Zach has posted his pictures and some of Cameron's at his picasa site. www.picasaweb.google.com/ztalen/bolivia#. Enjoy!
love,
Zach, alex, john, cam
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
hello from la paz!
sorry we haven't updated in a while, but we've been busy traveling and exploring Bolivia. Copacabana and isla del sol were spectacular, and isla del sol even provided some cliffs for us to jump off of! We made it down the worlds most dangerous road safely, and it was an amazing experience. Cruising down a road with sheer rock face on one side and a 1000 ft drop on the other is one experience we'll probably only find in bolivia. After our bike ride we had lunch at a animal refuge/hostal. After playing with some monkeys and eating a wonderful meal we took the bus back to la paz, on the same road...or the new road (we'll leave that decision up to you). Anyways it's our last day in Bolivia, we're just going to hang around la paz and catch our flight home at 10 oclock tonight! Pictures will be posted on a picasa site, for free downloads for all, and the link will be provided in a later post. Sorry no time for pictures right now!
Thanks again for all your support and prayers!
love,
Zach, John, Cam, Alex
sorry we haven't updated in a while, but we've been busy traveling and exploring Bolivia. Copacabana and isla del sol were spectacular, and isla del sol even provided some cliffs for us to jump off of! We made it down the worlds most dangerous road safely, and it was an amazing experience. Cruising down a road with sheer rock face on one side and a 1000 ft drop on the other is one experience we'll probably only find in bolivia. After our bike ride we had lunch at a animal refuge/hostal. After playing with some monkeys and eating a wonderful meal we took the bus back to la paz, on the same road...or the new road (we'll leave that decision up to you). Anyways it's our last day in Bolivia, we're just going to hang around la paz and catch our flight home at 10 oclock tonight! Pictures will be posted on a picasa site, for free downloads for all, and the link will be provided in a later post. Sorry no time for pictures right now!
Thanks again for all your support and prayers!
love,
Zach, John, Cam, Alex
Saturday, January 24, 2009
¡Buen Dia!
Well we did it! We climbed Tunari, or so we think. Our morning started out at 6:30 am when Peter took us to Quillacollo. From there we caught a micro bus to Chaquiri. When the taxi driver told us we were there, we didn´t believe him because there were no houses or people to been seen! It was very cloudy so we asked him to point us in the direction of Tunari, he did, we barely trusted him but started walking. After about 10 minutes we ran into this small town, and some locals who helped us figure out where to go. This ¨town¨ consisted of maybe 5 houses made of stone and mud, and many many llama´s. No running water, no electricity, very very basic. After a 3 hour climb, some of the most beautiful land we have ever seen, and many ¨no I think that peak looks taller, lets go this way¨ we made it to the saddle of Tunari. We took lunch there; fresh bread, and some PB & J. We froze our butts off while eating, hats, mittens, coats, pants were all needed to stay a bit warm. We then made a 50 vertical meter climb to the peak, where the view was absolutely amazing. Well, not really because we were in the middle of a cloud. Looking over the edge was one of the scariest things we´ve done, it was a pure straight drop, and it took a rock 5 seconds to hit anything. Amazing as it was we continued to head down and make it back home by 5 oclock. Quite a day Wednesday was.
Thursday consisted of finishing our gazebo, putting up the frame for the roof and laying the tiles. The clay tiles ended up being A LOT heavier than we though, and when all temporary supports were out, the roof sagged a lot more than we liked. So we went out and bought two more posts and a support, used car jacks to jack up the roof, and the put the posts underneath. Truly Calvin engineering at its best.
Friday we made a gutter for the gazebo and layed some more cement in needed places, it was a rather relaxing day. Today (Saturday), we fixed a roof leak and some other things, and then went out to try some chica. It’s a local drink made out of corn. Not to bad, and quite cheap. Only 10 bs ($1.50ish) for about 4 liters!
As some of you might know, and some may not, our time at BCM is coming to an end very fast. We have decided to leave BCM on Monday, and travel to la paz to do some traveling of our own. Here is a rough itinerary:
Monday take a 7 hour bus ride to la paz, then take a 3 hour taxi to Copacaban, a town on a lake. Then Tuesday take a boat to isle del sol (a very beautiful island) and hike across that, which takes about 5-6 hours. We will spend tuedsay night on the other side of the island.
Wednesday we will take a slow travel back to la paz, maybe spending some time in Copacabana, exploring that city, and then eventually spending the night in la paz at a hostel. Thursday we a taking a guided bike ride down the world´s most dangerous road. Don´t worry, we have a guide, nice equipment, and a ride back, on a different road. Friday we hope to maybe ski down the world´s highest ski resort. It costs about $15 dollars for a ride there and rental. Lift tiket? No, don’t need one because there is no working lift. You have to hike up to the top. Then we plan to catch our plane at 10 oclock at night out of el alto (city close to la paz) and head home!
All the kids are finally filtering in from their summer vacations (yes summer vacation), and BCM is filling up. We´ve had to add 2 tables in order to make room for all of the kids to eat now! So much fun to learn the new kids names and to see new smiles!
Friday night, we got to take all the kids to downtown Cochabamba. Peter has a large bus which can pack us all in! We went to an ice cream place called globos. It´s 3 stories high and has a very large playplace inside of it (mcdonalds type). We all got icecream there and playe with the kids all night. It was an extremely fun time, even the bus ride to and from were fun. The kids sing the whole way, even songs that made us dance. These kids do know how to entertain and have fun!
Here are some pictures of our recent adventures:
edit: sorry the picture´s aren´t loading right now, we´ll try again tomorrow!
As always, thanks for your overwhelling support and prayers. They are still needed, as the election for the new constitution is this Sunday, and our travels start on Monday. The kids still make up smile and laugh every day, it´s great being here!
Love you all,
Zach, John, Cam, Alex
Well we did it! We climbed Tunari, or so we think. Our morning started out at 6:30 am when Peter took us to Quillacollo. From there we caught a micro bus to Chaquiri. When the taxi driver told us we were there, we didn´t believe him because there were no houses or people to been seen! It was very cloudy so we asked him to point us in the direction of Tunari, he did, we barely trusted him but started walking. After about 10 minutes we ran into this small town, and some locals who helped us figure out where to go. This ¨town¨ consisted of maybe 5 houses made of stone and mud, and many many llama´s. No running water, no electricity, very very basic. After a 3 hour climb, some of the most beautiful land we have ever seen, and many ¨no I think that peak looks taller, lets go this way¨ we made it to the saddle of Tunari. We took lunch there; fresh bread, and some PB & J. We froze our butts off while eating, hats, mittens, coats, pants were all needed to stay a bit warm. We then made a 50 vertical meter climb to the peak, where the view was absolutely amazing. Well, not really because we were in the middle of a cloud. Looking over the edge was one of the scariest things we´ve done, it was a pure straight drop, and it took a rock 5 seconds to hit anything. Amazing as it was we continued to head down and make it back home by 5 oclock. Quite a day Wednesday was.
Thursday consisted of finishing our gazebo, putting up the frame for the roof and laying the tiles. The clay tiles ended up being A LOT heavier than we though, and when all temporary supports were out, the roof sagged a lot more than we liked. So we went out and bought two more posts and a support, used car jacks to jack up the roof, and the put the posts underneath. Truly Calvin engineering at its best.
Friday we made a gutter for the gazebo and layed some more cement in needed places, it was a rather relaxing day. Today (Saturday), we fixed a roof leak and some other things, and then went out to try some chica. It’s a local drink made out of corn. Not to bad, and quite cheap. Only 10 bs ($1.50ish) for about 4 liters!
As some of you might know, and some may not, our time at BCM is coming to an end very fast. We have decided to leave BCM on Monday, and travel to la paz to do some traveling of our own. Here is a rough itinerary:
Monday take a 7 hour bus ride to la paz, then take a 3 hour taxi to Copacaban, a town on a lake. Then Tuesday take a boat to isle del sol (a very beautiful island) and hike across that, which takes about 5-6 hours. We will spend tuedsay night on the other side of the island.
Wednesday we will take a slow travel back to la paz, maybe spending some time in Copacabana, exploring that city, and then eventually spending the night in la paz at a hostel. Thursday we a taking a guided bike ride down the world´s most dangerous road. Don´t worry, we have a guide, nice equipment, and a ride back, on a different road. Friday we hope to maybe ski down the world´s highest ski resort. It costs about $15 dollars for a ride there and rental. Lift tiket? No, don’t need one because there is no working lift. You have to hike up to the top. Then we plan to catch our plane at 10 oclock at night out of el alto (city close to la paz) and head home!
All the kids are finally filtering in from their summer vacations (yes summer vacation), and BCM is filling up. We´ve had to add 2 tables in order to make room for all of the kids to eat now! So much fun to learn the new kids names and to see new smiles!
Friday night, we got to take all the kids to downtown Cochabamba. Peter has a large bus which can pack us all in! We went to an ice cream place called globos. It´s 3 stories high and has a very large playplace inside of it (mcdonalds type). We all got icecream there and playe with the kids all night. It was an extremely fun time, even the bus ride to and from were fun. The kids sing the whole way, even songs that made us dance. These kids do know how to entertain and have fun!
Here are some pictures of our recent adventures:
edit: sorry the picture´s aren´t loading right now, we´ll try again tomorrow!
As always, thanks for your overwhelling support and prayers. They are still needed, as the election for the new constitution is this Sunday, and our travels start on Monday. The kids still make up smile and laugh every day, it´s great being here!
Love you all,
Zach, John, Cam, Alex
Monday, January 19, 2009
Hello once again,
Well here we are at another week. To us, it seems like its been a month, but an awesome month at that. Zach is now fully recovered from his illness, but John seems to still be struggling with stomach issues. Its almost been a week already for him, and we hope he gets better soon. As for work, we layed cement on part of a driveway leading down to the cancha (basketball court), this helps prevent mud from washing onto the court. We hope the cement actually holds as the supply of sand is scarce and dirt is more often then not used. It still makes cement, but how strong on cement we will have to wait and see.
Saturday morning we moved some rubble from the yard (old bricks, cement) from projects that we not properly taken care of by highered workers. We loaded wheelbarrel loads into the van and hauled the rubbish to the local dumb. The local dump is also known as a dry river bed about 5 minutes away. Thankfully it´s only a small stream that runs through it and most the trash doesn´t get taken downstream. Unfortunatly, it´s the only place to dump such items. Then saturday afternoon we made a trip with the kids to the jesus christo. The worlds largest Jesus statue at 33 meters high. After Peter made us climb way to many stairs to get to the top (the hard way, he drove around the back and up to the top with the little ones) we got to go inside Jesus, and actually climb up to his chest! I guess you could say we got to see the world how Jesus did! There were many holes to at different levels so you could look outside and see over the city of Cochabamba. It was a very cool experience, and alex even got to climb in Jesus sleeve! After safely, but slowly getting all the kids down the very sketchy stairs, we headed back home.
Saturday night, we went and played basketball with the other local orphanage parents, missionaries, and MK´s. We got split up this time, so basketball was a bit more fun because we weren´t out to prove something.
Sunday was a very relaxing day. Church, lunch, naps, reading, games. A day of needed rest, it was much appreciated.
Today (monday), the rain took over most of our outdoor projects. So we painted the ceiling in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was in much need of some paint after many stains from water damage and dead flies. It was an easy project for Zach, as his long arms could reach the ceiling without a chair.
Wednesday we hope to take the day off from work and climb Tunari. It´s a local mountain, only about 50 km away, but its peak is around 17,000 feet. Higher than any of us have climbed! We hope to make it a long day trip, as the ascent itself takes 5 to 6 hours.
Well here we are at another week. To us, it seems like its been a month, but an awesome month at that. Zach is now fully recovered from his illness, but John seems to still be struggling with stomach issues. Its almost been a week already for him, and we hope he gets better soon. As for work, we layed cement on part of a driveway leading down to the cancha (basketball court), this helps prevent mud from washing onto the court. We hope the cement actually holds as the supply of sand is scarce and dirt is more often then not used. It still makes cement, but how strong on cement we will have to wait and see.
Saturday morning we moved some rubble from the yard (old bricks, cement) from projects that we not properly taken care of by highered workers. We loaded wheelbarrel loads into the van and hauled the rubbish to the local dumb. The local dump is also known as a dry river bed about 5 minutes away. Thankfully it´s only a small stream that runs through it and most the trash doesn´t get taken downstream. Unfortunatly, it´s the only place to dump such items. Then saturday afternoon we made a trip with the kids to the jesus christo. The worlds largest Jesus statue at 33 meters high. After Peter made us climb way to many stairs to get to the top (the hard way, he drove around the back and up to the top with the little ones) we got to go inside Jesus, and actually climb up to his chest! I guess you could say we got to see the world how Jesus did! There were many holes to at different levels so you could look outside and see over the city of Cochabamba. It was a very cool experience, and alex even got to climb in Jesus sleeve! After safely, but slowly getting all the kids down the very sketchy stairs, we headed back home.
Saturday night, we went and played basketball with the other local orphanage parents, missionaries, and MK´s. We got split up this time, so basketball was a bit more fun because we weren´t out to prove something.
Sunday was a very relaxing day. Church, lunch, naps, reading, games. A day of needed rest, it was much appreciated.
Today (monday), the rain took over most of our outdoor projects. So we painted the ceiling in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was in much need of some paint after many stains from water damage and dead flies. It was an easy project for Zach, as his long arms could reach the ceiling without a chair.
Wednesday we hope to take the day off from work and climb Tunari. It´s a local mountain, only about 50 km away, but its peak is around 17,000 feet. Higher than any of us have climbed! We hope to make it a long day trip, as the ascent itself takes 5 to 6 hours.
Jesus
Jessica and Zach (yes he´s alive)
John and Lilliana
The kids at the orphanage are getting more amazing every day. Today we share the story of Lilliana and Jessica. They´re sisters, and there parents are drunks. Peter took them in around october this year. He says that Jessica, who is only six at the time, was beaten when she did not take care of her little sister, Lilliana, who is maybe 4 years old right now. Jessica has two bumps on her forehead from being thrown against walls because she was not taking care of her sister. Jessica and Lilliana are some of the cutest girls at the orphange. They always come and give us hugs and want to play, and there´s always a smile on their face. These kids never stop amazing us.
Once again, thanks for you prayers and supports. Again, continue to pray for the orphanage and the country of Bolivia, and the election is coming up on sunday. The election is a vote to accept or decline the changes to the constitution that Evo has proposed. Most likely the vote will go to accept, which is sad. From what we know, it could force all gringo´s out of Bolivia, and there could be no Bibles in Bolivia. Evo doesn´t like that there are many different religions, so he wishes to just cut them all out. So prayers are needed for that.
We love you all!
Zach, John, Alex, Cam
Once again, thanks for you prayers and supports. Again, continue to pray for the orphanage and the country of Bolivia, and the election is coming up on sunday. The election is a vote to accept or decline the changes to the constitution that Evo has proposed. Most likely the vote will go to accept, which is sad. From what we know, it could force all gringo´s out of Bolivia, and there could be no Bibles in Bolivia. Evo doesn´t like that there are many different religions, so he wishes to just cut them all out. So prayers are needed for that.
We love you all!
Zach, John, Alex, Cam
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hola,
So it happened. 2 of us got sick. Zach got a fever and John got some sort of stomach thing. Luckily both are on the track to recovery and doing well. No, John didn´t get Giardia, just some slight issues. But, other than that we are doing just great.
Our projects so far this week haven´t been too huge, but we have been learning lots of new skills. On monday we built a patio down by the all purpose courts. We forgot to mention this in the last post, but saturday we cleared the area for the patio and did some manual compacting. Being the lack of bulldozers or any form of heavy rollers, we got to use a nice homemade compactor to level the ground and make it hard enough to support the bricks. This precious little gem happens to be a 100lbs of cement poured into a square, with a rebar handle sticking out. It worked like a charm, but led to a decent upper body workout for most of us (Cam literally turned it into a workout by each round doing either squats, shoulders, or dead lifts to move the compactor).
So, back to Monday. We headed out there pretty early and set up our general idea for the patios shape. Since Zach and Al are both Calvin engineering students, they were quickly able to analyze the situation and develop a prototype. Just kidding!!! This is Bolivia, land of bootleg construction, so we threw up some stakes, ran some line, and started laying bricks. The end result is a great patio near the court that has lots of character (i.e. some unlevel spots, crooked bricks, etc.). Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will put in some rebar columns and a tiled roof to complete this new hang out zone. A little side note, monday was scorcher, and we were pretty low on sunscreen. Zach played it safe with a shirt, while Alex and Cameron decided that they had browned up quite a bit so going shirtless wouldn´t be too bad for the first hour or so. Wrong. Both ended up a little pink (or red), but don´t worry, its a nice golden brown now.
Tuesday we moved onto a new project (with 4 able-bodied men we get stuff done pretty fast!). When Peter and Delia moved into this new home, it came with a pool. Well, not so much a pool, but a cement pit. Peter did end up turning it into a pool with a light, and some nice new edge tiles and a filter. It was in dire need of fresh paint and some filter/pump work by the time we got to it. Our tuesday morning consisted of Zach and John scraping the old paint chips off, Cam weed whacking, and Alex doing random other things to keep busy. After about 2 hours or so of John saying ¨this is the worst job ever¨ and Cam getting attacked by biting ants, we had the pool/pool area ready for paint. So, after lunch, we headed back out and started to lay down the paint. About half way through the painting Peter went down to the animal area to check on his honey bees. A few minutes later he came running back up, past us hitting himself. On his little jog he brought a few of his bee friends with him, and they set their eyes on John. This led to the funniest moment of the trip so far. It consisted of John yelling not in a scared way, but in an angry tone while running around the pool (missing all the wet paint luckily) and Alex and Cameron crying in laugher at John. John was the only one who was being chased as he literally ran circles around everyone else. It was hilarious.
That night we got invited to dinner and paintball with another family that runs a small orphange. So we went over to their house, and it was great. They have 8 kids they are watching right now, but all are under the age of 6, so they have their hands full. One of their kids has a full blown case of AIDS, while their newest baby was found by a local in the river, in a plastic bag, with a cracked skull. Its unbelievable the stories some of these kids have. Anyways, we played with the little ones for a while then piled in the car and headed to a paintball place...in Bolivia. This ended up being a great time, and only cost around $5.50 for 6 games, ammo, and suit/equipment rental. Ridiculous.
So finally today rolled around, and both John and Zach were too sick to work so Cam and Alex manned up and did some landscaping on their own. They cleaned up the swing set area and moved a whole bunch of used concrete and bricks. Fairly simple job, but it involved filling the awesome Nissan van and driving it to the local dump (Bolivia doesn´t really have dumps, so its basically just a spot down the road where people throw their crap), so it was a fun job. Peter gave us a half day so we went back down to the market and found a few dvds. Seasons 5,6, and 9 of friends for about $5 a peice. John also found some sunglasses. When he got them, the lady selling them asked him if he wanted them cleaned, and of course he did. So the she proceeded to spit on the lense and wipe them on her not so clean dress. Perfect. After wandering for a while we met up with all the kids at Burger King in town for cheap ice cream and the tube zone (a big deal for the kids). After slopply finishing the ice cream we went for a walk with the kids, each of us with at least one kid on our shoulders and one holding hands. It was great. We went running through the grassy parks and just had fun. We then squeezed all 23 of us into the 12 passenger van and headed home. It made for a very fun day.
As we said before, we are really getting attached to these kids, and we want to tell you their stories. These next couple days we will try and do a kid to 2 kids a day. We will start with Milenka.
Milenka is around 5 or 6 and a real cutie. She came to the orphanage a couple months back after being found wandering the streets of Bolivia while her mother lay passed out after sniffing glue. The funny thing is we can totally see this little girl wandering the streets because she is always off in her own little world. She is a real sweet heart and loves to give you sweet little kisses on the cheeks. She reminds us all of Dorah the Explorer and has earned the nickname ¨dos bolsas¨, which is 2 purses. This is because she is ALWAYS carrying 2 purses. We have no idea what is in them, but its her signature fashion statement.
Unfortunately the computer won´t let us upload any pictures right now, but hopefully tommorow we can throw up a few pictures of the kids and tell you about them.
Thank you guys so much for supporting us and praying for us, we know we need it. Again, please keep in mind the upcoming elections and future this could bring these children.
Love, Cameron, Alex, John, Zach.
So it happened. 2 of us got sick. Zach got a fever and John got some sort of stomach thing. Luckily both are on the track to recovery and doing well. No, John didn´t get Giardia, just some slight issues. But, other than that we are doing just great.
Our projects so far this week haven´t been too huge, but we have been learning lots of new skills. On monday we built a patio down by the all purpose courts. We forgot to mention this in the last post, but saturday we cleared the area for the patio and did some manual compacting. Being the lack of bulldozers or any form of heavy rollers, we got to use a nice homemade compactor to level the ground and make it hard enough to support the bricks. This precious little gem happens to be a 100lbs of cement poured into a square, with a rebar handle sticking out. It worked like a charm, but led to a decent upper body workout for most of us (Cam literally turned it into a workout by each round doing either squats, shoulders, or dead lifts to move the compactor).
So, back to Monday. We headed out there pretty early and set up our general idea for the patios shape. Since Zach and Al are both Calvin engineering students, they were quickly able to analyze the situation and develop a prototype. Just kidding!!! This is Bolivia, land of bootleg construction, so we threw up some stakes, ran some line, and started laying bricks. The end result is a great patio near the court that has lots of character (i.e. some unlevel spots, crooked bricks, etc.). Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will put in some rebar columns and a tiled roof to complete this new hang out zone. A little side note, monday was scorcher, and we were pretty low on sunscreen. Zach played it safe with a shirt, while Alex and Cameron decided that they had browned up quite a bit so going shirtless wouldn´t be too bad for the first hour or so. Wrong. Both ended up a little pink (or red), but don´t worry, its a nice golden brown now.
Tuesday we moved onto a new project (with 4 able-bodied men we get stuff done pretty fast!). When Peter and Delia moved into this new home, it came with a pool. Well, not so much a pool, but a cement pit. Peter did end up turning it into a pool with a light, and some nice new edge tiles and a filter. It was in dire need of fresh paint and some filter/pump work by the time we got to it. Our tuesday morning consisted of Zach and John scraping the old paint chips off, Cam weed whacking, and Alex doing random other things to keep busy. After about 2 hours or so of John saying ¨this is the worst job ever¨ and Cam getting attacked by biting ants, we had the pool/pool area ready for paint. So, after lunch, we headed back out and started to lay down the paint. About half way through the painting Peter went down to the animal area to check on his honey bees. A few minutes later he came running back up, past us hitting himself. On his little jog he brought a few of his bee friends with him, and they set their eyes on John. This led to the funniest moment of the trip so far. It consisted of John yelling not in a scared way, but in an angry tone while running around the pool (missing all the wet paint luckily) and Alex and Cameron crying in laugher at John. John was the only one who was being chased as he literally ran circles around everyone else. It was hilarious.
That night we got invited to dinner and paintball with another family that runs a small orphange. So we went over to their house, and it was great. They have 8 kids they are watching right now, but all are under the age of 6, so they have their hands full. One of their kids has a full blown case of AIDS, while their newest baby was found by a local in the river, in a plastic bag, with a cracked skull. Its unbelievable the stories some of these kids have. Anyways, we played with the little ones for a while then piled in the car and headed to a paintball place...in Bolivia. This ended up being a great time, and only cost around $5.50 for 6 games, ammo, and suit/equipment rental. Ridiculous.
So finally today rolled around, and both John and Zach were too sick to work so Cam and Alex manned up and did some landscaping on their own. They cleaned up the swing set area and moved a whole bunch of used concrete and bricks. Fairly simple job, but it involved filling the awesome Nissan van and driving it to the local dump (Bolivia doesn´t really have dumps, so its basically just a spot down the road where people throw their crap), so it was a fun job. Peter gave us a half day so we went back down to the market and found a few dvds. Seasons 5,6, and 9 of friends for about $5 a peice. John also found some sunglasses. When he got them, the lady selling them asked him if he wanted them cleaned, and of course he did. So the she proceeded to spit on the lense and wipe them on her not so clean dress. Perfect. After wandering for a while we met up with all the kids at Burger King in town for cheap ice cream and the tube zone (a big deal for the kids). After slopply finishing the ice cream we went for a walk with the kids, each of us with at least one kid on our shoulders and one holding hands. It was great. We went running through the grassy parks and just had fun. We then squeezed all 23 of us into the 12 passenger van and headed home. It made for a very fun day.
As we said before, we are really getting attached to these kids, and we want to tell you their stories. These next couple days we will try and do a kid to 2 kids a day. We will start with Milenka.
Milenka is around 5 or 6 and a real cutie. She came to the orphanage a couple months back after being found wandering the streets of Bolivia while her mother lay passed out after sniffing glue. The funny thing is we can totally see this little girl wandering the streets because she is always off in her own little world. She is a real sweet heart and loves to give you sweet little kisses on the cheeks. She reminds us all of Dorah the Explorer and has earned the nickname ¨dos bolsas¨, which is 2 purses. This is because she is ALWAYS carrying 2 purses. We have no idea what is in them, but its her signature fashion statement.
Unfortunately the computer won´t let us upload any pictures right now, but hopefully tommorow we can throw up a few pictures of the kids and tell you about them.
Thank you guys so much for supporting us and praying for us, we know we need it. Again, please keep in mind the upcoming elections and future this could bring these children.
Love, Cameron, Alex, John, Zach.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hello again,
Contrary to some belief, we are not dead. We are actually having a blast here, and working hard too. As work around the orphanage, we´ve cleaned gutters, prepared a flat area for a patio, built a bridge (and it works, just tested today!), took care of the front garden so that all the weeds were gone and all the rose bushes were actually noticable, and emptied the pool in preperation for painting. It was alot of hard work under the hot sun, but we did get to play too.
Peter took us into the largest air market on tuesday and if not for him we would´ve been lost. They sell everything you would ever want, and for a super cheap price. Need a dried llama fetus for a sacrifice? They have them. John bought a guitar for about $35, he´s now been entertaining the kids almost every night. They love it.
Wednesday and thursday we worked hard and played with kids at night. We usually cap off the night by playing some serious games of euchre.
Wednesday and thursday we worked hard and played with kids at night. We usually cap off the night by playing some serious games of euchre.
Friday and Saturday we had half days of work. In the morning on friday we got to take the kids on a small hike up the one of the mountains following a river (Peter drove us up most the way). They thoroughly enjoyed it, and we got a workout at 10,000 feet.
Saturday we worked in the morning and then took a taxi into the open air market (by ourselves, and yes we got lost). The taxi into Chochabamba costs about 2.50 bolivianos. One US dollar is about 7 bolivianos, and the taxi ride took about 20 minutes. Now thats a cheap taxi! After wandering through the market, and seeing many things we did not want to see (dried baby llamas) we found what we wanted to got gifts for ourselves and others. Saturday night we had a play date with some other local gringos at the secondary school gym. A couple friendly games of baskteball went down, and after a few warm up games for us four plus hector (computer genuis for Peter), we started laying down the heat and winning our last couple of games. Of course we are not used the the altitude, which was killing us. We played against some high school kids and parents, who were good, but not good enough at times.
Today (sunday) we woke up and went to an english church service. We found many close connections, such as a missionaries kid who is going to Calvin next year (go figure). Then we had another play date at a soccer field, in which we expected to get dominated, but instead, we dominated. It was a good time, but most of us feel like we´re 40 years older, its hard to walk our muscles are so sore. I think we need a hot tub.
mountain hike
John and his guitar
Throughout this week we have been getting the know the kids very well. It´s very interesting to hear what kind of family they come from and what they´ve been through before the got to BCM. Here is a picture of Rene. He´s 8 years old and came from very abusive parents. They would take knives and heat them up, then put them on his arm. He has multiple scars from that abuse on both arms. His chest is covered in one large burn, this came from his parents throwing alcohol on it, and then lighting it on fire. 
Its amazing to hear stories like this, and to still see smiles on their faces. Every one of these children has a story, making them even more special then they already are.
We wish for you to continue to pray for us the and orphange. Also pray for the children and the upcoming election in Bolivia, as they bring a very large change to Bolivia, and possibly not in a good way.
Again, thanks for all your prayers and support. We are having a fantastic time here!
Love you all,
Zach, Cam, Alex, John
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