Baby washing

Today, Chris and I had the opportunity to help with baby washing in the main plaza in town. Every Saturday, a Christian family organizes the washing of babies and kids mostly newborns to six year olds. They set up a tent with two baby bathtubs, a bucket of water, shampoo, and a stack of towels.

My friend Kelly and I washed the babies while Chris helped the older kids wash their hair. Some of the little ones were extremely calm and tranquil making our job super easy while others we could barely hold on to their slippery bodies or get the soap rinsed out of their hair as they put on quite the show kicking and screaming.

After the little ones are bathed they get a pair of clean clothes, a piece of bread, and some milk.

Thanks to my friend Jennifer we were able to purchase three BIG bags of clothes to bring for the kids today. Most if not all of the kids came in torn, dirty clothing so it is a real treat for them to get a "new" outfit.

I wish I could have taken pictures of the kids too but I didn't feel it was right since it was our first time going. I'll ask and see if it's okay to next time.

Chris and I fell in love with one sweet family, a mom and three little kids. The daughter who is about five loved Chris and wanted him to hold her the entire time and the son (2 yrs.) fell asleep in my arms today. So precious!

We're looking forward to going next weekend- such a great ministry and neat opportunity to not help the poor and share Christ's love as well.

Let's help!

I know a lot of you are probably tired of hearing about Haiti (and now with the earthquake in Chile as well) but really... imagine if that was you right now? Imagine if those were your children suffering?

Haiti is a difficult place. I've been there. I've seen the extreme poverty. I've NEVER seen poverty like that before. Bolivia doesn't even compare to the despair and poverty in Haiti. But now... the country has been completely turned upside down. Is it possible to go below rock bottom?

My heart breaks for the children, the people, the country and I pray that this might be a time of revival. A time of great awakening in the lives of these hurting people.

I will never forget the summer of 03'. I had just graduated from high school and I so desperately wanted to help in an orphanage overseas. Somehow I chose Haiti or God chose Haiti for me and wow were my eyes opened. Terrified at times? Yes. There was so much spiritual warfare I felt like I could barely gasp for air.

I stood out like a marshmallow in a cup of hot chocolate.

However, when I arrived at the orphanage I felt at home. Not because it was comfy... quite the contrary, cockroaches plagued the house and we were only fed one meal a day, but because I knew God had called me there for a reason. He wanted to work on my heart. He wanted me to love as He loves. He wanted me to trust Him fully and to be willing to risk everything for Him.

Loving on the babies was right up my alley and I didn't mind all the spit up and head lice. But the thing that tore me apart the most was knowing that each of those kids and babies went to bed every night without a kiss from their mommy or daddy, without the reassurance that someone was watching over them, and without the joy of knowing that someone would always be there to love them.

Wow, just look at those beautiful children. How can we not help? How can we act like everything is okay when really it's not. Let's open our arms, our hearts, and our homes to children in need!

Day 2 of road blockades...

There are still blockades up all over the city and school has been cancelled yet again. At most of the busy intersections in town there are large groups of riot police. They usually line up making a wall and you can see truckloads of them all around town. I don't know if you've ever seen an officer outfitted in riot gear before but it's pretty intimidating not to mention when there's a group of 20 or more!

Yesterday, I said the reason for the transportation strike was because drivers were mad that the long distance drivers were allowed to drive drunk. After asking lots of people around town what the real reason behind all of this is and after receiving an email this morning from our mission, I realize that I had the facts completely backwards.

The real issue is that the bus drivers are mad because they are being punished for driving drunk. If a driver is found drunk while on the job his license is being taken away and the whole bus line is being punished as well. I'm sorry if they don't like rules but I would like to have the security of knowing I'm going to make it to my destination when traveling to other cities.

Please pray that things get resolved today. It is very difficult to get around town because there is NO public transportation and walking during this strike can be scary and dangerous!

Roads are blocked today- no school!

Since we don't have "snow days" due to a lack of cold weather and snow, school is cancelled when there is a paro or a bloqueo. Today there is a paro and boy was Chris happy! A paro is a local transportation strike where all the trufi drivers (city bus drivers) refuse to drive to make a point.

Today, they are striking because many of the flota drivers (the long distance bus drivers) continue to drink and drive on the job and are rarely penalized for doing so. The windy, narrow roads are dangerous enough- add in a drunk driver and things get lethal.

One of the world's most dangerous roads- Bolivia

All across town buses are parked blocking off all of the major streets. There is no public transportation so all the schools are closed and most businesses too. It's so peaceful and quiet and has been so fun for Olivia and I to have Chris home for the day. We even walked to get some of favorite Bolivian food- salteñas :)

Diapers Galore!

A few days ago, we received a large package full of these!

I am SO excited because these cloth diaper covers will go to SK when I go there Wednesday. They are excellent quality and will last many, many years. You can't find covers like these in Bolivia, but thanks to a good friend (thx Emily!) who raised the money to purchase these covers and was willing to mail them to us, SK will now have lots of happy babies with dry bottoms!

We were also given donations for more disposable diapers- thank you to those who gave! I like to bring a few packages of disposables each time I go just to give the cloth diapers and the tias (aunties) who have to clean them a break! I have a high level respect for those who work so hard to clean the hundreds of diapers that are dirtied a day!!