Thursday, May 31

 

Mapping out the drainage hole on the playground.

 

 Aaron almost done with a 6 foot plus hole!

Lunch with the kids at Talita Cumi.  A Bolivian favorite - peanut soup!

Handing out the flip flops from Imiric and Noah Duncan's birthday party!

 Mr. Waters teaching a couple of the boys' a trick.

 Juan De Dios, Maddie, Caden and Mallory painting a wall.

 Jenice working with a couple of the boys.

 Sexy woman and Kaitlin painting the wall!

 (Blog done by sexy woman's hubby!)

Trenching at Talita Cumi.

Ellen is the basket for a game of basketball!

Working with a window on the second floor of the boys dorm.

Darcy and Sherry working on the window.

 

Marilyn spending time with Fanny.

Noel Kemp welcomed us to their school with signs and a crowded gym!

Kylie, Morgan and Charise hauling away brick.

Headed home after a long days work.

Today was the first day of work!  There are many projects that we are trying to get started and or finished.  Half of the team worked at the school digging 2 huge holes!  One was over 6 ft. deep and the other was 3 ft. deep, but also over 3 ft. long and about 2 ft. wide.  This will help with drainage and the sewer system at the school.

Others worked at Talita Cumi on various jobs.  The jobs included painting a wall, trenching for a water line, knocking out and moving a wall on the 2nd floor of the boys dorm.  We all were following "Plan B" as were are learning to be flexible because plans change often!

One highlight for me, David, was the welcome we received from the students and staff at Noel Kemp.  WOW!  What a blessing.  We felt like rock stars!  The kids wanted to touch us and there were signs for us in English.  It is good to see how God is glorified by us just being here.  Highlight 2 was seeing Johnathan once again!  He says he is coming to Kansas.  (We will hold him to that!)  To mom and dad - we love you and miss you.  Iver gets his present Saturday and I know he will love it!

A highlight for me, Michelle, was getting to work at Talita Cumi, along with some of the kids.  They worked so hard, and we also got to play with them when we had lunch!  It is so good to see them again!

I, Maddie, loved seeing my Bolivian friends again. We sponsor Christina and Juan de Dios, and it was great to see them in person and not just pictures. I also loved to see Fanny and everyone else; I looked on their website and tried to learn all their names. It was also fun to paint a brick wall. : )

Morgan- We got a huge welcome at the school. After the welcome we dug huge holes, but it will be worth it because now the school will have two bathrooms. Also seeing the kids at Talita Cumi is cool. Dios te Bendiga! (God Bless)

Mallory- I loved seeing all the orphans!  They were silly and we played a lot!  Today I chiseled a trench at Talita Cumi.  It was hard work, but I liked doing it for the orphanage.

We made it!

Praise the Lord we made it to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in one piece!  All of our flights were actually early. So, thank you for those of you that prayed for our travels.  It all went very smoothly.  The amount of sleep each of us got on the overnight flight was minimal for most.  I think we are all looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight!

We arrived about 7:30 this morning and from there made our way to the GATHER Mission House where we are staying.  We enjoyed Saltenas for breakfast and then had a little time to nap and settle in before lunch.  After lunch we had a meeting and then went to the market and for a tour of the school where we will be working as well as Talita Cumi Orphanage.  We will have supper shortly and then hopefully an early bedtime!

 Saltenas for breakfast

 This is the completed building we worked on the school the last time we were here.  Great to see it finished!

 The new director of Talita Cumi - Zuma & Heidi, our contact

 Supplies we will be using for a project.

It is raining here, so we aren't sure what we are in for this week . . . Heidi couldn't believe we don't see much rain in Kansas!  Wish we could send some of this home!

We're on our way . . . !

 The young people of the group!

 Playing cards to pass time on the trip to Wichita.

 Checking in chaos!

 Passing time . . .

 More cards. . .

Our team is FINALLY ALL TOGETHER!  We are checked in at the Wichita airport waiting to take off for Dallas!  First quote by Mallory, "My patience pants are shrinking!" as we waited in line to check in at the Wichita airport.

We are off!

Today is the day! We had our final "weigh in" (of bags, that is!) last night and are meeting at the church at 7:00 am this morning to leave at 8:00.  Our flights leave this afternoon out of Wichita and then on to Dallas, Miami and then Bolivia!  The longest flight will be a night flight, so please pray that we can rest so we don't arrive too tired!

5K Walk/Run for Talita Cumi

Saturday, May 19th at 8:00 am the Cimarron High School KAYS Club sponsored a 5K benefit for Talita Cumi Orphanage! There was a great response and a fun time was had by all!