The Congregation
Maribel and the Mountains
Delia, Maribel, and Lucy - all dressed up for their performance at Church.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
La Iglesia
This morning, the team and I attended our first ever church service at the orphanage site. It was such a beautiful experience to see the community come together in the space we have created. Even though the service was in Quechua, we were able to feel the joy of community and togetherness that makes this project so special. It also gave us the opportunity to meet some of the adults in the community and explain our commitment to the project.
Needles ready?? Let the felting begin!!
On Saturday we held a needle felting workshop for the young women in the community. Our hope is that they can produce Fair Trade felted products (like the ornaments pictured below) to earn some extra income. Of course, the little ones couldn't stay away... so we taught them too :)
Melissa, our artist, headed up the project and did such a great job! Needle felting is hard work! It requires a lot of careful movements, attention, and patience - not normally traits you find in children. But these kids really stuck it out and did an awesome job. We'll continue this project throughout the week and hopefully have some beautiful pieces to sell at Global Gallery when we get home!
Melissa, our artist, headed up the project and did such a great job! Needle felting is hard work! It requires a lot of careful movements, attention, and patience - not normally traits you find in children. But these kids really stuck it out and did an awesome job. We'll continue this project throughout the week and hopefully have some beautiful pieces to sell at Global Gallery when we get home!
Delia and Lucy working hard!
Maribel and Sarai getting some instruction from the Master!
Some of the finished product!
Hola!!
Another year has flown by and we are hard at work again in Bolivia!
We arrived in Cochabamba Friday morning, and after sleeping off some of our travel drowsiness, headed up to the orphanage site. Things have moved right along in the months we were gone. The second story now has walls and stairs to get to it! There is also an outdoor eco-toilet for the kids to use during the after school program. And, the church/community space now has beautiful tile flooring and windows. It really is lovely.
After taking inventory on Friday, we put together our work plan for the week. It will mostly likely change, as things in Bolivia always do, but here it is so far:
We arrived in Cochabamba Friday morning, and after sleeping off some of our travel drowsiness, headed up to the orphanage site. Things have moved right along in the months we were gone. The second story now has walls and stairs to get to it! There is also an outdoor eco-toilet for the kids to use during the after school program. And, the church/community space now has beautiful tile flooring and windows. It really is lovely.
After taking inventory on Friday, we put together our work plan for the week. It will mostly likely change, as things in Bolivia always do, but here it is so far:
1. Prep and plant garden, repair garden fence
2. Design and install an irrigation system for the garden
3. Finish the new building for the after school program and clinic (this includes lacquering the walls, installing a door and windows)
4. Scrub and lacquer the brick walls of the second story
5. Finish pillars on the second story
6. Level and create a walkway to the new building which houses the after school program and clinic
7. Repaint and repair walls of the first story
8. Felting workshop for the young women in the community
We've got a lot on our plate and, though it is ambitious, we are feeling pretty good about getting it all done. We've got 40 some students from the Ohio State University coming throughout the week to aid in construction (yay for volunteer labor!!).
More posts and pictures to come!! And don't forget, if you would like to make a donation to the Bolivia Orphanage Project, just click the yellow "donate" button on the right!
The orphanage building. Notice the eco-toilets to the left and church/community space to the right.
The kiddos welcoming us on our first day! They've gotten so big!
Inside the church/community space. Check out the beautiful new tile floor and windows to the right!
Peace!
Avery, Connie, Melissa, and Ralph
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Bolivia 2012 - The Beginning!
It is hard to believe another year has gone by and we are back in Bolivia again. Luckily, we just missed a rather large, aggressive bout of rain. While the rain posed several set backs in the past few months, the project has progressed much while we were away.
With only four travelers this year (Connie, Ralph, Melissa and I), the journey down south seemed easier than usual. We arrived to a sunny Cochabamba on Friday afternoon. Exhausted from the altitude and long trip, we rested a bit and then headed out to orient ourselves, find food, and an internet cafe. After a few phone calls, a pizza (yes, pizza was our first Bolivian dinner!) and a good night´s sleep, we were ready to get to work the next day.
Ernesto, with his warm smile and friendly embrace, greeted us at the site on Saturday morning. We first took some time to observe the work that had been done on the orphanage since we were here last Spring. Aside from the loss of a few roof panels in the rain storms, we were pleased with what we saw. On the first story of the orphanage, the walls have been repainted and it is now equipped with an oven, which is used for baking lessons for some of the older children in the community. Monica, a twelve year old student in the afterschool program, says she loves learning to bake different breads and pastries. We´re hoping to see this process in action this week! Ernesto has also started an organic garden, which unfortunately was consumed by grazing cattle recently, so we´ll hopefully have time to build a better fence this week.
Our main goal this trip is to finish construction of the second story. Brick layers have already begun building the walls. Tomorrow, we´ll purchase more brick and drywall and take it from there. In addition to construction, we plan to do several arts and crafts projects with the kids this week. Some of our ideas include paper beads and friendship bracelets. Melissa, our artist, is heading this part of the project.
As usual, our plan is constantly adapting to the weather, availability of materials and labor, the afterschool program needs and other obstacles, so we´ll see what the week brings. Pictures are on the way!
With only four travelers this year (Connie, Ralph, Melissa and I), the journey down south seemed easier than usual. We arrived to a sunny Cochabamba on Friday afternoon. Exhausted from the altitude and long trip, we rested a bit and then headed out to orient ourselves, find food, and an internet cafe. After a few phone calls, a pizza (yes, pizza was our first Bolivian dinner!) and a good night´s sleep, we were ready to get to work the next day.
Ernesto, with his warm smile and friendly embrace, greeted us at the site on Saturday morning. We first took some time to observe the work that had been done on the orphanage since we were here last Spring. Aside from the loss of a few roof panels in the rain storms, we were pleased with what we saw. On the first story of the orphanage, the walls have been repainted and it is now equipped with an oven, which is used for baking lessons for some of the older children in the community. Monica, a twelve year old student in the afterschool program, says she loves learning to bake different breads and pastries. We´re hoping to see this process in action this week! Ernesto has also started an organic garden, which unfortunately was consumed by grazing cattle recently, so we´ll hopefully have time to build a better fence this week.
Our main goal this trip is to finish construction of the second story. Brick layers have already begun building the walls. Tomorrow, we´ll purchase more brick and drywall and take it from there. In addition to construction, we plan to do several arts and crafts projects with the kids this week. Some of our ideas include paper beads and friendship bracelets. Melissa, our artist, is heading this part of the project.
As usual, our plan is constantly adapting to the weather, availability of materials and labor, the afterschool program needs and other obstacles, so we´ll see what the week brings. Pictures are on the way!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Chispas!
The pieces of the project are fitting together at last. Thursday we finished cutting all of the metal pieces for the tresses. While Ernesto, Kayla and Dustin worked on cutting and welding the metal, the rest of us painted the tresses and sifted sand for cement. Marla and I also finished resealing the windows with cement and brick.
After lunch, a group of us took some of the kids from the community we work with to another community in Quilla Collo that is also impoverished and often flooded. During the rainy season especially, the water runs down from the mountains and causes the nearby river to overflow into the area. Because of these conditions, many of the families in this community were living in tents when we arrived. Once there, we had the kids give this community some of the donations we brought with us (tshirts and stuffed animals). We want them to learn that this experience is not just about receiving donations from us every year but about giving donations as well. I think the kids were a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. It was crazy and chaotic, but fun to see the kids from the community we work with sharing toys and sizing up the other children for tshirts.
Yesterday (Friday), four of us went to check out a Bolivian non profit called Mano a Mano (www.manoamano.org) that we hope to partner with to build a clinic on our work site. Mano a Mano has built 118 clinics, 17 landing strips, 40 schools (equipped with homes for the teachers), and 37 infrastructure projects (roads and reservoirs). Their large, organized, and efficient organization was overwhelming and inspiring at the same time. I think we have a lot to learn from them and am looking forward to working with them more on our project.
At the site yesterday, a slow start gave way to a satisfying, productive finish. Let me regress. The day before (Thursday), the top of a supply truck caught the electric line to the building, unabashedly ripping it out of the transmitter down the street. So the first half of Friday was spent waiting pateintly for electricians to get the power flowing again. Our frustrations were converted into postive production after lunch, during which we successfully put up all tresses and crossbeams. The roof is the final step to be completed today!
After lunch, a group of us took some of the kids from the community we work with to another community in Quilla Collo that is also impoverished and often flooded. During the rainy season especially, the water runs down from the mountains and causes the nearby river to overflow into the area. Because of these conditions, many of the families in this community were living in tents when we arrived. Once there, we had the kids give this community some of the donations we brought with us (tshirts and stuffed animals). We want them to learn that this experience is not just about receiving donations from us every year but about giving donations as well. I think the kids were a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. It was crazy and chaotic, but fun to see the kids from the community we work with sharing toys and sizing up the other children for tshirts.
Yesterday (Friday), four of us went to check out a Bolivian non profit called Mano a Mano (www.manoamano.org) that we hope to partner with to build a clinic on our work site. Mano a Mano has built 118 clinics, 17 landing strips, 40 schools (equipped with homes for the teachers), and 37 infrastructure projects (roads and reservoirs). Their large, organized, and efficient organization was overwhelming and inspiring at the same time. I think we have a lot to learn from them and am looking forward to working with them more on our project.
At the site yesterday, a slow start gave way to a satisfying, productive finish. Let me regress. The day before (Thursday), the top of a supply truck caught the electric line to the building, unabashedly ripping it out of the transmitter down the street. So the first half of Friday was spent waiting pateintly for electricians to get the power flowing again. Our frustrations were converted into postive production after lunch, during which we successfully put up all tresses and crossbeams. The roof is the final step to be completed today!
Coming Right Along...
My apologies for not writing the past few days. Our work days have been long and tiring. Sometimes we don't get home until ten o'clock at night.
In general, we have many projects going on at the site. Our main project, the largest of them all, is to build the second story of the first building which will eventually become the orphans' home. Additionally, much of our time has been spent moving fertile soil from the outskirts of the work site to the front of the orphanage. We hope to use this as the grounds for a future garden. Another project has been sifting through a large pile of rocks and pebbles for sand. We use the sand to make concrete for various purposes. For example, on Monday we resealed the roof with a thin layer of cement mixed with a water proofing agent. This task was difficult because it rained on and off all day on Monday. Every time we cleared the roof of the puddles of water that collected there, it would rain again, and we would have to sweep the puddles of water off once more (a subtle form of torture).
The leaky roof has begun to destroy some of the ceiling inside the orphanage, allowing mold to grow. These areas will have to be knocked out and re-plastered. The area around the windows have been leaking as well, thus creating yet another side project - resealing the window panes with brick and cement. While the majority of us work on these side projects, the rest spend their time measuring and cutting metal bars (Dustin has been on a three day steel-hacking binge) that make up the columns and tresses for the second floor. Once the pieces are cut, they are welded together (by Kayla and Ernesto), painted (to prevent rusting), and raised to the roof. If the pace maintains, the second story roof will be up in no time!
All in all, though the work may get a bit tedious (especially with minimal tools at hand), watching the project develop through the means of our hands and the sweat of our brows is very rewarding.
In general, we have many projects going on at the site. Our main project, the largest of them all, is to build the second story of the first building which will eventually become the orphans' home. Additionally, much of our time has been spent moving fertile soil from the outskirts of the work site to the front of the orphanage. We hope to use this as the grounds for a future garden. Another project has been sifting through a large pile of rocks and pebbles for sand. We use the sand to make concrete for various purposes. For example, on Monday we resealed the roof with a thin layer of cement mixed with a water proofing agent. This task was difficult because it rained on and off all day on Monday. Every time we cleared the roof of the puddles of water that collected there, it would rain again, and we would have to sweep the puddles of water off once more (a subtle form of torture).
The leaky roof has begun to destroy some of the ceiling inside the orphanage, allowing mold to grow. These areas will have to be knocked out and re-plastered. The area around the windows have been leaking as well, thus creating yet another side project - resealing the window panes with brick and cement. While the majority of us work on these side projects, the rest spend their time measuring and cutting metal bars (Dustin has been on a three day steel-hacking binge) that make up the columns and tresses for the second floor. Once the pieces are cut, they are welded together (by Kayla and Ernesto), painted (to prevent rusting), and raised to the roof. If the pace maintains, the second story roof will be up in no time!
All in all, though the work may get a bit tedious (especially with minimal tools at hand), watching the project develop through the means of our hands and the sweat of our brows is very rewarding.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Day One - Moving Dirt
Yesterday was day one of our construction efforts. We spent most of the morning moving dirt and rocks from one area of the site to another to level the ground for a future staircase. We also did some work in the garden, pulling weeds and clearing the area to plant seeds. Marla brought lettuce, green pepper, hot pepper, sunflower and corn seeds. However we may have to leave them because planting season isn't until December, according to the kids.
The kids arrived around 2pm for the after school program. There are over 130 children enrolled in the program now. After doing homework for an hour or so, the children put on a welcoming production for us, full of traditional dancing, skits, and singing.
For the rest of they day we waited for our contractor, Wilson, to return with the metal poles we need to begin construction on the second floor, which we will start today. Luckily, one of our team members, Kayla, is the daughter of an esteemed welder (and a skilled welder herself!). She will be welding the metal poles together for us today.
We concluded our day with dinner at Felix and Flora's house, a huge and delicious meal after a long and tiring day. And now, after a night's rest and breakfast, we're heading out the door for day two.
The kids arrived around 2pm for the after school program. There are over 130 children enrolled in the program now. After doing homework for an hour or so, the children put on a welcoming production for us, full of traditional dancing, skits, and singing.
For the rest of they day we waited for our contractor, Wilson, to return with the metal poles we need to begin construction on the second floor, which we will start today. Luckily, one of our team members, Kayla, is the daughter of an esteemed welder (and a skilled welder herself!). She will be welding the metal poles together for us today.
We concluded our day with dinner at Felix and Flora's house, a huge and delicious meal after a long and tiring day. And now, after a night's rest and breakfast, we're heading out the door for day two.
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