Cross Stitch Queen

As the Dreamers grow older, they’re discovering more things about themselves. Maybe things they didn’t like before, and now they do. Or things that they thought that they weren’t good at, but are now realizing that they may be gifted in that same area.

As children, they are constantly presented with opportunities to experience and try new things. This was the case with Jhoselyn recently.

At times, Jhoselyn can be hyperactive and is susceptible to distractions. So it’s sometimes hard to get her to try new things if it appears to be boring.  To get her to try something that’s complicated or detailed is sometimes a big deal.

Last week she came home from school and I asked her if she had any homework. She nodded and whipped out a piece of fabric from her bag. A part of her homework was a cross stitching project.

Jhoselyn, taking a break to show her progress.

She was exited about it, which surprised me because it requires a lot of focus and sitting still. I was curious to see her in action so she started stitching away. A few minutes passed and she was still at it, completely focused on the task at hand. Then almost an hour had passed and she was still at it.

I asked her how did she like it and she replied, “I love it!” She was beaming with pride. Not only did she like it, but she is good at it.

Flying Kites

A while back, a group of volunteers visiting from the states decided to bring down some things for the kids. Amongst the various things they brought down were kites. The kids were really excited about learning how to fly kites. But I think they were even more excited about each of them having their very own kite, and not having to share with someone else.

For a while, they were all asking to fly them almost every day. But we really hadn’t gotten much of a chance to take them out because, as you can imagine, we need a lot of time and space to be able to fly 15 kites at once.

A few of the kids getting the hang of it.

One day recently, the kids all finished with their homework early, and it happened to be windy. So we decided it would be a good day to take them out and find a place to fly their kites. We were able to find a big open field in a nearby park.

The kids got to play with their kites for about an hour or so. Next time, we’ll have to see if we can keep them all in the air.

Romon

Clean Up Crew

Here in Bolivia, most people take pride in how clean they keep the area around their house. Early in the morning, you can see many people out sweeping the walkway in front of their house and washing away the dust with a water hose.

If you don’t clean up the area on the sidewalk in front of your house, it’s noticeable. Whether it’s leaves, dust, or litter that’s found it’s way in front of your house(usually do to the wind), it’s highly noticeable. Especially when your neighbors take special care to keep theirs clean.

With fifteen kids at the HOD, no one usually has the time to notice if the sidewalk in front of the house is clean or not. But a few days ago, as Marisol was leaving, she noticed that in addition to the tree that’s constantly dropping it’s flowers onto the ground, a lot of dirt and some trash had accumulated in front of the house. It looked a mess.

We grabbed a few volunteers from amongst the Dreamers and got to work. Two sweeping, one collecting the swept up piles, and another holding the trash bag. Between the four of them, the street was clean in no time. Now, we’ve made cleaning up outside a part of our weekly routine. No more messiness!

Romon

A New Bike

The Dreamers have had four bicycles to share for quite some time. Up until now, the younger kids were too small to ride a bike, so having four bikes worked out well. But with the younger kids getting bigger and beginning to learn how to ride bikes, four wasn’t enough any longer.

One of our recent volunteers took notice and decided to donate a new bike to the House of Dreams to help meet the high demand. She decided to get a bike with pegs on the back so two kids can be occupied by one bike.

The kids were super excited to recieve the new bike and even more excited to take it for a spin. They say it rides a lot smoother than the old ones. The only challenge with the new bike is deciding who gets to ride on the pegs.

Romon

Special Invite

From time to time, some of the Dreamers get invited to different parties and celebrations. Usually, if all of the Dreamers aren’t able to go, it’s the older three that get to go. This time, the four youngest Dreamers, Joel, Fernando, Isaura, and Juan Daniel received an invite to a birthday party.

The four youngest after the party.

The barber/stylist that cuts the Dreamers’ hair has a little son. And for his son’s second birthday, He and his wife were planning a costume party and decided that they wanted to invite some of the Dreamers to come.

The kids had a good time getting all dressed up, and an even better time playing and meeting new friends at the party.

Romon

Number Ten

Over the past year, a majority of the Dreamers have complained about their eyes in one way or another. As a result, nine of the Dreamers have been prescribed with glasses.

Estefani sporting her fun, festive new frames.

Estefani makes number ten. She had been complaining about her eyes watering a lot. After a trip to the optometrist, we discovered that of course she too, needed glasses. She’s not too excited about having to wear them just yet, but maybe she’ll get used to them.

Romon

Detour

With summer coming to a close, we at the House of Dreams have been really trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer before school starts back up.  This past Friday, it was the girls turn to go bowling. The girls were super well behaved at the bowling alley, so on the way back to the house I decided to treat them to something special.

The girls relaxing and enjoying their snacks.

We had the taxi driver take a minor detour and we went to a park a few blocks away from the house. There was a little store across the street so we bought some little cakes and juices. We took our snacks back across the street and parked ourselves on a bench to eat our snacks. We had a nice time in the park just relaxing, while eating, talking and laughing. Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that are the most special.

Romon

Off to the Races

The Dreamers are a pretty well behaved group of kids. Of course they’re not perfect, but they do pretty well. Almost every time I go out with them somewhere, they are complimented on their behavior.

When the Dreamers get bored is when the misbehavior begins. The girls usually do a pretty good job at keeping themselves busy making clothes for their dolls or making up games to play. The boys, however, are a different story. When they get bored they begin to bother each other and argue. The boredom is like the quiet before the storm. The Tias try and keep them busy so this won’t be a problem, but there are only so many things that keep their attention.

Gabriel and Jose Luis going at it.

Last week, the boys were at it. It seemed like every few seconds someone had to be corrected. To keep them out of trouble, I thought it would be a good idea for them to burn some energy. I took them away from the girls, and send them to put on their tennis shoes so that we could do some exercises. Jumping Jacks, Push-ups, Sit-ups, lunges, then running in place, they loved it. They were so excited, we decided to take our little exercise party outside. We did another set of exercises then had some relay races. It was a great time, and even some of the girls joined in! Best of all, no one got in trouble.

Romon

Are My Parents Bad People?

“Are my parents drunk?”

This is the question I was faced with this past week while spending some time talking with Juan Daniel.

The Dreamers rarely ever talk or even ask about their parents. So when Juan Daniel asked me this question, I was a little surprised. Trying to buy time to come up with a correct response, I asked him where he got that idea from. “Benancio.” he responded. (For those of you who don’t know, Juan Daniel and Benancio are brothers.)
I sat them both down to have a conversation about the topic. I was honest. “I don’t know if your parents are drunks or not. And neither do either of you.”

“Do you even remember your parents?” I asked. They both shook their heads, acknowledging that they didn’t. “Well then you can’t say that they’re drunks, can you?”

“No,” Benancio replied.

“But are they bad people?” Benancio then asked me.

For a moment I wasn’t sure what to say, but I quickly gathered my thoughts. “Let’s not focus on if they are bad people or if they are drunks. Let’s think of some good things to say about your parents. Let’s assume they are good people. What are some good things you could say about your parents?”

“That they are smart,” Juan Daniel replied.

“That’s a good one, Juan Daniel,” I responded. “What about you, Benancio?”

He thought for a while before finally responding, “My dad is handsome and my mom is pretty.”
We all agreed that that was a good one, too.

I went on to explain to the boys that sometimes things go wrong in life, and that no matter how it looks or feels, we should always try and give people the benefit of the doubt. They thought that was a good idea, and agreed to talk about their parents positively from here on out.

Please pray for the Dreamers and staff alike. Pray that the staff will be able to respond clearly and correctly when questions like this come up in the future. And pray that the Dreamers will be receptive and open minded of the responses to their questions.

Romon

Giving

Every year, right before Christmas, it is becoming a tradition for every Dreamer to select one toy to give away. We usually collect the toys then figure out a place to where we can give the toys away. The rule is, the toy that they choose to give away can not be broken. It has to be in working condition.

This year, we sat down with the Dreamers and explained to them that it was that time of year, where they have to go through their toys to each give one toy away. They all pretty much knew the drill, so they dispersed to their rooms to look through their toys to find the one that they would part ways with. After all the toys were collected, Estefani asked, “Are we only allowed to give one toy? Or can we give more?” A few other kids chimed in right after saying that they, too, wanted to give another toy away. I told them that they could give away whatever they want, but that they didn’t have to give any more than one if they didn’t want to.

Some of the toys to give away.

They all disappeared to their rooms. All fifteen of them. Returning with more toys, then more toys, then more. By the time we were finished, we had around fifty toys in the pile! I reestablished that they didn’t have to give away more than one toy to make sure that they weren’t confused and thought it was a requirement. They all reassured me that they fully understood what I had said. I then asked why they gave so many toys.

Jose Luis explained, stating “There are a lot of kids who are poor, and they don’t have any toys, and we have a lot of toys. So I want to give them some of my toys so they can play.”

Then Estefani added to the notion by saying, “It really doesn’t matter if we get more toys for Christmas or not, we just want to be able to help kids who don’t have anything. It’s makes me so sad that some little girls don’t even have a doll to play with.”
There was not much I could say or do after their little speeches, so I commended them and continued to help them pile the toys up.

I was so proud to be a part of the lives of such wonderful children. Despite their situation and youth, these kids get it.

Romon