What a great weekend! I went with Debra and my housemate Jenna to the orphanage that Jenna worked at 2 years ago. It's a huge orphanage on several acres. It took us about 2 hours to get there on the ALP bus, colectivo (taxi), city bus, and rapidito. But, only about $5 round trip. We toured the orphanage - there's a school where about 300-400 students attend. The orphanage has around 500 kids total. The rest of the students are either in high school or college and live both at the orphanage and in the city. It was Saturday morning so the kids were all doing chores around the grounds. We chatted with the little boys for a while, I read a book with some girls, ate freshly picked watermelon for a snack, and went for a walk to the farm- the orphanage has several chicken barns and around 25 milking cows. (Since I missed the fair, this was as close as I got) For lunch we ate spaghetti, it had been brought to each of the houses in a big igloo cooler- enough to feed the 20 some kids that lived in each house.
It was such a blessing to go there. For my own sake, it was refreshing to leave the school and go out into the country. (Where I feel most at home.) The orphanage is on the side of a mountain where we could hike around. For the kids, we were a blessing to them. They all knew Jenna and adore her. It was so fun to talk with them, play with them, answer their question, and just love on them. They tried to speak a few English words too. :) I hope that I get the chance to go back! Visiting is great, but it's so much more meaningful when you can build a relationship with the kids. The orphanage is Catholic and they had mass that afternoon. We left before it started so that we could catch the bus back to ALP. But they desperately need prayers to accept Christ as their personal Savior and to be in relationship with him. The orphanage is religious... but there's a difference between religion and faith. Please say a prayer for these adorable children!
Blessings.
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