Shoes, hearts, and parties!

Hello everyone!!
Sorry that it has been over a week since I wrote- the internet has not been working right and the days fly by here and before I know the week is already gone! This week brought another family here to adopt- The Hubbard family is from Washington DC and are here to adopt Elias, Christian and Patricia- 3 of the cutest kids you have ever seen!!! :) This is the only other family that I know of that is definitely adopting any of the kids while I am here- but I love going to pick up the families at the airport. It is amazing how God connects parents and families with their kids- They are always the perfect match. :)
I would try to give you an everyday, play by play, but there is just too much to cover!!! I have been here 4 weeks today and I have experienced so much!! I have eaten fish and beans (which I never thought I would do), I have gone to a Peruvian baby shower (which is just like American ones except it is 4 hours long!), I have gone to a Birthday party for a little girl- which was held in a hut with a thatched roof, slept in a hut with a tin roof (that also had a barking dog hanging out on the roof), hugged 40 kids at least twice a day, yenni es bonita- sorry one of the girls thought she would help, yenni is how they spell my name. Anyway, I have ridden a micro/combi bus several times without problems, seen a full rainbow that stretched over all of the sand, cried alot, laughed a lot and generally have been having a life changing, mind altering, spirit growing kind of time. I am still amazed that I, little Janie Helm from Missouri am here experiencing this all. It shows that God will use anyone, no matter if you feel like you are equipped for something or not. Almost every morning I think- God, why I am here? I am not strong enough or smart enough or talented enough to make any sort of difference- but then I am reminded that it is in my weakness that God can shine through- that He has equipped me for this experience and He will be glorified through it.
On Saturday, Liz, Elias, and i took 22 kids shoe shopping!!! I received many donations to help with my trip and I have so much more than I would ever need, so I am able to put that to things here at the orphanage. So I asked Liz what the most needed item was right now and she said shoes. It was such a wonderful time. Most of these kids never had a new pair of shoes before arriving at the Albergue- The child that touched and blessed my heart the most during the shoe buying trip was Abraham- He is the newest child here. He was the first one in the store- He kept asking me if I was serious- was he really getting a brand new pair of shoes?? Then he took 20 minutes to find the perfect pair. Once we got back to the Albergue he had to run around and show everyone his new shoes- he kept coming up to me and asking if he got to keep them. I mean, I love shoes, but it never hit me what a blessing they can be!! Also, we went shopping on Monday for more supplies for crafts- I teach crafts twice a week and our new volunteer, Emily (who by the way is wonderful!) also does crafts twice a week. The kids make bracelets, necklaces, ankle bracelets and they also do embroidery work on shirts and bags. We then sell the items to visitors and the money is split between the orphanage and the child who made it. We used more of the money that people donated to buy some craft supplies- the girls and boys were really excited. Also, yesterday, we bought a new baby walker for Hose David because his broke and he fell over and bopped his head!! The poor little guy! Then last night, we had a going away party for the two families that are adopting- We played games, sang songs, and ate pizza and cake and drank soda. It was such a treat for all of the kids and the staff really enjoyed it as well. Thank you to everyone who donated- you are truly making many children happy with all of the things you are providing. I don't know what else we are going to get using the money, but I will be sure to let you know. I told the children that my family and friends had supplied the shoes and they wanted to tell you Gracias!! and one little boy came to give me a hug and said “Para tu familia!” -for your family- So know that if you were here, you would have 80 arms thrown around you and 40 kisses at least!!!
I love you all!!!
janie

Shoes!!

The car ride home from Buying shoes- Safe to say shopping is exhausting!!That is Abraham in the front, he never let go of his shoes. . . :)

The kids with their brand new shoes!!!

The Hubbard Familiy

The family's first meeting!! Meet the Hubbards! Another forever family- I seriously have the best "job" in the world!!

Christian, Elias, and Patricia getting ready to welcome their parents with a sign...

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

So thanks to my genius friend Katie and my wonderful Mom, we now have pictures!!! I posted several but have about a hundred more, so i will try to space them out. But expect lots more!! :)
The last few days have been busy as usual but are always wonderful. Yesterday, though, I read all of the bios on the kids and that was kind of hard on me- to hear all of their backgrounds and what they went through made me a little sick to my stomach. . . It really helped me to understand why they are the way they are. It makes me want to turn back time or erase their memories or something... but since I can't, I will just love them more and pray for them more often- I hope you will to!
Tim Brooks is the man adopting the 3 girls here- His brother-in-law John is here visiting along with his son. John's wife is an elementary school teacher in the US. She had her class draw pictures for all of the kids here and she also sent down a huge box of art supplies. There is everything you can think of; paint, markers, chalk, colored pencils, oil crayons, and more. So today we had most of the kids into the dining hall and had them draw pictures for the kids in her class. It was wonderful!! They all loved the pictures from her students and had so much fun drawing pictures for them! alot of the kids here are very talented. Abraham, who is in a picture below shining shoes, especially impressed me. He is the newest addition to the Albergue- he just arrived 2 weeks ago. His step-father is a drunk and his uncle, who his family lived with is a thief and abused him. He had never been to school and was very quiet and shy when he got here. It took him about a week to open up, but now he is the first one to run and give me a hug and the first one to offer to help in any situation. It is wonderful to be here to see hearts and lives change- I think my heart and life are changing right along with them!!
I love you all
janie

Liz and I

This is Liz, the social worker and I- I talk about Liz alot because she is one of my closest friends here so i thought I would help you put a face with her name- this was taken in the Albergue's Combi. . .

Vanessa. . .

This is cute Vanessa- she is one of only two girls that are available for adoption- she is very sweet, silly and always hyper! :) She has had a hard past (as every child here has had) but is very loving. I will write more about her later!

Shining shoes

Jhonathan- showing you the stuff to shine the shoes with, Abraham- shining his shoes, and Brayan- showing you a marble he found! :) Don't you love kids??
The kids have to shine their shoes a few times a week- they take turns

Hose David

This is baby Hose David. . .

This is beautiful Jesus!!

Cute kids!

Isaias is in the front, Yen is next to him and Edwin is in the background. :) Cuties!!

Can you tell who is not from the area??

From the left, Daisy, Yuli, Me, Junior and Samir- You can't see her but Ana is in the back doing my hair- :) it was lovely. :)

Carolina and Estephanie

Carolina is on your left (i talked about her in an earlier post) and Estephanie is on the right

Precious!

Starting at the blotoom left; Patricia, Jesus, Junior, Samir, and Daisy (pronounced Stacey). Daisy is a helper in one of Casitas.

Sleeping children

Hey everyone!! I hope you are all doing well- so I don't want to be a stickler, but I have noticed that comments on my blog have lessened greatly in the last few posts. :) In all seriousness I love the comments- they encourage me and make me smile, so please keep them coming!! :)
This week was a busy week- between my normal schedule, welcoming guests, and all the other little things that pop up, this week flew by. :) It was a good week though and definitley confirmed why I was here- to love the kids and to help the adults. Yesterday, one of the little ones fell asleep while I was holding him. His name is Isaias and he is 3 years old. I continued to hold him for about 20 minutes and i realized that there is nothing like a sleeping child. I kept thinking that he was such a special gift. Isaias is here for protection- I'm not exactly sure what his background story is, but i do know that his mom or grandmom or father or someone couldn't protect and take care of him so they brought him to the Albergue. I don't know if they want him and want what is best for him or if they simply didn't want the hassle of raising a child- but I do know that here, he is protected, loved, provided for and cherished. I feel so lucky to be the person that held him when he was sleeping, kiss boo-boos and make him laugh. I feel so blessed to be here to hug the kids, laugh with the kids and push them on the swing. It is overwhelming to know that I am truly loved be these kids not because of anything else then the fact that I am here and I love them.
Last night, I was invited to watch a movie with all the girls. The movie was kind of scary and all in Spanish, so I wasn't really enjoying that, but afterwards I had a slumber party with 3 of the girls. :) Kristy, Yumelit, and Ana are 3 of the older girls and they are so much fun! We pulled two matresses into the living room and ate popcorn and chatted (or tried to in Spanglish) and giggled. :) They were so excited because the madre let them have one spoonful of peanut butter and some saltine crackers- that is one spoonful between 4 people. It made me want to go out and buy peanut butter for the whole orphanage!! :) And, did you know that 4 people can fit on two twin size mattresses put together??? Well, technically they can't- one person falls off the whole night (and that one person would be me!) :) i came back to my room at 6 this morning and slept til 9, so now I am feeling alot better.
Well, the 3 girls being adopted have to go to doctor's appointments today, so I am going to watch their 3 sons- they are really fun and sometimes hyper, so it should be fun!
love,
janie

Pictures are coming!!! Okay- so i have not been able to download pictures from my camera- so I asked my friend katie, who has the same camera what I should do. She said I should get a card reader to download directly from the memory card. I've asked my mom to buy one and send it down with David Miller when he comes next week- so hopefully by tuesday night there will be pictures!!! :) I have taken some really cute ones- especially of the little ones I watch every day. You may remember, but everyday from 3:30-5:00 I watch 6-9 kids who are under the age of 4. The exception is a little boy named Junior. He is 6 years old but has a lot of problems. I am not sure what exactly the name of it is, but he has trouble using his hands- he can't grip things or wrap his hands around things the correct way. If his troubles ended there it would not be difficult to work with him- but his troubles are much more emotional and mental. I am not sure what his past life held but he acts out in really scary ways. My first week watching him, I was slapped in the face, bit on the arm, kicked, hit in the head, and many other things. I think he must have been sexually abused in the past because he also acts out in other types of ways. He tries to force the other little boys to kiss him and he touches me and the other kids very inappropriatley. The first week I think I cried because and for him more than anyone or anything else. You can tell he doesn't know why it is bad to do the things he does. He doesn't understand when I say no to him trying to kiss me- he thinks he is just showing love. It is the only way he knows how. His older brother, Josue also lives here- he handles whatever happened in the past in a different way- He is very serious and quiet- Sometimes he seems almost sullen. Please pray for Junior and Josue that they may find comfort and that they may heal from past wounds.
Another little boy that I have everyday is named Jose David- He is only 14 1/2 months old. He is very cute and likes to cuddle. He has a cleft palate, but I think it just makes him cuter! :) He was abandoned last year, so he is adoptable. His motor skills and speech are delayed- he doesn't walk or stand up on his own. He makes basic sounds like 'dadada' and yells alot. :) He reminds me of Lucas when luke was 5 months old- so that shows you how delayed he is. But he is a sweetie! He is very good at throwing things- which the other children don't appreciate, but I like! :)
My other boys are Abel, Jesus, Yen, and Edwin. Sometimes I have 2 girls- Bridgitte and Patricia- I will tell you about each one of them because they each have such personalities!! But I will save them for a later post!
Please continue to pray for all of the children- I love them more each day. I have never been hugged and kissed so much!!! Also, being here is really good for my ego- everywhere I go I hear Tia, tu es bonita! (Aunt, you are beautiful!) and, someone taught them how to say "you are pretty" so I hear that alot too- they are just the sweetest!!! So if anyone needs a confidence boost, just head on down!
I will write more later-
I love you all-
janie

The Brooks Family

This is the new and improved Brooks family!!
From the left: Joshua (9), Loren (12), TJ (7), Veronica (10), Andrew(2), and Donna (9)- Andrea and Tim are in the back- this was their first complete family portrait!!! :) Congratulations!! :)

Craziness!

Hey everyone!!! Things have been pretty crazy around here the last few days. :) I had a really good weekend- On Saturday I played with the kids in the morning/afternoon and helped Liz get guest rooms ready for all the visitors we have coming. That night Liz, her friend Elva, and I went into Trujillo. We took a combi into town and then walked around the historic downtown. We of course had to stop for ice cream (30 cents!) and fried banana- which is really good actually. :) While we were downtown we noticed that there was a wedding going on at one of the cathedrals. In Peru you can just walk right into the wedding if it is held at one of the cathedrals- so we did- we went in and watched part of the wedding- it was crazy to me! :) After that we went out to dinner. I really really need to work on my spanish because Liz got this big book of songs from our waiter and said to pick one- i thought she meant just for listening to, but apparently this was not just a restaurant, but it had Karaoke! I didn't know what was happening until they brought the microphone to our table- but thankfully I had chosen a song I knew- "All my Life" by Kc & Jojo- Elva and Liz sang a song first and then it was my turn- ahhhhh!!! I kept saying no that's okay- but then I realized- so what if my voice isn't that great- I am in Peru with people that don't know me that well- they can just think I am a crazy person! So I definitley sang! :) It was really funny.
Also, I have been getting to know the kids alot better- their personalities are amazing!! I could go on forever talking about all the kids- Friday night I went to the Chispas (stars) house for their nightly devotional and play time. They had me sing to them in English (again and again) and I got to know each one of them so much better. It is alot easier to do it 10 at a time instead of 42 at a time!! :) Then on Monday night I was invited to a party that the Luces (lights) house was having. They had finished a big project at school so they were celebrating. We had chocolate milk and fried eggs and watched my copy of the movie Elf- did you know that you can change the language to spanish?? Spanish Will Farrell is just not the same!! I slept at their house that night but i can't say I got much sleep. :) It was so much fun though!
Last night I made a trip to the airport- A family from Illinois is here to adopt three sisters that were abandoned 2-3 years ago... It is a wonderful story. The parents, Tim and Andrea, already have three boys under 10 years old. They weren't planning on having or adopting any more children, but last December a couple that had worked here for a month went to their church and did a presentation of their experiences here. Tim saw a snap shot of the 3 girls and immediatley said- "Those are my daughters!" He was right- I, along with the 3 girls and Alex went to the Airport last night to pick up the whole family- kids and all. The Peruvian government has officially assigned the girls to Tim and Andrea. They will be here in Trujillo for 2 weeks and then they go to Lima for 2 weeks and then they go home! :) My camera is still not working, but Tim sent me a picture through email this morning that I took on his camera last night so I will post that. :)
We also have a new volunteer coming sometime today or tomorrow- she has friends in Trujillo so she will be staying there for 2 weeks and only visiting the Albergue but then she will move in. I'm so excited! :) On Saturday, Tim's brother-in-law and his son, who was adopted from Peru, are coming to visit for a few days. Monday, Dave Miller(the man that founded and runs the orphanage) gets in for a couple of weeks. Also, there is another family adopting 3 siblings who lost both their parents within 2 weeks of each other last year. That couple should be here towards the end of the month. So there is alot going on here!!! I'm trying to stick to my schedule that Liz and I made, but it is getting more and more difficult!!
I love you all!
janie

Sand, location and combis

Hi everyone! Sorry still no pictures- I try at least once a day to make it work, but so far, I've not been lucky! :)
I realized last night when i was talking to my dad on the phone that i haven't shared with everyone what it is like living in Peru. .. I've told you about what I do, but I haven't explained what this area is like or about any of the loco things I've seen. :)
For starters: The albergue (the orphanage) is outside of Trujillo, Peru. Trujillo is on the coast of Peru. The albergue it actually closer to this little village called Salaverry. There is a big port in Salaverry so you can see ships and things all the time. When you are standing upstairs in the Albergue you can just make out the ocean- it is only about 1/2 a mile away, but there is so much sand blowing around, that it always appears hazy. Because we are so close to the coast, there is no natural grass here- all of the grass in the compound has to be watered pretty much around the clock- other than that it is all sand. Behind the Albergue is a ridge- it is just a big mountain of sand. On top there is a small community- the people there are the very poor- no running water, little electricity, and they all live in huts. Outside of the albergue is a fountain, and all day the people from the community come down with buckets to get water and carry it back up the hill to their house. Along with the Albergue, the Miller's built a ranch here. It was orginally going to be a ranch for teenage boys, but when they tried it, there were more problems then they realized. Now, it is where Alex and his family live. When there is a big group of volunteers here, that is where they stay too. The Albergue and the Ranch are seperated by a small field- they grow some sort of crop there (I forgot what it is :) ). The money from that helps to support the Albergue. The Albergue itself has three main buildings- 2 dorms, on two floors for all of the kids (they are called casitas and are kind of like big apartments) There are two girl casitas and two boy casitas- the boys have the two downstairs, and the girls have the two upstairs;and the main building which houses the kitchen, dining hall, homeschool for the kids with special needs, the library, chapel, offices and the volunteer apartments which is where I stay.
I've been into Trujillo a few times since I got here. Most of the time I ride into town in the Albergue's van which is kind of small, but they can squeeze all of the kids in. But, if the van is not available and we need to go into Trujillo (don't worry, I won't go by myself) you have to take a combi- it is like a small bus. It is crazy how it works! I road one with Alex and his family last sunday to church and it was quite the experience! :) You walk down to the end of the driveway and stand by the road. Combi's have 2 employees that are always on the bus- one who is the driver and the other is the runner. The runner stays by the door, usually with it open, and tries to get people to ride. He shouts out the route to all of the people standing by the road and when he thinks someone is going to ride, he has the driver slow down- yes, i did not say stop, i said slow down- and the person jumps on while the bus is still moving. Before you get worried about me- i usually travel with at least one child, if there is a child they do stop completely! :) This continues until they go by your destination and it is like the same thing in reverse- they slow down and you jump off. It only costs about 30 cents. The runner works for the driver so he does errands for the drivers during their route. This is truly crazy- The driver barely even slows down!!!!! The runner (and I think this is where they get their name) jumps off the combi and runs into the store and grabs whatever the driver needs and runs out in time to jump back on. I was really scared the runner was going to get hurt the first time i saw it!
Driving in peru is also crazy- Pablo said that his friend moved from Peru to the US and said he couldn't drive there because it was too organized! People don't pay any attention to lights, people, other cars, anything- everytime i go anywhere I think i am going to see or be in half a dozen accidents, but the crazy thing is I haven't seen a single one! Everyone drives crazy, but I think they pay more attention the most people in the US do when they drive.
Okay, I just thought I would give you a little taste of Peru!!
i will write more later!
Love you all!
janie

Another quick note. . .

There is a little girl here named Carolina- she is very, very cute and is 8 years old. I would like to ask you to pray for this little girl. She has a very sad story. She was abandoned a few years ago and brought to the Albergue. At the beginning of this year she was adopted by a Peruvian woman and her mother. It turned out that they were very bad people and did not take care of her. Thus, she was abandoned again in March. She has a lot of anger and resentment toward people. Yesterday she got really mad at me because I wouldn't let her do something she wanted- I was really upset about it and talked to Liz. Liz then told me her story and said that Carolina struggled quite a bit because of what happened this year especially. So please, say a prayer for Carolina- she needs a home and a constant family. . . maybe God will use this blog to find them. I will post pictures as soon as I can get it to work.
Thank you
I love you all!

Prayer request answered!

Heather and Luke are going home!!!!! As most of you know, my sister heather and her husband Shane have been in the process of adopting a little boy named Lucas from Guatemala. She went down at the end of April to take care of him and be with him. I was down for a month to visit her. They were supposed to be home in June but it kept being pushed back. But they found out yesterday that they exited PGN!!! That means they will back in the KC area in 2-3 weeks!!! Isn't that the most exciting thing you have ever heard in your life???!! I just had to share it with everyone- if you want more details you can visit Luke's blog at www.lucasmecham.blogspot.com- you can also see pictures of the most adorable little boy and the most beautiful sister ever! (Really, I am not biased!)
Love,
janie

schedules!

Hello everyone!
I still haven't gotten the computer to download pictures from my camera- but I will keep trying! I have some really cute ones now of some of the kids. :) So this week has been so much better than last week! I have started really getting involved in the day to day activities here. Liz and I set up a daily schedule on Monday and I am actually going to start it today. I work in the library everyday for a few hours- my job is to get all the books into a computer so that they will be able to check the books out and know who has them. Right now, they seem to lose a lot of books because the kids don't return them. I have about 20 books done and about 400 to go! :) Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I will be giving English lessons to the Madres. I am not a teacher, so I don't know how that is going to go. My first lesson is today, so wish me luck! Also, I will be organizing the second floor of the Albergue (everyone calls the orphanage the Albergue so that is what I have started calling it). Then, in the afternoons every day I take care of 6 or 7 of the 3-5 year olds for 1 1/2. I was really looking forward to this and I started on Monday. It is so much harder than I had anticipated. These kids have so many emotional struggles. Most of them have been abused in some form and they show love in unusual ways. One of them is very inappropriate and it is taking some getting used to. I have worked with troubled kids before, but never in a different language! It hit me yesterday, while I was with them how real this is- Hogar de Esperanza is geared toward street children so most of these kids have been through more than I can possibly imagine. I'm so glad I am here to love them and care for them, but I can tell it will be very hard.
Also in the afternoons, twice a week I will be doing crafts- the kids make the most beautiful bracelets, necklaces, and cross-stitch pieces. The other thing I will be doing is helping the little ones read- Liz thinks I can handle it and hopefully it will help me with my pronunciation as well.
Well that is my schedule- sounds pretty full, doesn't it? :) Liz kept saying that she was sorry it was so full- but really- I am here to help and to get involved- I'm not here for vacation!
So please say a prayer for me as I start my new schedule- I am a little nervous about a few things, but I know it will be great!
Love you all!
Janie

Peruvian Hospitals

Hi everyone-
Sorry that I have not posted since my first day here, but I have been kind of busy- but not in a good way. :( I'm okay now, but I have been pretty sick the last two days. It started at 5:30 yesterday morning- sorry if this gross, but I was sick to my stomach every 15-20 minutes from then until 1ish and then sick off and on until 7:30pm. By then I was so dehydrated that I wasn't able to stand up very well or walk evenly. I called my parents to ask them a question about something else and I ended up having a mini-meltdown on the phone. To be honest, I don't really remember what I said, but it was scary enough that my parents called Vickie Miller, the woman that runs the orphanage with her husband, but are in Liberty, MO. Vickie called Alex, a worker here, and he along with another person came to my door and asked me to go the hospital with them. I must have looked pretty scary because they wouldn't take no for an answer. Alex brought me to an emergency room in Trujillo- he stopped and picked up his brother who speaks fluent English to help with all the translating. As soon as the Doctor saw me he said that I would have to stay there overnight. I was extremely dehydrated and my pulse was pretty low because of that. They think that it was something I ate on the train the day before that caused it. Everything in Peru moves really slow so it was another hour before I was wheeled to a room. Alex and his brother, Pablo stayed with me until I was settled. In Peru, you have to buy all of the supplies that they think you will need before they do anything. So Alex bought the bags of medicine for my IV, the suringes, the tape, everything before the nurse would do anything! It was crazy! I honestly don't remember much more of last night- I know I was sick a little bit more and then fell in and out of sleep for the rest of the night. This morning I woke up feeling so much better! Alex came back with his wife to visit and see how I was, and Pablo also stopped by so he could be there when the Doctor came to check on me. The Doctor said I had to stay at least until noon to make sure I was truly better. Another worker from the orphanage came to see how I was and Liz, the social worker here, came to sit with me a couple of hours. The doctor didn't show back up until after 3- by then i was so ready to get out of there! He said I was fine to go as long as I took it easy and followed his instructions- which consisted of taking more medicine and eating bland foods.
I am still pretty tired, but I am feeling pretty much all better! i wouldn't really suggest anyone putting "stay at Peruvian hospital" as one of their top 10 things to do in life, but it really wasn't too bad. It all seems like a dream right now. I feel like I have been here for awhile but i still have no idea what goes on here because I haven't been involved in day-to-day activities.
Anyway, that about brings everyone up to date.. .
Love you all
janie