Days 1 and 2

(Tony)

Thanks to a blackout Josh and I are now working on this blog. AMP who will be known anonymously as AM-Pu, wait no...how about Anne-Milda P, was originally supposed to do the blog tonight. During devotionals the power went out in Chi and Kristen´s home, where she is staying, but two blocks away, where we are staying, there is power and plenty of internet bandwidth (por una computadora).

No really, we are thankful for this chance to share with you how our time here has gone so far. We flew in safely to La Paz amidst some terrible news. Two of our dear friends on their way to a missions trip from Korea were involved in a tragic bus accident. One died during the crash and the other is in critical condition and may not wake up from his coma. All the people on our team have been deeply affected by this tragedy. Every chance I get I reflect on all the good times we had as well pray desperately for his recovery. I catch myself thanking the Lord each time I walk out of a taxi (there are no seat belts here in Bolivia, at least none in the vehicles we ride in) and other times I thank the Lord for no real reason at all.

Overall, though, for us our flight into Miami then to La Paz was smooth and safe. Unlike, last year, our supplies were not nearly confiscated and we went through security without a problem. The altitude, 12,000 ft in El Alto and 9,000 ft in La Paz, is definately noticable, but overall everbody is adjusting well.

On Sunday the highlight was the walking tour of downtown La Paz. After an all Spanish speaking church service in the morning, Chi brought us to downtown La Paz in La Plaza San Francisco. Chi explained a lot of things about the streets including his experience finding street children and showed us where they used to sleep. It was amazing to see what kind of lives these street children live, and how everyday is a battle for their life.

On Monday, Dr Joe, Hubert and Tony(thats me) started our first full day working at two different locations. In the morning we rented out the dental room at a local hospital. There we did cleanings, fluoride treatments and examinations. In the afternoon we went to a clinc that was high tech even for american standards. A sad moment in the day was when we asked the children what their birthday was. Half of them were unable to provide that information. I thought to myself about children in the US that all know and look forward to their birthdays. These children have no one to tell them when their birthdays are. My highlight working in the clinic was when a boy Jorge was being comforted by one of the other children in the room. Jorge was about to get a shot of lidocaine (an anaesthetic) and began to cry. Myself and two other spanish speaking adults attempted to comfort him to no avail. However, Adrian was able to comfort Jorge and give him the courage that he needed. Though these children do not have a family background they demonstrated that they indeed know what family is. Kaya´s staff have done a fabulous job with these children.

(Josh)

While the doctors were working on teeth all day, I got the pleasure of interacting with the kids at on of the homes of Kaya. In the month of October, Kaya is organizing a "Kaya Challenge", where participants will be challenged to raise $1,000 for Kaya. This is roughly the cost to bring in and support one child from the street. Every day, as encouragment for the participants, an email will be sent out with a picture and short biography of one of the kids currently in Kaya.

To help with this, I went to one of the homes -- La Casa Batana -- and took pictures and interviewed about a dozen of the children. Thankfully, some of the kids remembered me from last year, avoiding a potential awkward situation. It was awesome to meet and reconnect with some of the kids, and I had a blast while I was with them. The boys in the homes are family to each other, and I was amazed to see how close they were with one another, joking, hugging, and encouraging at all times. If nobody had told me, it would have been hard for me to tell that at one point these boys were living on the streets, fighting for their lives everyday.

During the interviews, I was touched by many of the responses the kids gave me. When I asked a boy,"if you could have one wish granted what would it be?", he responded, "una familia". Though most of the kids all wanted to be professional soccer player when they grow up and all admire Messi, many of their responses came from their heart and showed that there is more to them than many would think.

Overall, the time with the kids were awesome and I can´t wait to go back again in the days to come.

While I was doing this, Anne-Milda was working hard on a huge (I mean really, really big) mural for the new Kaya Center. Just recently Kaya rented out an old school as their new center, and while the whole school is spacious and has great potential, it still needs alot of TLC. So, with her painting skills, Anne-Milda prepared a mural upon the boys request of "animals playing sports". While this will definately help beautify the Center, this is also an oppertunity for some of the older kids to get involved, by helping paint what will be thier own wall. Though it is sure to be a lot of work, hopefully the mural will be finished by the end of the week, so that our team (but basically just Anne-Milda) will leave our mark on the Kaya Center for years to come.

It´s been great informing all of our friends and family how our first work day went. It was busy, but very productive, and hope to keep everybody informed throughout the rest of the week.

Gracias,

Tony and Josh