An eight-year old boy from Peasedown St John has returned home a hero after raising £750 for an orphanage in Lima, Peru.
Jack Marquez-Vega, who attends St Julian’s School in Wellow, ran a cake sale at his school and completed a 10-mile bike ride along the canal from Widcombe in Bath to Bradford-on-Avon over the summer.
Along with his parents, Sam and Emily, and 4-year old sister Anna, Jack was given a tour of the orphanage which takes care of 13 children and spent a while in the baby and toddler room and then went on to play with some of the older children.
Jack even made a friend and played with him on a go-kart.
Jack said: “I was really happy to visit the children in the orphanage and give them the things.
“But I was sad to hear about what had happened to some of the children before they came to the orphanage. I made a friend there and played with him. His name was Riccardo.”
Jack used some of the money to buy 30 packets of nappies and formula milk. The rest was given to the orphanage to spend on other things they needed.
Shama is an orphanage supported by The British Community Trust, a Peruvian charity chaired by his grandmother, Elizabeth Marquez.
Jack’s Mum, Emily added: “He learnt that each child had his or her own sad story, one of the babies was left abandoned by a rubbish dump and was brought to the orphanage.”
Jack’s sister Anna also gave a bag of children’s toothbrushes which her Pre-school, Magic Box in Wellow, had collected for the orphanage.
Francis Davinson, who runs the orphanage was very grateful for Jack’s visit, and said: “Thank you for thinking of your Christian Brothers and Sisters in Peru and doing something to help them.
“We are all part of God’s family and can help each other. We appreciate so much your help and you are an inspiration.”
Called Shama, the orphanage is supported by The British Community Trust, a Peruvian charity chaired by Jack’s grandmother, Elizabeth Marquez.
Jack will show a short presentation to his church of photos from the trip as many of the church members supported him by sponsoring his cycle ride and making cakes for his cake sale.
Everyone is welcome to come along to St John’s Church’s ‘Soul Food’ service at Peasedown Youth and Children’s Centre on Sunday 7th September at 4.30pm to meet Jack and see his photos.