November birthdays!

On friday night we celebrated the kids with November birthdays. Aracely turned 6 at the beginning of the month, Yumelit turned 12 on the 21st and on the 20th Brayan turned 5 years old. These monthly outings are made possible by my family and friends and also by Nelsonville Baptist Church! Thank you!! The kids had a wonderful time. . .
First we went to the beach to run from the waves and play on the playground-
from the left- Aracely, Yumelit, Brayan, and Emily.
Brayan and Aracely swam with the dolphins. . . well, sort of!

After the beach we got ice cream and cotton candy and walked around the center of Trujillo. The kids thought that cotton candy was amazing but couldn't really understand how it worked. After we walked around we went to the movie theater. I love taking the kids to the movie theater because most of them have never been before. They always think that the seats are broken because they flip up and this time they discovered something else new- the hand dryer in the bath room! They freaked out when I turned it on but after they wanted to wash their hands again just so they could use the hand-dryer! :)


After the movie we went to Roky's for dinner- it is a restaurant with a play center and really good food! There happened to be a face painter there so of course all of them needed to do that! :) We have Yumelit the fairy, Aracely the butterfly and Brayan who is now only known as Batman!
It was a wonderful night and I don't think any of us wanted it to end- it is wonderful to watch the kids experience new things and for them to be made to feel special- I love the fact that right now, I get to be the one to do it!! That is such a blessing!

Gaby

So while I was in Piura, Peru, visiting Yulissa's family, I was introduced to this little girl. Her name is Gaby and for the last 2 years she has been fighting Leukemia. She needs advanced treatment and has been waiting for a year and a half to get it. The doctors say that she HAS to go to Lima for a month in December to get intensive care. The problem is her family is very, very poor and unable to pay for treatment. Thanks to the Lord, her and her mom's passage has been payed for to Lima and back but I was told that she is going to need months of more treatment. She needs someone to help sponsor her so she has a chance to heal. She is 8 years old and has sparkling eyes and loves to play with her friends. She is very friendly and not very self concious about not having hair. If you would like to help Gaby, please email me at janiehelm@yahoo.com
Thank you. . .

My travels

The main attractions in Peru are Cusco and Mantu Pichu- I have not seen either of those but I feel like i know Peru better then your average visitor. i have visited 3 different cities and gotten to see Peru from a Peruvian's perspective. I love being at the Albergue and being with the kids but it is also nice to get away and enjoy different sites and sounds. :)

The first city I visited was Chepen. It is a small town about 2 hours northeast of Trujillo. It is built into a mountain/big hill so all the streets are really steep. The streets are really narrow and only one car can go through at a time. That's not really a problem in Chepen because most everyone either walks or takes a Motor-taxi (or Tuk-Tuk) It is like a motorcycle with 3 wheels and a back seat for passengers. I visited Chepen with Nancy, one of the worker's wifes, her 2 little girls, and Emily. In this picture, from the left is me, Nancy, and her friend. We are in the Plaza de Armis of Chepen. Notice how we are almost the same heighth? don't look at our feet! :)


The second city I visited was Cajamarca. It is breathtaking there!! It is surrounded by mountains and is really cute. The looking at a map, Cajamarca is only an hour or so more than Chepen. So it should take about 3 hours to get there, right? In actuality, because Peru didn't cut down any hills or trees or anything to build their roads, the bus goes up and down mountains, along clifts, down in valleys and all around to get to Cajamarca. It ends up being a little over 6 hours for the journey. But to me, it is worth it! The weather is a little chilly and you can see mountains all around- my idea of a perfect combination! It rained the whole weekend we were there but I didn't mind- it was the first time in 3 months that I had seen rain! (for those that don't know, Trujillo has rain once upon a never). I went to Cajamarca with Emily and we spent the weekend hanging out with her boyfriend, Augusto.
This picture was taken up on a hill overlooking Cajamarca- when you are down below it feels like a small town- but as you can see it is pretty big.
While in Cajamarca we got to visit a place called Porcorn. (yes I know that sounds and looks like popcorn- that's what i always call it :) ) It is a Christian community started by Burt Elliott, a missionary here for 50 years. It is literally in the middle of nowhere but is a self contained town. They have shops, churches, houses, crops, restaurants, everything you can think of. It is truly amazing because they work together and help each other in every way imaginable.
This picture was taken on the way in to Porcorn- all along the way there were these signs with different bible verses. It was a beautiful place!



The last part of the country I visited was the Piura area. Yulissa, one of the Madres, invited me to go home with her to visit her family and see where she grew up. Piura is the city, but her family lived north of Piura in the country. It was a beautiful area and the people were amazing! I got to see Cantelope, Mangos, Psalm Trees, beautiful rivers, ride horses, learn to drive a motor-taxi, learn to take showers with no running water, practice sleeping under a mosquito net, try different food, and generally have an amazing time. It was in the more tropical part of Peru so that means it was really hot and the sun was really intense. But it also means it was GORGEOUS!
This picture was taken at a river we played in one afternoon. Those are goats stopping by to get a drink of water.
This is Yuli and her family outside of their house. (Yulissa is on the far left) They are a wonderful family and even though they don't have a lot of money they definitley are rich in spirit and love.

Manualidates

Hello Everyone!
The last couple of weeks have been really good- the kids have been amazing and I am loving spending time with them. My biggest struggle now, besides missing my family and friends, is with the language. While I am always understood and I can usually understand other people- it is difficult sometimes. I know that I have the worst grammar ever and I probably sound like a 4 year old, but the people here say that my Spanish has improved. (I'm not to sure of it, but they say it's true!) Last Saturday my Spanish was really put to the test. Every other Saturday Liz (the Social Worker), Emily and I have a meeting with the parents. Every Saturday the parents of the kids that live here have the opportunity to come spend time with their kids. Most of the parents usually don't come, but there are usually about 7-10 here. The other Saturdays Mirian, Liz's assistant, holds meetings with the parents dealing with parenting skills and basic life skills. But the Saturdays that we have the meetings they are like a mini-Church service. We sing songs and Liz gives a short lesson. Usually my job is to pray-in Spanish- I write it down ahead of time and just read it so normally it is pretty easy for me. However, last Saturday Liz asked if I would share my testimony-in Spanish!! For those of you that are unfamiliar- a testimony is how you came to know Christ and also what Christ has done in your life since then. Anyway- it was definitely a challenge for me. I wrote it out in English beforehand and with the help of a translating program on the internet and Liz's revisions, I translated it into Spanish. I wasn't nervous at all until it was time for me to stand up in front of everyone!! I messed up quite a few of the words and I don't know if they understood a word I said, but I DID IT! Please pray that something I said to them would be understood and give them hope! That experience prepared me for an experience I had on Monday- For this whole week Emily is volunteering with an organization called "Joni and Friends". It is a ministry from the United States that visits underdeveloped countries all over the world to hand out wheelchairs, walkers and canes to people in need. It is a wonderful program and has literally changed the lives of thousands of people. On Monday I went with Emily for half a day as her guest just to check it out and see if I could help. I thought maybe I would hang out with some kids or open doors- but no, because 16 volunteers had come from the US to help, they asked if I could help translate!!! AHH!! Scary! Anyway- I did that as well! I translated for a family getting a new wheelchair for their son- and they actually understood me- crazy! So even if I have the worst grammar of anyone else around, at least the point is getting across! :)
Other than those things, life around here has been basically routine (if life at an orphanage can be!) One of the activities that has been the most consistent since I got here is Crafts- Manualidates in Spanish. I do crafts twice a week with two different groups. We make necklaces, bracelets and ankle bracelets with beads in one group and the other group does really pretty embroidery work. Before, Emily and I would make up all the jewelry before and then take it apart and put it into a bag for the girls. They didn't know how to put colors together and would mess all the beads up. Well, starting last week they now get to make their own jewelry- they get the colors approved by me and then they have at it. It is wonderful because they have so much pride now in what they are making- About every 2 minutes one of them says- Mirar Tia, te gusta?? Look aunt, do you like? They also want to show it to all the other workers, the other kids, and probably the dog, too! :) Plus, it is a lot less work for Emily and I because we don't spend every evening working on Manualidates!!! I love the time with the girls because I have gotten to know them so much better and really see them for the wonderful girls they are. I would like to introduce you to 4 of them so you can know what I experience every day!



This is Carolay- she is 11 years old and is a very intelligent girl. She likes to giggle and loves the movie 'little women'. I have that movie here and it can be dubbed over to Spanish. She had read the book this year and was so excited to get to watch the movie. The whole time she was making sure she knew what was going on and that she had all the characters straight. She is probably my hardest worker in crafts and she is very good at putting colors together. She wants to be a grown up half the time but still loves jumping on the bed! :)
This is Rocio- she is 12 years old and has a very sweet spirit. I call her Mamita- because she is like a little mother. She makes sure the other girls in her casita are doing what they should and she loves looking after the little ones in the Albergue. Especially Jose David- he is our youngest and whenever she sees him she runs over and steals him! She is very short for her age and she is very self-conscious about it. What she lacks in height she makes up for in spirit- she is always ready for a hug and always wants to practice her English. She only knows a few phrases but uses them all the time. She always tells me "the baby is sleeping" and "very good". It doesn't matter if the baby is sitting right there wide awake, she just likes speaking in English! She has some problems with dexterity and because of that it takes her longer than the others to finish her work- but she is very diligent and never complains.
This is Yuli- She is 13 and the oldest child at the orphanage. But you would never know it from being with her- she acts more like a 6 or 7 year old. When I first got here, I had quite a few problems with her because she would one minute say she loved me and the next say I was ugly. She would either be wanting to hug me and stay with me or she would not look at me and say mean things to me. Then the worst thing was one day she walked up to me and choked me- not a just kidding choke but a very hard, strong, both hands around my neck choke. It hurt a lot and made me cough for awhile, but I am pretty sure my feelings were hurt worse- I loved her so much and it crushed me to think that she didn't like me. I had to talk with her madre about it and Yuli got in trouble and apologized and since then she has been wonderful. But I found out that the reason she choked me is because her mother choked her when she was a little girl. Kids really do learn things from their parents and they remember everything! Now, Yuli is obedient, loving, and wants to make me happy. She has a very sensitive, shy side and a very outgoing, wild and crazy side. She loves to hug and tell people they are beautiful. She is unsure of herself much of the time but because she has such a loud personality, the other kids copy her in a lot of her actions. I can't say enough about Yuli- I think because I know what she has gone through (unbelievable, horrible abuse) and I know the sweetness that she is capable of, I admire her. She has seen pictures of my friends and family and when she prays she prays for all of them- so just know that there is a little girl down here with a big heart that loves you even though she has never met you.
This is Maria- she is a very kind girl. We had a slumber party a few weeks ago and Maria was one of the girls that came- she spent the whole time sharing all of the snacks with the other girls and making sure the other girls and Emily and I were happy and having a good time. She is 11, but loves sitting on laps and being held. Whenever all the kids are getting disruptive and crazy and I say no more- Maria is the first one to say- okay-. She likes to be silly and looooovvveeess to laugh- she has giggle fits when she laughs for no apparent reason! She would like to make necklaces as presents for everyone she has ever met, just because she thinks they might like them! She has a darling smile and likes to help others- she is always the first one to volunteer when I need a hand.

All in all, I would say I am pretty blessed to know these girls and get to spend time with them- somedays I don't want to do crafts because I am tired, but every time I end up smiling and I am so happy to do it.
Okay- I love you all!
janie

Lazaro!

This is Lazaro- He has lived at the Albergue for a few years and is approximately 8 years old. He was abandoned and so they don't really know how old he is- their best guess is that he was born in 1998. Lazaro doesn't speak and needs assistance with walking. He uses a wheel chair much of the time to get from one spot to another more quickly. He can walk and really likes it but he falls easily. He had been progressing but now has digressed a little bit. Emily is volunteering with the organization 'Joni and friends' this week- it is an organization that supplies walkers, wheelchairs and canes to people living in underdeveloped countries. So today we took lazaro in and he got a walker! This will be wonderful because he will be able to walk more with less of a risk of falling. He gets therapy every week but the doctors say if he was able to have more he would improve quite a bit. He is available for adoption. He is very cute and loves to be kissed and loves to eat! He has the greatest smile- I like to get down to eye level with him and make really loud kissy sounds at him- sometimes he starts cracking up with a huge smile on his face!!! Which of course makes me laugh- so there we are just smiling and laughing at each other!!! Nothing warms the heart like making a child laugh!
In the top picture he is with David Miller, who founded and runs the orphanage-and who has a huge, generous heart. In the bottom picture he is with Karolina and Emily.

Visit to another orphanage. . .

On Sunday, Emily and I, along with Mirian- who works at Hogar de Esperanza- went to visit another orphanage named "Aldea Infitil: Victor Raul haya de la Torre" where Mirian's friend works. We met most of the kids and of course fell in love with all of them. This orphanage is different because almost all of the kids have been abandoned so almost all of them need homes. The kids were all very sweet but all of the kids and workers didn't seem to have the joy and exuberence that our kids and workers have. I realized that it is because it is not a Christian orphanage- It was amazing the difference between this orphanage and Hogar. Anyway, so on Monday I got an email from Tim Brooks- he is the father of the 3 girls that were adopted in September. This is the message he sent to everyone he knows, including me: "While we were in Trujillo, Peru completing the adoption resolution, one of the social workers really wanted to show me something on her computer screen. She had a picture of the brother and sister attached in this e-mail. She told me that they had been in the system for a long time, and really needed parents. They asked me to see if I could find a family for them, I told them I'd try, but didn't really have any one in mind. So, I'm asking you all. If you know of anyone, perhaps an older couple, or even yourselves that have room in their homes and hearts for either of these siblings groups could you let me know, and I'll pass it on?" Lo and behold- they were the exact same kids I had been with the day before!!!! I was amazed! Like I said- they are very sweet kids- these two pictures are the pictures he sent me in the email. The top one is of Ana and Walter, who are 12 and 14 - and the bottome is of the sisters Ingrid, who is 12 years old and Carmela, who is 14 years old. I told Tim that I would post their pictures on my blog just in case anyone that reads it either is their forever family or knows someone that would like to be! :)
Below is a picture of Emily with Carmela on Sunday- crazy that the next day I got an email about the exact same girl!!
This is a picture of one of the casistas at the other orphanage- aren't they cute?(I must say, i am still partial to our kids though!)
This is Maryelena- she stayed with us the whole time we were there- the social workers said her parents had abandoned her- I think she is adorable!!!!

A disclaimer. . .

I was reading over my last post and thinking about it and wanted to make one little side note. When I was talking about the food here and saying that it made me gag, it is not because the cooks are bad. They are actually wonderful and make wonderful food. It is because I am a picky eater and don't like beans, fish, most meat or lots of cooked vegetables- which is pretty much what we have for every meal. I didn't want anyone to think that the cooks weren't good- they are very, very sweet and have made me fresh squeezed orange juice and strawberry juice on a number of occasions. :)
Okay, that's all!

Halloween and top ten "only in Peru" moments!

Hello everyone!!
It has been pretty calm around here the past couple of weeks- the kids went back to school after a week of vacation and let me tell you- it is very quiet around here once again! :) All of the kids are over the sickness that swept through- so that is a huge answer to prayers! Other than that I have just been living life here- pulling lice out of all the girls hair (don't ask, it isn't pretty!), doing crafts with the girls, and just generally loving the kids!
For halloween Emily and I were invited to a party in the Tesoro's Casista- It is one of the casistas for boys and the only casista I had not spent time in. So I am so glad that I got to get to know all of them better. We played Jenga, Sorry!, Jr. Scrabble (for a about a minute when we discovered that none of us (adults included) could spell) and Uno. We also ate pizza and laughed- alot.

This is a picture of us playing the game, Sorry!. The kids all thought it was great because you can send other players back to start and you get to yell Lo Siento!! (sorry in Spanish) From the left is Jesus, Kevin Arnold, Hugo (he works here and is married to Sarita, a madre), Josue and Emily

This is Kevin Arnold showing you how you can use the game box as a hat- He is an adorable boy and loves to hug people! He just arrived her in July.

And this is us playing Jenga (I don't know how to spell it). Everyone thought it was funny to watch me during this game because I would get so stressed out and nervous that I was going to make it fall!! That is Jesus in front, and then Sarita and Hugo, Josue, and Kevin.

I love spending time with the kids and seeing them laugh and have fun. We seriously have the cutest kids down here!! (well aside from my nephew, of course!)

I have now been down here 9 1/2 weeks and there are so many things that are different, interesting, or just plain funny! :) When Emily or I see something that is particulary funny or unusual we will just look at each other and say "only in Peru, Only in Peru". We have compiled a top ten list of our only Peru moments. These things probably do happen in other countries but for Emily and I they are now synonymous with our time in Peru. OKay, here it is, our top ten list, in no particular order (drum roll please). .........

10. Here they have many modes of transportation- one of the funniest is called a collectivo. It is an older model chevvy sedan that is used sort of like a taxi. In downtown Trujillo they have a street where all the collectivo's wait for passengers. Each car is going to a different suburb of Trujillo. Normally, they wait until there are 4 people in the back seat and at least 3 in the front before departing. You can also flag one down on the street outside the orphanage and get in. My first time riding in a collectivo, I was with Nancy, a wife of one of the workers here, and her two little girls. We were going into Trujillo for something and she didn't want to wait for a Micro so she flagged down this car. I was standing there thinking- does she know these people? What is she doing? When the car stopped I started to say- well there is not enough room for both of us plus your children, so lets just wait for a micro- but Nancy just said no, no, just get in. What was I thinking! Of course a backseat that already has 3 adults and a huge kite that someone had could fit 2 more adults and 2 children. Nancy sat on the very edge of the seat, everyone else pretty much sat on each other, and I was sideways next to the door. (don't worry I made sure the door was locked). Both Nancy and I had a child on our lap and there were 3 more people in the front and maybe a couple more kids. I remember sitting there thinking- "is this happening?" and trying really hard not to bust up laughing- of course, technically I couldn't laugh because that would require some movement, and that was not an option!! Definitley only in Peru a car that seats 5 can easily hold 8 adults and 3 children. :)

9. Only in Peru can the words- it is a part of a cow - strike fear into my heart. One day for lunch the cooks made, what else-rice, but with something that Emily and I had never seen before. It was black and kind of looked like a mushroom. Emily asked Filomena, the cook, what it was and she smiled and said "dulce" which means sweet. So Emily thought- something sweet, I can do that! When we sat at the table I took one wiff of it and tried to fight back a gag- it smelled foul! Emily asked one of the other workers what it was and she just smiled. Emily said "is it a vegetable?" and the other woman shook her head. Emily asked "is it meat?" and the other woman said "it is a part of a cow". By then I was having trouble holding back my gags and Emily couldn't look at me without laughing. I looked at emily and said "Umm, I need to use the telephone" and ran upstairs to my safe room with my plate. Meanwhile, downstairs, after Emily had eaten a few bites, she finally found out what it was- a cow's stomach. The lining of a cow's stomach. So now when I don't like the food and I see no escape, I just look at Emily and say "I need to use the telephone."

8. Only in Peru can you have chicken soup for breakfast. Emily and I went with one of the Madre's, Rocio, to visit her family's house a few weeks ago. The next morning before returning to the Albergue, we went by her family's booth in a nearby market for breakfast. It was probably 8:30 in the morning and they asked what we wanted to eat- we were both thinking tea or coffee and maybe some bread. But our options turned out to be chicken soup, cebeche, rice and chicken or pasta with chicken. Emily went with the cebeche (which is raw fish marinated in lime and lemon juice- yes, I know she is crazy, but it is a favorite dish around here), Rocio had the chicken soup and I thought- I'll play it safe and get the pasta. You can't go wrong with pasta, right? Ummm, wrong. I took one bite and my mouth was on fire! Apparently the sauce had a lot of Aji in it- which is the spiciest stuff you can get. As soon as I took the bite my eyes started running and my lips swelled up. Turns out that I can't handle the aji.

7. Only in peru do you get sick from drinking cold water. (or say they say) Since being here Emily and I have both had a few bugs- we have had the sniffles, the sneezes and coughs. We are both fine now, but when we were sneezing, we were told soooo many times by everyone here that it is because we drink cold water. They said since we like our drinks cold, that infects the throat and makes you sick. This is a nation-wide belief. We were told by nurses, mothers, social workers and kids that we should never drink cold drinks. Furthermore, if you are sick you should not take showers- having water around your face or throat makes you much sicker. Also, when you are having trouble with your stomach or having bathroom issues, you should only drink warm water and occasionally tea- no juice, no soda, and especially no cold drinks!!

6. Only in Peru do I rate the food by how many gags I have. For example, yesterday was only a 1/2 gag day- so it was a really good meal, but there have been meals with as many as 7 gags- that might have been the stomach day. :)

5. I know I have talked about taking the micro before- but just for a recap- they are these buses that each have different routes and go around picking up people. You just have stick your hand out and wave and the bus stops (or sometimes pauses) and you get on. One day Emily and I were in downtown Trujillo and were wanting to go back the Albergue. It was around lunch time and the micros were a little bit overcrowded. When we got on all the seats were taken but there was plenty of standing room- at first. The micro kept letting more and more people on. They never refused a person even though we were standing so close. Emily was farther back on the bus and she eventually got a seat but I was at the very front. I had positioned myself so that I was in a corner by the window- but I was surrounded by people- I had nothing valuable so don't worry about pick-pocketing- but lets just say that there is no such thing as personal space here. I was completely against the window and had 3 people pressed against me from 3 sides. I didn't know them but after that ride i felt like we should be friends or something. Only in peru would they have no capacity number and transport people like animals.

4. Only in Peru would you spend a friday night picking lice out of little girls hair. At the orphanage, there is a little problem with lice- okay so it is a huge problem and all of the girls have it. It is so hard to get rid of because there are 20 girls and if one of them has it, they all do. The teachers at the school decided that they were going to crack down on it so they said- you have 2 days to get rid of all the lice or the kids can't come to school anymore. So Emily and I have now spent hours upon hours sitting with heads in our lap picking out lice. I would be okay with never seeing one again in my life! The girls would all be picking out of each other's head and there would be 3 or 4 of them all at different levels in a train looking through hair. We haven't gotten rid of the problem because the madre's don't feel it is necessary to wash the brushes and sheets after you pick it out of the hair- but i pray that someday before I leave we will be living lice free!

3. Only in Peru would a girl with green eyes and a girl with blonde hair cause a commotion. So I have dark, dark hair and green eyes- not very unusual or exciting, but here in Peru I am amazing to other people. Because everyone here has dark hair with dark eyes. I have been told about a million times that my eyes are pretty by people on the street, waitresses, every worker at the albergue and even the nurse when i was in the hospital. Emily has long blonde hair and is tall- both of which are very unusual here- people stop her on the street, yell "hello" at her all the time and generally are amazed. So the two of us together cause quite a scene- we have gotten really good at ignoring stares and whispers. Don't worry, it is not dangerous and the people just like to stare but it kind of makes you feel like a rock star! :)

2. Only in Peru is a twin size bed more then big enough for 2 adults. I have spent the night in the casistas a number of times now with the kids and the madres. It is always fun until we get to the part when it is time to go to sleep. The first time I was so confused because the madre said that two of the older kids could sleep in the room with us. They just pulled in one extra twin size mattress- I was thinking ' you just have a twin size bed, and so now there are only enough spaces for two people' - but no, the two girls layed down on one bed and she told me that we would sharing her bed. You can't move without waking up the other person and you have to both sleep sideways or hang off the bed. When Emily and i went to Rocio's house to spend the night a few weeks ago it was the same story- Emily and I shared one twin size bed, Rocio and her sister shared another and then 1 person slept on a couch cushion on the floor! Sometimes you can fit two adults and a child onto one bed. Needless to say, I always prepare myself before going to one of these sleepovers and come to terms with the fact that there won't be much sleeping going on. When we have slumber parties with the girls they always think that they should be allowed to sleep with us- For the slumber parties,Emily and I share a full size bed, so to them, we could fit all 4 kids plus us with no problem!!

1. Only in Peru would you get hugged by 40 kids everyday and get to see God at work in everyone's life around you. It really is amazing here to watch God work in the kids and the workers lives. I know that my heart is changing and I am maturing and growing. It is such an honor to be part of this ministry and to live my life with them. I love walking into the cafeteria and hearing 40 little voices say "Tia Janie! Tia Janie!". Those are the times I am reminded why I am here. I miss my family and friends like crazy and would love to have a hamburger and french fries, but when I see the kids smile and they come running to give me a hug, it is all worth it!