Happy Mother's Day! (18/3/2007)

We want to send a message to our lovely mums to say Happy Mother's Day. We´re sorry we can´t be with you and hope you enjoy the your day. Thank you for being the best mums in the world and for all you do for us. Thank you for the love and support you always give us, we are truly blessed to have mums like you. We miss you and love you very much xx

Taking the children to the park (15/3/2007)

We had a nice time taking the youngest children from the orphanage to the park while the older ones were at school. It was incredible seeing how excited they were, Ariel (about 4 years old) in particular talking to us none stop on the journey. We were already finding it pretty hard to understand what he was talking about when we kept hearing random words like ´singing dragon' and ´racoon´ and it finally dawned on us that he was telling us a story. The other children who came were Normando and Alberto who are about 2 and Maria who is about 1. They have to guess their ages as they are mostly abandoned children, with no birth certificate etc. We really enjoy being with them-they are so beautiful and it´s good pratise for our Spanish. It took all of our energy (all 10 of us) to watch them on the playground, there is certainly no 'health and safety´here and the kids are so adventurous (Josiah Coleman would fit right in).

In the afternoon we helped with what is called a 'bread run' which is a project in the community of people who live on a rubbish dump. We took nice warm bread and bananas and gave them out to the people who live there. They have small brick houses about the size of one room, where a family of about 6 live. We also gave out shampoo of which the people seemed really grateful. It´s a very difficult experience, and really affects you to see the people hunting through the rubbish to find valuable items which they sell. To Timothy´s delight football is popular everywhere it seems in Latin America, so we played a game with the young people before we left.

Trip to the Jungle (9-12/3/2007)

We set out for a 4 day trip to visit the 3rd Orphanage which is in a jungle region called Chapare. First we we're to pick up a team arriving at Santa Cruz airport from Chichago. This would normally take around 6-7 hours in a car. We we're in a bus and after 45minutes of driving we we're told the road was closed so we had to turn around and use the old road to Santa Cruz. So our journey took around 17 hours and we finally arrived at a nice hotel that we spent Saturday night at. The journey had some incredible scenery as the road followed a river for along time. There has been alot of flooding in Bolivia and has been one of the worst years for landslides which we saw alot of on our journey.

Trying to stay awake, we spent Saturday afternoon in Santa Cruz city for lunch and then afterwards we went quad biking. It was quad biking as it should be, you could basically go any where, including a river which Helen managed to lead us nicely into only to find we couldn't get out. The bike sunk and after some funny attempts with some local boys to help us out, we abandoned it and caught a round back on their quad bikes which we're probably the smallest things with engines I'd sat on, in fact I lay on him and Helen sat on me.
After picking up the team Sunday morning, we headed for the jungle,about 3-4 hours away. On the way we visited a monkey sanctuary which we have to say we didn't enjoy a great deal as these filthy little things kept jumping and crawling all over you, trying to rob your camera and money. The 3rd orphanage stopped being built due to the rain but the flooding had now gone down and so we could help start again. We visited the Church who is supporting it and also the builder with his family, Sunday night was spent at a hostel 40 minutes away. Monday morning we started work by hauling cut planks of wood from the jungle to use for building.

The team had also brought alot of clothes for the kids, so a meeting was arranged with all the kids in the village to come that afternoon. Unfortunatly our time was cut short at the jungle as Mike had heard rumours our route home was closed. So we left pretty quickly and headed back where we found a long line of trucks lining the main road.

(A tricky 3point turn for our driver)

After a bit of discussion Mike came back with the news that our road back was closed. After a further bit of investigation Mike came back with two options. We can either go back to Santa Cruz and back on the old road (which was also rumoured to now be closed) a total of around 24 hours of driving or we can take a taxi up to near where the road is closed, walk 300 metres across the closed part then catch another taxi to Cochabamba. It was decided that 300 metres was easy enough with our luggage so the guys from America repacked their bags with essentials and left the rest on the bus (which would hopefully return to Cochabamba the next day). We squeezed into 2 taxis and drove around 40 minutes, 20 of which was lined with trucks by the side of the road. The taxis stopped where they couldn't go any further and there we got out, keen to see what the problem was.

Well as we've come to realise in Bolivia, nothing is easy. We soon found our little walk was actually a little longer than quoted, in fact 300 metres became 3000 (3km). We finally reached where the problem which was an enormous land/mudslide. It was like half the mountain had given way. It was an incredible sight everything was gone in it's path. Bulldozers and trucks had been working the night previous to create the road again but still had a few days more. We then were told we had to walk around where the work is, up the mountain a little, through the landslide and down the other side. After acres of mud, awesome scenery, alot of rain and drenched luggage we arrived on the other side where the road appeared back again. It wasn't too far until we reached where we finally caught our taxi to Cochabamba ( a 2 hr drive). It was an unforgetable experience and something we may never see again.

La Cancha (13/3/2007)

While the group was with us we went to 'La Cancha' which means 'the field', and is the largest outdoor market in the world. It really is a cultural experience and I (Helen) love it because there´s loads of absolute bargains! You could buy a whole outfit for about 8 pounds. You can literally buy anything there, from wellies to lama fetus´s (which apparently bring you good luck if you bury one in the foundation of your house). The smells are very interesting, especially when you walk past wheelbarrows overflowing with raw meat.

Back at Orpahange Israel (5/3/2007)

A group came from America for the week and we spent a little time with them. Back at the 2nd Orphanage we did a little more painting outside and the team did a puppet show in Spanish for the kids in a nearby school.

'The Cristo' (4/3/2007)

Overlooking the city of Cochabamba is the worlds largest statue of it's kind (33metres). We we're able to climb inside and Emily (Mikes 10 year old daughter) pointed out that we took photos out of Jesus' armpit. The view over the city was amazing.

Furniture moving at Orphanage 2 (1/3/2007)

We'd already been to Orpahange 2 quite a few times. It's around a 30 minute drive, in an area of Cochabamba called 'Israel', so the orphanage is called Israel also. It's only just been finished and there are no children in it at the moment. The house parents have moved in and are getting it ready, we also had been helping clean and paint. Mike ordered some furniture for the bedrooms which were pretty big. In fact they we're the biggest wardrobes I think i'd ever seen. They we're delivered before we arrived and left down stairs. Mikes hope was to move them upstairs. After alot of dents and chipped paint it looked like these things weren't going up any stairs (they're also made from solid pine which didn't help the equation) Mike the optimist felt that the stair railings we're the problem, so 15 minutes later around came the local welder who before you know it had hack-sawed the entire metal bannister off. Another attempt, another pile of plaster, and still 3 wardrobes sitting in the lounge. Now a new solution arose, of which we'd joked on earlier....they'd definatly fit through the windows. But let's clarify, by that we mean, they'd definatly fit if we remove the whole window frame. This was no problem though, as our welder was apparently quite an experienced window remover. 45minutes later and out comes the back bedroom window. Mike backed his truck up, we hoisted the cupboard on and in went the first cupboard. Now there was some talk about the other 2 cupboards and how they'd fit into the other bedrooms. All we'd do, is bring them up the same way, slide them through the bedroom door, around a tiny U-bend, across the L-shaped corridor and into the bedroom. It was generally felt that this was all good. Anyhow up came the next cupboard and into the opposite bedroom, no problem. Before we hoisted up the 3rd, we tested whether it would fit using the 2nd wardrobe. More chipped paint and scratched walls and not really. By this stage it wasn't too much of a surprise when, 40 minutes later, out came the front bedroom window.

Anyhow, it's good to know that all 3 bedrooms have wardrobes in and to have experienced furniture removal the Bolivian way. During which, we also learn't how to carry a baby on the back like the ladies here.

1st Orphanage (27/2/2007)

We visited the first orphanage, which is close to where we are staying. There´'s 8 children living there, 6 of whom are orphans. Permanent house parents live there and have 2 of their own kids. The children are very sweet and love to play games with us. It's great to see them smile, they love to see their own photo. Mike shared with us the stories of how each child came, hearing them makes you realise what a good opportunity these kids will have in life, by living here.

We've been a number of times and try to get to the orphanage as often as we can, we also help with the maintanace there.

Main plaza (25/2/2007)

We travel around most days in buses like this. They are called 'Truphies' and are every where. You always pay a flat rate of 1.50 Bolvianos (about 10pence) no matter how long the journey is. The buildings are in the main plaza of Cochabamba which shares it´s name with Helens dads birthday (14th September). It´s about the nicest place around.

Baptism (25/2/2007)

Julie, one of the girls staying with us at the guesthouse, decided to get baptised this Sunday which was good, along with 4 other Bolivians.

La Prado Carnival (24/2/2007)

We´re nearing the end of the rainy season here and so they have a big carnival to celebrate. It had apparently been going on all week. They pray and do some crazy dances to ask God(s) to stop the rain.

We soon found out that it was also a time for alot of water action. During the week you would often find a water-bomb fly your way from a car as you walk down the street.

We went to the last day of the carnival where people line the streets and watch a mass of parades, dances, music etc. Similar to the one we went to in San Jose. We brought some seats and found we made a very good choice by going on the second row back. It was a constant water fight, with people attacking the other side of the street non stop. We felt very sorry for the performers who just got pelted from every angle, all part of the fun though. There was also alot of spray foam for sale which was a favourite with kids in front of us, who occasionally got bored and sprayed the ´blancos´. After a fair few hours of this we went for lunch where unfortunatly one of the girls, Ayla, got her purse stolen, and a guy tryed take my wallet at the same time. Probably not a bad experience as it made us a little more aware of the old pick-pockets.

We left the carnival early, which mean´t walking for about 30 metres infront of about 500 kids, loaded with foam and water. Apat from all the water, it was a great experience of the culture with some great dances and costumes.