Last Day

On the streets of El Alto

Me and Omar

(It's taking too long to upload photos...)

Today was our last day in Bolivia. It´s been a full week of getting to know the children at the Kaya Center, visitng the three group homes, walking the streets of San Francisco and El Alto, filming, interviewing, taking photos, teaching songs to the children, playing games, cooking, teaching the recorder to the kids, interacting with the staff, and learning more about the organization and its future goals. Combine this with the intensity of the work being done here and I am totally exhausted! But it´s been such an amazing time and now it´s time to think about how to apply what I´ve learned back in the States.

What we did today...

Joy and I went to Plaza San Francisco to do a little shopping although we didn´t really purchase anything. We toured the coca museum. Did you know that they used to put cocaine in coca-cola but after it was banned they just use coca leaves for flavoring? Yes, I think that was my main take away from the museum.

Afterwards we went to the Kaya Center to have lunch with the kids but one of their mini buses broke down and they didn´t return from their outing until later. The children went to a park where there were several giant slides. Lynn out some good footage of it. Looked like a lot of fun although I heard their bums burned on the way down from the friction and you had to climb back up the hill to go again.

Some thoughts...

The children are so loveable and the staff is so committed to them. Some of the older boys were playing soccer against another school yesterday. All the boys from the homes came out and so did the house parents. There really is a family feel to the homes. The younger boys who are not ready to get back into the school system look up to the older boys who go to private school in the mornings and come to the Center during lunchtime. When the doorbell rings during lunch, the younger boys try to guess which of the older boys are coming and give them a warm welcome. When the older boys go to school they wear uniforms. The four boys who are graduating this year from high school wear suits on certain days. The whole community here is just so proud of them and they are such a testiment to the work the God is doing.

On the Kaya brochure there is a quote from one of the boys that says:

Once when I was sleeping in the grass, these ladies passed by and they said, "Look at those punks. They should just die." I was really sad in that moment and sometimes you want to do crazy things and I just wanted to go up there [on the bridge] and throw myself off...

I look at these children and there is so much hope and life in them. It saddens me to think that they once felt worthless and felt so much pain that they would constantly inhale paint thinner to escape their life. It doesn´t seem easy even after they come off the streets. The children have a lot of adjustments and learning to do such as learning to sit at a desk, learning to pee into a toilet bowl, showering, learning to hold a pencil, following rules and facing the consequences of breaking them. The children have to deal with their life on the streets and past abuse. The children are so happy when I interact with them that I forget that they are still struggling with issues and are in the process of healing. It doesn´t seem easy for the staff either as the children have many needs and may run away. However, the staff is committed to raising the children as if they were their own and they work together as a community to raise these children who would otherwise have no one to call family.

Tonight Lynn, Joy, Grace, and Juan Daniel went to a food festival. A sampling of the best food in La Paz, Bolivia. Juan Daniel is 16 years old. He is one of the four Kaya students who will be graduating this year from high school and headed to college. He recently got his certificate in cooking and wants to open up his own restaurant one day. It was wonderful to experience with him an interest he has, to see his potential, to see that he has a bright future ahead of him. I don´t think anyone would say that he should die because he´s not worth anything. He is precious in God´s eyes and many people, from teachers to supporters of the organization, have enabled him to know his worth. I feel so blessed to be a part of a community of believers who follow God's calling to take care of his sheep.

photos!

Day 5

This morning the three of us went with Chi, Pato (the Kaya director), and Guisella (one of the Kaya psychologists) up to the Ceja in El Alto. The Ceja is basically the downtown area where there are a lot of shops and street vendors. We met up with Michael, a former street kid, and he took us around to show us where the kids usually sleep and also pointed out where some have died recently. We were told not to bring any bags or to put anything into our back pockets and to try to keep everything in our inside pockets if possible. Chi always stayed in the back to make sure we were safe.

At one point we saw a girl inhaling paint thinner which is their drug of choice because it´s cheaper than alcohol and keeps them warm and makes them ¨fly¨or get high easily. Michael and Guisella also talked to a boy, Christian, who followed us around the rest of our time up there and agreed to come off the streets and into one of the houses on Monday next week. Please pray that he does so.

We also ran into Emma, a medical studnet volunteer from the UK that had been here for several months already. She had treated a kid who had a stab wound in his neck, and while we were there this time she checked up on him. Our last stop was under an underpass where there was a mattress on the bare ground on which 10-15 kids would sleep surrounded by dogs who would guard them. We returned to the hotel via two mini-buses (one from El Alto to downtown La Paz, and the other from downtown to Calacoto).

That afternoon Jane taught one of the classes how to play ¨Mary Had a Little Lamb¨on the recorder. Some of the boys picked it up really quickly! Thanks, Peggy, for donating them. After the class, there was a birthday party for Vladimir, the youngest boy in the Center. He turned 6! There were balloons and goodie bags, and a small cake for him. Apparently one of the birthday traditions is that after the kid blows out the candle, they all chant, ¨Bite the cake¨and when they do, someone behind them pushes their face into the cake. This time Chi just picked the cake up and smooshed it into Vlad´s face. It was awesome. Then some of the boys made speeches to say goodbye to Emma and Anthony, who had been doing a 1 month rotation here are part of his 4th year at BU med school.

After all that we went up to a soccer field near Renacer House where the older boys were playing soccer against another school team. I´ve never been so invested in a soccer game before! The boys came from behind to win 6-5!

Lastly, we came back down and had dinner with Kristin at a Peruvian restaurant. Now that I had experienced a lot more, I had a lot of questions to ask her about the future of the program and how we could best support them when we returned to Boston.

Tomorrow is our last full day here in La Paz, so please pray that we could use it to its fullest. So far the plan is to interview Chi and Kristin and then maybe do some souvenir shopping before going to a Bolivian food festival to thank Juan Daniel for making us dinner on Tuesday night. Thanks for reading and praying for us! Love,

Joy

Buenos noches!

My name is Lynn and for those who don't know me, I'm a graphic designer, currently at RISD and attending Highrock and have spent the past month here in Bolivia. And let me tell you...this place is awesome!

Filming has commenced with the children and staff at Kaya's orphanage and educational center. It's been an incredibly wonderful and overwhelming time here as the team has been behind cameras and as we try to get to know the 30+ children. So far, we've been able to get great footage of everyday life and the surrounding environments and some great interviews with the local staff and some of the older boys. Days and nights have been packed with activities and filming. Our short time here is flying! But what can I say? I absolutely love it here, the children are so warm, and film has been an inspiring new medium to work with.

This morning, Jane and I were up before the sun with my camcorder at the boy's orphanage house, waking them up and capturing their morning routine: teeth brushing, bed making, chores and an early game of Uno. I think the kids hate and love us for it ;) But we were able to share breakfast with 10 of them like a one crazy family and play rock, paper, scissors with them for a while. It was a highlight for me.

Tonight, Joy taught the boys how to make Chinese dumplings which we will feast on for dinner. Delicioso! Tomorrow, we head to the streets of El Alto to shoot street life and to interview current street children as well as Chi and Kristen Huang, the directors and founders of Kaya.

I am feeling so alive here, both being able to interact with the kids and to use my creative skills to really support and spread the word about the great work that Kaya is doing. The staff here are so inspiring and recklessly selfless, acting as teacher, parent, mentor, friend, social worker and psychologist to these kids. I am constantly amazed by them and feel so honored to interview them and share their story.

That is all for now. I'm tired, but in that wonderful way. Two more days left of this adventure and I return to the States. Thanks for all your support and prayers! They have sustained us thus far.

abrazos y besos,

Lynn

Day 3

I'm blogging again because Lynn and Jane have an early day tomorrow. They're waking up at 6 am so that they can go to one of the residential homes (Bethany House) to film the kids morning routine. I, on the other hand, can sleep in a bit since I'll be leading the cooking project later tomorrow.

Today we started off with some interviews with the staff: Giovanna, the educational director and Pato, the program director. Then we sat down and had lunch with the kids at Kaya Center. Lunch consisted of a hearty vegetable stew, fried chicken, rice, and re-cooked freeze-dried potatoes. I was so full I couldn't even make it to the dessert, which was a type of pudding with a dried peach. After lunch Jane led the kids in some songs from the Avalanche Ranch CD in Spanish. We taught them the motions for "The Great Adventure", "This is the Day", and "God is Good". Then we played a modified version of "Hit the Deck" where uno = attencion (standing in attention position), dos = pikachu (this modified version of rock, paper, scissors where if you win you get to squeeze your opponents cheeks), tres = goal (two people form a soccer goal and one person is the goalie), quatro = four people in a line doing the can can, and cinco = commodore (the dining hall, where one person kneels down to be the table, and four people eat around him). The last 2 people standing got to pick two Jelly Roll pens that Jane had brought. She ended up giving everybody a pen for participating though.

After another round of the songs, we got to interview two of the older boys about their life on the street and in Kaya. Then we hopped on the mini-bus with the boys and went to visit one of the homes, Renacer, which is the transition home. The boys there are the most recent off the street and also the youngest. About ten boys live in the house with one house uncle. There's a courtyard in the middle where they've set up a volleyball net and also a foosball table. Lynn and I played Uno with one of the boys and Jane played chess with another boy. They were very sweet and patient with me even though I couldn't understand Spanish.

Finally, we took a taxi back down to Chi and Kristin's place where one of the older boys who was graduating high school cooked a dinner for us. He made tacos, chicken Cordon Bleu, and pasta for us. It was really a wonderful testament to what the program has been able to do for the boys, and this one in particular. He hopes to have his own restaurant one day.

As I've been able to interact with the boys more and more, I find it hard to believe that they were once on the streets. They're so much like the little boys I see at Highrock; like little puppies just all over each other and so affectionate. I think it will be really good for me to go up to El Alto and see some of the kids that are currently of the streets for a comparison.

Also the three of us have been really impressed with the staff here. They give so much more than just what's in their job description for these kids. Some of them are teachers, bus drivers, gym teachers, house parents, etc. And they've been so willing to also give us some of their time so that we can understand more of what they do and why they do it. I can't wait for the interviews to be translated so I can hear their stories and share them with you as well.

Thanks so much for all your prayers; I can't believe we're already half way through our time here! Love,

Joy

Day 2

Today we went over to the Kaya Center for the first time (only 1 block away from the hotel) and Kristen gave us a quick tour and introduced us to some of the staff. The therapy room was named the ¨Chocolate Room¨by the kids because after each session they´d receive some chocolate.

After lunch at Cafe Alexander with Chi and Kristen, Chi took us over to the San Francisco area of La Paz, which is where he used to minister to the street kids. He walked us through some of the areas he mentioned in his book, ¨When Invisible Children Sing¨. We walked through the ¨Witch´s Street¨where they sold dessicated llama fetuses to be buried as a sacrifice. We also passed 24 hour brothels, the girls and boys´orphanages where he used to volunteer as the doctor, and San Francisco Plaza where he used to play soccer with the kids. Chi told us that the street kids have moved up to El Alto since the police have cracked down in the area in the last 12 years. We´ll probably be visiting El Alto later this week.

After the tour, we came back to the Center for the dedication of the Spanish books that Kjell Pu had brought as part of his junior year project. He presented a book to Eddie, the boy that had won the Kaya award for the year for best all around performance. Lynn and Jane were able to start documenting with the camcorder and digital camera. Afterwards, the kids went to go play futsol, which is basically soccer but with a smaller field and ball.

We went back to Charlie Papa for dinner with Stephanie, a Highrocker who was spending 2 months down here. She told us a bit more about her experience here and how she´s really fallen in love with the kids and doesn´t really want to go back home.

In contrast, I´ve found myself thinking, ¨What am I doing here?¨ several times today. When faced with the differences between my comfortable life back home and life here, I´m tempted to just shut myself down here and try survive until I can go back. But then I keep reminding myself that this, too, is part of God´s creation. These too are the people that He loves. And there´s a reason why He asked me to come here. I admit that it´s been very easy in my life to ignore what´s happening in the rest of the world, and I really hope that by being here this week, God will be opening my eyes to something that I won´t be able to so easily ignore when I return.

Joy

Safe arrival for Team 2

We arrived safely this morning in El Alto, Bolivia! I could definitely feel the effects of the high altitude as I could barely move my luggage through the immigration line without having to stop and catch my breath. Praise God there were no problems getting our visas or getting our luggage through customs. The customs guy barely checked. I think he was too preoccupied with my pen which I let him borrow but he would not give back. I asked for my pen back only for him to kiss it and offer me one of his. Why not get on his good side? So I accepted this exchange and went on my way. Joy and I met Chi at the gate and we headed to our hotel in La Paz.

I went to church with Kristen, her kids, and David Ray who´s here to help Kaya with their accounting. The service was in Spanish. I tried to sing along in Spanish and try to make out what the preacher was saying but eventually gave up. I was told I lucked out because the sermon didn´t go on for 2 hours. I met some people working or volunteering with Kaya and people working with other organizations in the area. It seemed like there was a close community of missionaries working in difference capacities to minister to the people here.

After church we had lunch with the Haung family. Then took a nap until Lynn came. Finally, united as a team we explored the area and ate at some fast food chicken place...I forget the name but I had the combo fiesta which had some fried plantains. We had a devotional back at the hotel, brainstormed ideas for the video, and went downstairs for some tea to help with the altitude. We ran into the Pu family and they shared with us their insights and experience this past week. It was helpful to hear their impressions.

Tomorrow we start our day first thing in the morning at the Kaya Center.

Day 7

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36

We had our daily morning devotions at 9:00 and headed staight to the Kaya Center where we presented the beautiful mural painting as a gift from Ana Yee and her friends. In addition to the painting, Ana also donated the $53 she and her friends raised for the children at the Kaya Center. The money was used to treat all the kids and staff to salteñas, a delicious Bolivian specialty which the kids rarely get to enjoy.

After salteñas and recess, we joined the kids in their chapel. We sang songs and a few of the kids acted out the story of the Good Samaritan which was entertaining to watch.

The physicians in our group spent their afternoon giving the all kids their annual physical exam. Meanwhile, the rest of the group spent their time reflecting on our trip and experiences.

We closed the afternoon back at the Kaya Center where we told them how much we appreciated their hospitality and exchanged our formal good-byes with the kids.

We ended our trip by going out to dinner to a popular local restaurant called Charlie Papas.

Tomorrow morning, the Yee's will be going back to the states, but the next Highrock group will be arriving. On Sunday morning, the Lee's will be returning home. And Tuesday morning, the Pu's will be retuning home.

Anne-Milda Pu

Day 7 Pictures

(Top: Kristen presents the mural presented by the group to the children, Second Row: The children are handed Saltenas, a Bolivian delicacy, Third Row: The boys participate in a game similar to tag, Bottom: The group and children get prepared for the chapel service.)

Day 6 Pictures

(Top: The group on the streets of El Alto, Second Row: The permanent homes where the boys live, Hogar Bernabe and Hogar Betania, Third Row: The boys playing Ga Ga Ball, Bottom: The boys playing Wiffle Ball)

Day 6

“And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29b

We began our day with morning devotions led by Chi, discussing the parable of the Good Samaritan. With this parable and the question “who is my neighbor?¨” on our minds, we headed back up to El Alto (elev. 13,000 ft), one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in Bolivia. There we met Michael, Kelly, and Santos, all from a local ministry working with street children, as well as Emma, a visiting medical student from the U.K. The streets of El Alto are filled with crowded minibuses and people, walking or selling food or small items along the roads, as well hundreds of stray dogs wandering around. Led by Michael and Chi, we went to some of the areas where street kids tend to hang out.

At our first stop, we met several kids and teens living on the streets, many of them sniffing balls of yarn soaked in paint thinner. We offered them our warm greetings, some fresh ham sandwiches, and in a few cases, minor medical care. One teenager, known to Michael and others, was recovering from an infection on his lip due to the paint thinner, and a knife wound on his neck from a recent altercation.

We also visited the place where 20 to 30 kids sleep at night: on a mattress of cardboard under a plastic tarp on the median strip of a highway beneath a bridge. The ground was littered with the small plastic bottles of paint thinner that these kids inhale to keep them warm in the frigid nights of El Alto and dull their pain from past and present traumas.

After saying goodbye to Michael, Kelly, and Santos, we headed back down into La Paz to eat lunch before heading up the side of another mountain to visit Hogar Bernabé and Hogar Betánia, the two permanent homes built by Kaya Children International. Twenty boys live there with house parents in a family style setting. These homes are in a poor semi-rural neighborhood, surrounded by spectacular mountains with a view of the city in the valley below.

We had two special activities planned for afternoon recreation. The first activity was building a hexagonal wooden structure to play the game “GaGa,” an action packed game similar to dodge ball. The boys quickly picked up the simple rules and played until the sun went down. The second activity was to introduce them to the classic American game of Wiffleball. They quickly caught on, blasting singles, doubles, triples, and home runs (perhaps aided by the thin air at that high altitude!).

After the sun set, the temperature dropped quickly and we went indoors. Kristin gave us a guided tour of one of the homes, notable for each bed being neatly made and the clean and comfortable common areas for gathering. We then rode back down the very bumpy dirt and gravel roads, crammed into a minivan, back to our hotel for dinner and evening devotions and time to reflect up the stark contrast of what we saw and experienced today in the morning and afternoon. We reflected upon the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, and the question and admonition of Jesus: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, The one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36,37)

- John Yee

Day 5 Pictures

(Top: Dr. Huang watching the kids work, Bottom: Two of the children concentrating on their project)

Day 5

After a good nights rest we did our personal devotions and ate breakfast with the rest of the team. At around 9:00 am we recived great news. The Bakers (who are some friends) just had two new baby boys.
At around 10:00am we got on two taxies and headed to the House of Hope, or Casa Esperanza, which is located in El Alto. El Alto is one of the poorest and most dangerous places in Bolivia. After an hour of driving and an hour trying to find the place we were finally greeted at the door and taken to the lunch area. The House of Hope is a mission organization from the Word Made Flesh and helps women in El Alto who work as prostitutes. In the lunch area we were greeted by a women named Cara who told us about what they do. At the home they have 3 different parts for the women that are on the streets. Step 1 - Get the women off the streets. Step 2 - have the women get comfortable with the house and finally, step 3 - to give these women homes and learn to do other jobs. Next Cara gave us a tour of the place. We went upstairs to the devotions room and the office. Then we went to the gym where they hold most of their activities and meetings. After that we went to lowest floor which Cara called the ´dungeon.´ Someday this area will be a work place for the women to start making a different living. We then all went upstairs to the lunch area, prayed and went back to the Hotel Calacoto.
In the hotel we ate our lunches rested and went to the Kaya Center. This was only our second time there but already we´ve made a ton of friends. At the Kaya Center we have a variety of different classes but I think the fuse beads and the lego was the most popular. Me and Josh Lee were running the class in the beginning but then we needed more people and more activities so it ended up being a lego and fuse bead class. The other classes we taught were on electricity and the solar system. When classes were over we cleaned up while the Kaya kids played volleyball.
After the Kaya center we had some awesome times. All the boys and men from our group had our own little night out and all the girls and women had their own night out. I´m not sure about the girls, but the boys had such a great time at a nearby restaurant called Charlie Papas which even had a little play area where me and Nathan Yee had a dance off.
Then we all went back to the Hotel and went to bed ready for another long day tomorrow.

- Ben Pu

Day 4

Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppresseed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

While many of us are familiar with the verse above, it is not often that we meet Christians who carry out this commandment through their lives. Today, our team had the privilege of meeting and learning from the individuals who are living out this commitment through their daily work through International Justice Ministry (IJM) and Kaya International, here in La Paz, Bolivia. In the morning, our team visited IJM office and learned about their mission and their work in Bolivia. Founded in 1997, IJM Iis a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. In Bolivia, where 5 out of 10 girls are believed to become victims of sexual assult in their lifetime, IJM provides a critically needed legal representation free of charge for the victims. In the country where the conviction rate of sexual perpetrators is 1 %, last year alone, IJM convicted 4 perpetrators, abeit slowly, changing the justice system in Bolivia. Our team was greatly inspired by the commitment of the IJM staff members to carry about God´s calling to bring justice to those who need it the most: the poor, helpless and needy. Some of the staff members of the IJM suffer threats and intimidation from perpetrators and their supporters, but their courage and faith have enabled them to continue their work for the cause of bringing justice to the
poor.

In the afternoon, our team experienced the work of Kaya International first hand. Our team taught four different afternoon activities to the boys at Kaya Center: electricity, lego, art and craft and cross-cultural class. The boys were not only receptive and enthusiatic about the activities but displayed their natural curiosity, keen mind and creativity through their work. Our team enjoyed our time with the boys and getting to know them individually. Following our classes, we visited the "Rebirth" home, a transitional home for the boys who come off the street. On average, a boy stay at the house for 18 to 24 months before being stabilized and moving to a permanent home. The transitional home provides safety, routine and individual care for each boy who enters the home. Most of the boys who come to Kaya homes have experienced abuse, neglect, or drug addiction. For our team, it was heart wrenching to hear about the experience of some of the boys on the street before coming to Kaya. One boy wrote, "all a boy wants is love. All he wants is a family. Those who have been given much, please remember those who have less". Kaya International "defends the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widows" as we all are commanded to do as Christians. The boys who live on streets are the fatherless and the oppressed. They are oppressed by those in power and sadly sometimes by those who are obligated to care for them. Our team also learned that carrying out our responsbility to care for the fatherless often requires sacrifices of our time, finance, and comfort. Those at Kaya, along with Chi and Kristin, are making those sacrifices to care of the boys here in Bolivia. It is our prayer that God will continue to guide and bless their ministry to the boys. We also pray that God will stir each of our hearts to serve the fatherless in our midst when we return home.

Julie Lee

Day 4 Pictures

(Top: Boys at the Transitional Home playing Foosball, Second from Top: Boys at the Transitional Home playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, Third from Top: Boy at Kaya Center after completing his Lego project he built during class, Forth from Top Left: Boys enjoying building Legos during class, Fifth from Top: Dr. Pu teaching an electricity class, Bottom: The group at IJM listening to a presentation)

Day 3

(Top Left: A women selling clothes in El Alto, Top Right: The team walking down the street on a tour, Middle: Two of the children at Kaya, Bottom: Some of the kids at Kaya.)

The third day of our stay in Bolivia was the first time when we actually experienced a little of the poverty and what we would actually be doing for the week. In the morning we ate a quick breakfast and took a taxi into the outskirts of La Paz for a tour. Since our hotel was located in the middle of La Paz (the richer part), we hadn´t really experienced how poor the city really was. Dr. Huang led us around showing various buildings and people. The first place we stopped was a large Catholic Church. Outside there were many beggars and people just sitting around. Inside were detailed statues of saints with benches in front where several people kneeled praying to them. Afterwards we walked over to an alley known as “Witches Lane.” Along the sides of the street there were small stands with witches sitting next to them. They were selling things like different teas, “potions”, and small wooden idols. I didn´t think those were too bad until I saw the dried out baby llama fetuses that had been extracted from thier mother´s wombs before being born. Along with the witch stands there was a man fortuntelling to a woman. He used coca leaves and dropped them on a mat and told the future based on how they fell. As we continued our tour shoe shiners lined the sidewalks and other people selling things to make a living. Dr. Chi said that most of what they were selling were pirated goods off the black market. By about noon we decided to stop by a small coca museum which went through the history of coca leaves and use of cocaine. At first the drug was thought as a good anesthetic for surgery, and other useful things, but later became illegal and many were addicted. They would either inhale it or inject it into themselves for pleasure. Across the street from the mueseum was a small family owned restaurant where we ate lunch.

Our tour was over so we headed back to the hotel to rest, and at 4 o´clock went to the Kaya International school, the place that we would be helping at for the rest of the week. We walked through the rooms and met the various children and staff as they cleaned up from their daily activities. One of them, named Javier, had just been taken off of the streets several days ago and seemed to be having a great time. Once we had taken a group photo we returned to the hotel for dinner and daily devotionals.

-Nathan Yee

Day 2

The playground next to the church and the view of the Andes and the
Devil´s Tooth from the church.



After a solid night´s rest we attended a 10:30 church service at a small church outside of the city. Our team was completed with the arrival of Nathan and Mr. Yee at 5:30 a.m. The church was up in the mountains in a developing suburban area. The view was stunning as it was surrounded by mountains and located on a plateau of sorts. The service lasted approximately two hours with plenty of singing and worship. Admittedly the sermon was difficult to enjoy as it was completely in Spanish and only a few members of the team could understand more than a handful of words. After the service we ate lunch at a hotel founded by a Swiss and Bolivian couple. Again the location was beautiful and the food was delicious--some went out on a limb and ate llama. Following lunch we attended Lily Huang´s birthday party and enjoyed cake and ice cream. Unfortunately her piñata broke so some of the older kids had the privilege of making it "rain" candy from the second floor. None of them believed that the candy actually was raining, but few could figure out who was actually throwing. We ended our day with an evening devotion, prayer and journal entry to a question that Jesus asked twice in Mark 10 - "What do you want me to do for you?" That more or less completed our day. Tomorrow we will be touring La Paz and visiting the Kaya center for the first time.

- Kjell

First Day

After a three hour trip to Miami some of the team went and visited Miami Beach and enjoyed a nice dinner on Lincon Ave. When our six hour layover came to an end, the team finally boarded the last leg heading to La Paz, Bolivia. After a night of watching Hotel for Dogs and going to the bathroom every hour (because of the medicine we were taking for altitude sickness) we finally landed in La Paz at 12,000 ft above sea level. Thankfully nobody had any immediate problems with the high altitude, though most could feel the lack of oxygen. After showing our passports and different papers about ten times each, the group headed to meet up with Dr. Huang, or so we thought. With one door to go before the travel was over we were pulled over by security people at the airport who searched our bags. Unfortunatly, when they opened some of our suitcases, all they saw were medications we were bringing for the children at Kaya. Obviously this raised some suspicions, but Dr. Chi Huang saved the day by telling them that he was a doctor and that we were going to be giving these medications to children who need them for free. Driven by one of the older boys at Kaya, the group headed down 2,000 feet to where we would be staying. During the drive, Dr. Chi Huang told us about what we were seeing and a little bit about Bolivia from his perspective. For example when we passed by, what I thought was a sewer, Dr. Huang informed us that this was the second dirtiest river in the world, but also a place where people would bathe. Also, as we passed under a bridge, he would point to ledges in the corners and say that this is where many boys in Kaya would sleep. Coming into the trip I was expecting these kind of things, but when you are experiencing it, it feel much different.

After settling into our lodginh, and taking a nap, everyone headed over to Drs. Huang´s house, which is only a few blocks from our lodging, for a BBQ luncheon. Then, led by Grace Huang, we headed down to a super market to buy lots of bottled water and snacks. Even after a rest before, most people were still tired from travel, so the group crashed again in their hotel rooms. Then, though it seemed later after such a packed day, at 7:00 we, once again, headed over to Drs. Chi and Kristen Huang´s house for an evening devotional. By the end of that it was evident that everybody was tired so we came back and, finally, went to sleep. Overall, the day was busy and tiring, but it was nice to experience a different culture for the first time. Today, and tomorrow, have been and will be more of adjustment days, to the culture and the altitude, before we start our work with the children at Kaya International. We look forward to the rest of the week and we will definitely keep you posted on what is happening here. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and please keep everyone, including our team, Drs. Huang and his family, and the boys at Kaya, in your prayers.

- Joshua Lee

PS. I was planning on posting the pictures I took on this blog, but I forgot the cord at home, so we will try to get ahold of one and put picutres on later in the week.