Tuesday, 8/18
What do I say about today?! There aren’t enough exclamation marks, even for me! Today was Sponsorship Day and six of us met our children. I have done this before but quite I. This fashion.
After a good night’s sleep, unmarred by dreams of small enclosed places for Alice and LuAnn, we had breakfast and headed out at 7:30. Several WV staff and two interpreters came along as well. We drove about an hour and a half out of Cochabamba to Colomi. It was a beautiful drive, winding around steep hills, seeing villages, and more trees here. At least in the parts of Bolivia we are visiting, everything is either up or down – not much level terrain. Makes for some gorgeous vistas. We arrived in Colomi in good time and met staff there and got filled in a bit. When we first arrived I saw a girl I thought looked like Lineth, my sponsored girl. I walked up to her with a goofy grin on my face and asked, “Lineth?” She nodded and so I hugged her and babbled away. One of our translators came over to help and turns out I had the wrong girl! Heaven only knows what she thinks about me! Oh well – never too many hugs to go around.
I went back into the office but just a few minutes later one of the staff stuck her head in and asked for the sponsor of Lineth. Well, this time it was the real girl! So more hugs and expressions of joy from me. Her whole family was there – mother, two brothers, and a sister. She is the oldest. They had walked over to the office to see me! Such a blessing! With translation, we shared briefly. She is 14 and such a lovely girl. All of them were quite shy and probably nervous, especially her 12 year old brother – very serious face. The father of this family abandoned them so I think this son feels the burden of responsibility. I had to return to the office briefly and then we hopped onto our bus for a very short ride to an event space. My family were taken over in the back of a pickup.
Well – we were so not prepared for what was next. We walked around a small church, down a dirt stony alley way and came to a large covered space. There was music, a rainbow of balloons, decorations and a hoard of children which came running out to greet us! It was enchanting! Balloon necklaces were placed around our necks and confetti sprinkled on our heads! We then were led to a double row of chairs which were in a semi-circle with a curtained off stage area. I sat with Lineth and her family.
A master of ceremonies welcomed us so warmly. Then he prayed. Much of his prayer was for us and asking God’s blessing on us so specifically. It made me recall other blessings on other trips. Is this part of why I am so blessed! It was a very humbling thought and made me even more grateful for these opportunities! It was also a reminder to me to pray God’s blessing on others.
A number of the children had their club vests on – this is a program WV runs for children providing life skills, education about protection, advocacy, Bible study. All designed to encourage and empower children – help them feel God’s love and their worth. Then the show began! The smoke and bubble machine kicked in. The music started and a magician came out and pulled birds out of scarfs and bunnies out of hats. A table levitated. It was fun and the children loved it! The favorite was the clown who came out! I think they had all seen him before because he was a great favorite! He was silly and funny and really interacted with the kids. Teasing them and bonking them on the head with a plastic mallet. After his show, the MC came out again. There are six of us who have sponsored children so he called one of us and then that sponsored child. When two of us were up there, a game was started between the two teams. Live and Let Die boomed out and the first game began. The teams took turns stacking plastic bowls up on top of each other until it fell. The person who put up the last one was out. That continued until there was a winner. As the tower grew higher, the music changed to Psycho! So funny. When it was my turn, we added some more children to each team and had a sack race! Please have fun imagining me jumping around in a sack!
The final pair did a tug of war! Everyone really got into it and it was such fun! Then the piñatas came out – one for the boys and one for the girls. And of course that made for a mad scramble. Then there was one for the adult women and scrambled and grabbed with the best of them! My candy went to my family, as did the other balloons I’d collected. Lineth got the pink heart which the MC gave me. He had fun teasing with us.
The clown returned with a balloon act – he twisted balloons into various items and then appropriate movie music played while he pantomimed the accompanying actions. He even started pulling balloons off to the tune of You Can Leave Your Hat On but quickly stopped! We were greatly relieved! I’m not sure many got where that was from! The best one was his underwater pantomime with a “tank” and sting ray, swimming through a sea of bubbles.
The grand finale was two birthday cakes, lit with rocket type sparklers. The custom here is for the honored person to take a bite of the cake before it is served. Two of our members had the privilege. The whole custom is to then push their faces into the cake but fortunately they didn’t follow through with that. Happy Birthday was sung and then the cake was served to the sponsored children and their siblings. Gift bags were also handed out! It was quite the celebration! We were there for over three hours and it just flew by. Children here rarely celebrate their birthdays so this was to honor them.
All is trooped back to the ADP office for lunch, families included. I had Randolpho with me to translate so we talked a bit about school, life in the village, faith – they are Catholic. The sibs started warming up and when I got the soccer ball pump out, the older boy finally lit up.
We then loaded into our own vans to go to the home of our child. LuAnn came with me as she does not have a child here and Randolpho was my faithful companion throughout the visit. We also has Blanco, a wonderful staff woman, to translate between Spanish and Quechua, a native language. Julia, the mother, only speaks that but the children have learned Spanish in school.
We drove about 30 minutes, past a beautiful lake, and arrived at their village. Scrambling down a little slope,new arrived at their home. Ok – another crack in the heart. They live in a dirt floored one room shack – no running water, no electricity, no heat, and even little daylight was the windows, which are only openings in the wall – no glass – were only slits. Clothes hung from rafters and hooks. Two beds are snugged up together behind a black plastic sheet and the whole family sleeps there. Beside the house is a cooking shack reached through a very low door and is also so dark. There is really no direct ventilation for the fire so I can only imagine how smoky it must get. Lineth fixes breakfast each day and her mother cooks dinner, the house is situated on about an acre or so where they farm potatoes, their only source of income. All of them help in the work. Sigh …… The setting of their home is so beautiful – the lake is in the distance. There are tall hills and a stream, where they wash their clothes in the freezing water, and yet they live in such desperate circumstances. One of Lineth’s brothers is also a sponsored child so I am so grateful for that! Something will be done!!! I wanted pack them all up and move them into a new home that day but things work more slowly. Back outside, I shared the gifts I had brought for Lineth, the scarf for her sister, and the soccer ball! Freddy immediately pumped it up and he finally seemed like a 12 year old boy! I had a necklace for Julia which she said she would never wear as it was too pretty! I had to urge her to put it on. She is often knitting, even while walking, and makes beautiful shawls. She occasionally sells some of them for extra income but mainly knits for the family. Lineth gave me a lovely heart shaped packet with a drawing and letter inside – treasures always! Randolpho translated the letter for me and it was so dear – expressions of love and gratitude but also, most amazingly, her own expressions of her joy in life and her love for God! Hope in this dark place. They really all seem quite happy here, the little guy wrestling with the dog, but things must change.
As we had a good bit of time left, we walked about 30 minutes to the children’s school, up the hill, of course! We followed the road, all paved in hand laid stone. I was so glad we made the trek because the school is very nice – a real haven for these children who live in such poverty. It is open and lighted, with many windows and a covered play area which WV donated. There is a computer lab. Lineth showed me her classroom and some of the work she has done. She is in grade 8 so right on track. The work is varied and so well done so I think they are all getting a good education, even in this remote place. Thank you Lord.
The trek back was downhill – thank you and then we had to say our goodbyes. Many hugs, a few tears (me). They presented me with three bags of potatoes! So much generosity from so little. I almost hated to take them but was so grateful for their love. As I can’t take them with me, ADP staff will find a good use for them.
Back to our van, a reluctant wave and off we were, back to the office. We all trickled in from our various adventures, with stories to tell. Each of us had our own story but they all bore the same marks of deep poverty and poor living conditions. Our hearts were so moved and full as we talked.
Back onto the van for the drive back to Cochabamba, dinner, and sleep. The conversation around the table was rich and moving as we all contemplated our calls in this place. God will show us the way.
I know this is long but it has been quite a day! Thank God for the gift of hope because otherwise it would be a dark night. Blessings to you all! And I mean that very intentionally.