Nutrition Center

Sorry it has been so long since our last post but things have been very busy here. Most of our work at this point is administrative so there is not much to share. So this post is going to be about a privately owned and run nutrition center here in Coch that we visited on Monday. The center was started by the Albino Patino family that struck it rich here with silver mines awhile back (not sure on the exact time frame). Anyway, the center takes in kids that are malnourished and nurses them back to health. Parents can bring their kids in and the government sends kids there too. It is kind of a depressing place but at the same time encouraging to see the care that is given to the kids that are there. We are hoping to help at lunch time at the center at least once a week, maybe more often depending on our schedule. Here are some pictures of some of our team and kids at the center.

The kid I am holding is named Ivan and he was born blind and his right ankle was broken during birth. It took aver an hour to feed him a bottle because he is so weak he could barely get any milk out of the bottle. A nurse ended up having to finish feeding him by using a spoon and pouring the milk into his mouth. Just makes you realize how blessed we all are.

Here are a few other people from our team at the center. From left to right they are Jordyn Morel, Natalie, Frances Ross, and Bree James.

This is Benjamin. He is one of the cutest kids ever!

In other news Natalie and I are getting ready to celebrate our 4 year anniversary tomorrow! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing woman as my wife. I guess that is all for now. I am still hoping to post again this weekend and get back on that weekly schedule. Hope everyone back home is doing well.

Baby Washing Supplies

Some of you have expressed interest in contributing some supplies for baby washing. Our friends, Ben and Tenesha Baker, are coming down in September and are bringing a suitcase for these supplies. If you would like to contribute any items please contact Ben Baker at benjamin.baker@colorado.edu or on his cell phone (303)775-9278. Here is a list of supplies that we can use:

-Baby Shampoo
-Regular Shampoo
-Cheap Nail Polish
-Combs or brushes
-Hair ties, barrettes, hair clips, etc. for the little girls hair
-Clothes for babies (no onesies) up through size 12. We can get clothes here for about $0.50 per item so it is only cost effective if you already have clothes that you want to give away.

We will be updating the blog again sometime over the weekend and we will be including some more pictures. Thanks for all of your support!

Last Week and Baby Washing

Last week was a long one for us. Natalie left our weekly team meeting on Monday and was sick by the time she got home. We got her on antibiotics on Tuesday afternoon for parasites in her stomach. I quickly followed by getting sick Tuesday night with parasites and starting antibiotics on Wednesday afternoon. We spent the rest of the week, until Friday, in the bathroom and/or sleeping. Needless to say we are both very happy to be healthy again!

Since we had such a short week of actual work I thought I would focus this post on our Saturday Baby Washing. So every Saturday our team runs a baby washing program in the main plaza here in Cochabamba. We are serving poor families that have no access to warm water and often this is the only time each week that their kids get a bath. We show up at 4:30 and setup two tents. The first tent is the washing tent and it is one of the tents that they setup at track meets. The other tent we setup is the clothing tent, which is actually a camping tent. The process is that we wash the babies and young kids with hot water in the first tent and then wrap them up in a towel and carry them to the second tent where they get a new set of clothes. After they are dressed we have a bunch of people who brush and do the girls' hair and will paint their nails. We also hand out bread and fruit to the kids and moms. We also setup a few tubs to wash the hair of the older kids and some of the moms if we have enough hot water. During this whole time we are playing with the kids that are waiting for their turn or are already down. We also read Bible stories to any of the kids who want to listen. The whole thing lasts about an hour. It definitely changes your perspective on what's important in life and how lucky we are to have simple things like hot water when you look into the eyes of some of these kids and see how happy they are as they splash around in the small plastic tubs. The best part about it for us is playing with the kids; no matter what your attitude is as you arrive, hearing the kids ask you to "Cargame!" which means carry me, "Salta!" which means jump, or "Corre!" which means run always brings lots of laughing and fun. The kids leave with huge smiles, new clothes, full tummies, and are sad that we will not all be together again until the following week. Here are some pictures of this past week's baby washing. We are hoping to do a drive with our softball team to collect supplies before our friends Ben and Tenesha visit in September. If you are interested in donating baby washing supplies such as hair ties and ribbons, combs and brushes, nail polish, lightly used baby and kids clothing, or baby shampoo and soap, let us know and we will get you in touch with Ben and T!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!! Natalie isn't feeling so well so we just did some fireworks in our backyard. Pretty sweet to shoot real fireworks off in your own yard. Hope everyone had a great 4th with friends and family!

Laundry by hand!

That’s what has more or less occupied my time lately, as we continue to settle into our new life here in Cochabamba. My respect for Bolivian women has skyrocketed as I’m sure my gringa laundry skills pale in comparison to their skills, especially considering I’m only doing laundry for two adults and many women here are doing laundry down in the trash-lined, dirty river that flows through Coch for huge families. Scott and I have been quickly adjusting to other drastic differences between the States and Bolivia, namely that we cannot flush toilet paper (yep… there are trashcans next to every toilet in this country) and that we will put our lives in jeopardy every time we walk across or drive through the streets here where red lights are merely suggestions and where every driver uses the horn constantly. We’ve laughed a lot as we adjust to our new neighborhood, too: stray dog fights at two in the morning, stray cats mating outside our bedroom window, or Scott’s favorite guy who drives by constantly throughout the day selling fruit out of the back of his car. The man has a megaphone attached to his car and, in a ridiculously loud monotone voice, repeats OVER and OVER, “Bananas, mandarinas, y papayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas.” Needless to say, Scott told me I’m not allowed to buy fruit from him because he’s afraid he will start coming to our neighborhood on weekends, too. Because we’re adjusting well and enjoying all of the novelty of our new lives, we are both definitely anxious to find defined roles as we begin our work with the ministry here. Pray that, as Oswald Chambers says, we “never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor.” We want this to be a year where we make ourselves less and make others more, where we give our best for something bigger, and where we take the challenges that we face in this very different context to make us stronger individuals, a stronger couple, and more thoughtful and compassionate human beings.