The Newest Bambino

Newest Bambino at the Casa

It's been a chilly, rainy week, so lots of time spent indoors with the kids.  With the addition of the new baby it hasn't been convenient to work one-on-one with any of the kids, but we had a craft time one day, and I pulled out a pre-school activity book for Daniel today.  We're trying to get Fabi used to her glasses, with a minimum hour of wear per day.  She wasn't too impressed with us.  But, it was really neat to see how her attention span improved after wearing them for a while.

Sleeping peacefully

Making crafts

Finished products

Daniel's very own pre-school book

Not impressed with the glasses

Playing with plasticine

 "Bath-time"

It's so hard to gaze into the eyes of a week old infant, to feed a little one a bottle, or watch beautiful children play together and imagine how a parent could abondon their own. 
Yet, you have to wonder what their side of the story is too.

I can understand some of the questions that may go through your mind.   How can this world be so messed up?  How can God let things get so out of hand?  In the Bible, we read of a just God.  A righteous God.  A Creator who created the heavens and the earth, and when He had saw all that He had made (Genesis 1:31), saw that it was very good.  There was no fault in His plan.  No error in His design.  No intended evil.  God made man & woman, and He gave the earth into their care.  He gave them only one command. 
             And,              man                     failed...

I was sent this verse this week, and thought it fitting to share...

I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which has strayed, and I will bandage the hurt and the crippled and will strengthen the weak and the sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hardhearted and perverse]; I will feed them with judgment and punishment.  I will shepherd the flock with justice."  Ezekiel 34:16

I'm reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan right now (I highly recomend it).  Speaking on the topic of poverty and the starvation, I find this quote from his second chapter just as fitting for the abandoned, the abused, the neglected, the suffering...
"[God] has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving."
Let me re-write that for emphasis.  God has more of a right to ask us why so many people are suffering.

May we become a blessing to others as we realize how greatly blessed we are...

The Rains

Threatening rain clouds

The rains have started, and everyone says it's early.  Usually the rains start here and there in October, but the rainy season doesn't really begin until November.  I was mistaken thinking it would be a hot, wet season.  Maybe in other regions; but when it rains here it really comes down hard, and it gets cold fast!  Unlike last week, the temperatures have been closer to 6 degrees in overnight, and maybe 12-14 Celsius in the daytime, and we've had some lluvia almost every day.  So far I'm thankful I was only caught in one "flash-rain" episode, and it was at the tail-end of my `0 minute walk from the bus stop to my room.

I guess I should explain a combi: it's the bus system here, but more like a large-passenger van that they fit as many people as possible into.  I've counted as many as 25 in one van.  Sorry- no photos- but I do have a photo of a moto-taxi that I took for only 1 Sol when I was in Urubumba.

Moto-taxis in Urubumba

Trying to find the right bus stop to catch the combi to the orphanage has been frustrating this week.  Last week I got on the right bus, but the wrong stop, and it ended up taking me about an hour and a half to get to the Casa.  So, this Monday, I waited at a different stop, thinking I had it right this time, but waited 20 minutes not seeing the bus I was to get on, and ended up taking a taxi.  The next day, I tried taking a different combi, thinking I would take it partway, and then hop on the correct one from that point.  I was running behind by the time I got to the second stop, so I decided to take a taxi from that point instead.  The driver ended up going on some back route, that totally took way longer than it had to.  I was getting a bit irritated, but at least didn't have to walk the long 30 minutes up the dirt road, as he drove me all the way.  And, thankfully, he didn't charge me more like they like to for foreigners.
Today an American chica (girl) who works at another orphanage down the road met me at one bus stop, and showed me an alternate route to take.  I am feliz that I've finally got it, and it was nice to have her company!


The week ended well, with a sunny day today, and a wonderful surprise at the Casa.  We have a brand new baby!  He's only about 4 days old.  He was found on the side of a road, all bundled up with some diapers and blankets beside him... but seemingly abandoned.  He was thoroughly checked out at a Clinic yesterday, and seems to be in good health, is fairly content and sleeping lots.  He hasn't been named yet, but affectionately called Bambino.  Everyone's so excited for this new addition!

Week 3 - Con Los Ninos

Well, I've been here for 6 weeks, but it was my 3rd at the Orphanage.

We've had a few hot days this week, and the evenings haven't been as cool.  I'm sure the temperature isn't much over 21, but because of the altitude, it feels closer to 30.  I love it! 

On Monday I arrived at the Casa just before 9.  I must have just missed Daniel having a seizure. When I arrived, he was laying on the blanket spread out outside, listless and a bit out of it. After some leche, and coaxing, he came back to his contented self, and we went to feed the chickens and the cows and lambs with Faby, Cathy and Fabricio.  It reminded me of growing up on the farm, and how much fun it was for our city cousins to collect eggs with us when they'd come to visit.
There are bunnies, guinea pigs, chickens, a cow and a couple of sheep at the orphanage, and the kids delight in helping with the feeding chores, though it's not part of their daily routine.  
There's also an orange striped cat that never lets the kids close enough to pet him.  But, they love to try!

I got to hold and play with baby Zoe, feed her and put her to bed, while the other kids splashed around in the blow-up pool on another hot day this week.  She and Luis were born in about the same month and year, but as a premie babie, is still so tiny in comparison.  She had her first surgery only a few months ago to repair her severe cleft lip.  It looks so amazing now.  There will likely be two or more necessarary surgeries in the future.

Little Luis is getting really close to walking.  It's so fun seeing his little face light up as he gets more and more confident standing on his own.  I imagine that within a couple of weeks he'll be walking.  It's neat to get to see, and be a part of!

I switched my hours up a couple of days this week, to get to spend some time with the older school kids, who are usually in school in the mornings until I leave around 2.  One of the school boys and his little brother left this week to be placed back with their biological mother, who has been diligently improving her lifestyle in order to get her boys back.  So, there are only two school-aged girls now, and they both enjoyed reading books with me on Friday afternoon after their nap-time.  I read a Dora book to them- all in Espanol- all the while wondering if my pronunciation was actually clear and making sense.  They had me read it twice- so I'm not 100% sure if that meant they needed it read a second time for understanding, or if I read well enough in Spanish, that they wanted it read again.

When I brought my camera out, they wanted me to take a picture of them holding their books up...each page at a time. After about 5 pages of each book, I told them, Okay, that's enough photos of the books!

Walmart Revised...

Ok, so after I wrote my post yesterday, Abby took me to a place called Plasticos 2000... it's no Walmart, but I was delighted to see that they have a whole section of paper/ office/ craft supplies!  That section wasn't open yesterday, but will be cool to check out.  The store has lots of different size plastic storage containers, and other home-decor things: mostly kitchen stuff.

Abby and I spent the day going for lunch first to Jacks- a great American restaraunt, where I had my first veggie burger since leaving home!  Then she took me to the Molino Market, which has all sorts of things, at great prices.  All in all it was a fun, adventurous day :)

Nothing Like Walmart!

 This week I stayed home for a couple of days because of a bad cold.  It gave me a lot of time to find preschool learning resources online & for craft, fine-motor, large-motor activity ideas, etc.  I also ventured out to find some basic materials to use with the kids at the orphange.  I used to kind of  make fun of the whole big-box, consumer-based stores like Walmart, but I have to say I did really miss that kind of shopping this week!  There's nothing like Walmart in selection, price, and having everything in one place! 

The place to look for school, craft, or office supplies here are little shops called Librerias.  This is also where you can get things like photocopying done.  However, almost everything is behind the counter, so it requires knowing what you are looking for to be able to ask the clerk what you need.  Thankfully my friend Walter came with me the first time, and helped me figure out the whole process, and the items to ask for. 
Like my pharmacy experience, they don't sell items by the box, but individually, so buying things like envelopes or even paper is just different from back home. 
Thanks to the MM Clinic back home, I was able to buy paper, markers, paints, crayons, puzzles, plasticine, and some preschool booklets and file folders for the children at the orphanage.