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!