A Few Love Stories

In a few minutes, I shall head off to the beautiful Sacred Valley to celebrate (and photograph) the Peru's Challenge founders' (Jane and Selvy) wedding. Their story is one for the books, and it is much better to hear her tell the long version while he sums it up in three sentences; my admiration for their passions, dedication and just love for people in general -- all as a couple -- is swelling as we approach a day that has been in the making for going on eight years now. I don't know many couples whose single love story revolves around so many other love stories.

Jane came from Australia in 2002 to South America, eager to explore this side of the world before heading off to Europe. Peru was one more pinpoint on a map before she flew over the midland mountains and into Cuzco. Cuzco grabbed her and didn't let go. She decided to stay a bit longer. A bit longer turned into Jane not wanting to go to Europe immediately, but, before she left, her friend made Jane get an apartment, a job and Spanish lessons all before they parted, leaving Jane merrily on the cobblestone streets somewhere between cathedrals and alpacas. 

I think I long to feel that feeling, that surge of knowing, of a wind that seems to be sprinkled with magic and whispering "stay." With that, Jane taught English and learned Spanish, all in an apartment complex surrounding a courtyard. One day, over eggs and bacon, a man walked into her open door. "I thought, he's cute," she'll say. Enter Selvy Ugaz, a man from Lima who was working in Cuzco with impoverished children, especially those born with disabilities. He had bribed a taxi driver to take him to his apartment on a day of transportation strike, so needed to pay up, but he only had US Dollars, since he had just arrived from England and had no local currency, and could he maybe borrow some Soles? Of course. With that, he asked if he could take Jane out that night to show her around. "The rest is history," she says. 

There was (and is) love. And Jane went to work with Selvy, falling in love with him and the children who they helped every day. When Selvy asked Jane to take a boy home after school, she knocked on a door that was answered by an intoxicated aunt who was quick to take the boy and put him in an outhouse. "How could you make me do that," she asked Selvy. She loves Peru; there is more to it than the pretty mountain side and historic monuments, he wanted to show. That is love. 

And so Jane fell in love with the man, the children, the country and the idea that she and Selvy could make a pretty good team when it comes to serving. They pushed past obstacles concerning finances, language, government and red tape for 1 1/2 years to create Peru's Challenge, challenging and perfecting their love, all the while creating something new from it: an organization that allows them to keep loving, keep helping, keep providing, keep learning, keep growing. Maybe every couple should have to work on something like this, working with each other to serve, before they move on. It tests everything but probably gives back even more. 

They can both speak each other's language practically fluently, but that doesn't guarantee their conversation will stay in one language. She thinks he drives crazy, and he thinks she is too planned. He thinks she is funny and has gorgeous eyes, and she's simply nuts over his intelligence and passions. She might flip over a rut with the organization, and he is the one to make it right. And so on a beautiful April day in the Andes, Australians and Peruvians will celebrate this love, these accomplishments that have sprung from it and just the mere ability for us to be able to give so much love in so many different forms: a new classroom for 30 children, a hot meal for a family, a fight for government recognition, an open home for travelers, a kiss, a promise, a life shared. I see their love for each other and places in each other's lives, but have experienced what their relationship has shared with so many others, from impoverished communities to volunteers from around the world, and have therefore seen this unselfish love and am thankful for their presence in my life.