9/17/11
My first full day at Familia Feliz is winding down. It was an enjoyable, relaxing Sabbath day. Yesterday around 3:30 p.m. we flew into the little airport in Rurrenabaque on the 7-person mission plane. It was the smallest plane I have ever ridden in! We had it so packed with bags that we couldn’t even see each other. Erin, Joy Harding and Jordan sat in the back, Jamie in the middle and I sat in the front with the pilot. I got pretty sick on the first half of the trip before we stopped in Trinidad, then after Trinidad I felt good for the most part. Despite getting sick I am glad we were able to take that plane because it only cost $80 instead of $180 to take a commercial flight, or take an 18 hour bus ride on bad roads! It was neat to meet the pilot Hermon, he is a volunteer pilot for Gospel Ministries International, originally from Michigan he has been here serving for 8 months. It’s inspiring to meet so many selfless people. It’s true what everyone had been telling us about Rurrenabaque, it is a very hot place. As soon as we got off the plane we were hit with some intense heat. I am worried about getting adjusted to this heat, but hopefully I will adjust quickly. We were met at the airport by Dave Harding, the director at the orphanage and several other Familia Feliz staff. Stephanie is the director of the school and also a house mom, she is such a sweet and happy person! Edwin is the assistant director of the orphanage and also a house father, his wife Racquel I haven’t really met because she went back on the plane to Santa Cruz. Edwin drove us to Rurre and let us get smoothies at the ice cream shop before we headed to Familia Feliz. It was so nice to get something to eat because we hadn’t really eaten all day. I really like Edwin! It was really fun to talk to him on the way to the orphanage, he knows some English so we could talk and he helped us learn more Spanish too. Driving into the orphanage yesterday afternoon was touching… and a little overwhelming. It’s definitely a different perspective coming to a place like this with the mindset of staying for a long period of time, rather than like Ethiopia just planning on staying a couple weeks. Life is so so different here! Basic every day necessities that I take for granted at home are hard to come by here. There are about 16 of us who are living in the upper area of the big house right now, all sharing one bathroom and shower. There isn’t always toilet paper, the showers often don’t work and we have to go outside and bring in buckets of water to shower. Last night when we got here after walking around and being introduced to people, exploring the campus a bit, we gathered for Friday night worship. A cute little girl sat on my lap during worship and many children kept eyeing us curiously and smiling. After worship was a special Friday night tradition – pizza. It was strange tasting, it had a weird salsa for sauce. After dinner Erin and I went to find Mr. Harding to see when we should be up the next day ect because we were tired and wanting to head to bed soon. We ended up talking to Mr. and Mrs. Harding for a long time, later into the evening. Jordan, Jonathan and Jamie came and talked with them too. It was a really good, eye opening talk. I have a better feel for their mission and goals now and a better idea of what kind of people they are. I really admire them for what they’re doing here. They’ve given up their home elsewhere and are moving here to live at Familia Feliz permanently. Their goal with education here at Familia Feliz is salvation for these kids above all else, it’s inspiring. Mr. Harding also talked to us about where he thinks he wants to put us. Apparently a lot of volunteers left near the same time, leaving a lot of holes to fill. It sounds like he wants Erin and I to move into a house with 6 or 7 little boys to be their house moms. Wow! That wasn’t what we were expecting! It’s a bet overwhelming, but I think it could be a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these kids. It was so sad to hear Mr. Harding talk about the percentage of kids here who have been sexually abused. He said 80-90% of the kids have been abused and is shows. He said they can never sleep together, go to the bathroom together or run off alone by themselves. He said they will actually rape each other sometimes. It’s so sad to think that such young, innocent kids have been so horribly mistreated that they would behave like that. I want so much to help them somehow! Hopefully I can make a positive impact on their little hearts. I want to love on them as much as I can! We also talked about what we can do to stay safe here, life is so different and sanitation we are used to back home is almost non-existent here. It was disappointing to hear Mr. Harding talk about it as if, whatever we do, we’re bound to get sick. He has gotten Salmonella twice, Dengue Fever, Staph infection and random other things. Despite what he said, I still really want to try to avoid everything I can that would make me sick and just try to stay well! This year is going to be rough… a lot to get used to! And so different from home. The kids are absolutely precious though, I love them! This morning we slept in and then went to church, it got pretty hot but it was a nice little service. After church we helped make lunch and after lunch we piled into the old truck to go to the river! It took to trips to get everyone down there, about 5 or 6 miles down the road to the river. It was nice, we spent all afternoon playing in the river with almost all of the kids. It was really muddy, but we walked upstream a ways and less mud was spread through the water. I sat in the water and talked with several adorable, sweet little girls. One of my favorites, I met her today and her name is Liz! Couldn’t help but think of my wonderful friend at home that I’ve been missing. Belsebet and Kailee are two other girls I played with a lot at the river. They are such fun and sweet girls! It’s going to be nice to talk to them once I actually learn how to speak Spanish better, there’s a lot of guessing and funny looks during this stage of communication. Before we came back to Familia Feliz we gathered around in the sandy area and sang songs together to close the Sabbath. It was festive coming back from the river, lots of us started walking back while as many people as possible piled into the back of the truck. Once the truck started driving past all us walkers, some of us (including me) jumped onto the truck so we didn’t have to walk the whole way. The kids sang the whole ride back, it was fun to listen to them. Erin had fun running back with a couple of the boys. I felt really dirty and gross when I got back from the river. Sadly the showers didn’t have any water so I had probably one of the worst showers I’ve ever taken. There was just a tiny bit of water in the bottom of some of the buckets in the bathroom and I had to use them to splash water on myself and quickly try to get enough shampoo through my hair and body wash all over my body. Ohh the things you take for granted at home! We had bread and hot tea/herbal drink for dinner and now a lot of the kids are outside playing games around the fire. Erin and the other student missionaries are out there. I was just talking to our friend Sarah, she got here a day before us and is from England. She has been traveling through South America for about 4 months now!! Sadly she will only be here for 5 weeks. I wish she was staying longer! She is really fun and sweetJ Hopefully tomorrow we will get to go into town and get internet and buy some things we need. I need to get a mosquito net, flip flops, and adapter for my charger and snacks! Right now I still feel overwhelmed, nervous, out of place, uncomfortable and overall not at home here… but I know it will take some time to get adjusted!
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