Up Up and Away!

Big plans are being put into action right now, not just for Westfalia Orphanage, but for Express Connect and schools in the nearby areas.  We have ideas to brighten children's lives at the Orphanage, and Express Connect is working on expanding their campaign! In March I will be joining them again to help with their Raise Awareness Campaign.

 

I am excited to announce that Project #2 is off the ground! We will be hosting a bake sell to buy school supplies for the Children living at Westfalia Orphanage.  It will be held next Saturday at a park near Nicole's house.  We will also be selling Peruvian souvenirs handcrafted by the kids. The money made from these sells will go directly to the Orphanage to use for food, water, school uniforms, shoes, and other necessities.  

 

Girls ages eight and up make these colorful bracelets to sell.

 

Girls and boys learn how to sew by making these colorful wall hangings. Each one is as unique as the child who made it. This one shows Westfalia Orphanage, located in Cienguilla.

 These adorable bookmarks are made to look like native Peruvian people.

The hats are made of the wool that the kids ages seven to ten spin.

 

Project #1 Update  

At the beginning of my adventure, when I learned I would be moving to Peru, I organized a project to make school kits at girls camp. Unfortunately, we moved before girls camp and did not have the opportunity to bring them with us. We have not found a way to get these school kits here, but will bring them back with us after summer. 

 

The Ripple Effect

I have never been a popular person, nor will I ever be; and that's okay, because that isn't something that is important to me. So when word got around at church that I was going to Westfalia orphanage and some of the youth were coming up asking if they could come with me, I was more than ecstatic- I felt blessed. One person can make a difference. I have a firm belief that even the smallest of act of kindness can do far more good than you could ever hope for or even imagine. But with a group, all invested, excited, and with a desire to do good, we can accomplish amazing things. Eleanor Roosevelt once said: "Small people talk about other people, normal people talk about places and events, but great people talk about ideas."  One of my favorite children's authors, Dr. Seuss, wrote, "Unless someone like you, cares a whole awful lot, nothings going to get better, it's not."  Both of these influential people had the idea that with great people, and with passionate drive, anything is possible. People have the power to change the world.

 

Today, eight of us went to Westfalia Orphanage and two more promised to come on Friday. We all pitched in and helped them finish cleaning their houses and classrooms in preparation for a visit by some important people from Germany.

Diana and Nicole decided to tackle what we would call the laundry room together.

 

 

 

Zach, Rebekah, and Yanela cleaned the kitchen and dining area.

 

 

While Deborah and Sammy picked up garbage from outside, Julia and I cleaned the bathrooms.

 

 

After we finished, I asked Tia Sara if there was anything else they needed help with in very broken Spanish, while the others were content to sit back and laugh at my measly efforts instead of offering to help. Thankfully Tia Sara is a very patient person and figured out what I was trying to say.  When we were sure there was nothing else to do to help with the cleaning, we decided that in a place with a hundred kids running about it shouldn't be too hard to find some to play with. And it wasn't.

 

 

There was one girl sitting all alone in the back of the room spinning wool, so Diana and I decided to go and talk to her. She was really quiet  when we first started talking to her and we could barely hear anything she told us. Her name is Milagros, she is ten, and has been at the orphanage together for at least a few years from what we could understand. She told us she learned to spin wool when she seven or eight and spent an hour or more each day doing so. Watching these little girls spin wool was something that I had never seen before. Intrigued, and hoping to get Milagros to open up I asked if she would teach me how to spin wool. She was a little surprised that I did not know how to spin wool and looked doubtful but still got me a stick and started teaching me. I never realized how hard it was to do and was quite impressed with their ability to spin wool with both speed and grace.

 

 

The experience of being taught something that seemed so simple but proved challenging was something that made me realize how humble we need to be as people to understand, accept, and even learn the valuable lessons that shape you as a being, challenge your strengths, and defines your weaknesses. 

Nicole reading to a few of the kids.

 

Diana and Julia were playing pirates or something with a few of the boys. I'm not sure what they were doing exactly, I just know if involved play swords and light sabers.

Rebekah and her host sister showing some kids their phones.

Zach reading, and Julia taking a breather from all the running!

Sammy was there today and spent time reading with the kids too.

Me and my friend Melissa were playing with my camera.

We played with the kids until they needed to go eat lunch and then after a long lunch filled with fun stories and lots of laughter I showed Diana, Nicole, Zach, and Julia the animals.

 

 

Zach didn't like the smell. I think Nicole tried to pet it once or twice.

 

Before we left we decided to try out the teeter totters.

 

It is a great start to something that could be so much more. We have created a ripple in a pond with no idea of the effect it can and will create.

 

The end of Struggles and the beggining of Success

For the last 5 months of 2013 I struggled finding volunteer opportunities. Express Connect is great, and I am happy to help out, and volunteer with them, but I wanted more to do. I researched and contacted a dozen or so other organizations in hope of volunteering.

I was disappointed and angry when it became clear these organizations were more focused on getting money than volunteering. Most places you have to pay room and board while volunteering as well as a "donation" fee and a fee for other goods and services. As I live  within 30 minutes of these places I would  commute everyday and therefore would not need either room or board. No organization would work with me to lower the fee, and the fees were just too high for me to pay just to volunteer a week or two.

Beginning to feel downtrodden at my lack of success, I began to wonder if I was really meant to be here in Peru. I thought about the fifteen year old girl who had been inspired to start saving her babysitting money for an Orphanage in Peru, and was determined she would get it to Peru even if it took her whole life.  I decided that both the girl I was and the girl I am deserved the chance to serve, and that I owed it to myself to try once more to find a place to volunteer at.

The answer came to me this past week, brought by a friend. As I sat and told her of my problem her face changed from one of sympathy and shock to one of assurance and ease as she laughed and told me of a place she had volunteered at. Together we looked up the orphanage and immediately made plans to visit.

We went to Westfalia Orphanage today and  will begin volunteering there next week!
I know I will always have struggles in one form or another, but I am so grateful something good is coming my way.

Day 4?

Hey Guys!
I am sitting on a cold floor to write this because the best place to connect to the internet is in my parents bedroom and the only three pronged (is that the right word?) outlet in their bedroom is in the corner. But I am so so SO glad to have internet!

So today was good. I slept in, and when I finally got up I wrote a bit and then watched a movie. There isn't much to do here. I have already cleaned out my room and bathroom and have unpacked. There is still work to do around the house, though.
Marissa had mutual at 7 tonight, and I could have gone, but I am shy and prefer my bubble. That, and I turned 18 on Saturday.

 After they finished, though they all played with a volleyball in the gym so I played with them. They seem really nice and a lot of them spoke a bit of English. Marissa was even more shy than I was! I wish she would talk more!She did laugh at my efforts to play though. I still have a phobia of flying things coming toward me... It was a lot of fun. That was my day in a nutshell.

My Arrival in Peru

July 27, 2013

Hola! Bein venido a Peru.

We arrived in Lima, Peru around 1in the morning. The plane ride was crazy long. First, there was a 2 hour delay because they needed to work on the plane, after a little more than an hour they told us we might have to get on another plane. A while after that they said it was in shape to fly. I won’t lie, it scared me a bit when we took off because I was worried about something going wrong. I prayed a lot. When  I was sure I wasn’t going to die, I watched Juno and had dinner. I have to tell you Juno wasn’t as good as people kept telling me. I sat by two boys, probably around 14 and  their dad. They were going to Peru to do some service with a church youth group. They didn’t talk to me so it was a bit awkward the whole time. The flight was around 6 hours, give or take a few minutes.  I could not sleep the whole time, even though we had been up at 5 am. We flew from Salt Lake, Utah, to Atlanta, Georgia, to Lima, Peru so it was a long day. And the food was horrible.

Anyway, so we got in around 1am. It was cold, wet and we were all tired. Luckily, the customs line was short; unfortunately, we had problems getting Zoey, the family dog.  We got all 11 suitcases and 6 carry-ons into a bus (we would have had to take 4-5 taxis to get everything!) and then my dad told the driver we had to go get Zoey from the cargo bay area. We went to these offices with a large gate around it. Then my dad and Marissa went to go get Zoey. We waited  and waited and waited. For an hour. Then we started getting really worried. Finally, after watching around and getting a bit scared because there was people outside the bus (and we couldn’t figure out what they were doing, they had a cash box and a lot of wires, and were collecting papers from people) we saw them walk towards the bus and go right past! We figured it was a god sign, that they were going to get Zoey, but it wasn’t. It took another hour and a half before they came out. We were worried and tired and the bus driver had locked us in making us even more worried! They didn’t even come out with Zoey!

So we went to our new home.
 

After we slept for some time, it was 1 pm when we woke up, we found my dad gone. He went to go get Zoey. It took him 7 more hours of running around and paying people to get her! What a nightmare!  He was mad because they hadn’t given her any food or water since Alanta, or let her out.

When he got home we decided to go get some food, since we had been stranded at the house with just a few snacks. My dad drove, which is scary, because they do NOT have any laws here and they only stop for red lights. They don’t use turn signals and they will cut you off randomly, and  are just very reckless. Luckily, it wasn’t too busy and we didn’t have to go too far.
 

We ate at a restaurant called Bravos! It was pretty good. I had Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian dish that I love! It is pieces of beef with onions, peppers, french fries, and rice. They eat a lot of potatoes and rice here.  I had Inka cola to drink, which is a favorite. It is actually really good.

For dessert I had a custard with sugar. It was sweet and rich but also a little bitter. It is not my favorite, but it wasn’t bad either. 

We went to the store to get a few needed items. It was  big and it was busy.  It took us a long time to find things and make decisions because everything is in Spanish and its very different.

July 28, 2013

This is my 2^nd day here in Lima. I took a  VERY cold shower this morning. It turns out that the only bathroom that gets hot water is my parents. So from now on I will be using their shower. Today we went to church. It is a Spanglish ward because there are a lot of English speakers, and expats. Sacrament meeting is in Spanish, but there is a guy who translates. They have these headsets so you can listen to him. As my birthday was yesterday, I went to the adult Sunday school class that was in English. There is a young single adult class, but it is in Spanish and I am shy so I went with my parents.  Relief society is in Spanish, but a woman in the ward was nice and offered to translate for us, and two other ladies.

It is a nice ward, everyone seemed really friendly. Marissa made an impression on the boys. One of them told my dad that she was just so nice and so cool and he thought it was cool that she was taking notes and stuff. My dad said he was 16-17ish. Maybe Marissa could date him! We teased her a bit.

When we got home, we changed. I of course put on 2 sweaters, because it is freezing. It is winter here so it is a bit cold, especially with the humidity. Also, the house is cement with LOTS of glass doors and windows so it is COLD. And we have hard wood floors so I am always wearing socks.

I had to move my bed around because there was only one outlet where I could plug in my lap top and it was on the other side of the room and it is too cold to sit on the floor.  I unpacked all my clothes and things and put them away.

We went out to dinner. We went to a place that serves chicken, I can’t remember the name though. It was good. I had chicken with fries and a salad. I had chocolate cake for dessert.

We met a family that lives down the street. They have a 16 year old daughter. She is learning English so we talked for a bit.

It is cold so I am going to go grab another sweater and get in my pj’s and then curl up and watch a movie….