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