This month we’re in Bolivia! And the original plan was to have us go 1st up North to the Pando region, where we were going to help out with a youth camp. We were originally suppose to arrive on the 2nd of January, this would give us a few days to get acquainted and rested up for ministry, the youth camp, which started on Sunday, January the 6th and went through Tuesday night on the 8th! We were to meet our ministry hosts their and help with the camp.
Our first delay was leaving Peru! We actually left Lima, Peru a day early because the buses that go throughout the country and from country to country don’t run over the New Year’s Eve and New Years holiday! So we had to arrive on the morning of the 31st in Cusco, Peru! There we stayed with another team at the church they were working with! Then, we caught an overnight bus at 10pm to Punto,Peru, then onto the Border of Bolivia!
Where we spend 3-4 hours getting the correct paperwork, making sure our $160 USD in cash is as pristine as possible, with little creases and no tears!
We were with a two bus hop on hop off tour bus group at the time. It took too long at the border getting our visas, so the buses left us! But we were fortune enough that one of the bus attendants stayed with us. He was so nice! He helped us get our paperwork together, watched our bags, even moved them with us when we thought it would rain, and so much more!
Finally, after all our visas and stamps in our passport where taken care off, we got a bus to Cococabana, Bolivia and caught up with the rest of the crew! Once we left Cococabana we drove to La Paz, we arrived at 11 pm and had to get off the bus in the rain, walk two blocks with our stuff and then grab a taxi to our hostel!
So the plan B was to get up early and look for buses up to The Pando region, which could potentially leave that day?! This had to be done in person mainly because we couldn’t find much bus info online! At 6am in the morning we get a email from our host suggesting we get this certain bus at 8 am that day! Needless to say we didn’t make it! In fact I don’t think we checked the email until around 8 am!
So the search continues for a bus to get us to Pando! Jada, (our awesome team leader) spends all day searching for a bus! She finally finds one and she goes and checks at the bus terminal what it looks like?!? This whole time she’s in contact with our hosts via text messages!
At the bus terminal, she finds out that the bus is a 50- 60ish hour ride depending on the weather! And the bus would leave on Sunday! She contacts our hosts for advice, that’s a long way and a lot of time! It was determined that we won’t get there in enough time to help out to make the trip worth it!
So they talk and our hosts decides to send us on to Santa Cruz! Which was the original plan for us to go to after we left Pando!
We book a bus for Monday morning and head to Santa Cruz! It was actually two buses! One 8 hour bus ride during the day, then at Cocopabama we switched buses at the terminal to a 10 hour overnight bus!
The first bus leaves La Paz late… also the bus stops at multiple stops throughout the city to drop off stuff and pick up passengers! At one of these stops the driver yells Baño, so Hannah Beth and I Hop off to go to the bathroom! As I’m finishing using the bathroom I hear Hannah Beth yelling, “Uh Mallory the Bus is leaving”…. I then hurry to finish and we run out and look for the bus! Then proceeded to chase it down the road! Thank the Lord for the stop light, which allowed us to catch the bus and then an opportunity for the bus driver to open the door for us to board! (Little did we know that the bus was only going to another bus stop two blocks away)! Y’all it was scary! Hannah Beth and I had no form of ID on us, 22 Bobs between the two of us, and no phones! So ya we needed to catch that bus and get on! (Also, as we were outside the bus running, our friends inside were advocating for us, yelling at the bus driver to stop! To open the door! That they don’t have everyone on the bus!)
Needless to say that scared all of us quite a bit and definitely got Hannah Beth’s and my blood pumping!
So as I was saying we rode the bus to Cocopabama, where we were to switch to another bus! Unfortunately we were 2 hours late and our next bus was to leave in 15 minutes from the time we got off the bus! So we rushed off the bus, and were immediately overwhelmed by the people!
Our team leader went for the tickets, while the rest of us went in search of the bus with her big bag! So we gather all our stuff, (big pack, plus day backpack), Plus another big pack! Then barge our way through the people! It was hard! I ran into so many people! ( imagine a very crowded fair with all the people and obstacles!) That’s just a taste of what it was! We have these huge bags, trying to get through crowds smacking people left and right with our bags, I even accidentally knocked over some soda bottles a lady was selling, I yelled, “lo siento” (I’m sorry) and kept going! We finally go to what a guy said the correct location for the bus to stop at and then we stay put in the crowd searching for our bus! We even walk in pairs searching for the bus!
We finally ask and they say the bus just left! So we go inside to figure out bus plan C! We stack all our stuff, three go off to translate, pay for and reschedule our bus! While 2 watch the bags! One rushes to the bathroom within our sight! Soon I look up from watching the bags and our teammates are running towards us, yelling, “Grab your bags we’re going to catch it!” We’re like ones in the bathroom, we grab the bags as best we can, head to the door, one yells to the person in the bathroom and We proceeded to run to the door as best we can! We find a bus representative for the bus company who leads us out the front door to taxis, where she proceeds to tell two taxis where to go to the next terminal! We throw our stuff in the taxi and hop in! We’re off, racing down the street trying to beat the bus to the next terminal, Which is 30 minutes away! On the way we see our bus, the taxi driver speeds up and waves down the bus for us! It pulls over, we pay the taxi driver, and we proceed to grab our bags and hop on the bus!
Yes, we made it!
The next morning the bus was projected to arrive at 7:30am… we didn’t make it until 10 am! Once we got off the bus we meet friends of our ministry hosts; Miguel and Edith, they brought their truck to pick us up and drove us to their children’s home! Where we spent the night!
The sweetest thing happened once we arrived! We get out of the car, and a bunch of girls walk up to us and greet us with hugs! They are so sweet, they don’t know us, but yet already are sharing such love with us! What a blessing to feel welcome!
We’ve been staying at the children’s home with the girls and have been so blessed to get to know the girls, love on them, and be loved in return by them. They have made a way into our hearts and I’m truly thankful we get to meet and love on these kids.
Come to find out, this couple has had a children’s home for girls for 20+ years, whose parents can’t take care of them or for other domestic reasons. The girls range from 3 years old to 18, where once they age out they are helped to get on their feet whether or not they want to go the university or get a job. Not only is there a girls home, but there also are two more homes! One for boys, in the same situation as the girls, some of them are even siblings! The other home is a street boys home, they take in boys who have had hard lives living in the street in gangs, doing drugs, getting in trouble, etc. Each home has it’s on separate beautiful unkept facility, this helps to keep the kids safe and each child to get their own needs meet!
Throughout this whole process of planning and busing all over the country, the Lord’s been at work! It was hard! For you see I like for things to go according to plans… ok let’s face it, go according to my plans…But our human plans got pushed out the window, and his heavenly plans led us here! To spend time with the precious children who he loves too!
(P.s. All these children have woven such a place in our hearts… it’s going to be super hard to leave them and not take them with us!)
