Our first week here at the Bolivian Children’s home has been incredible. There is no doubt that it will be hard to leave this place in several weeks because the kids have captured our hearts. There are about 30 kids ranging from the ages of 4-18 and all of them are AWESOME!
Me with the insanity, lol
Below is our daily schedule at the home with some brief comments and photos. We are slowly starting to learn the kid’s background which adds to the emotional aspect of staying here. The majority of them were either abused, abandoned or their parents have passed.
The front of the house
Estefania, Moises, and Agar (Princessa)
6:00am – 6:45am: Wake-up and then wake all of the children up. Make sure they make their beds and get dressed. (Never realized how hard this could be)
6:45am – 7:15am: Serve them breakfast and then make sure they brush their teeth. (Unfortunately, most mornings we are running so far behind that half of them never do brush their teeth, lol)
7:15am – 8:00am: Drive all of the kids to school in our awesome mini-bus. We have stops at three different schools. (Sounds fun right? Well, if you add the fact that I learned to drive a stick-shift for the first time the day I had to drive all of the kids it becomes slightly frightful. That and not knowing the Bolivian traffic laws is no bueno. I don’t think I have been that nervous in a long time!)
Me driving our awesome bus
8:00am – 9:00am: Eat our breakfast and quiet time with God. (Much needed)
9:00am – 11:00am: Either physical labor on the house grounds or spending time with the young children who stay home. (No doubt I prefer spending time with the kids. Hoeing a field is not my favorite thing in the world, lol)
11:00am – 12:10pm: Team time (Feedback and discussions about the day)
12:10pm – 1:00pm: Drive the bus and pick-up all of the kids (This can be tricky because most of the kids decide to start walking home and we have to look on the side of the road and stop if we see some of them. It’s almost like a “Where’s Waldo” game in the streets of Cochabamba. It’s amazing the culture difference in things like that)
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Lunchtime (I spend most of my time trying not to look at the younger ones during this time. This is so I am not grossed out and able to finish my food :))
2:00pm – 4:00pm: Help the kids with their homework in the library that is in the house. (It is probably one of my favorite times of the day. I never thought I would be helping children conjugate verbs in Spanish. Oh yeah, I also signed off on six of the kids report cards and turned them in to the school the next morning. Kinda sad that they don’t have parents to do this for them)
Homework time
4:00pm – 6:00pm: Free time to play with the kids. (This is also one of my favorite times of the day. This can either be at the house or we take them out for a while. On some of the days we took two of the kids to their soccer game at the school. It is also sad that they didn’t have parents to watch them. I also spent some time looking through the Bible with some of the kids. We would take turns telling each other versus to look-up. Funny thing is that the first set of scripture that Jessica (8 y.o.) wanted me to look up is one of my favorites (Philippians 4:4-9))
Playing cards
Playground
Showing the kids photos of home.
6:00pm – 7:00pm: Kids dinner time. (Repeat lunch experience)
7:00pm – 8:00pm: Our dinner time while still hanging with the kids. (We eat dinner while watching a movie or music videos so the kids can dance)
Ana (Maria Esperanza) with a santa hat while dancing
8:00pm – 8:15pm: Put the younger kids to bed, read them a bedtime Bible story and pray. (This is actually a fairly easy process. Although they will not go to sleep without a bedtime kiss)
8:15pm – Whenever: Spend time with the older kids and more personal time with God. (However one night Lindsay and I had to drive one of the little girls to the hospital because she wasn’t feeling well. Talk about stress! It was the second day of me knowing how to drive the bus and it was raining and dark. Good news is that she is fine and we made it safely :))
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:27
“And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones-those who believe in me-to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.’….. Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.” – Matthew 18:3-6, 19:13-15
These versus challenge me to ask myself whether I love and trust God like a child would with someone they look-up to. Every time I see one of them smile, laugh, or want to follow and sit with me at all times; I think about my relationship with God. Am I this passionate about Him?
Fabiola (Faby)
Agar (Princessa)
