The Lords Kitchen(sorry can't upload pics from here :( )

We spent our last Saturday in Oruro teaching the teenagers ceilidh dancing, once we had successfully trained them in the Canadian Barn Dance and the Dashing White Sergeant we demonstrated for the church dance teacher. After our performance she asked us if we would be willing to dance during the Sunday morning service! I was slightly nervous as ceilidh dancing is quite tiring at the best of times, but thousands of feet above sea level it’s somewhat harder!!!! But of course Jenn and I agreed to take part... fun was had by all and we were surprised when the congregation to begin to clap along!
Later in the week we spent some time painting a mural with the children on the wall at the Arbol del Angel centre... was a great day, we were given free reign so we painted a scottish girl with a bolivian girl and further along we painted the whole world in God's hands.
The day before we were due to leave Oruro we had an opportunity to visit the prison in Cochabamba, a four hour bus journey from Oruro. We left at 4am for the bus terminal, well wrapped up as Oruro is rather chilly at night. We arrived in Cochabamba around 9am and headed for the prison offices to meet with some of the staff. I’m afraid our Spanish is fairly limited so we’re not sure exactly what was discussed at this meeting but everyone was very friendly and we got a coke! After that 6 of us jumped in a four seater taxi for a half hour drive to the prison, it was an experience... we arrived at the prison entrance, our passports and bags were checked, now all that was left was a body check followed by a smiley face stamp (seriously!) before we were allowed to enter.
The prison was much more open and nicer than the one in Oruro. We were there to visit a man with children living Oruro who attend the Arbol del Angel (Angel Tree) project. The staff told him stories and delivered some letters from his children, his eyes filled up as he explained he’s been there for 2 years and had 3 to go, it’s such a long time when his 3 children are so young, all of them are still of primary school age. He took some paper to write replies to his daughter and sons. While he was writing I had an opportunity to do a spot of people watching. There were so many young families. Dad’s in prison and mum’s bringing children in to visit them. One woman had a new born baby with her and when she handed him to his father his face lit up, I can’t imagine what that must feel like for either of them. I spotted a few more families and couples spending the only quality time they would get in full view of everyone before I noticed a young family, husband wife and son playing and talking. A few moments later the woman turned around to reveal a heavily pregnant tummy! It’s such a sad place to be! This was a ‘nice’ prison, but nothing can ever replace these moments that families are missing out on, fathers missing the birth of their children or being around to help with the other kids while mum’s are carrying. It was a sad day, but beautiful to be part of that small piece of communication provided by Arbol del Angel.
Next day we left for La Paz where we planned to visit Hossana and Nelson after his operation. Unfortunately his operation had been cancelled as he has bronchitis and they need to wait until he has fully recovered from that before he goes through surgery. Please pray that the operation is a success. We were sad to have missed them in La Paz but took advantage of the time and had an early night so we were fresh for our three plane rides the following morning.
Our first flight was from La Paz, Bolivia to Lima, Peru. We had a short wait there which was spent in the transfers line to have our bags scanned, what we were supposed to have done to our bags during a flight I don’t know. Our next stop was in San Jose, Costa Rica. It didn’t take long before Jenn sniffed out a Cinnabon where we spent the next 5 hours.... not eating the whole time!
We arrived in Guatemala around 8pm, we were collected at the airport by Pastor Alvaro and Debbie, his wife. They brought us to their beautiful home, which is provided by a member of their congregation, where Debbie had organised space for Jenn and I to unpack, having done a fair bit of travelling herself she had thought of everything. She put the hot water on and left us to get washed and ready for bed. Before we went to sleep she spent a little bit of time chatting with us, but we were ready for an early night after a long day.
The next morning we were up and ready for church, we were introduced to Janet who was going to translate for us during the service. We were excited as this was going to be the first sermon we would have understood since Argentina! We weren’t disappointed!!! After the service we went for a famous Guatemalan Pollo Campero (Country Chicken), which lived up to it’s excellent reputation!!!! This was followed by a dulce de leche (caramel) ice cream and a relaxing Sunday afternoon lounging in the house.
The last few mornings we’ve spent in the church painting walls which are damaged with dampness after the worst floods Guatemala has ever seen. Jenn and I are fairly practical so it’s nice to see the instant result of our labour ;)
We’re also both very much people’s persons so the highlight of our day is spent in the afternoon at the Lords Kitchen, a homeless mission in Guatemala City, feeding between 450 and 750 people daily. It’s an amazing experience, there’s such a variation of people. Some individuals have just always lived on the streets, some have become homeless through circumstances and some have ended up there through drug or alcohol problems. I was very impressed with how everyone was treated as individuals and how everyone is so well respected. There was even staff members there to help people who couldn’t manage (due to too many kids, disabilities or even one too many) to their tables. The relationships between the staff and community are quite inspiring, they all seem to know one another and the staff clearly have a huge passion for what they are doing there. We’re both feeling energized and are very much looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks volunteering here!
Oh another bit of good news is that a fundraiser was held by my amazing family last Friday evening. The night raised £900, much more than we were expecting or even hoping for! It means we are almost there with the money needed to complete the trip so thanks so much to everyone who was involved in the evening, whether you donated prizes, helped with the organising or showed up. We really do thank God for his provision this year and for the encouraging, caring and generous family and friends Jenn and I have been blessed with! God only knows we could never have done it without you!
Laura xXx

Heroes behind bars

“Mammy!” is not the word you would expect to echo around the cold tall walls of a prison. However, sadly that is the case here in Oruro in Bolivia. With the lack of the same social care we benefit from in the UK, children who have criminal parents here often have nowhere else to go and so if they cannot live with a relative and both parents are in jail (which seems to be the case all too often), or if they depend on only one parent, then when that parent gets sent to jail so does the child. The result is a “mother’s courtyard”, a small courtyard in the prison where children live in small rooms with their siblings and mother for the duration of her sentence. The children still attend school and are able to leave the prison when collected by someone, but of course this is far from the life they should be leading. Never can they be walked to school by their parents, or have them smiling in the audience at a school play, their surroundings are cold and grey, without grass or a park to play on in sight, and the idea of inviting friends home for dinner is as crazy as the idea of children in prison.
Laura and I have been working with a project here in Oruro called Angel Tree (or Arbol del Angel in Espanol). This project was set up in Oruro by a woman called Gabriela, a lawyer who saw the need of the children in the prisons all too often during her visits with clients. Arbol del Angel have a centre on the back of their church that children with parents in prison or children who live in the prisons can come to every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for help with their homework, some Bible teaching, lunch, games, snacks, emotional support and social time with children in similar situations to their own. The centre is absolutely brilliant, with great resources, good moral and health values and run by a brilliant, caring team. They provide the children with much needed structure, confidence building and understanding relationships. This is essential for these children as I’m sure we all know that it can be all too easy for children in such situations to follow in their parent’s footsteps. And even forgetting all these benefits, the centre is a safe building full of colour and laughter, a million miles from their prison homes.
During our stay here Laura and I have been able to visit the prison a couple of times. The first time was just to speak with the prisoners and meet some of the parents of the children. It was interesting for us as we were surprised by several things. For example the prisoners seem to be able to fill their rooms with hundreds of belongs, cover the walls in photos of naked women, but strangest of all for us was when Laura came across one prisoner’s collection of empty whisky bottles!
We had been told by the women from Arbol del Angel that we would be meeting lots of male prisoners and so we had to dress “sensibly”. So, taking this advice to heart maybe a bit too much, Laura and I didn’t wash our hair, wore fully covering clothes, no make up and barely washed our faces! But thankfully, all of the prisoners were not just friendly and nice to us they were all respectful and never made us feel uncomfortable. I think a lot of that respect came from the fact that we were with Arbol del Angel, which is a great testimony for the work they do.
The following day we returned to the prison (yes we were allowed out!) with the children for a performance. The prison were having some kind of entertainment day with art work and musicians visiting and our children had prepared a dance for the event. I was really excited about this as I’m sure it means a lot to both them and their parents that they can share something like this that with any other organisation they would miss. The kids all did a great job and seemed to enjoy the day and it was lovely for us to see which kids matched with which parents. Leaving however was a bit more difficult. Our hearts broke in two. One half wept for the many children we were leaving behind in their concrete home, and the other for the children and parents that struggled to once again say goodbye to each other. At that point I have to say I started to almost understand having the kids living in the jail. It was just so sad watching them leave their parents behind.
It’s really nice for us to be working with such a well-run and well-equipped project as we get to just enjoy the brilliant work they are doing and not worry too much about what they are lacking as we have done with some less developed projects. But one thing I do find difficult here is to remember it is never my place to judge others. I have always had the privilege of having loving parents that have more than provided for me both emotionally and materially, and so I know I can never properly empathise with or understand desperate poverty (which I’m sure is the reason at least some of these parents have ended up in prison) and I know for a fact that I would do my all to provide for my family, which isn’t always easy for everyone; but I also can’t understand how all of these parents have been forced to end up taking a route that leads to their child living in a prison or growing up with a parent in jail. However, as I keep reminding myself never to judge, especially what I don’t know, I am full of sorrow and compassion for these parents. I don’t have any children yet, but if I even think about how much I love other people’s children I can’t imagine how it must feel to feel like you are letting them down in such a huge way.
During our first visit I noticed the “comforts” in the material things allowed to the prisoners. But on our second visit I had a much deeper understanding of the situation and what they had been forced to give up as I watched a father of three dish out small pocket money to his kids and hug them goodbye as they clung to him at the gate. The scene looked normal for a prison gate, but when you looked closer and into their eyes, it was clear that these small children were hugging their Daddy who, like all other children, was their hero, and he was desperately clinging to his children’s innocent minds, knowing fully that one day that view may change and all he could do is wait in his concrete box hoping to be their hero once again. I am just so sorry things ever got so desperate for these families that it could end up like this, but I am fully confident the children will be stronger than they ever could be without Arbol del Angel, and for that I am thankful.
Jenn xx

City of Angels

hey everyone, just a wee quick blog to let you all know we have arrived safe and sound in cold oruro (still in bolivia for those of you that have similar geography skills to me!). we are staying in the flat of a missionary who has kindly allowed us to stay there whilst she is away in Cuba. Its so strange for us to have a place to ourselves (and the first time this year) but there are lots of meeting etc that take place in the house through the week with the charity we will be working with here "angel tree", so we are never really alone. Everyone has given us such a lovely welcome, and although we are still not totally sure of the specific work we will be doing here we have been shown around the building where Angel Tree work with children (lots whom have one or both of their parents in prison, and some who even have to live in prison with them), and it looks like a great project.
Its colder here than Sucre and a higher altitude so we are struggling a bit of an embarassing amount with the stairs and hills, but im sure we will adapt again soon enough!
We dont have great internet access here, but will be in touch with details of the work soon enough!!

love and blessings

Jenn xxxx

Salt and Silence

Bolivia is home to the world’s biggest salt desert, with over 10 billion tons of salt it is 3million acres and rests at 12,000 feet above sea level. The salt is covered in water which creates the effect of the horizon merging into the sky. With volcanoes and mountains in the backdrop, this sight draws tourists in their masses from all over the world. In January 2009 a young missionary couple, Jessica and Luke, set out with their 2 infant girls on a trip across the salt flats after preaching in a nearby town. They had been considering planting their ministry around this area and so wanted to check it out further. Knowing where they were heading, Jessica and Luke felt confident enough to go in their truck independent of tour guides. The family enjoyed the journey immensely, squealing at the sights and stopping to take advantage of some the many beautiful photo opportunities. They were a little confused when they reached the village at the bottom of the volcano they had been heading towards, to find there wasn’t a single soul there. However they weren’t completely shocked as they were both well aware that in villages like this it would often be the case that the people would be away in fields elsewhere working long days. So, as it was coming into the late afternoon Jessica and Luke decided it would be best to start on the drive back to make sure to be at the hotel before dark.
However not long into the journey the car came to a sudden jolt as the engine cut out. Concerned, Luke got out of the car and had a look under the hood. He discovered a blown fuse, and was able to replace it quickly. Nevertheless when he started the engine again the new fuse blew as well. This happened again with a third fuse, when Jessica and Luke were hit by the truth of the situation. They were stuck. Studying the map desperately they worked out that they must be around 20 miles from the entrance to the salt flats and safety. The sun was beginning to go down so the couple tried their hardest to calm their upset daughters as they settled down in their truck for a sleepless night.
Jessica and Luke spent the night praying and crying, to wake up early to a beautiful sunrise and thankfully the perfect weather conditions for the walk they were facing. Carrying a daughter each, strapped with all their water and food, a map in hand and hope in their hearts Jessica and Luke set out for the long walk ahead. The couple both wore flip flops on their feet (which shockingly never broke) and as they trudged through the many miles of solid sand covered inches deep in water the salt wore on their feet and legs and began to burn through their skin. The salt water numbed them enough to allow them to keep walking, but had it not been for the pure necessity and their desire to get their children to safety, I’m sure they may have collapsed with the pain.
After 11 painful hours of walking, the exhausted family came to “land”. They stumbled across a small thin road that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Being out of the salt water increased the huge pain they were in and it was now starting to get dark again. Looking around desperately for a possible place to sleep for the night they came across a grave yard with many tombs. Despite being told by everyone that the whole region they were in didn’t have a mobile phone reception, Luke took his from his pocket and turned it on to see if the little battery he had left would find anything. With their God looking down on them, Luke managed to find one tiny spot in the graveyard where he managed to get a signal. Unfortunately they didn’t know the area code for the closest town, but they frantically called their friends from the other side of Bolivia. Eventually they got through to a fellow missionary who acted quickly, getting in touch with friends in Uyuni (a town close to the desert) trying to explain where the lost family where. But without many landscapes, or much of a mobile reception working out their position was proving to be very difficult and a night sleeping behind a tomb was beginning to look more and more likely.
However, just as things were looking really desperate, a truck full of people returning from work for the day approached them. Jessica hobbled to the road to flag them down and explain what had happened, begging for help. Despite being a bit freaked out by the crazy white woman that had just seemed to appear from a graveyard in the middle of nowhere, the men in the truck emptied themselves out so the driver could drive the family to the town and then come back for them. Luke and Jessica were collected at the police station by a friend’s father and brother who immediately drove them to their hotel to get them washed up and into a bed, off their destroyed feet. On the journey to the road the family realised how truly blessed they were as they were told that tours don’t go out to the salt flats during this season as it was too dangerous and that may people doing it alone had in fact died there.
Within a few days Luke and Jessica had been looked after by so many people. Childcare was provided by doting women, the truck had been collected and fixed and the family had been transported from the Hotel to Sucre Hospital for proper medical attention. Never having considered Sucre as a place to start their ministry they knew of but hadn’t yet met one of their fellow missionaries, Caroline. Caroline came to the hospital to visit the couple and after their immediate medical needs were addressed she offered to take them to her home were they could rest (neither could walk properly and Luke would be bed-ridden for a few weeks yet).
As the family rested in Caroline’s house they met the community she worked with; the deaf community of Sucre. Everyday Luke was visited in is sick bed by more and more of the local deaf men and women, offering him kindness and company. For most people this might have been difficult due to a possible break down in communication. However, God had prepared Luke for this long ago, and in fact he had made a deaf friend at 8 years old when he learnt to sign. From then on his life had been filled randomly with more and more signing deaf friends. Luke has therefore been a signing interpreter many times before for many years.
It was slowly revealed that as Caroline is single, the community really wanted a couple to come and set up a church for the deaf in Sucre. After some time of healing and prayer Jessica, Luke and their two beautiful daughters moved to Sucre to start laying the foundations for what looks like it is going to be an excellent church for the deaf.
Hearing this incredible story through our friends, Laura, Banny (our Spanish teacher, who is currently learning sign language) and I attended a service with them on Sunday. Laura and I have been to many services over the year where they are preaching in a different language and so we were happy to just sit back and take it in. But amazingly Luke was able to sign in Bolivian sign language and speak in English and sometimes switch to Spanish when necessary! It was a brilliant experience, especially as we tried to join in the worship: signing the words to a worship song together.
We also seemed to be in the right place at the right time as the deaf community were having a deaf awareness march the very next day which we were invited to participate in. The purpose of the march was to tell people that these people are deaf and in no way did that mean stupid. In many of the rural areas in many countries (including Bolivia) deaf children can be seen as a curse and are never given a way to communicate with the world, and rather are used as slaves or hidden completely from the world.
The march was so good, but it was strange for us to be involved in something like this that was done in silence! We are so used to the big marching bands! But they seemed to make a real impact. Leaflets with the symbol for love (see photo of me and Laura) were handed out with the slogan “my eyes can hear you and my hands can talk to you”, with leaflets with the alphabet in Bolivian finger spelling. At one point a group of older men stopped what they were doing to face the march and clap slowly as a sign of appreciation.
Despite how fun the past few days have been for us, how much we’ve learnt and how happy it made us that these brave people have the courage to march for their rights, we were told that there are still an estimated 8000 deaf people unaccounted for in Bolivia. Either they are embarrassed, in denial, or hidden. Whatever the reason, I pray for these people to know how loved they are and how fully human they are.
One thing that does continue to encourage and motivate me around the world, is despite the language, the country or the communication barriers we have come across, the sound of laughter and the appreciation of a warm smile is universal. And even if that laughter can’t be heard by some, the release it brings is understood by all.

Hosanna and Nelson

A few weeks ago Jenn and I moved in with two girls from Brazil. The girls studied at a Brazilian seminary school and have come to work in Sucre for a few years. Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying one of them, Hosanna, to the hospital to visit a very special little boy named Nelson. Nelson was born with problems in his oesophagus which means he was unable to swallow leaving him living in hospital and as a result had been abandoned by his birth parents. One day during while Hosanna was visiting someone in the hospital she met Nelson, when she asked the doctors about him her heart filled with love for this wee boy and she began to visit him daily. After a while Nelson’s father signed over power of attorney to Hosanna so she was now able to make any medical decisions on his behalf.

Hosanna managed to save money from her tight missionary budget and take Nelson from Sucre to La Paz for an operation which would mean that liquidised food could now be pumped straight into his stomach via a tube. This has helped with Nelson’s growth but he is still very small for his age. Hosanna now has the money together to take him back to La Paz for a second operation, and this is quite amazing... they are going to attach his intestine to his throat so that nelson can begin to eat normally.
When we walked into the hospital ward nelson was lying on his bed being fed by 4 staff members. His face lit up as soon as he saw Hosanna, mama he called out to her with a huge smile on his face. Hosanna’s face was equally lit up at the sight of her boy. Hosanna pulled out a balloon for him and began to play with him while he was lying there. After he had finished being fed she pulled colouring pencils and paper from her bag and began to draw, I was super impressed when he was done and he began to tidy up, this boy is so independent, I tried to help him put his pencils away but one look told me to stop and made me laugh a lot! I loved watching Hosanna and Nelson and really see how much they mean to one another.
She considers him in all she does and talks about, during a football match last week I told Hosanna I wanted to visit Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup, she nodded profusely and showed me what height Nelson would be by then. It’s so clear this girl is completely in love with this wee boy. Hosanna would love to adopt Nelson, but that’s a bit tricky as she’s sponsored to be here and isn’t in a financial position to support herself and a child also Hosanna’s single, and as we’re in Bolivia unless Nelson’s parents sign him over to her specifically then as a single person she’s unable to adopt. Even then the adoption process could take years before she is able to bring him home to live with her.
This is a situation that is very much on our hearts at the moment, so please feel free to join us in prayer for Hosanna and Nelson, pray for their relationship, for their health and that God will find a way for them to be together as soon as possible. Please also feel free to get in touch with Jenn and I if you have any more questions regarding the situation or think you might be able to help in any way.
Love and blessings,
Laura <><>

friendship covered in dust

Last week Laura and I began work with the children’s charity Horno Casa. This is a charity aiming to encourage education and play for children from one of the poorer areas on the outskirts of the city in Sucre. This community really has very little, is very dirty and dusty and the serious lack of clean water in the area is sadly clear from the physical appearance of the children. Horno Casa runs groups for all ages every afternoon. The main focus for the older, school attending, children is for them to complete their homework in a quiet and structured environment where help can be provided. For the younger children it’s a time for organised play, learning, socialising and learning about values and Bible stories. At the end of the session the kids are then all given a nutritious snack that they all get very excited about! The programme was set up originally by a Bolivian man, but is currently run mainly by a group of Brazilian missionaries (1 of whom is 1 of our lovely new flatmates!).
Over the year Laura and I have discovered our preferred age groups to work with and so with the hope to be where we can help the most Laura is working with the slightly older, school-aged children and I am in with the gorgeous wee teeny tots!
Every afternoon from Tuesday to Friday we take the bus to the final stop, leaving behind the pretty white city and arrive up the hills in the dust-filled outskirts of Sucre. Generally by the time we turn the corner into the Horno Casa area the bus has acquired an entourage of screaming excited kids running to greet us with hugs and kisses as we disembark. We then split into 3 groups according to age and head to our different rooms. The rooms are very basic and always filled with dust from outside, but they still seem to adequately provide a kind of haven for these kids. The first half hour for my kiddies is free play where I generally become exhausted spinning squealing child after squealing child round and round in circles, but it’s that great, had too much fun and fresh air type of exhausted. After all this excitement the kids are brought together and we have group games songs and lessons, which they seem to thrive on.
We are both loving working with Horno Casa and I can’t wait to learn more about them. One thing I’m sure of however is that these children are beautiful in more ways than a pile of dust and lack of water can cover up and I can’t wait to know them more.

Aprendiendo Espanol...

Due to the lack of English in Bolivia and our lack of Spanish, Laura and I decided to spend our first week in Sucre as students at an intensive Spanish course. We had originally thought we wouldn’t have the money for this which had worried us but then as we were introduced to different people at church on Sunday a beautiful lady Elly told us that she has just moved away from the main language school to a new smaller, cheaper school, and as it is Christian-run she could work out a discount for us! We were ecstatic and relieved as the language is crucial here!
So the past week has been spent with 4 hours of language classes in the mornings and then about 3 or 4 hours of homework at night. On top of that though our lovely host Jan has been introducing us to some of the people and missionaries at their church, hosting several lunches and teas for lots of really nice and interesting guests. The Spanish school we are attending also offer several activities in the evenings to provide opportunities to practice the language and also get to know each other and Bolivia more.
So on Tuesday we had a tour around the beautiful city of Sucre. I didn’t know what to expect from Sucre, but i definitely never expected to love it so much! The architecture and feel of the whole place is breath taking and the surrounding mountains provide an idyllic backdrop. We spend most of our morning walks to class smiling at the beautiful scenery surrounding us. It’s so cool as well to see all the wee women walking around in their traditional dress on a daily basis. We have been very few places that are so seeped in tradition as Sucre is. And we love it!
On Wednesday poor Laura had an upset tummy and so we had to call in sick to classes to postpone that class until next Monday. This did however give me the opportunity to go with Jan to her Bolivian dance/aerobics exercise class! I had so much fun, although I couldn’t believe the way that some of the women there were able to move their hips! I giggled lots and worked hard on the moves (although I struggled a bit with the fast pace with the altitude sickness in my head!)
Thankfully Laura woke up feeling much better on Thursday, so we made it along to our class in the morning and then Spanish karaoke at night. Laura was so excited about this as everyone that knows her knows she is a karaoke queen, I however had horrible images of being forced to take the mic and attempt to sing in front of the people from the Spanish school that I barely knew. But it turned out to be much more relaxed than that, with no mic and everyone singing together! I’m still not so sure however that I will take Laura up on her suggestion to go again next week!
Friday came with roasting hot sun which was nice and a rather fun, more relaxed, less verb-filled Spanish lesson. We were even nicely surprised to manage a broken conversation in Spanish over lunch with some lovely Brazilian missionary girls. After some more homework time we headed out with Jan to meet the other people from the school for a Bolivian cuisine class. It was lots of fun and we were shown how to make some yummy stuffed potato ball things that are then covered in batter, fried and served with salsa. I will definitely be making these again in the future!
We are having a good time in Bolivia so far and are both really looking forward to getting stuck in helping working with the local street kids at a homework group next week! We are also excited to be moving in with 2 Brazilian missionary girls for the next few weeks who don't speak much English but seem great fun. I just hope our Spanish stretches far enough!!
Jenn xxx