Reflections

So it's been a little over a week since I've been back in the States so the shock of being back in America has subsided. While it's good to be back home, there are many things I will miss about being in Bolivia--here are a few:

• The boys--though my moments with them were much too few, I still consider each day with them a gift from God. In their presence I was constantly being grounded, remembering what things were important in life. My perspectives as a middle-class American easily paints a skewed reality which these children (whose outlook on life can teach us adults quite a few things about life) shatter in the way that they live their lives. They were always so present in what they did. Marble games, play-fighting with eachother, drawing pictures, doing homework... And so unafraid to let that activity be it for that moment. There was no agenda to do more, be more. They were simply content in being a child.


• Living with my host family--I learned so much about the Bolivian culture and way of life through my host family. They taught me about the traditional foods Bolivians ate, common Spanish phrases specific to Bolivia, the political climate, and a bit about their educational system. They brought me to all their family functions: several big lunches with the aunts and uncles and an engagement dinner between Angie and her fiance. I especially loved getting to drive to work and back with Giovanna who would tell me a lot about her role as the Special Education teacher with BSCP and the joys and challenges in working with the children.


• The natural beauty of La Paz--Being at the "bottom of the bowl", you're constantly surrounded by mountainous formations on either side of you. It's winter in La Paz, yet skies were clear blue almost every single day I was there. The night I got to go to El Alto with a group of other BSCPers we got to see amazing views of the city on our drive back down. A bowl of jewels. I don't think there's anywhere else in the world you could see such a sight.
  
• Working for an organization like BSCP--Of course every organization has its flaws. Working on developing the volunteer program was a lot of fun because it gave me exposure to all parts of the organization from interacting with the kids living in the homes, interviewing the staff in the academic and street outreach programs, picking the brain of the executive director and her vision for organization, and surveying past volunteers about their own experiences. I learned a lot of things that BSCP is doing well in, but also many, many areas to improve. Yet, what I enjoyed most about working with BSCP was that the organization is comprised of a group of individuals who are united by their desire to serve children in great need. And though there are many things to sort out, the heartbeat of the organization are the thirty or so children living in one of the three BSCP homes.
  

There were several challenges that I encountered while being away, two of which I already mentioned in a prior post.

• Being away from family and friends--this was especially difficult in the first week or two. Even though I stayed with such a sweet family, it reminded me at times of wanting to be with my own family. These thoughts would always remind me of the boys and how many of them did not even have a family, or if they did, one that that was not broken by abuse or neglect. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family. Even though we've been through so much, as individuals and as a whole, there's still a sense of stability and commitment. Can you imagine your life without people to call family? That's what thousands of children here in Bolivia have, and over 150 million worldwide. And so this quickly humbled me and reminded me that four weeks would not be too long. I was thankful to have people to miss.
  
• The barrier of language--Language is a beautiful thing and quite fascinating to say the least. In Bolivia alone there are three dominant languages. There's Spanish, but there are also a large percentage of indigenous people who speak Aymara and Quechua. Although I'm thankful for the little Spanish I did know, which helped me manuever simple situations like getting from one part of the city to another in a taxi or ordering a menu item, I quickly found myself running into a wall when it came to personal connection with the people around me. This was painful. I really wanted to get to know my co-workers better and learn about their stories and what they did more specifically with BSCP. Or I went to a church every Sunday and was really yearning to learn, but could only capture thoughts here and there. Or just the general sense of independence that is taken away when you have to rely on another person to translate. However, through this, I understand better the challenges of being a foreigner. Even though Bolivians welcome foreigners, there are certain things you feel by simply being in a new country, but might not be comfortable expressing or might not have any easy way to address. I also think I came away with a better comprehension of Spanish, since I found myself prying to understand as much as I could at my family's dinner conversations or background office chatter.
  
• Suffering everywhere--Even though La Paz sees less street children than in years prior, poverty amongst the children and adults in La Paz is still very visible. One of the volunteers, Camila, speculated "What if it's just our American eyes that sees these things and feels bad, but for these people, perhaps it's just normal life?" True. I can see her point. There could be people living in poverty who are happier than many adults living in luxury in the developed world. So how do we measure poverty? Is it someone who has to sell fruits and vegetables everyday? Is it someone who works more than 14 hours a day? Or is it someone who makes a certain amount of money? BUT, at the same time I don't think it's safe either to over-relativize (is that a word?) the situation. People are living in poverty because they can't send their children to school because they need to help make money, parents don't have enough time to spend at home to be a parent because they are working all day, because they have to sell their bodies in order to make a meager amount of money, because they are so frustrated with life they release anger onto their spouses and children, those whom they love. These realities make the situation of poverty in Bolivia much more clear and real.
  

I learned so much these past few weeks. About children, about my passions, about working in a foreign country, about finding ways to relate to people outside of language, about trusting God, and about how caring for people involves so much more than understanding one aspect of a person's being. I see clearly now how when you care for an individual, you have to address the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, environmental, financial , and other -ials to truly understand what is happening. And I think that's what BSCP does well--they provide food and medical care, but also a family to be loved by, a place to live and call home, therapy activities, opportunities to go on trips and outings, opportunities to pursue faith, and education. When you look at the younger ones who have only lived in the homes for a few weeks versus the older ones who have been there for a few years, you see a difference--it's so evident. Real children's lives are being changed.

I could go on and on, but I'll save the rest for personal conversations if you'd like to know more. Thank you everyone for your encouragement, excitement, financial gifts, friendship, and for journeying with me by reading this blog. It was truly a life-learning and life-changing experience and I'm so glad I got to share it with you all.

I'm going to officially end this blog with a few pictures I took from the airplane on my way back home. I love the window seat!

Pictures Galore (Part Two)

This is a saltena, a type of Bolivian empenada. It is usually filled with meat, this one with chicken and potatoes with a yummy savory sauce. The crust, as you see here, is absolutely delicious. I'd say it's almost like a hot pocket or chicken pot pie. But way tastier.

Scenes from a popular marketplace called El Centro.

On my last day in the office, a few of my co-workers took me out for a special goodbye lunch. In the top picture, that's me with Noemi, the Office Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator. We became good friends because she spoke some English and really wanted to practice with me. In the next picture, Moises, the Finance and Administrative Director, and Pato, the Street Outreach Coordinator. Pato is also a youth pastor. He loves these kids so much, he has such a natural way with them. In the third picture, Pato is pictured with Nancy, our Social Worker.

The final picture is a Bolivian dish called Pique Macho. French fries covered with hot dogs, beef, red onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Mmmm....tasty.

This is a picture of Casa Renacer, the transition home for the boys. About 10 boys live here at any given time, those recently transitioning from the streets, but in the afternoons all the boys (including those in the permanent homes) come together for the academic program. In this picture ChiChi, the house dad at Casa Rencaer is throwing marbles for the boys to catch to play this game where they each have a marble and flick their opponents with their own...I actually never had a chance to figure out the rules of the game, but it looked a little like a mix golf and bocce ball. It was precious to see these boys find such joy playing with marbles on a small square of dirt. It seems like nowadays kids need videogames or the tv to be occupied.

This is Camila, a Bolivian-American volunteer working on an art project with the kids. A, the little boy in red, drew a monster from his favorite book, "Where the Monsters Live". The kids love to draw and take such pride in them when they are finished. Look at that smile on A's face!

This is Erick, one of the academic tutors who works with the youngest group of boys every Monday-Thursday. The kids love Erick. I had the opportunity to teach his class numbers in English from 1 to 100. It was sooooo much fun!!

These are the youngest group of boys with BSCP, most of them living in Casa Renacer. I love this picture--I think it could be named "Brotherhood."

This is W. He was the one I mentioned a while back who had asked my host mom if he could call her mom, a few weeks after he started at Casa Renacer. He is one of the smallest ones in the program. W also loves to draw.

These are the oldest boys in the program and their tutor, Javier. The staff at BSCP have been so encouraged because they're seeing that as the first cohort of kids at BSCP have grown older (this is still a relatively young organization) they have been taking the initiative to act as mentors to the younger, newer kids. BSCP is currently in the process of gathering support and program planning to launch a project that will help the older kids transition out of the home to dorm-style housing where they will learn to live more independently and have the opportunity to learn skills that will make them more competitive in the labor force.

This was a group picture I took with some of the boys on my last day in Bolivia. They completely

surprised me by pulling me out into the courtyard and praying for me before I left. It was in Spanish, so I didn't understand a lot of it, but it was still one of the most special and precious things I could have ever left with. Two of the little ones gave me their pictures they had drawn that day. I love homedrawn kid pictures! I was so shocked by the immense love these children showed me. I know for myself, I had grown to love these kids so much in simply watching them intently draw a picture of Spiderman or write the number sixty-six in English or play their marble game or say Hi to me in English pronounced like the word "how." So really, it felt backwards for these boys to leave me with such a special goodbye.

These are a few of my highlights from the past four weeks in La Paz. I hope you all enjoyed! I will be posting once more to share some final reflections on my trip. Stay tuned... =)

Pictures Galore (Part One)

Here we go everyone, the pictures I've been promising for four weeks now! I hope you enjoy!

Views of La Paz from above. La Paz is located in the bottom of the bowl of a mountainous valley at over 12,000 ft. elevation. It's amazing to drive down these roads and be surrounded by mountains on both sides. My favorite view of the city were actually at night when all the city lights came on, making it look like a bowl of jewels. Absolutely gorgeous.

Host Mom, Giovanna, and Little Diego (with Friend of Giovanna's newborn)

Giovanna and her family were such a welcoming family. There were six of them: Giovanna and Jorge, Angie (25), Sergio (22), Stephanie (16), and Diego (4). I will miss my many meals with them and riding to work with Giovanna everyday. One of my first days in country, they asked me what I liked to eat. I said pretty much anything, I just have to be careful with milk. They were so eager to buy me soymilk once they found out I was lactose intolerant. Bolivian soymilk is so good.

This is the infamous Diego, whom I love. He charmed me from the beginning, although it took some work for him to warm up to me. I think he was puzzled that I spoke this mysterious "English" language. =) Diego looooved to sing "Abre Mis Ojos, O Cristo" (Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord). I think he probably sang that song at least 50 times while I was there. I don't think I'll ever hear this song and not think of Diego. This middle picture is a picture he drew of me one Sunday in church. See the resemblance??

This is little Melissa, the 1 year old baby of my host family's housekeeper. It's not uncommon for the middle class families of Bolivia to have a housekeeper live in the home. Melissa was always so full of joy, smiling and laughing at every little thing. She loved to wander into my room and bring me random items from the other rooms. Melissa is still learning to walk, so she's a little wobbly--this is her holding the edge of my bed.

Like I mentioned a few posts back, I had the opportunity to go on a 3-day backpacking trip through the mountains and jungles of Bolivia, about a 4 hour bus ride from La Paz. This was one of the most physically challenging activities I have participated in my whole life. Steep uphills and downhills, uneven trails, altitude, freezing cold first night, 20lb backpack, little water...but it was all worth it. The views were amazing as you can see above. I did feel like I could have been in New Zealand.

part two is on its way...

I'm Back Home

I'm back home safely. Thank you everyone for your emails and phone calls, I'm sorry I haven't been better about getting back to you. Things have been a bit crazy since being back, but I do want to let you all know again that I appreciate you all so much and will get back to you soon. I'm grateful to have journeyed these past five weeks with you all. Thank you for listening, reading, caring, asking, praying.

A more formal update to come soon with pictures and more thoughts on my four-and-a-half weeks of life in La Paz.

Flashback to Age Six

So Saturday night I had the opportunity to go to a dinner/culture show as a special thank you from the organization for some of the BSCP staff. It was such a nice way to spend my last weekend in Bolivia--authentic Bolivian dishes, amazing music, and beautiful cultural dances from various parts of Bolivia.

During one of the dances, the two women and two men came off the stage and started to survey the audience. Oh NO. They´re picking people to dance on stage! I started talking to one of my co-workers and say how funny it´d be if they came to our table (but of course pick someone else other than me). Right as I said that, a guy comes from behind and pulls me on stage. Suddenly, I flash back to childhood. I think I must have been six years old, my family and I were at Marine World watching the whale show. It must have been the intermission when a clown came out and started to perform these tricks. Then, as part of one of his acts, he pulled out an unsuspecting little girl to be his guinea pig. Me. Course I´m still shy now, but at that age, I was horribly shy. Anyways, that experience traumatized me because 1. He was a clown 2. I was forced on stage in front of a huge crowd of people 3. Everyone was laughing at his tricks, but basically I was the butt of those tricks so, as a six year old you can´t help but feel like everyone was laughing at you.

Flashback to La Paz, Bolivia, July 2008. If any of you know me well, you know I can´t dance, as much as I would love to know how. Especially latin-style dance. Anyways, I´ll spare you all the details and let you know that it was one of the most embarrassing things I´ve done in a while, and yet, it was SO much fun. It was a neat reminder for me--to not take myself so seriously, to enjoy laughing with other people about my silliness, and to seize opportunities to experience new things. It is a very wonderful thing to learn to laugh at your ¨bad dancing moments.¨

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It has been such a wonderful past four and a half weeks. Tomorrow is my last full day here, and then I´m off to return to the states. I have so much more to share as I´ve been reflecting much on my time here. I plan post a few more times, so please stay tuned.

Btw, did you know there´s a website called sleepinginairports.net? Yeah! Supposedly they tell you what airports are good for sleeping in and where the good spots to sleep are...! Yup, gonna rough it in the Miami Airport on my trip home, but I´m actually kind of excited. They say on the fourth floor near the post office is the place to be. We´ll see. =)

Kung Fu and The Streets of El Alto

Every tuesday, BSCP partners with a local church located in El Alto, the poor urban area that sits at the top of the bowl of La Paz to participate in street outreach from around 10am-1am, serving the children who live and sleep on the streets. They usually bring bread and coffee, provide basic first aid, play soccer with the kids, and just spend time forming friendships. Last night I had the privilege to join this group.


On our drive up to El Alto, Chi Huang, the founder of BSCP explained to three of us from the organization that the presence and need of street children in El Alto has increased so much in recent years. The Bolivian police have taken part in an intense effort to "cleanse the streets," physically removing children from the streets in La Paz by putting them in police vehicles and dropping them off in the Jungle (a few hours drive away) or putting them in government warehouses. Police are notorious among the street children--physical, sexual, and emotional abuse are very common experiences for these children. As a result, where there used to be an estimated 3,000 street children on the streets of La Paz, remains only a spattering. Though the problem still remains as robust as ever--children just have been shuffled around the area to avoid the police. Many have migrated to other parts of the country: Sucre, Cochabamba, and many now to El Alto.


El Alto has a night life of its own--people everywhere, food stands and stores still open, lots of cheap hotels and single room occupancy buildings, buses and cars jam packed the main streets. Streets smelled like a mixture of urine, thinner, rotting food, and garbage. Those were the loud elements, the things easy to see, smell, hear. But then if you really paid attention, there were "quiet" elements on the streets that were loud in a different kind of way. Groups of children sleeping under a blanket and tarp under an overpass. Teens walking around with bloodshot eyes, a large grin, and a stagger, fresh off of inhaling thinner. A stab wound from a police man hidden under a sweater sleeve. An infected wound from a blow to the head from a fist-fight four days ago. A large scar outlining the side of a young man's face.


I think it's really tempting to sensationalize such experiences and hold it in our minds for a little while until it starts to lose its sting...and we move on with life. I'm tempted by that even today. Maybe that's a way that we protect ourselves, almost as if we just saw some movie, we absolve ourselves of responsibility, and make the world seem a little more rosy and comfortable to live in. And I think this process is subtle. Yet I don´t see the solution to this being people of misery, wallowing in what the world is that we forget what can be done. Then we risk being overwhelmed by the enormity of the issue and are crippled by the fact that no matter what we do nothing will make a difference.



So where is the balance, how do we properly hold in our mind and heart the injustice surrounding us in the world today? This is no easy question to answer (yet I would love to discuss if you have thoughts). Here are some thoughts though on how we can begin to live out of the difficult things we see and experience: I really believe that God has given us all unique passions and strengths from which to serve the world around us. For some people, this might involve working with government, law, or policy to change the structures from which societies are guided. For some people this might involve working in IT to bring technologies to areas that can be well served by accessing and storing information. For some people this might involve being the ones to physically touch the sick and provide the care that allows others to live a life outside of being sick. And for others this may involve creating photography, writing, and art that captures stories and experiences of those less fortunate to educate the world and bring injustices closer to home. The list goes on. What matters most though, is that whatever we do, we do in humility, courage, and love.


We must start small and hope big. And trust God.


On a lighter note, our group had an opportunity to talk with a group of younger men that evening. They were obviously high, slurred speech, blood-shot eyes, unsteady stance, and uninhibited speech. One of the guys, noticing I was asian, asked if I knew Kung-Fu. He kept insisting I do a demonstration for him and his friends, even though I kept telling him I didn´t know Kung-Fu. I couldn´t help but smile. Imagine me, on a street corner in Bolivia, doing Kung-Fu.


*Pictures: I have taken many since being here, but have not been able to get my hands on a card reader. When I arrive home, I promise a massive post filled with lots of pictures.

Hope everyone is well! I miss you all!

Tuesday Too

I had such a wonderful day today. After spending the morning in the office, I got to go to Casa Renacer again for the afternoon. The kids know by this point that I speak mainly english, so when they see me they say ¨hi!¨ and ¨bye!¨ all through out the day. One of the staff suggested that I spend some time with the kids teaching them some english words, and of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

The boys, ranging from ages 7-14, crowded around and asked away. How do you say... !!!

hola
ciao
amor
te amo
Patty =)
futbol (soccer)
casa
cuaderno (workbook)
madera (wood)
lapiz (pencil)
libro (book)
perro (dog)
cocina (kitchen)
naranja (orange)
computadora
...y mas!

Honestly, it´s after this moment that I became so grateful for the little Spanish I did know. Even if for this short hour I could spend time with the kids and help them learn words that maybe they´ll forget tomorrow, I still think it was worth every second. To smile and laugh with the kids. I had the best time today.

On the ride home, the BSCP special education teacher, also my host mom, told me how the boys who live at Casa Renacer ask her if they can call her mom. That was the most precious thing to hear. Mom. She´s only there three hours a day, four days a week. 12 hours. And yet this means the world to these boys. Someone who´s willing to invest 12 hours of her life teaching these boys how to read, to finish their homework, to behave...and to the boys, this ultimately translates into love.

Monday with the Boys

After three weeks of winter break (it´s winter here in Bolivia), schools started back up again today. This means that everyday after school, all BSCP children will gather at Casa Renacer to eat lunch together, complete their homework for school with house tutors and volunteers, and spend free time together. Casa Renacer is the transitional home, which houses children who have recently left the streets. Casa Batana and Casa Bernabe, the permanent homes, house the children who have been off the streets for longer than 6 months and are ready to enter into a more stable environment. The permanent homes are located about a 15 minute drive away from Casa Renacer, but the afternoon is the time when all the children from all three houses come together in one location.

The majority of my work thus far has involved working in the BSCP office, about a 10 minute drive from Casa Renacer. I have really enjoyed my work here so far. My work so far has involved a lot of internet research on volunteer program development, collaboration with the Bolivian staff at BSCP on creating formal volunteer positions, and (the best part) spending some time at the homes and on the streets to learn not just by hearsay, but by personal experience.

Today I got to spend a full afternoon with the children. It was the best. My intent that afternoon was really to learn and observe: what type of homework did the children have to work on, what was the schedule of the afternoon program like, how did the children interact with the staff and volunteers, etc. Just being there I learned so much about all these things, but there was so much more...

I got to watch a volunteer lead some of the children in drawing with pastels and painting with dot art and it was precious to see how much the children loved it and how proud they were of their work. We put up their work on the wall. It looks amazing.

Everytime I heard a child refer to ChiChi, the house dad at Casa Renacer, as ¨Pa¨ it made my heart melt. It´s just amazing to think that these children, who previous to living at the homes had no parents or could not see their parents as true parents, now have someone who truly loves them and invests in them like a father. There are no words to describe just how incredible it is to hear ¨Pa¨ and see these kids look at ChiChi with such admiration and awe.

The younger kids really look up to the older kids. It´s so neat to see the older kids play-fight with the younger ones. I think that´s the way young boys express friendship with one another.

Kids also have such a neat way of bringing you into their world. I think sometimes all that they need or want is you to pay attention to them or spend time with them. Something as simple as cutting out chickens and turtles from magazines for a project they are working on. I realized that today as I cut that kids know you care when you care about the little things in their lives. It was amazing to me how easily they brought me into their projects, even with my broken spanish.

It was the best to spend time at Casa Renacer today. It reminds me what BSCP is about. It´s about the kids. These children who formerly had the streets, drugs, abuse, now have so much more. But it´s not that easy. We can´t force the kids to stay at the homes. Often they run away, sometimes more than once. You can´t convince kids that doing chores and homework and having a schedule is better than the streets. But when you love on the kids, they stay, and learn with time that this life is better.

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Many of you have sent emails commenting on how wonderful it sounds like things are going here. It´s so true--I am learning so much about international work, children, what it looks like to care for an individual, Bolivian culture, speaking (hopefully) better Spanish. But I do realize I haven´t communicated the harder aspects with you all since I´ve been here and I desire to communicate an honest experience.

The two most difficult challenges thus far have been being far from a network of family and friends by which I feel known and loved. The first few days were brutal for me, being in a completely new place, with a new family, with no friends, and hardly any Spanish to help the process of settling in. Most of my experiences abroad have involved travel with a group of like-minded individuals with whom I could easily build relationships and communicate reflections of my experiences to, but this time, I´ve had to really let go of the expectation that I´d have this within a matter of weeks. But I do see progress, even after two weeks, and with time these relationships will continue to build. I am reminded that relationships take time and cannot be forced. I am also reminded of how precious my family and friends back at home are to me.

Another difficulty of being abroad in Bolivia has been the language barrier. Although I love the practice I´m getting with my Spanish, it´s painful at times to not be able to fully express myself or to allow others to express themselves to me. Co-workers, the children at BSCP, my host family, the street vendors, etc. It makes work at the office interesting at times, having to communicate very slowly in either Spanish or English something like, ¨Can you please help me print this,¨ or ¨What training do you think this position should involve?¨ While this was difficult at first, I´m also learning in this situation that there´s also an incredible amount that can be communicated in spite of language barriers, only it takes a bit more time.

Two weeks later I see how these two challenges seem a little smaller now than a week ago. And how they also are like blessings in disquise, for the way it´s causing me to trust less in myself and more in God.

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By the way, the 3-day hike was gorgeous and also the most physically demanding thing I´ve ever done in my life. I´m so glad to say I´m in one piece (with a handful of the most itchy mosquito bites in the world on my lower legs). More details to come! I´m still trying to get a hold of a card reader so pictures will come eventually!

Backpacking Adventure!

For the longest time now, I´ve wanted to go on a backpacking trip. I love the idea of being in nature for an extended period of time. I love the momentary and acceptable dirtiness. I think it´s also a really neat way to bond with people and see a different side of them. The I-havent-changed-my-clothes-in-3-days, my-hair-looks-like-an-animal, watch-for-people-while-i-go-behind-this-bush side of people.

I never would have thought the opportunity would present itself so soon, let alone in Bolivia!!

A local church that works closely with BSCP is taking a group of about 30 people on a 3-day hike through mountains and jungles in Bolivia. We´re sleeping in freezing cold weather the first night, and warm jungle weather the next. I´m so excited because the pastor leading the trip said the views on the trip are reminiscent of scenes from the Lord of the Rings. We´ll also be studying the book of Galatians over the 3 days!

So, I leave tomorrow morning for an adventure through beautiful Bolivia. I promise to take pictures and share them with you all!

Mystery Meat

Yesterday I went with Angie, my house-sister, her fiance, and one of their recently married friends, Raimy, to look at some wedding ceremony venues around La Paz. After we visited two locations, we went to get some food to eat. En route to the Gyros eatery, Raimy took me aside and said I had to try something special from La Paz. She had a suspicious look to her as we approached a street stand where two women stood cooking some delicious looking meat. It almost looked and smelled like Bulgogi, korean-style sirloin cut up in thin slices, except it appeared a deep-reddish brown color and looked really smooth. She bought me some and had me try.

Chewy, good marinade, weird metallic-y taste.

She then told me it was cow heart.

We laughed. Then I gave her the rest to eat.

Heartbreak (and Hope)

This week I´ve had the opportunity to learn more about street children in Bolivia and the work Bolivian Street Children Project (BSCP) does to address this reality.

The city of La Paz is shaped like a bowl, La Paz being the bottom of the bowl, and El Alto being the sides and top. (El Alto is where my plane landed when I first arrived in-country). David, the street outreach worker, took a Bolivian-American volunteer, Camila, and I out for a day of walking the streets of El Alto and La Paz in search for a child who ran away from his home at BSCP.

On our drive up to El Alto, we dropped by a church that had contacted BSCP about housing a boy named Luis who had been threatening to run away from his home. Together with the pastor and his wife and the three of us from BSCP, Luis´mother began to share her heartbreak. She explained how her 12-year old son had been disrespecting her for many years now, worsening as he grew older. She has other two younger children that she cares for, is widowed, and works all day cleaning clothes and cooking...only to later come home to a defiant son who spends most of his time on the streets, slowly acquiring a premature sense of authority and independence. Although I don´t know what types of things Luis did to his mother, all I know is that tears poured down her face as she explained how desperate she was for help. She loved her son so much and wanted to try to work things out, but she couldn´t bear it anymore. She came to the decision that the best thing, at this point, was to have him run away to BSCP where she knew he would be taken care of. While BSCP usually seeks to help abandoned street children with no parents at all, this, according to David, was a special case.

I can´t imagine being a mom in her situation. The stress of working all day to provide for three kids as a widowed woman, only to come home to a child who needs so much more than perhaps she feels able to offer... It was a tragic thing to witness, to see the love of a mom so strong that she willingly offers her son a home and family she can´t be a part of. Some might not call this love. I think I would have too if I hadn´t been there. But being in that room with her, you just knew it had to be love.

After this visit, we proceeded to the streets of El Alto. It was everything you might imagine the most urban, poor parts of any large city would look like. Street stands selling candy, juice bags, and snacks, little ones shining shoes and selling from a small pile of fruit. Wafts of pollution, urine and garbage. Potholes, broken buildings, dirty arcades. It was quite the flurry of people. No picture here because 1. David said not to use our cameras on these streets because people would try to steal it once they saw it, which could often involve violence, and 2. It would just feel inappropriate taking pictures here.

David told us that the children usually come out at night, but that´s when it´s more dangerous. Children come out during the day to either play arcade games (David said they are addicted to this, even though they have no money), find day jobs like being a caller, or ´vocero´ that rides in a minibus to call out the destinations to faces whizzing by, or to steal items they can later sell for money. At night, kids are more apt to come out because they are less visible to the police who are notorious for abusing them or maybe because they feel like this is the time that they own the streets. We roamed the streets for a few hours as David told us more about the street children. As David spoke, I sensed a great understanding and passion for the kids. Where did this come from?

David, at the age of 8, was kicked out of his house by his mother and forced to the streets. Though this was more than 30 years ago, he still knew the secrets of the streets. That´s what forges his connection with his work, with the children. He says that when he sees policemen abusing the kids, he´ll step in between them to protect the kids. Incredible. It´s no surprise that he has devoted most of his life to working with and for street children in his home country.

After this, we head back down to La Paz where we continue look for the little boy who ran away. More kids are out at this time on the streets of La Paz, I think perhaps because you see more middle and upper class persons roaming this area willing to drop a boliviano or two out of pity or to get their shoes shined.

David stops in front of a kid we see leaning against a store window with a shoe shining box in front of his lap. David recognizes him. David pulls out of his journal and shuffles through many pictures to pull one out of this boy with his older brother. Apparently he´s met the boy before, not sure when or for how long he knew him. David gives him the picture, holds out his hand, and says in spanish, ¨5 Bolivianos.¨ The kid chuckles. He crouches down next to the boy and asks him how he´s doing. He asks him where he´s living now. He asks him where his brother is. David pulls out a piece of paper with his name and number and lets the kid know that when he wants to come back, all he needs to do is call. The boy nods and David ruffles his hair as we say goodbye to the him. Wow, that picture deal really rocked my world. How special it must have been for this child to get a picture of him with his brother? How special to be recognized...and sought after.

It is nearly five and Camila and I need to head back to the office for our ride home. David hails us a taxi and sends us back as he continues looking for this little boy. I wonder how long he stayed out. I wish this boy knew how much he was cared for.


The beautiful thing is, many have and more will.

Welcome!

Dear Family and Friends,

Here is my blog as promised. I am excited to share in this journey with you...four full days have passed since I´ve been in La Paz, Bolivia and there have been many moments I´ve seen things I´ve wanted to show you and heard things I wanted you to hear and thought things I wish I could ponder and discuss with you. This blog is a small attempt to begin to share these things with you...

I´ve named this blog ¨La Paz is Now¨ to guide my posture towards these next five weeks. I want to steer away from thinking about this as an overseas experience--it´s real life, happening now, and I want to be fully present to live it. A dear friend shared recently the desire to live her life with her ¨suitcase unpacked¨, living each day with full intent, not letting the other ¨permanent¨fixtures of her life (which are never even guaranteed to be permanent) to keep her from involving herself with new things that come her way. I´ve felt at times bombarded with so many new things I feel tempted to think upon things that are more familiar...the smell of home, friends´ faces, having a predictable schedule, etc. Of course this is a natural reaction to being in a completely new environment, but I know it´s not OK when I start to check out of my present situation. I´m not just here as a volunteer, but as another human being who normally walks this earth a few thousand miles away from La Paz.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you. Many posts and pictures to come. Email me when you want to share the things happening in your life. I´d love to hear (even the small things)!

I realize again how blessed I am to know you all.

In His grace,
Patty