Hola Amigos!
Friday was quite a full day but very different from the rest of the trip. There had been snow in the mountains while we were in the lower altitude of Cochabamba and I actually got to throw a snowball when we got off the plane in La Paz Thursday night (sorry, Art...blame my inner child). Terry let us sleep an extra hour since we didn't get into our hostel until late Thursday night (and some of us were treated to a loud early morning rant in the hall by an irate European traveler...that led to more lost sleep...but Cathy "The Enforcer" took care of the situation!). On Friday we toured the city of La Paz and had a true tourist day. We headed a little higher into the Andes Mountains and trekked through the Valley of the Moon to the south of La Paz. I've done a good bit of hiking in my pre-back/ankle/knee surgery days but had never seen topography quite like that. The entire valley floor looked a bit like Luray Caverns, only the stalagmites were light colored and had the consistency of sandy mud adobe. There will be some INCREDIBLE pictures of the trek in the coming days, so make sure you ask one of the team to see them. We had lunch in an authentic cafe and munched on llama, soup made from some kind of cereal grains (with some wicked hot sauce), and various Bolivian dishes. We walked from there to the hostel straight up a street on a very long, steep hill in the middle of the market district. There is something called the Witches Market in that area where you can buy herbs, remedies, and various items needed for spells. Several of us had read that Amayran Indians believe that a dried llama fetus buried in the foundation of your home will bring good fortune and were curious to see if they were really in the market. They were, and they STINK to high Heaven. One of those would've won the prize for the strangest souvenir (or maybe the Jesus flask we saw in the airport at Cochabamba), but no one wanted to explain dried fetuses to customs agents, so we settled for photos. The markets were full of beautiful textiles, leather goods, silver, fresh fruits and vegetables, and hot dishes that smelled delicious. Many of us practiced the fine art of bargaining and brought home some beautiful souvenirs of our trip. Among all the shopping, however, there were many beggars and little children selling mints, candy, and flowers. There was even a little girl in one of the shops who bargained with me over a handmade tapestry and she was quite a saleslady. When I finally relented and agreed to a price, I asked her how old she was (10) and told her that I was a teacher back home and that she was very grown-up! Her mom was very happy to hear that and we chatted for a bit before I headed back down the street.
The traffic in La Paz is worthy of its own section in this email. The worst traffic I've ever driven in is rush hour in Northern Virginia, which is pretty brutal, but it's like a walk in the park compared to La Paz. There are no lane markers, traffic signals are treated as mere suggestions, and I suspect there is some sort of bounty for knocking over tourists. Crossing the street requires prayer and very strong faith in God...and even then it's pretty scary!! Traffic circles are particularly interesting. I've been skydiving, bungee jumping, and parasailing with enthusiasm but I just closed my eyes and ducked down in my seat when our driver charged our minibus through a circle near the central plaza.
After much foot-dragging, it was time to go back to the hotel and pack for the flight home. On the way to the airport, our driver pulled to the side of the road so we could get some pictures of El Alto, an Andean peak that towers over La Paz. Our guide told us about a custom of making an offering to El Alto for protection. Apparently, if you look at teh mountain from a certain angle, it looks like 2 people, a dog, and a llama. (I may not have the numebers exactly right but you get the idea.) Legend has it that they were part of an expedition to El Alto that failed to make an offering and the Amayran gods held them forever in the mountain range as punishment. Now it is customary to make an offering to Al Alto before climbing it. Several of us scrambled to the top of a hill that led to a pedestrian overpass and were able to take photos worthy of National Geographic. There was snow on top of El Alto and the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon, yet another reminder of God's majesty in the middle of such poverty.
The trip home was tough...after such an emotional week, it was difficult to rest on the flights home. Our flight out of La Paz left around 8 last night, but there were no direct flights to Miami, so we flew to Santa Cruz, spent about an hour or so on the plane while the crew cleaned it, then lifted off for an overnight flight to Miami. We go into Miami somewhere around 4 or 5 this morning and took off for DC around 8:30 this morning. It's now 10 pm and there's a Law and Order rerun on TV. I'm sitting here in my cushy recliner with the AC running, typing on my laptop computer, thinking about what's in the fridge, and using up more resources than any individual probably has a right to. I wonder how my new friends are doing and if they have enough food for dinner tonight while I'm waiting for yet another load of laundry to finish drying b/c it's so inconvenient to hang them up outside. Later I'll put on clean pajamas and snuggle up in my queen size bed while Ignacia and her husband and four children share 2 twin beds in a tiny room with a dirt floor. Who do I pray for tonight? The poor family who lack material things and modern conveniences? Or those of us who have such mixed up priorities?
amy
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Last Couple of Days!
Whew...I finally have a few minutes to adequately describe yesterday and I´ll go ahead and do today´s email, too. We have about an hour to pack up and go to the airport b-c we are flying back to La Paz tonight. I packed most of my stuff this morning so I want to get this email done before we leave.
Yesterday we went to a park in Cochabamba and met our sponsor children. I´ve been a part of that before, and it is just so touching. Sponsored children ask about all of the things you´ve written in letters to them, carry around the pictures you´ve sent, and ask lots of questions about your family. They are always accompanied by a family member or teacher and conversations with them are usually quite enlightening. I had the opportunity to be a "surrogate sponsor," which means that I visited a child who is sponsored by another family in church. She was a little disappointed that I wasn´t her "real" sponsor, but her mother asked many questions about them and sent lots and lots of blessings and prayers. Many of the women in Bolivia carry babies on their backs with long, colorful sashes (I can´t remember what they are called) and I commented that I really liked hers. (Her one month old daughter came along.) She explained that they are traditional Bolivian garments and the people there are very proud of them. She said that the next time I visit Cochabamba, she will be sure to have one for me and will be honored to give it to me. This was no joke...she wanted to know exactly when I was coming back and when she should have it ready for me. That really touched me, especially considering the fact that I helped scavenge leftovers after lunch for her to take home to feed her family.
Sponsors and children made t shirts together after lunch and some of the things that the children put on them were quite touching. You will have to ask Denise about her t shirt...I don´t want to ¨"take" her story. : ) After the t shirts,each sponsor child received a backpack of gifts from the sponsors and many of them seemed completely overwhelmed.
After the visit, we went down the street to the Compassion International Bolivia headquarters and toured the offices. It was really interesting to see exactly how children are put in the program and the process sponsor letters go through. We also heard about the LDP program, which is for leadership development. Less than 30 Compassion students each year are enrolled in the program and it includes university studies, leadership training, and materials. Bolivia has had 3 or 4 graduating classes of LDP students and these young adults are just amazing. This year´s grads include a teacher, architect, doctor, and a lawyer. i chatted with the teacher and we shared some stories. The funny thing is, kids are the same all over the world! Part of the presentation included pictures of the LDP students now and pictures of them when they were children in the projects. Surprise surprise...I cried thru the whole thing as LDP students described how important Compassion International had been in their lives.
Noli, one of our translators for the day, was telling a couple of us about the struggles she has had throughout her life. She was unable to go into the LDP program b-c her father lost his job, one of her sisters was very sick, and she had to drop out of school for a time to help support her family. She sobbed as she told us that she wasn´t sure what was going to happen to her and what some of her dreams were. The thing is, she has since gone back to school, finished HS, and is enrolled in her first year of university. Tanya and I gave her a pep talk and told her to keep working...it will be worth it and she CAN do it. i was bawling yet again as we left. Whew....when did I get to be such a wuss? : )
Today we visited yet another project and toured the various classrooms. THe children were very happy to have us and weren´t too concerned about crafts or anything other than FUTBOL. We had a couple of games in the play yard before we had lunch. You should´ve seen the table...they had cleared out a whole classroom for us and served some sort of delicious chicken and rice dish. We went on 2 more home visits and are now at the hotel, packing for La Paz. I doubt if I get to send an email tomorrow b-c we fly out tomorrow afternoon for home.
Please pray for safe travel for us and for the people who are struggling every day here in Bolivia. Make sure you ask someone on the trip to show you pictures and tell you some personal stories when we get back. You won´t be sorry!!
amy
Yesterday we went to a park in Cochabamba and met our sponsor children. I´ve been a part of that before, and it is just so touching. Sponsored children ask about all of the things you´ve written in letters to them, carry around the pictures you´ve sent, and ask lots of questions about your family. They are always accompanied by a family member or teacher and conversations with them are usually quite enlightening. I had the opportunity to be a "surrogate sponsor," which means that I visited a child who is sponsored by another family in church. She was a little disappointed that I wasn´t her "real" sponsor, but her mother asked many questions about them and sent lots and lots of blessings and prayers. Many of the women in Bolivia carry babies on their backs with long, colorful sashes (I can´t remember what they are called) and I commented that I really liked hers. (Her one month old daughter came along.) She explained that they are traditional Bolivian garments and the people there are very proud of them. She said that the next time I visit Cochabamba, she will be sure to have one for me and will be honored to give it to me. This was no joke...she wanted to know exactly when I was coming back and when she should have it ready for me. That really touched me, especially considering the fact that I helped scavenge leftovers after lunch for her to take home to feed her family.
Sponsors and children made t shirts together after lunch and some of the things that the children put on them were quite touching. You will have to ask Denise about her t shirt...I don´t want to ¨"take" her story. : ) After the t shirts,each sponsor child received a backpack of gifts from the sponsors and many of them seemed completely overwhelmed.
After the visit, we went down the street to the Compassion International Bolivia headquarters and toured the offices. It was really interesting to see exactly how children are put in the program and the process sponsor letters go through. We also heard about the LDP program, which is for leadership development. Less than 30 Compassion students each year are enrolled in the program and it includes university studies, leadership training, and materials. Bolivia has had 3 or 4 graduating classes of LDP students and these young adults are just amazing. This year´s grads include a teacher, architect, doctor, and a lawyer. i chatted with the teacher and we shared some stories. The funny thing is, kids are the same all over the world! Part of the presentation included pictures of the LDP students now and pictures of them when they were children in the projects. Surprise surprise...I cried thru the whole thing as LDP students described how important Compassion International had been in their lives.
Noli, one of our translators for the day, was telling a couple of us about the struggles she has had throughout her life. She was unable to go into the LDP program b-c her father lost his job, one of her sisters was very sick, and she had to drop out of school for a time to help support her family. She sobbed as she told us that she wasn´t sure what was going to happen to her and what some of her dreams were. The thing is, she has since gone back to school, finished HS, and is enrolled in her first year of university. Tanya and I gave her a pep talk and told her to keep working...it will be worth it and she CAN do it. i was bawling yet again as we left. Whew....when did I get to be such a wuss? : )
Today we visited yet another project and toured the various classrooms. THe children were very happy to have us and weren´t too concerned about crafts or anything other than FUTBOL. We had a couple of games in the play yard before we had lunch. You should´ve seen the table...they had cleared out a whole classroom for us and served some sort of delicious chicken and rice dish. We went on 2 more home visits and are now at the hotel, packing for La Paz. I doubt if I get to send an email tomorrow b-c we fly out tomorrow afternoon for home.
Please pray for safe travel for us and for the people who are struggling every day here in Bolivia. Make sure you ask someone on the trip to show you pictures and tell you some personal stories when we get back. You won´t be sorry!!
amy
Another Update
Please forgive me for skipping a night on the updates. The last 2 days have been especially draining. Tuesday we went back to the original Compassion Project and worked wth the children all day. They were so excited and so wound up...several staff members and translators apologized b-c they said the children were usually much better behaved but we understood (especially those of us who are teachers...any change in the daily routine makes kids crazy!! : ) We were able to go back to the home we visited on Monday and took additional clothing and shoes to the woman with 4 children. I wanted to put my Leatherman in for the husband to use for work but we decided against it since there is a knife on the tool and we didn´t want to take the chance that it would be used for something other than work. At dinner that night, a little girl who appeared to be a street child approached us and was selling flowers and candies. We are not allowed to give money to beggars, but we bought many flowers, candies,and mints from her, hopefully enough to feed her family for a few days.
Yesterday was Compassion Day and there is A LOT to report from that; however, we are loading the bus to head out to yet another project and I will have to fill you in tonight after we fly back to La Paz. until then, please pray for us and especially for the people of Bolivia. There are so many good, faithful people here who face so many challenges. Tonight i´ll tell you about Noli, one of the translators, the LDP students, and the teacher I had the opportunity to chat with. Dios te Bendiga! Hug your family tight and tell them you love them!
amy
Yesterday was Compassion Day and there is A LOT to report from that; however, we are loading the bus to head out to yet another project and I will have to fill you in tonight after we fly back to La Paz. until then, please pray for us and especially for the people of Bolivia. There are so many good, faithful people here who face so many challenges. Tonight i´ll tell you about Noli, one of the translators, the LDP students, and the teacher I had the opportunity to chat with. Dios te Bendiga! Hug your family tight and tell them you love them!
amy
Monday, July 23, 2007
Day 4
Hola, Amigos!
Today has been emotionally exhausting. Please bear with me on this email b-c it´s hard to put into words what we experienced today. First of all, I goofed when I said that we were going to the same Compassion Project that we visited on Saturday. Today we went to another project in Cochabamba and we are the first group of sponsors ever to visit. The church where the project is held is located in an extremely poor area. I won´t even try to explain that any further b-c you´ll just have to see the pictures to even get a sense of it. When the bus pulled up, there were children out front of the church in native dress holding banners with welcome messages. Each of them greeted us personally and shook our hands as if we were visiting dignitaries. Some parents were there with their children, the project director, the pastor of the church, and the entire staff of the project right down to maintenance workers and cooks. There were even people who weren´t part of the project gathered outside the church, peeking in the windows. All the children in the project were gathered in the auditorium and they sang, did a short drama, and listened intently as the director and the pastor welcomed us. Here´s the really amazing part...they asked each one of us to come up on stage and introduce ourselves. Terry, our leader from ChildReach Ministries, said that while we were onstage, one little boy came up to him and asked if he was his sponsor. When Terry said no, he asked if each of us was his sponsor. The translator had to explain that his actual sponsor was not there, but we all sponsored children in Compassion International and were there to help them finish some work on the building and to interact with them.
During the day, we did a craft project with the children, painted 2 classrooms (started anyway...all the primer was finished and the color coat, which was actually primer colored with some sort of dye, was just starting to be applied in one room), knocked out old concrete, and started building a brick wall. There were 2 large groups that came...one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning group left to go to school after eating lunch, then the afternoon group came after school, ate lunch, and did their sessions. We were treated like honored guests and ate lunch with the children. We didn´t realize what was happening, but as we were eating, the groups were switching and the afternoon group was sitting off to the side waiting for us to finish eating so they could sit at the table. When we realized what was happening, we felt so bad, but we were assured that no offense was taken and that they were honored to have us there. The word ¨''honored'' came up many times today and it was quite overwhelming.
After the afternoon group left the project, we split into two groups and went on home visits. I can only speak from my personal experience, but that visit was one of the most heartbreaking things I´ve ever witnessed. We went to the home of a woman who had 4 children. One of them, Luzclarita, was a part of the Compassion Project, but the other 3 were not, although Fernando, her son, may be admitted to the project. The whole family lived in one room that was about 10 by 8. Three of her children were from her first marriage and their father had died several years ago. As she told us this, she started to cry. She said that her new husband didn´t love the other 3 children b-c they were not his own. He ignored them and didn´t care for them. The truly heartbreaking part of this is that 2 of those 3 children were in the house with us. They showed absolutely no emotion thru their mother´s entire story, which made us wonder what other emotional trauma they have endured. We presented them with gifts for the children and some household items and she cried some more but asked the translator to tell us that they were tears of joy for our visit. (I failed to mention that the house was SPOTLESS. She was obviously proud to have us there.) She mentioned that her husband does not allow her to attend church anymore, so she and the children rely on Luzclarita to tell them about God when she gets home from the project in the afternoons. (Luzclarita had mentioned earlier that her favorite part of Compassion was learning Bible verses, so she has taken on the responsibility of teacher her mother and siblings.) Of course, by this point, there was not a dry eye in the house, including the Compassion staff that was with us. I can´t put into words what I felt as we trudged back up the dirt and stone street to the project. I was heartbroken for the mother and her concern for her children, angry at the father, frustrated that Fernando might not be able to join Compassion, and helpless that I couldn´t do more to help. It was a rough trip back to the hotel.
We had an especially emotional debriefing session after dinner and I feel completely drained. One more tidbit for those of you who might be considering sponsoring a child thru Compassion International...staff members told Terry that, although the families we visited appreciated our gifts, they would probably never be used. Many times personal gifts from sponsors are displayed in the home, almost in the fashion of a shrine. In fact, after one sponsor visited another project home, the family did not sweep away the Compassion sponsor's footprints from their home for a year. I´ll leave you with that...just think about that for a minute and you might get a tiny bit of the feeling of today.
amy
Today has been emotionally exhausting. Please bear with me on this email b-c it´s hard to put into words what we experienced today. First of all, I goofed when I said that we were going to the same Compassion Project that we visited on Saturday. Today we went to another project in Cochabamba and we are the first group of sponsors ever to visit. The church where the project is held is located in an extremely poor area. I won´t even try to explain that any further b-c you´ll just have to see the pictures to even get a sense of it. When the bus pulled up, there were children out front of the church in native dress holding banners with welcome messages. Each of them greeted us personally and shook our hands as if we were visiting dignitaries. Some parents were there with their children, the project director, the pastor of the church, and the entire staff of the project right down to maintenance workers and cooks. There were even people who weren´t part of the project gathered outside the church, peeking in the windows. All the children in the project were gathered in the auditorium and they sang, did a short drama, and listened intently as the director and the pastor welcomed us. Here´s the really amazing part...they asked each one of us to come up on stage and introduce ourselves. Terry, our leader from ChildReach Ministries, said that while we were onstage, one little boy came up to him and asked if he was his sponsor. When Terry said no, he asked if each of us was his sponsor. The translator had to explain that his actual sponsor was not there, but we all sponsored children in Compassion International and were there to help them finish some work on the building and to interact with them.
During the day, we did a craft project with the children, painted 2 classrooms (started anyway...all the primer was finished and the color coat, which was actually primer colored with some sort of dye, was just starting to be applied in one room), knocked out old concrete, and started building a brick wall. There were 2 large groups that came...one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning group left to go to school after eating lunch, then the afternoon group came after school, ate lunch, and did their sessions. We were treated like honored guests and ate lunch with the children. We didn´t realize what was happening, but as we were eating, the groups were switching and the afternoon group was sitting off to the side waiting for us to finish eating so they could sit at the table. When we realized what was happening, we felt so bad, but we were assured that no offense was taken and that they were honored to have us there. The word ¨''honored'' came up many times today and it was quite overwhelming.
After the afternoon group left the project, we split into two groups and went on home visits. I can only speak from my personal experience, but that visit was one of the most heartbreaking things I´ve ever witnessed. We went to the home of a woman who had 4 children. One of them, Luzclarita, was a part of the Compassion Project, but the other 3 were not, although Fernando, her son, may be admitted to the project. The whole family lived in one room that was about 10 by 8. Three of her children were from her first marriage and their father had died several years ago. As she told us this, she started to cry. She said that her new husband didn´t love the other 3 children b-c they were not his own. He ignored them and didn´t care for them. The truly heartbreaking part of this is that 2 of those 3 children were in the house with us. They showed absolutely no emotion thru their mother´s entire story, which made us wonder what other emotional trauma they have endured. We presented them with gifts for the children and some household items and she cried some more but asked the translator to tell us that they were tears of joy for our visit. (I failed to mention that the house was SPOTLESS. She was obviously proud to have us there.) She mentioned that her husband does not allow her to attend church anymore, so she and the children rely on Luzclarita to tell them about God when she gets home from the project in the afternoons. (Luzclarita had mentioned earlier that her favorite part of Compassion was learning Bible verses, so she has taken on the responsibility of teacher her mother and siblings.) Of course, by this point, there was not a dry eye in the house, including the Compassion staff that was with us. I can´t put into words what I felt as we trudged back up the dirt and stone street to the project. I was heartbroken for the mother and her concern for her children, angry at the father, frustrated that Fernando might not be able to join Compassion, and helpless that I couldn´t do more to help. It was a rough trip back to the hotel.
We had an especially emotional debriefing session after dinner and I feel completely drained. One more tidbit for those of you who might be considering sponsoring a child thru Compassion International...staff members told Terry that, although the families we visited appreciated our gifts, they would probably never be used. Many times personal gifts from sponsors are displayed in the home, almost in the fashion of a shrine. In fact, after one sponsor visited another project home, the family did not sweep away the Compassion sponsor's footprints from their home for a year. I´ll leave you with that...just think about that for a minute and you might get a tiny bit of the feeling of today.
amy
Day 3
Hola, Amigos!
Today was just perfect weather-wise...about 80 degrees and sunny with low humidity. It´s around 9 pm now and it´s chilly out...maybe upper 50s and clear, although I still haven´t been able to locate the Southern Cross constellation. We interacted with so many different people today and learned so much more about Compassion International. We started the day with a great breakfast here at the hotel and more delicious Bolivian coffee. I don´t think I´ve mentioned the coffee in either of the first 2 emails but I don´t know how I could´ve forgotten! It´s about the consistency of chocolate syrup and I´m not exaggerating for effect. You pour just a bit of that in your mug and then add hot water to adjust the strength, then cream and sugar if you want it. I made the dumb mistake of having ''just one small cup'' after dinner last night and had a buzz well into the small hours.
After breakfast we went to church in Cochabamba where a Compassion Project also meets. It´s not a very big area, but we found out that they serve 290 children 3 days a week! What a warm, welcoming congregation they have there...so many people came up to greet us and chat and seemed genuinely honored to have us visit. Terry told us that in the 20 years that Compassion has operated there, 4 teams have visited and we are the only ones that have attended worship services there. It was really quite humbling...they treated us like rock stars. Each of us had the opportunity to introduce ourselves during the service, then several people gave testimonies and we performed a drama. The feeling in that small church was unbelievable, as if we had all known each other our whole lives. After the main service, we were able to visit Children´s Church and it was so much like TKO at Ni River...very high energy, a positive atmosphere, and lots and lots of smiles. We were asked to come to the back part of the church for a snack and Cokes and got to meet many of the members and leadership team. We learned that many of the leaders had been sponsored through Compassion International as children and several of them (and several of us) got very emotional as they talked about how important the Compassion Project had been in their lives. Í´m getting a little leaky just writing about this.
After church, we had a late lunch in an EXCELLENT local restaurant. The food has been phenomenal so far. So much for losing a little weight while visiting the 3rd World!! Then Tim, our guide for the day, took us up to a mountain overlooking Cochabamba to a huge statue of Jesus. You might be familiar with the famous Jesus statue in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The one in Bolivia looks very similar to that one and is actually a little bit higher, making it the highest statue of Jesus in the world. It was finished in 1993 and Tim explained that it had been built as a symbol to unite Bolvians. Apparently, there is tension between the people of the 3 major geographic areas (highlands, valleys, and tropics) and it is meant to remind citizens that all Bolivians need to stand together. The significance of it being in Cochabamba is that it is right in the middle of the country and was once called the ¨Breadbasket of Bolivia. (remember that...you might need to know it for Jeopardy!)
After driving through some of the historical areas of Cochabamba, we headed back to the hotel for a debriefing session. So many lives have been touched in just the past 3 days and there are so many little stories to tell already. Please keep praying for us and please pray for the people of Bolivia. There could be big political changes on the horizon, and for a country with so many social issues, they could be disastrous. If you feel a little tug on your heart, please consider sponsoring a child or making a donation to Compassion International. (www.compassion.org). Tomorrow we will be working in the same Compassion project we visited yesterday and hope to meet even more of the children and staff members. Buenos noches!
amy
Today was just perfect weather-wise...about 80 degrees and sunny with low humidity. It´s around 9 pm now and it´s chilly out...maybe upper 50s and clear, although I still haven´t been able to locate the Southern Cross constellation. We interacted with so many different people today and learned so much more about Compassion International. We started the day with a great breakfast here at the hotel and more delicious Bolivian coffee. I don´t think I´ve mentioned the coffee in either of the first 2 emails but I don´t know how I could´ve forgotten! It´s about the consistency of chocolate syrup and I´m not exaggerating for effect. You pour just a bit of that in your mug and then add hot water to adjust the strength, then cream and sugar if you want it. I made the dumb mistake of having ''just one small cup'' after dinner last night and had a buzz well into the small hours.
After breakfast we went to church in Cochabamba where a Compassion Project also meets. It´s not a very big area, but we found out that they serve 290 children 3 days a week! What a warm, welcoming congregation they have there...so many people came up to greet us and chat and seemed genuinely honored to have us visit. Terry told us that in the 20 years that Compassion has operated there, 4 teams have visited and we are the only ones that have attended worship services there. It was really quite humbling...they treated us like rock stars. Each of us had the opportunity to introduce ourselves during the service, then several people gave testimonies and we performed a drama. The feeling in that small church was unbelievable, as if we had all known each other our whole lives. After the main service, we were able to visit Children´s Church and it was so much like TKO at Ni River...very high energy, a positive atmosphere, and lots and lots of smiles. We were asked to come to the back part of the church for a snack and Cokes and got to meet many of the members and leadership team. We learned that many of the leaders had been sponsored through Compassion International as children and several of them (and several of us) got very emotional as they talked about how important the Compassion Project had been in their lives. Í´m getting a little leaky just writing about this.
After church, we had a late lunch in an EXCELLENT local restaurant. The food has been phenomenal so far. So much for losing a little weight while visiting the 3rd World!! Then Tim, our guide for the day, took us up to a mountain overlooking Cochabamba to a huge statue of Jesus. You might be familiar with the famous Jesus statue in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The one in Bolivia looks very similar to that one and is actually a little bit higher, making it the highest statue of Jesus in the world. It was finished in 1993 and Tim explained that it had been built as a symbol to unite Bolvians. Apparently, there is tension between the people of the 3 major geographic areas (highlands, valleys, and tropics) and it is meant to remind citizens that all Bolivians need to stand together. The significance of it being in Cochabamba is that it is right in the middle of the country and was once called the ¨Breadbasket of Bolivia. (remember that...you might need to know it for Jeopardy!)
After driving through some of the historical areas of Cochabamba, we headed back to the hotel for a debriefing session. So many lives have been touched in just the past 3 days and there are so many little stories to tell already. Please keep praying for us and please pray for the people of Bolivia. There could be big political changes on the horizon, and for a country with so many social issues, they could be disastrous. If you feel a little tug on your heart, please consider sponsoring a child or making a donation to Compassion International. (www.compassion.org). Tomorrow we will be working in the same Compassion project we visited yesterday and hope to meet even more of the children and staff members. Buenos noches!
amy
Day 2
Hola!
We left our hostel at 5 am and flew across the Andes Mountains to Cochabamba. What a GORGEOUS flight!! It looked like we could reach right out the windows and touch the mountains. To top it off, the sun was just coming up and that enhanced the experience even more. Most of us were dragging pretty hard this morning as the result of the short night, altitude, and all the traveling. We arrived at our hostel in Cochabamba around 8:30 this morning and have been going nonstop ever since (it is now around 9:30pm). We gathered all of our donation items, learned how to make balloon animals for the kids (thanks, Denise!), heard a presentation from one of the Compassion project directors, ate lunch, then headed out to one of the Compassion projects in Cochabamba. Several groups of children sang songs for us and we sang for them (in terrible Spanish, but give us points for enthusiasm!) and we were asked to go out to the playground to play basketball. That surprised me a lot b-c the number one sport in South America is soccer and they mentioned basketball first. Before basketball, however, we visited 2 homes in the area and that was just amazing. The home i went to was about 6´by 8´ with a concrete floor and only 2 beds for furniture. The woman who lived there had 4 children and seemed truly honored for us to be visiting. When we asked her what she would specifically like to pray for, she didn´t ask for a bigger house or more money...she wanted us to pray for the safety and health of her family and for her husband, who is a bricklayer, to have steady work rather than day jobs. We gave her a few dishtowels and socks and bubbles for the children and a pair of work gloves for her children and her face just lit up. She couldn´t believe that all of that was for her family. i couldn´t help but think as we stood there that she gave us a greater gift than any material goods we could´´ve brought to her. she was such a good example of being content in life and loving what you have been given. As we walked back to the Compassion Project, I felt so peaceful and blessed. I have been so bent out of shape the last few weeks over something that seems so trivial in the grand scheme of things. Today put things into perspective so powerfully. We went out to the playground, as promised, and, of course, the soccer ball did come out eventually, and those of us who couldn´t play the team sports got to hang out with the children and take pictures, give hugs, hand out stickers and gum (ask Art about that!), and try our best to communicate. It is amazing how quickly you can pìck up bits of language when you really need it. Sitting on a concrete wall surrounded by children in the warm sun in the poorest country in South America was the absolute best way I could´ve spent today. Thank you so much for you support and please keep up the prayers!
amy
We left our hostel at 5 am and flew across the Andes Mountains to Cochabamba. What a GORGEOUS flight!! It looked like we could reach right out the windows and touch the mountains. To top it off, the sun was just coming up and that enhanced the experience even more. Most of us were dragging pretty hard this morning as the result of the short night, altitude, and all the traveling. We arrived at our hostel in Cochabamba around 8:30 this morning and have been going nonstop ever since (it is now around 9:30pm). We gathered all of our donation items, learned how to make balloon animals for the kids (thanks, Denise!), heard a presentation from one of the Compassion project directors, ate lunch, then headed out to one of the Compassion projects in Cochabamba. Several groups of children sang songs for us and we sang for them (in terrible Spanish, but give us points for enthusiasm!) and we were asked to go out to the playground to play basketball. That surprised me a lot b-c the number one sport in South America is soccer and they mentioned basketball first. Before basketball, however, we visited 2 homes in the area and that was just amazing. The home i went to was about 6´by 8´ with a concrete floor and only 2 beds for furniture. The woman who lived there had 4 children and seemed truly honored for us to be visiting. When we asked her what she would specifically like to pray for, she didn´t ask for a bigger house or more money...she wanted us to pray for the safety and health of her family and for her husband, who is a bricklayer, to have steady work rather than day jobs. We gave her a few dishtowels and socks and bubbles for the children and a pair of work gloves for her children and her face just lit up. She couldn´t believe that all of that was for her family. i couldn´t help but think as we stood there that she gave us a greater gift than any material goods we could´´ve brought to her. she was such a good example of being content in life and loving what you have been given. As we walked back to the Compassion Project, I felt so peaceful and blessed. I have been so bent out of shape the last few weeks over something that seems so trivial in the grand scheme of things. Today put things into perspective so powerfully. We went out to the playground, as promised, and, of course, the soccer ball did come out eventually, and those of us who couldn´t play the team sports got to hang out with the children and take pictures, give hugs, hand out stickers and gum (ask Art about that!), and try our best to communicate. It is amazing how quickly you can pìck up bits of language when you really need it. Sitting on a concrete wall surrounded by children in the warm sun in the poorest country in South America was the absolute best way I could´ve spent today. Thank you so much for you support and please keep up the prayers!
amy
Day 1
hey everybody!
it´s been a long day of travel and, quite frankly, we are worn out! We got to our hostel around 10:00 and have had some coca tea to help alleviate the effects of the altitude. i have been taking a homeopathic preparation that has really helped, too. You could feel the altitude as soon as you stepped off the plane...i immediately got a nosebleed and several of us were pretty lightheaded. no worries, though, we´re feeling much better after the tea and dinner will improve things even more. we´re flying out to cochabamba at 5:00 tomorrow morning so it is going to be a short night! please feel free to share these emails with anyone that i might have inadvertently left off the list. Please keep praying for us! Buenos noches!
amy
it´s been a long day of travel and, quite frankly, we are worn out! We got to our hostel around 10:00 and have had some coca tea to help alleviate the effects of the altitude. i have been taking a homeopathic preparation that has really helped, too. You could feel the altitude as soon as you stepped off the plane...i immediately got a nosebleed and several of us were pretty lightheaded. no worries, though, we´re feeling much better after the tea and dinner will improve things even more. we´re flying out to cochabamba at 5:00 tomorrow morning so it is going to be a short night! please feel free to share these emails with anyone that i might have inadvertently left off the list. Please keep praying for us! Buenos noches!
amy
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