They Can See Clearly Now

Some of you may have already read the blog about Emelin and her new glasses. If not, you can read it here.  Not too long after Emelin got her new glasses, two of our volunteers, Mark and Bianca, took notice that three of the other kids in the orphanage who already had glasses, needed new ones.  Roberto, Yamil, and Gabriel had gotten glasses a while back, but needed some updated frames.

Mark and Bianca took it upon themselves to replace the glasses of the three boys. The boys love their new glasses and are looking rather stylish these days.

Gabrial, Yamil, and Roberto posing with their new frames.

 Are you interested in helping out a Dreamer as well? Consider becoming a sponsor.

Romon

The Dreamers Olympics

Last Saturday, our volunteers held the first Dreamers Olympics!  A day full of games and competitions!  Not only did they have a lot of exercise and fun, but learned some good sportsmanship too.

Jose’s turn in the marshmellow relay race.

Roberto taking his turn at pictionary

The Games ended witth everyone having  cake and refreshments. Fernando, enjoying his cake.

If you would like to know more about the Dreamers featured in this blog, vist the Kids Pic page.

-Marisol

Juan Daniel’s Walls

Click to Juan Daniel's bio

Juan Daniel came to us this year. When I offered him a piece of paper and a pile of colored pencils, markets and crayons he froze. He would grasp the cylinders with faltering fingers unable to make it do what he wanted. The he would scratch his fingernail over the patch of color physically distressed by the disappointing marks. I put away the instruments of torture, deciding to try again after some time.

The fight had lessened during the next opportunity he had. He had grown more comfortable with the process. He still could not form words to tell me what he drew. I followed his eyes. He kept looking at the multi-colored map on the wall. He filled in the thick outlines with light colored pencil.

With the third paper, some weeks later, he could tell me about his drawing. He took the lead from his buddy and told me he drew a heart. The next part of the drawing, a wall — that day no maps hung for him to draw so he simply drew what he saw. How gratifying to watch this child slowly open up over the medium of art. Enjoy the pictures of his drawings.

By clicking on the thumbnail of Juan Daniel you will be taken to his bio page. If you are interested in becoming a Dream Maker (monthly financial supporter of one of the kids at the House of Dreams) click this link: sponsor. Thanks!

-Angie

Cookie Monsters

All of the kids at the House of Dreams love special events. Whether it be, horseback riding, bowling, or arts and crafts they love the experience of doing something fun that’s not a part of their daily routine.

The four oldest girls, Estefani, Anne, Jhoselyn and Emelin, have discovered a new activity that they love and everybody benefits from. They have began to learn how to bake cookies.

Jhoselyn showing off their work before putting them in the oven.

The girls love being able to get into the kitchen to bake. Every time they get to bake, they try out a different recipe. They love to bake them, everyone else loves to eat them. It’s a win for everyone.

What are some of your favorite types of cookies to bake? Send us the recipe!

Romon

Crafty Kids

Every Friday half of the dreamers go bowling, the other half then enjoy being crafty with their new art teacher.  About a month ago, Maria Elena volunteered her time to come and teach a craft to all of the kids.

She enjoyed being with them that she now comes each week to teach to the group whose turn it is to stay home from bowling.

If you have a talent that you would like to come and share with the dreamers, check out our visit link.

-Marisol

 

Generosity Sprouting Up All Around

As I sit at my desk munching on a perfectly juicy apple that I bought at the market Saturday I smile looking at some amazing pictures of a wonderful market on the other side of the world. The Sussex Produce Company in England adopted the House of Dreams Orphanage as their charity of the month some weeks back. Collection tins with our bright, colorful logo on the sides invited shoppers to participate with donations.

I guess being surrounded by all those gorgeous fruits and vegetables all day inspired generosity in the heart of the shop owner. They matched the donations pound for pound doubling the collection!  A huge thanks to Nick Hempleman for encouraging his clients to give towards the Dreamers. A special thanks, as well, to one of his faithful patrons and a dear friend of the House of Dreams who proposed the project — Tim Treadwell. And to all the nameless donors who dropped some quid in the tins at The Sussex Produce Company, thank you very much!

For more mouth watering pics of this great shop click the link to their name above or check out the initial post about this fun project here: “A Market with a Heart“

- Angie

 

4 Pound Bargain

While summer sizzles on in the northern hemisphere stores gear up for the back to school rush. Will you be joining the crowds to stock up on school supplies? Why not double the fun and do a little extra shopping for the Dreamers while you are at it?

Consumables we can always use:

• Crayons
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Tape
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Colored paper
• Graph paper notebooks, small and large
• Folders with pockets or straps
• Pencils, regular and red
• Sharpeners
• Erasers
• Coloring books
• Books in Spanish and / or English
• Backpacks

Even though our next school year begins in February of next year we can be planning ahead. If you would like to send us something following are the detailed instructions about how to do that if you so wish. Please follow these instructions carefully so that we can avoid time consuming and costly processing at the customs office. Thank you!

1. WEIGHT. Up to 4 lbs per package (2 kilos) maximum. Accumulated items weighing more than 4 lbs can be split between packages. If one single item is more than 4 lbs we have different sending instructions.
2. NAME. The package must be addressed to DaRonn Washington OR Angie Washington, not both.
3. ADDRESS. We prefer that you send the items through regular post (not delivery services). There are many reasons for this. Simply trust me that regular post works the best. You will notice that there is no zip code number on this address, this is not an accident. With dark permanent ink write:

DaRonn Washington

Casilla 1835

Cochabamba, Bolivia

4. DECLARE. A simple categorical list of the items is sufficient, no need for details. Declare the total value of the items to be no more than $20. If you list it as more expensive then the package is held in customs and the process to release it is time consuming and costly.
5. TIME. Allow 10 days to 10 weeks for delivery.
6. CONTENTS. Things that MUST NOT be sent are: coins, cash bills, checks, unbagged creams and liquids.
7. WRAPPING. Random inspections of the package are performed. Suspect items are opened and at times confiscated without explanation. Please do not gift wrap the items so that during an inspection the inspectors can see the contents at a glance.

Happy shopping!

- Angie

We All Scream for Ice Cream

The Dreamers are in their 3rd week of Winter Break. The short vacation has been full of fun events. Horseback riding, Bowling, and one of the most popular, an ice cream party.

Two of our volunteers got together and decided to treat the kids to an ice cream party. They went out and bought several types of ice cream and all of the toppings they could find.

Some of the toppings.

Shirley taking a bite.

Emelin showing off her ice cream with a conglomerate of toppings.

The Dreamers devoured every bit of the ice cream, and needless to say were bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day. They love having volunteers around!

Do you like the idea of helping out our Dreamers? Come for a visit!

Romon.

Three cheers for the volunteers!

Our dreamers have been home from school on winter break for the last two weeks.  Our volunteers have been a great blessing as they help with homework and other activities.

A Bolivian volunteer helped out with haircuts.

One of our short-term USA volunteers helped bring out the creativity in our dreamers by having them cover a wall with a jungle scene.

If you would like to know more about coming to the House of Dreams as a volunteer, check out the Visit page!

-Marisol

Hands Up for Good News!

Good news: Vladimir and Bridgit have been assigned to families! They will be adopted soon. Soon could mean this week or a few months from now. Let’s hope and pray that it happens quickly for these precious kiddos. Wouldn’t it just be amazing if Vladi met his parents around his birthday on the 16th of this month? Yep. I am so happy for them!

Thank you for the prayers that you have made for these two and the third in this younger set of kids. ['Three Turn Three' post from February] God is answering our prayers!

Let’s keep Alicia’s paperwork before the Father. He can move things along even if they seem impossible.

- Angie