Pictures of Kinder...

August 2008

About time I am sure you are thinking!!! Well LOTS has happened over the past month with the kiddos! Right now they are working on writing their names and their numbers. Most of them know and recognize off their shapes and colors still which is great! We are finishing up the Ten Commandments this coming up week! It is so great to hear them say them. Their favorite is "Thou shalt not steal." I am not sure why, but they say it all the time! They also have made a book where they had to color correctly what I had previously colored. We are in the finishing process of making the book! They are SOOOOO excited to have their own book. We have just memorized Genesis 1:31 from the AWANA Cubbies handbook! They tend to really like the program so far. Starting sometime in the next week or so we will have a NEW curriculum that will last for all times! I am so happy for this. It will help so much since I don't know exactly what to teach sometimes. They still like to do puzzles and the newest things are the train and bowling! They love to bowl....Thanks, Heather, for bringing this! Here are a few pictures and I am sure I will have more soon!

Jhonatan writing "Jh".

Edwin writing "d" A LOT of times!

Ericka writing "E".....she is doing so good!

Zuleica playing in the blocks!

Jhonatan and the new train!

Paul and his legos.....not sure what he was building!

Edwin working on drawing his shapes then cutting them out!

Fiorella's Despedida......Bon Voyage with her new familiy!

August 28, 2008
Yet another child who has received a new family! What a blessing to see a child go from having no parents to care for her to two loving parents! She went to Lima first, which I didn't know about, and then came back a little disappointed. She didn't get to see her new parents or spend time with them when she went there to do paperwork or something of that sort. Her father is disabled from a military accident a long time ago, so it was hard for them to come and see her.....but they did! They came and spent almost a week here at the orphanage. They roomed and got to bond with her in apartment 6, which is another reason that Mr. Miller had them built! It was a great time of bonding for them. Being that normally we don't get much time to talk with the families, this time we did. While Fiorella and her new mother went shopping for new things, her dad would stay back and talk and tell stories....kinda reminded me of Uncle Elbert when it comes to story telling! They had a BIG party the night before they left to go and live in Lima! Here are some pictures of the party and of Fiorella and her new family!

Fiorella with her new family!

Partying in the Comedor!

The tables of treats....look at those 2 cakes! One was for Robyn's birthday from Fiorella's parents! How sweet of them!

Some of the boys with Araceli playing a game!

Joel and Yamelit playing a game!

And there isn't a party without singing!!

Fiorella with Samir! He gave her a card!

Mirian's Baby Shower!!!!

Mirian, our social worker, is going to have a little boy in October! I am so excited for her! She got married while I was here, but didn't have a big wedding though. On August 22, Robyn and Kristi threw a baby shower for her. It was a little different from those back home.....there were SEVERAL men there, and the games were different, but fun! We did a game where things were in a bag and we had to guess what they are without looking in the bag....things that you would need when having a baby. Then we drew a baby with the paper on our head, which was interesting! We had her change a diaper blind-folded, which was fun for all to see! We ended with treats and coffee, along with stating one word for her being a new mother....mine was "paz", which means peace. Here are a few pictures of the baby shower and all her gifts (I am sure my family can guess what she got from Robyn and I)!!

Yes, Mirian "changed" the diaper, but in the end it was on backwards!

Kristi, Mirian and Robyn observing the baby!

Mirian with her box of gifts....the box was made my Miss Aly's class!

Amy, Elias, Sarita, Hugo and Liz drawing "babies" on our heads! (well on the paper of course!)

Joel, Nanci, Alex, Miss Aly, Silvia, and Veronica

Nanci, Alex, and Miss Aly

Joel and Nanci

Now you know what Mirian got from Robyn and I! (It was Robyn's idea though!!) Mirian was really excited to get it! It has polar bears on it.....red with a brown backing! Other than the strawberries, this is my favorite fleece here in Perú....so far!

Hmmmmmm....Jammies!!

The Winnie the Pooh mobile!

Mirian with all her gifts!

All of us with our "bottles" that Miss Aly made!

Well Mirian and Elias TRIED getting all the gifts into the new diaper bag, but couldn't get it all. They asked me, and I got it all to fit.....not breaking a thing!

Alisson's first day of Pre-K and Rocio and Yuli's first day of baking class!

Alisson is 4 years old and got a chance to go to Pre-K at the Christian school (Betania) in Salaverry. Being that we already had paid for Isaias to go to school, we could send another after Isaias got adopted back in June. So here she is on August 4, 2008, in her new uniform....well Isaias's uniform....ready to head to Betania for the first time!!!

Here comes that new school girl!!!

All dressed up in uniform!

Alisson with her "muchila"....backpack!

Is she scared? No!!!! Just a cute face!

Alisson in the van!

Also Rocio and Yuli started going to baking classes! They have come home with LOTS of new and delicious cakes which they sell to us at a small price. This is a great program. They are learning a trade which will help them in life. Most likely they won't get a valid high school diploma but they do get an education here with Miss Aly. Here they are with their first cakes!!

Rocio and Yuli with their first cake!!!

My Kinder Class while I was gone to Huaraz!

While I was gone to Huaraz for my birthday with Sara, two volunteers from New Mexico (part of the 5 Amigas) took over my class! It was great to see what they did when I returned! They decided to read "El Arca de Noé"....."Noah's Ark"! They did 2 art projects with them, which was awesome to come back to. One was making the ark with popsicle sticks, and the other was a HUGE rainbow with tissue paper on it! They said that the kids did test them and that they were firm and followed through with things, which was great to hear! I missed them alot, even though I was only gone for 3 days. While I was in Huaraz we did have a transportation strike, which was a bummer, but I think I already mentioned that in another blog....sorry if I did....that is really bad!

The kids being "animals" of Noah's Ark

More animals in the class!!

Emily telling the story of Noah's Ark

The kids eating their "refrigerio"...snack time!

Another nice day in Perú.....

We don't have too many nice days to go up the sand dunes. This was a nice day, so Joel and I took the kids up along with a worker's cousin for a fun time!

Rocio, Zuleica, Yamelit, Joel, and Yuli

Kristi's cousin, who visited us from Lima, jumping in the sand!

Ericka, Maria, Joel and Yamelit jumping together with Zuleica and Rocio watching....and me too I guess since I am taking the picture!

Zuleica enjoying the sand.

Edwin burying his feet....."Tia...pies? No hay!!" That is him asking where his feet are, then saying they aren't there! How cute he is!

A train of people going down the hill being pulled by Maria. Not totally sure how it started, but I think it was Joel being ornery trying to pull others down the hill, but I could be totally wrong!

Maria and Zuleica....not sure what Zuzu thinks of going down the sand dunes!

Carrying Alisson up the sand dunes!

I can't believe he carried Fernando all the way up the hill!

Joel and Yuli!

Desfile....aka Parade!!!!!

What an exciting day! Almost the whole orphanage was in Salaverry on July 27th! The kids were marching in the parade! This is VERY traditional here to have a parade around their Independence day. They have 2 full days of celebration for their Independence Day which actually was Monday, July 28th and Tuesday July 29th. We were off those days from work also. It was a neat experience. It was just the officials of Salaverry, the Marineros and the kids in the surrounding schools who marched in the parade! Here are some pictures of the parade:

A little boy who is going to march in the parade

The bleachers where people sit during the parade

Paúl waiting for the parade.

Los Marineros.....Marines/Navy


The government officials of the city carrying Perú's flag

A Kinder class in the parade, but not my class.

Kids dressed up in clothes in different parts of the country.

The kids here at the orphanage in the parade!!!

Yen and Brigette

Franklin, Elisa and Jhonatan in the parade.

Alondra and Karina marching.

Piero and Davis marching