Los Amigos is a faith-based organization dedicated to supporting programs that improve and transform the lives of the poor of Chimbote, Peru.

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Mission Life

Read a Story: Sharing the Joy of Music through the JUPUSA Choir

In 1991, a group of enthusiastic young men and women of Nuestra Senora del Pepetuo Socorro parish united in an effort to create a parish choir. Their primary goal was to “encourage the parish community to celebrate through song dedicated exclusively to God.” They chose the name JUPUSA, which is an acronym that when translated to English means, “Young People United by a Single Friendship.”
 
Father Jack Davis encouraged and supported the choir. In 1998, after much hard work and practice, JUPUSA entered and won the first Diocese of Chimbote Music Festival.  This was extremely exciting for this very poor parish and inspired the choir members to keep working hard and practicing late into the night.

A few years later, a friend from the United States, Gary Zespy, had the idea of bringing recording equipment from the United States to Chimbote, and the choir’s first CD, Davila, was born.  The name Davila came from the choir director, Roberto Carlos Dávila Carty.  
 
The choir continued to work hard and entered several competitions.  In 2000, JUPUSA was honored to be named “Best Choir in Chimbote.” This inspired the choir further and they eventually were able to raise the funds to travel to Lima and recorded their second CD titled Networks of the Lord and a third CD, Christmas.
 
In 2003, Fr. Jack decided to show his gratitude to the choir and to the many benefactors in the United States by arranging for JUPUSA to accompany him on his annual spring trip there. Choir director, Roberto Davila states, "Thanks to God our Father, we received the good news of a trip to the United States, news that we took with great joy and responsibility…..we had the opportunity to perform in several U.S. states and experienced great
happiness at sharing the joy of our music with our American friends.”   

Roberto credits many of the original choir members for the success of JUPUSA, naming Beatriz and Isela Rodriguez Mori, Noemi and Rebecca Bolaños Ponte, Kelly Cruzado Flores and Veronica Sarabia Cerna as playing significant roles.  
 
Over the years, new members have been added to the choir and some of the original members have moved on.  JUPUSA has recorded two additional CDs titled Thank You Dear Friends Volume I and II.  They continue to take first place in contests and festivals in Chimbote.  
 
At present, JUPUSA continues to work under the direction of Roberto Davila.

They sing at weekly Sunday Mass, and also are asked to perform at many celebrations, contests, and events in Chimbote. The choir’s dream is to return to the U.S. in 2009 to accompany Fr. Jack during his yearly fundraising tour.