Finding time to breathe

Apologies for keeping quiet! Oruro, our new home, is extremely high and for the first time ever the Soul Touchers have had difficulty talking. What´s more we have actually been so busy since arriving here that we´ve not had time to do some mandatory and necessary things such as wash, manicure our nails, brush our hair or regrettably write to you all.

More so than the altitude though our time here in Oruro and Sucre has been breathtaking for lots of reasons. Primarily because of the vast amount of activities, projects and work that we´ve been witnessing taking place amongst the church here.

Our leaving Sucre was bittersweet. Although looking forward to meeting new people and new challenges in Oruro we were gutted to be leaving those we grew to call family in Sucre. Our last day there was a real blessing and we spent it with the community of CCE Church at Horna Casa. A day that could have quite easily been completely chaotic (given that there were more than 100 excited little children there and that is not to mention the adults!)was in fact a celebration, a party of hope and a reward for all those who´d put so much effort into refurbishing the home for the children who now squashed in to enjoy games, songs, bible teachings and cake...lots and lots of cake. What a joy to see hundreds of dirty little fingers clenching fists full of sweet cake and cupping hot chocolate rather than the dirt we´d witnessed them clutching only weeks earlier as they played with the pigs. And so we left sadly but full of hope that God is doing wonderful things there.
Oruro is cold – but only in terms of the weather. Within the space of one week we´ve received a warm welcome. Firstly by our host family. Having reluctantly left Sucre Lorna and I boarded the 9pm night bus from Sucre to Oruro. Departing the terminal equipped with layers of clothing and fully charged ipods (recently improved/updated with Spanish worship thanks to Becky Train!) we waved “Hasta Luego” to our friends and family.

Reminiscing on how unbearable the bus journey to Sucre had been Lorna and I took necessary precautions for the return trip – layering up clothes, filling up hot water bottles and tucking our vests into long Johns! We had not however prepared for the orchestra of “roncing” (snoring) that was going to take place on the bus that night – snoring I might add that no manipulation of volume control on the ipods could quieten.

And so we arrived in Oruro, where since we´ve bared the cold, warming our spirits and hearts with the enthusiasm of the church and work of Latin Link:

¨Bamos, bamos¨ Our 5.30am alarm, our rather the screech of Ximena our sister here, wakes us from our sleep and reluctantly (very reluctantly) we scramble our way out from the layers of blankets. Although the initial cold of the morning is painful or ¨torturous¨(as Miss Main described it) it´s not long before we are wrapped up in the warmth of natural hot spring waters found in the mountains of Oruro. It´s early but the youth group with whom we´ve come to the springs are excitable to say the least. After trying to teach each of them to swim we braved the baths. Yes communal bathing is an experience which I´m assured is all part of the ¨rich tapestry of life¨. Although enjoyable and definitely memorable we´ve safely sown that stitch in our life's tapestry, at least for the time being.

And so the afternoons have been spent visiting children´s homes, the prison, youth groups and the homes of families. It is going to take us some time to document all that is being orchestrated by Julie Noble (Latin Link) in partnership with the local churches and overseas missionaries. But for those of you who haven´t seen let us explain a little.

Firstly the prison. Although neither of us have a great deal of experience in working with prisons in Britain I think we can safely say that the prison at home is nothing (NOTHING) like the prison here in Oruro, other than they both are institutions that incarcerate criminals. Entering the prison would ordinarily have been quite a daunting experience (had we not had God right there with us!), given that the entrance opened onto a large communal area (big playground like area) where most of the prisoners were congregated, talking, buying things form the various tiendas (stalls) set up around the edges or spectating the game of football that was going on in the centre of the grounds.

Safely directed round the prison by Gabriela Gomez (staff, lawyer and angel who works for Arbol Angel) we were able to interview a few of the parents. I say parents because here in Bolivia many children are raised in the prison, for several reasons. Whilst speaking to the women prisoners, most of whom were washing cleaning or cooking while we spoke, we learned that many of them actually became pregnant whilst incarcerated. Meaning that when the children are born they stay in there with their mothers (fathers, most likely one of the other prisoners). In some instances when the fathers enter the prison the mothers, unable to support the children financially, abandon them. In these cases the children live alone, in houses or on the streets. Although it sounds almost unimaginably horrific, the thought of innocent young children being raised in that environment, there is hope, hope much brighter than the darkness that tries to extinguish ours.


Arbol Angel (Angel Tree Project) is a project that works with the children whose parents are in the prison as well as the parents themselves. They offer counselling, scriptural teaching and where they can financial support. One relationship we were particularly moved by was that of Jenny Zurita (psychologist who works for Arbol Angel) and Alexa, the father of seven children, six of whom live on their own having been abandoned by their mother. Lorna and I visited their home, some thirty minutes away from the prison where their father is. I´m afraid I´ll have to allow photos to express what I am simply unable to articulate.


Having distracted the five large dogs guarding the gate of the home with bread Lorna and I made our way into the small bedroom which they all share. Four of the children are under the age of 12 and so you can imagine the smell: no parents there to clean up, care or protect. What made us joyful amidst the smell, mess and apparent lack of hope was the support Arbol Angel was giving this family, individually. The staff know, care for and love each child individually.


Partly because they get to know them in the Arbol Angel centre. There the children are fed, taught and given much needed attention. To our disbelief the project is currently reliant on ¨offerings¨and donations from Latin Link supporters, or fund raising the staff there are able to do.

As is the compassion project. Compassion, an international missions organisation, works here in Oruro to support, teach and care for some 400 children. You may have noticed that much of the work here concentrates on the children, they, in the world over, are the ones who suffer because of our actions...or lack of them. One person´s actions that we´ve been encouraged by are Chris Saunders, a volunteer. Chris is here as a Latin Link volunteer and his role consists of working in the compassion project, working with the youth in the CCU and this week updating the Soul Touchers on all that is going on in Oruro.
As you might have reaslised there´s a lot! And so after a busy, busy day we, Soul Touch huddled back under our suffocating amount of “traditionally Bolivian blankets” and reflect on the presentations we have had the oppertunity to give here. Both in Universities, the CCU and the church. Wearing equally culturally appropriate and very necessary (llama) woolen hat, scarves, gloves and thermals we, “hoddit and doddit”, shed our usual glamorous (yeah right) exteriors opting for clothing that provides heat .

Finally we´ve loved living in the home of our host family here in Oruro. Having spent the past week recovering form the severe drop in temperature and drastic rise in altitude Soul Touch are almost ready to move on again. Before we close our eyes we find time to cosy up for a bed time-story, literally: “The Shack”. A novel gifted to the world by William P Young and to us by our friends in Sucre, is tonights most read.

Night night Sweet dreams. Love you all Erica and Lorna xxx