Nestled in the Andes Mountains, is a Christian summer camp where 2 of the 8 orphanages are being built. Glenn, Jamie, and I were the first 3 of our team t have the privilege to help build the orphanages. We packed up our warm clothes, sleeping bags, food and water for the day and the following day and drove an hour and a half to the orphanages. A good portion of the drive was on a cobble stoned road, which after 5 minutes of being jostled around; your body from your waist down felt like it was going to fall off. After we arrived, we unloaded the car and were given the tour of the camp grounds, we went straight to work.
Our job was to build a 9 by 10, 5 ½ feet deep hole. This hole will be where the septic system goes. After being accustomed to digging holes in the desert, this was no easy task! The dirt was as hard as rock. After 3 sings of the pick ax and 3 scoops of dirt with a shovel, your entire body ached. To make things harder, an hour after we broke for lunch at noon, it started to pour rain and hail. We took turns going out in the rain, to try and to build a path that would divert the rain in a different direction so it would not make our hole a mud pit. Once the rain subsided we went back to work for the next 3 hours.
Around 4 o’clock, much to our surprise, Steve and Remberto, the two men who drove us up the mountain, went home. We thought they were spending the night! Instead, they left us stranded. No car. No cell phone. With nothing to do, we entertained ourselves by exploring the small town we were in. We stopped at a little tienda (a store) and bought some snack- a reward for all of our hard work.
Once we got back to the camp, we surveyed what we had to eat and what we had to cook with (courtesy of the camp) and realized this was truly going to be an experience. We had enough food to last us a week (which is a good thing in case we REALLY did get stranded), 3 spoons, 3 bowls, 2 pots, a large mixing bowl, a spatula, a camping stove, a gas tank and a large jug of water. No napkins and no forks, which were greatly needed. We cooked our hamburgers and pasta and used the toilet paper we brought as plates and napkins! Thank goodness for that toilet paper!
It was a great experience, not because we got a chance to help build the orphanages, but because we got a chance to get out of the city and see and live in some of the real Bolivia- small cottages beside a lake, children walking to and from school, the chilliness of the mountains, and the cold rain that soaked you to the bone. The scenery was beautiful. Looking around you, all you could do was praise God for His creation!
