CDA Sponsorships

UPDATE: I have an amazing boyfriend with some amazing parents, and they've collectively decided to support 4 of these boys below! The only one without a sponsor now is E. If you're interested in supporting him, contact me and I'll get you set up! Also, like I said in the blog, all the kids from House 1 and 2 are up to be sponsored!

This blog is dedicated to something amazing that YOU can do to help the kids at Casa de Amor: sponsoring a child! This is a great way to support CDA and to keep up with everything they're doing, plus communicate with a specific child and get updates on him/her (and sometimes letters or cards made by the child!)! It only costs $25 per month to support a child, and you can pay monthly, quarterly, or yearly. For more information on sponsorships you can go to CDA's webpage HERE. If you click on the bullet point that says "sponsor," it will open a document with some frequently asked questions, plus the form you can fill out and send through email or regular mail if you decide to support a child. You can also ask me any question (either through the comments here, or email me at hjarms@hotmail.com) and I will find out the answer for you!

After being here and getting to know the kids, I chose this sweet girl for my family to support!

A.M. is a little ray of sunshine who currently lives at House 2. She is 3 and a half years old and HIV positive, with plenty of special needs that go along with that. She has never had a sponsor, so I am so excited and happy that my family will be her first!

The way CDA has the sponsorships set up allows for each kid to have up to 4 sponsors. Currently nobody has 4, so any of the kids from either House 1 or House 2 are available to support! But there are several from House 2 who have no sponsors at all right now, so I'll focus on them.

A. (almost 7)

E. (almost 5)

J. (almost 7)

J.G. (3 and a half)

M. (almost 6)

Seriously people, how can you resist those adorable smiles?! Think about $25 a month. It really isn't that much to sacrifice, but it could make a big difference in one of these kids' lives. If you want to sponsor one of them, go to the link I put at the beginning of this post, click on "sponsor" where it says "sponsor a child or staff member," read the FAQs and fill out the form (2nd page of the Word document)! Or you can let me know and I'll hook you up!

All these photos were taken by Melissa Dickey- Captured Whispers Photography

Saturdays in the Plaza Principal

Every Saturday around 4:30 pm, a group of people goes to the Plaza Principal, the main plaza in the city. They unload tents, huge jugs filled with water, plastic baby baths, buckets, suitcases stuffed with clothing, soap and shampoo from their cars. They set up the supplies (usually with the help of several excited children), and mothers with their babies and small children form a surprisingly very organized line. Most of the mothers are cholitas, women with indigenous blood who dress in the traditional style, and generally speaking, the most economically disadvantaged group of people here. The missionaries who run the operation, along with any volunteers who decided to show up, get into their places. People sitting on benches, going for a walk, or feeding pigeons in the plaza watch and wonder what in the world is going on.

Once everything and everyone is ready, the absolute chaos begins! Mothers pass their babies (or small children up to about 3 years old) into one of the tents, where the volunteers bathe them and then wrap them in a towel. The babies are then passed into another tent, where more volunteers give them clean diapers (or underwear for the toddlers) and some new clothes. Then the babies are held outside the tent doorway until the mothers take them. While all this is going on, the older kids (too big to be bathed) stand outside, bent forward with their heads over buckets, as volunteers shampoo their hair and pour water over it. Afterward, they can go to the clothing tent and get a new shirt. The final station is the hair brushing area on a small step, where volunteers comb hair and put the girls' hair into ponytails or other hairstyles. And when enough volunteers come, sometimes they bring nail polish or other fun things to do with the kids. The whole event happens in about an hour- a very busy and totally crazy hour!

I've been to "baby washing" 3 times- once my first week here, and the past 2 Saturdays with Christy (Canadian girl who has been living with us for 2 weeks and will be here 1 more) and Maite. I've done hair and clothing, and both are a blast although super hectic! I really wish I had gone every Saturday since being here, but I plan on going for the rest of the time I have in Cochabamba (only 2 weeks!).

This is such a unique and important ministry that I'm so glad to have been a part of. The people who come to get their kids bathed are either homeless or very poor without water in their homes. They go to the plaza each Saturday, counting on the volunteers to be their with their tents and bathing equipment. It's so easy to tell that the mothers appreciate it a lot, and most of the kids seem to have a lot of fun.

Now for some photos (and a few more will be coming in the next couple days, I promise!):

The Plaza where it all takes place (baby washing is actually on the other side)

 

 

Setting up (Christy is in the yellow, talking to the lady who runs the whole thing with her husband in the blue shirt on the left); you can see the already-formed line of mothers going behind the yellow tent

Getting ready to go! Yellow tent is for washing, blue is for clothing

Getting the baby baths ready with warm water and soap

In the clothing tent- a super tiny baby, already diapered and waiting for some clothes!