Merry Christmas (Eve)!!!

of homecomings, honking horns, and heaps of papers

Could you hear the squeals of joyful children?! My ears are still ringing with “TIA JENNY!!!!!!” At every house they attack me with hugs and questions and slobbery kisses.

As aforementioned, I’ve never been away 10 weeks (never even away from my home, wherever that may be, for 10 weeks), and it’s been wonderful to study every baby and child and see how they’ve changed and matured since October. First off, the most dramatic change is that FIVE one year olds are now walking and 2 year old B (moderate CP) can stand alone!!! No one wanted to be left behind. And that’s just in the Baby Home! Elsewhere, two others are walking. Most of those are from the flood of newborns of July—October last year, so it’s easy to get all sentimental remembering them at 5 or 6 pounds and seeing them toddling around now with toothy grins! They are so proud of themselves too. One after one they show off for us, savoring the applause!

Then the faces of some of the older kids, particularly the boys, seem to have changed. Several 3, 4, and 5 year olds have improved much in their speech. Since I left a speech therapist has started making visits to the Baby Home, so we can now afford to have more children take classes. Others have shot up in height. Some are just all grins and so incredibly happy.

I guess that being able to actually note so many changes at once helps ease the sadness of what I missed while gone.

There are other changes around the homes, like a surprise the tías had for me at the Baby Home: an industrial oven donated a couple weeks ago by World Vision! Wow!

I am so grateful for how everyone kept things running very smoothly. I truly have a wonderful staff who has “caught the vision” of caring for these kids with excellence and making every decision based on their wellbeing. Of course, loving them so much really helps, too! And how they love us… Five year old S. started to cry tonight just remembering when I left. It was hard getting that train turned around! Hopefully letting her and her brother A. fall asleep on me, one hugging my neck and the other touching my feet, helped a bit. (I'm so grateful to Savannah for bringing S and Baby F, pictured above, to the airport to get me!!! While I held my two girls, she and David struggled out with the suitcases, wheelchair, my killer heavy backpack, and the other carry-on which was a well-stuffed diaper bag.)

It’s a little nuts coming in so close to Christmas! I can't believe how close it is, and tomorrow a volunteer arrives too. Talking about making a list and checking it twice! Rosa, Maria, and David have really worked hard on the staff gifts and end-of-year paperwork, and making sure that each child is covered at Christmas, but somehow I have my own heap of things to prepare. Today we finalized what time we’ll have Christmas (meal and gifts) at each house and now it’s time for detail work.

Of course, just unpacking, sorting through things, and catching up will take days. During an all-morning-meeting I pretty much got the lowdown on paperwork, health, and any family member situations of the 42 kids (quite a feat!), and tomorrow will hear about each staff member from the administrator. I also have this huge stack of papers to read through…10 weeks of psychological reports, October and November staff/volunteer reports (that would mean over 40), school report cards, important papers in kids’ files, memos from the court and social services, notes from staff and volunteers….which actually makes me REALLY happy after so long with so little paperwork. Just hope to read it all before next year, ha!

I’m also having fun remembering how one drives in Bolivia! Guess I drove in the states more than I thought. In some ways it seems easier there because you assume that everyone will follow the rules. It's so predictable you could fall asleep. Here you'll be killed if don't locate your horn and drive aggressively assertively! Still I thoroughly enjoyed getting to honk today at a wayward bus. (I should probably be worried.) Probably my biggest problems came when I gave the right of way at the wrong times, trying to let cars go in front of me and stopping for pedestrians (that last got ME honked at as no one expects it, and the family didn't cross anyway, oops).

I didn’t even mind all the speed bumps and pothole mud puddles as I just savored being HOME.

Oh and today Wilson received his wheelchair!! AND since some kiddos were giving me no peace until I took them out in my beloved car...which has been having troubles I hear but behaved perfectly for me today...tonight Savannah and I loaded up 7 ages 2-5 to drive through downtown and see Christmas lights. It was fun to watch Savannah and the 5 oldest decorate Christmas cookies earlier in the day. (Read all about it here.)

So surprise, surprise, my first full day back was a gloriously packed day! More later, after I make some lists...

run that by me again?

Tomorrow morning we'll be off to the early service at Central, then to the airport!!!! It reminds me of 5 years and 5 months ago today when I went straight from church to the airport, moving to Bolivia.

By the time I get back I will have been gone 10 weeks. Unbelievable, when I've always found it hard to be gone more than a day or two.

That is, if they let me back in. (The country, not the Baby Home!)

I will travel on an expired 2 year Bolivia visa, an unsigned and undated indefinite visa, and have an official, thoroughly stamped and signed piece of paper from Bolivia immigration granting me 60 days out of the country (which expired last week). So how will I get back in the country without losing 1000s of Bolivianos worth of paperwork? Easy. I have a verbal approval from someone in immigration to a lawyer who told my lawyer who told me via skype.

The same approval they refused to give on October 8. Perfect. This should be an interesting trip.

(Currently I also travel with two passports - the voided one with the last vigilent visa, and my new valid one with the visa-in-progress.)

Prayer requests: the obvious, that all is good with immigration, but also for grace with American Airlines and Aerosur during the 26 hour trip! I will attempt the unattempted (at least for me), to check 2 full bags, carry on 2 bags, and beg on Wilson's wheelchair. While Christmas is the season of giving and holiday cheer, something tells me that the mood in the airport on the Sunday before Christmas will be anything but. Happily, there's an acceptable back up plan, which entails the 2nd suitcase getting brought back to my family's, stuffed into a 25 kg flat rate FedEx box, and being sent directly to Cochabamba at a deep discount, arriving about a week behind me.

Lastly, please pray that I arrive to Cochabamba on time!! And no this is not only for my sanity because I am liable of exploding if I do not have at least one baby in my arms very shortly after 2:30pm tomorrow, but because at FOUR PM we will hand out Christmas gifts to all the staff, who will converge at the Baby Home before several take vacation time. I don't want to miss it and have gifts for them myself (thanks to Emma's friends - blog post forthcoming).

Thank you and if you live way south of this border, hasta PRONTO!!!

Reading My Way Through Vacation, Part II

Last week I posted Part I of my reading list during furlough/sabbatical. Well the library kept seeing lots of me, and here's the continuation!


Audition: A Memoir, by Barbara Walters

I love biographies and this was a doozie at 579 pages! Certainly Barbara Walters is a fascinating person with an interesting life (and did you know about her mentally disabled sister and adopted daughter?), but this book has been on my list since published to get a glimpse into the lives of those she interviewed. It didn't disappoint, although she has interviewed and known so many 100s of celebrities, world leaders, powerful politicians, infamous criminals, first ladies, etc., etc., that only a small piece could be written on those she remembers best. Unexpectedly, I learned how TV has changed news and entertainment over the past 60 years.


My Hands Came Away Red, by Lisa McKay

Thought-provoking novel but possibly not in the way the author, a psychologist in humanitarian aid relief, intended! She wanted to play through what might happen on a "mission trip gone wrong" whereas I was feeling very old as I did not relate with the hormone-ravaged teens as much as the stuck-in-the-mud adult leaders who obviously don't know how to have fun but just wanted to protect the kids. ANYWAY, it was still a spell-binding read (I was consumed until finishing it) and I look forward to any future books by the world-traveling author.


The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath, by Mark Buchanan

One of my top favorites these past months! Mark Buchanan beautifully sets Sabbath living in a new light while giving fresh insight into familiar Bible stories. What descriptions!! If I would have purchased any book it would definitely be this one, so I did the next best thing and basically read it twice - a chapter or two a day first, then re-reading and typing out 10 pages of notes. I looked at several places for his other books and couldn't find any, but definitely a new favorite author.


Communicating Effectively for Dummies

I only got to read part of this manual. The chapter on active listening was the most memorable for me, and I most identified with being the person who "reads into" what the other is saying without truly listening, and thus jumping to conclusions or assumptions.


The Connected Child: Bring Hope & Healing to your Adoptive Family, by Karyn Purvis, Ph.D., David Cross, Ph.D., and Wendy Sunshine

This book is a better training/discipline manual than most for us at Casa de Amor because the authors are focused on traumatized, special needs, formerly abused or neglected children. I copied some of the charts out and probably need to buy it someday. I plan on incorporating lots of their ideas into our future meetings and policy and procedure manuals to give the staff more tools for situations we see in the homes.


The Hotel, by Sonny Kleinfield

This book about the Plaza Hotel in NYC, written in 1989, was a fun book to read, even though the author definitely seemed to be the "glass half empty" type. That just added to the charm though and now I know more than I ever needed about running a hotel!


Also filling up my reading time were loads of cookbooks and books on learning Italian!

I loved making all sorts of fabulous, bright and colorful salads with the many ingredients available here in the US. My most used cookbook to give me fresh ideas for those was Simply Salads by Jennifer Chandler.


And so - apart from what I find to read on the 24+ hour trek back to Bolivia the next two days - ends my happy reading journey!

taking steps

It all started in late October, a couple weeks after I got to the US. I was catching up on Bolivia news and read this article titled "Wilson, el niño con parálisis en las piernas, ya es un bombero" which translates to "Wilson, the child with paralyzed legs, is already a firefighter".

Somehow Cochabamba firefighters (of which there are few) found out that Wilson has a fascination of firefighters and wants to be one. They invited Wilson to ride in their truck and made him an honorary fireman at the ripe old age of 7. Wilson has muscular dystrophy that is obviously advancing rapidly. From what I read, his future is bleak, and even bleaker when you add in where he lives and a family with minimal resources.

At the end of the article, a plea went out for help for Wilson...and a wheelchair.

So, we took the first step. Joni & Friends is the favorite ministry of my sister Emma. I asked her to look them up and see about the possibilities of a wheelchair for Wilson. After a few days and not hearing anything, I took another step and rang the fire station in Cochabamba. I asked if they really wanted a wheelchair for Wilson (yes) and if he had one yet (no). I told the fireman "I live in Bolivia but am currently in the US and think I can get a wheelchair donated and can bring it back when I return".

He got so excited over the phone, actually skype, he was practically shouting! He kept saying "what do we do? how can we help? who can we call?" I told him to leave it to me since I speak English. ;)

After emailing and calling more people with Joni & Friends, I reached someone in their "Wheels for the World" division who immediately started explaining our next steps. It sunk in that this meant they were indeed going to help! I was actually requesting two wheelchairs at this point, remembering little girl V who also had an article published in the newspaper pleading for help some time after her stay with us. In the end, there wasn't time as we deliberated if a wheelchair would even work for a child in her very advanced condition. (I'll look into that more when I'm back.)

Next, I received the forms to fill out from Wheels for the World. Then I called two of our houses looking for Tia Maribel, our physical therapist, to catch her up on Wilson (who she remembered having read about...and I was like "well he's coming to see you tomorrow!). She said she had never measured a child for a wheelchair before but was willing to learn.

Then I called the Cochabamba fire station and spoke with two or three fire fighters until I was speaking to their coronel. Each one of them became so animated at the prospect of helping Wilson! They agreed to transport him and his parents to the Baby Home the next day so that Maribel could measure him for the wheelchair. A poorly fitted wheelchair can easily do more harm than good. THEN I called the office to inform my staff what was up, and THEN I emailed volunteers Katrina and Savannah with all the details of what we needed to know here in the US, reminding them to take lots of pictures and also sending a list of questions to ask his family.

And did I mention I did the above from the car as we crossed the Mississippi River into Arkansas on our way from Tennessee to Texas?

Once Katrina emailed back the details from the fitting session and observing his condition, the next step was to fax the forms and signatures to Wheels for the World.

Did I mention that our contact's name is Gail Thompson? Half the time when I saw her email address I thought it was my Mom's, Glenda Thompson.

After that, Gail got me in touch with the guy who runs the refurbishing site in a Nashville "correctional development facility".

I should mention here that his last name is Wilson.

It only took him about a week to have the new custom wheelchair ready to go! It then took us another week or two to have a day to devote to picking it up from the jail, 3 1/2 hours away (see picture above).

To complete our pick up day, we stopped off at a Toys R Us to find a fire engine as a birthday present/Christmas present for Wilson, who had turned 8 just the day before and had a party put on by none other than his new fire fighter friends.

(It wasn't all work. As you can see from the picture at right, the trip to Nashville gave us the perfect opportunity to ring up fellow Texan friends who moved here about the time I moved to Bolivia and we haven't seen since. We had a nice catch-up during our mother daughter lunch on a charming historic downtown square while the Christmas parade passed by!)

This is where we now stand:

My staff is letting the family know that we indeed have the wheelchair and that Wilson should have it by year's end. It weighs over 50 pounds and American Airlines will not let me carry it on since it's not for my own use and is too large for the overhead bin. Secondly, I have embargos and strict rules (and NO exceptions) regulating travel to Bolivia going against me as far as checking it in a box or as excess luggage, so it's proving trickier than I had hoped. I have probably 2 suitcases worth of donations, not to mention my own things, so something has to give but I'm not sure what yet. I can already see I'll have to leave a lot of the clothes and shoes and books I brought as I shed weight on the way back.

I'm in the middle of looking into a host of options before making a decision for the final step on my end of getting this to Wilson. From the beginning I've had Christmas stuck in my mind as a deadline. Christmas doesn't seem to mean as much to Bolivians as it does to us westerners (there carnival reigns), but I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't explore every avenue of getting the wheelchair to Wilson by then.

I will let everyone know how the saga works out, and of course will post pictures when I have them!!

hodge podge

Upon arrival to my family's apartment in Tennessee, one of the first things I noticed was how three cultures easily mix in the relaxed decor.

Antique Bolivia wall map
Cowboy lampshade

Painting given to us from some of our very first Russian friends in 1999

Painting from Bolivia (farewell gift for my parents)

Two enlarged photographs: Heather in front of St. Basil's, Red Square, Moscow (by me I think) and gates to a church in the outskirts of Kostroma region (made by our Dad)

Russia and adoption agency memorabilia
(yes, that's our Emma on the coin can!)

Pictures of our grandpa in a Texas rodeo

Bell from Kostroma, Russia

Painting from Bolivia
Matryoshka nesting doll from Russia


Painting purchased from a lady selling her original artwork on Red Square, Moscow
Magnets of pictures of my kids in Bolivia

the cutest pictures you will lay eyes on this Christmas

Coming soon!!!

Soon to be unveiled: pictures from the 2nd annual live Christmas Nativity at Casa de Amor!! Sadly I was not there to participate this time, so I'm taking Savannah's word on this. :)

I'm almost as excited about seeing this year's pictures as I am about arriving there exactly one week from this hour!!!!!!!!!

I think I can hang on. I think I can, I think I can...

HELP!

Okay so I'm not a very good furlough-taker. I'm sick and tired of resting! And anyway, for a number of reasons, I just need to get back to Bolivia. We had two connections for getting my American Airlines tickets changed without fees, but I'm having trouble reaching them. Like a full week of trouble. I've just hit a wall here and REALLYYYY need to see my babies again. I'm dreaming in Spanish people!!

If anyone knows ANYONE who could get my January 1 tickets moved up to one of these next days without charging an arm and a leg, I'll be forever grateful. I know, I know, it's the holidays and everything. Count on me to pick the worst time like that!

Sorry this is just a quick plea, we have to run to one of the stores right now before it's overrun with hundreds of students on a mall outing.

Thank you!!!!

question...

This is a question for all of you creative people!

I am finally formalizing an official "advocate" program for Casa de Amor. Friends and former volunteers often express interest in continuing to help Casa de Amor from their home country. This would give them more tools to be able to share with their friends, fundraise, and......an official title. Or something.

I've read clever names from other non-profits before (none of which come to mind right now) and wonder if there's something more catchy we can use.

Heart Friends?

An acronym that stands for something?

"Advocate" is more of a legal term than anything, but I looked up synonyms and here's what I found:

Main Entry: advocate
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: person supporting an idea or cause publicly
Synonyms: apostle, attorney, backer, campaigner, champion, counsel, defender, exponent, expounder, lawyer, pleader, promoter, proponent, proposer, speaker, spokesperson, supporter, upholder


Any thoughts, comments, questions, ideas?

Thanks in advance!!

Reading My Way Through Vacation, Part I

Since the minute I left Bolivia I've had a BLAST reading everything I can get my hands on! Yes I have more time here, but another factor is that I am WAY less distracted and can actually concentrate on what I'm reading or learning.

I've also realized what a treat it is to be able to read pretty much straight through a book so as not to lose the gist of what's happening. At one point in November, I finished a 400 something page book on Monday and had read 3 more cover-to-cover by Friday. Helped that I was laid up from toenail surgery.

Here's the first list of the rather wide range I've been reading, in the order in which I read them:

* Wolves At Our Door: The Extraordinary Story of the Couple Who Lived with Wolves, by Jim Dutcher

Got this from missionaries leaving Coch earlier this year and read it on the plane rides back. Way more interesting than I had expected! I also know more about wolves and animal research than I wanted to.


* Plain & Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish, by Sue Bender

My Mom got this meditative book for me via inner library loan, knowing my interest in Mennonites/Amish since visiting a Bolivian colony last year. It was a nice "essay" sort of book that inspired me to find peace and joy in every task of the day, even the mundane, rather than rushing past it to get to the "fun part".


* Our Jerusalem: An American Family in the Holy City, 1881-1949, by Bertha Stafford Vester

This book has been on my list years, and Mom just happened to order it inner library loan as well. Wonderful read!! I had never realized what an extremely multi-cultural city Jerusalem is as the home to three major world religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It was also fascinating to learn how the city was before the decades of being torn apart by conflict.


*A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, by Donald Miller

Very neat book! The easiest and quickest read of Don Miller so far, and we also got to hear him speak on his book tour through Memphis. I loved comparing life to a story and while reading it I was thinking of so many blog posts, but was too busy reading to ever do any. I was particularly thinking that my friends who work with street kids need to read this book. (I will be bringing a copy back to Bolivia, so feel free to borrow it!)


* Elizabeth Van Lew, Civil War Spy, by Heidi Schoof

Read this one afternoon and then started realizing that, hey, Tennessee has a huge Civil War history, so it was quite appropriate! She did an amazing work as a woman and it was sad how she was shut off from her community for the rest of her life for being on the wrong (and winning) side.


* The Alternate Day Diet, by James Johnson, M.D.

Interesting theory for healthier living. Tests show that eating only every other day produces our disease resistance and longevity - not to mention helping to maintain an ideal weight (which should be lower than most experts suggest). Of course eating only the half the time would be difficult so this doctor proposes eating 20-35% of your needed calories every other day and normally on alternate days. Definitely trying it out when I'm home in Bolivia!


* Someone Knows My Name: A Novel, by Lawrence Hill

This was a hard read but the most insight I've ever gotten into the 19th century slave trade from the inside out, and the "resettlement" of former slaves in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. Also gave a new perspective on the Revolutionary War and the participation of blacks on the British side.


* The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal, by Vicki Constantine Croke

Not a book that would have ever been on my list but it was displayed there on a front table at the library. I picked it and learned so many interesting things within a few minutes of reading that I didn't put it back.

I loved observing why Ruth Harkness succeeded in capturing a live panda where so many men before her (and for at least a couple years after) had failed: her maternal instincts!


I finished two more books yesterday and my "reading holiday" ends soon, so watch for Part II....

the latest greatest...

A little update from freezing Tennessee (while Bolivia boils)...

~ Today I visited Youth Villages, Memphis location, which is actually their original and biggest site. Really neat! My brain is churning now with ideas of things to improve and change and learn about, and I might get to go back next week to learn more about their "staff leadership development" program.

~ Tomorrow morning we're going back to Nashville, this time to pick up a wheelchair for a little boy in Bolivia who turns 8 today. (Whole story coming soon!) I also get to see a childhood friend who moved there from Texas several years ago.

~ On Monday, I have a meeting with the women's ministry director at my family's new (and large) church here and possibly other senior pastors to discuss future involvement with Casa de Amor (!!).

~ There was a special double birthday at the Baby Home last week! Read all about it on Savannah's blog.

~ The past few days have been interesting and newsworthy on the volunteer/visitor front. Much of the news is still developing, but two tidbits:

A professional photographer, the friend of friends in Texas, is interested in coming and taking pictures of our kids and missionary families next year!

Christy, the reflexologist-in-training who was with us a month earlier this year, is considering a return to Cochabamba next summer. She would like to study Spanish full time and practice reflexology on our staff and kids the rest of the time. Oh, yeah!

~ And finally, I'll end with the current news about my return to Bolivia rather than email those in suspense with me... Since October, I've had no clear idea of when my vacation/furlough/sabbatical would end. (It's a long story but has to do with immigration telling me at the last minute that I had a 60 day limit to be out of the country. I decided to go on anyway and risk not getting to spend Christmas in the US with family.)

So TODAY was "The Day" to find out if they would extend that permission. However, true to Bolivia form I won't have the answer until next week, right around day #60, which isn't exactly helpful if they decide NOT to extend it. The lawyers are confident but...gives me a little pause. Right now we're leaning towards living life dangerously, meaning that I'll stay till right after Emma's birthday (December 14). Surely it will all be fine! I mean, with the fast approaching elections in Bolivia I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry!

~ Before leaving, whenever that will be, I'm frantically trying to finish all the "final" things including reading the last few library books I've checked out. I'd like to share what I've been reading when I have a chance. And on that note...off to finish one of them!

Cinco!!!!!

Happy Fifth Anniversary to Casa de Amor, Bolivia!!!

On December 3, 2004, Casa de Amor opened its doors to receive a baby who had gone from street life with his teen mother to living in jail with his father. Now, that baby boy is a cherished son, brother, grandson, cousin, and a top student in his school in Italy.

Since that day in 2004, more than 90 babies and young children have called “Casa de Amor” home until they too have a family of their own. God continues to grow our work in exciting directions and even though political and social turmoil are daily constants in Bolivia, He blesses us with friends in high places and hard working staff that is dedicated to advocate the best for our children within the Bolivian system. As we head into our sixth year of ministry giving abandoned and street children a home, please consider the part you can play to join us in this ministry to the fatherless.

{taken from our most recent mailing}

First "new baby" picture, with so many more to follow!

First welcoming! (We laugh now to see the number of staff overwhelming one startled one year old.)

First hug of many


First bottle (of many!), with our first long term volunteer Shannon (now mother to her own little boy)



This quiet, reserved, sickly baby became...


big brother to many!



Mr. Photogenic



Preferred playing with the boys



Violin student

October 2008: With his new Italian family at last, age 5!!!


We miss you, J!

Thanks for beginning our family on that life-changing day for us five years ago!

Wordless Wednesday

the dozen

8 school kids + the 4 "little ones" = Casa de Amor II


(+ two caregivers + my right arm our administrator/social worker)

(Always in motion, aren't they?!)