Friday 18th August  It's 11pm here on Forth Hope and absolutely pitch black outside - unless you look up and see the stars in all their spectacular glory! We're currently rolling up to thirty degrees in the swell - what a way to go star gazing. For those of you who are in to dark skies, you'd have nothing to complain about out here - we're some 1100 miles from the nearest light pollution! Another "discovery" was this evening's dinner of mince and carrots with spaghetti. Rory, our cook, assured us that when he microwaved some portions, the microwave diluted the gravy! Wow could we be on…

17th August (1343 miles from the mouth of the Amazon) A hot sticky day is fast becoming the norm aboard MV Forth Hope as we head towards the equator and South America. No sticky toffee pudding today but apple strudel and custard to keep us going! Life in the slow lane means 210 miles per day, with a hoped for arrival in Iquitos on the 7th or 8th September!  Then there's a fast turnaround before the ship begins work ahead of some important visitors on the 17th from Lima and the Regional Government. We may be travelling relatively slowly, but blink and another day…

16th August -  21.00hrs Atlantic greetings from the bridge of MV Forth Hope We're currently some 1564 miles off the coast of Brazil. Tomorrow 17th August will see us reach the half way mark in our 6800 mile voyage to Peru, and the half way point in our transatlantic leg from the Canaries to Macapa, Brazil. Thereafter its just under 2000 miles up the Amazon! The weather is good, the temperature building and the sea pleasantly calm. Best for now, Willie McPherson (Photo - Colin Anderson on the bridge of Forth Hope)

Friday 21st Friday was our last full day of work at New Hope Children's Centre. After an early start, we worked throughout the day, continuing the projects we had been working on previously and ensuring they were ready for the finishing touches on Saturday. We rewarded ourself for our efforts with a delicious dinner of chicken and chips which went down well with the team!  Saturday 22nd We spent the morning completing the second coats of paint, adding the finishing touches and laying astroturf in the picnic area. We clean tidied up and surveyed our work, before climbing on a bus with all the children from the…

Wednesday 19th: After a filling breakfast of eggs and bacon, we had an early start working on our projects. The nursery painting was pushed forward as the colours on the walls were given their next coat of paint and the mountain mural was given its finishing touches. The team in the new offices continued to prep the walls for primer and painting and spent a long time ensuring that the rooms were clean and dust free, ready for the next step. In the playground, the new picnic area the group had shovelled sand from the day before was flattened by both…

Monday After a beautifully picturesque flight from Lima to Arequipa, over snow-capped mountain peaks and deep valleys, we were met by the team from New Hope Children's Centre, and made our way to our home for the next 7 days. The team enjoyed a fantastic lunch at New Hope, before being given a tour of the centre and finding out more about the work we will be doing here. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing football, volleyball and table tennis with some of the kids, before a dinner of Peruvian hotdogs. Just before bed we experienced an earth tremor! This…