own. She found her tasks satisfying and enjoyable at the school and orphanage where she distributed clothing and school supplies, helped the children write letters to their sponsors, helped with sewing, painted benches, bricked up an eaves, and shared in prayerful devotions filled with lively action songs.
She toured the Inca ruins, took a boat cruise and the heart of Lima tour, and found the world’s largest fountain park incredible.
Extreme unfairness exists in the country and the gap between rich and poor is overwhelming to comprehend, said Zimmerman. To end the meeting, hymns were sung, a Peruvian poem was read in Spanish, trivia about Peru was learned, and what Mother’s of Peru want for Mother’s Day were revealed.
The next meeting will be held June 5 with the executive in charge of the program. Everyone 55 plus is welcome to attend the meetings held the first Thursday of most months at Jamesway Manor. The cost to join is $2 a year.
