Alegria de Vivir: Help Juan David

Great update on Alegria de Vivir from Sheena!

This week I had a chance to meet Juan David, pictured above. Juan David is a cheerful eight year old who loves animals and playing with his siblings. Juan David also has cerebral palsy which affects both his body and his learning. Despite this, he is very active and walks independently with his walker. When he was able to attend school he enjoyed painting and doing other activities with his classmates. Unfortunately he cannot attend this school anymore and the only ones now available to him are costly. His mother wants him to receive an education above all, but she cannot afford the tuition and transportation costs. This is a common dilema of many of the families that participate in the organization Alegria de Vivir or Joy of LIfe here in Turbaco. This foundation is the only support that many of these families have. In supporting this foundation, we can give hope to children like Juan David who want to attend school just like everyone else.

To help Juan David and other children like him, click here.

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Alegria de Vivir: Meet Mauricio

Sheena introduces us to Mauricio:

This week I had a chance to get to know Mauricio (7) and his mom Yesenia. Yesenia is a single mom and mother of three children. Her son Mauricio suffers from Cerebral Palsy and Asthma and cannot speak due to a tracheotomy that he had when he was younger. Yesenia struggles to make ends meet with the small income she receives from odd jobs and government assistance. The day that I visited her Mauricio had only had milk for lunch because Yesenia did not have anything else to give him. Despite all this, Mauricio is an incredibly cheerful young boy! He has a bright smile and is always laughing. He likes doing the exercises the physical therapist at Alegria de Vivir has assigned him and does them well. When I visited he stood up from a chair 5 times with very little assistance! Despite his physical potential, Mauricio does not have braces, a walker, or even a wheelchair to help him move more independently. In addition he often cannot make it to school or to Alegria de Vivir because his mom cannot afford the transportation there and back each day. With a little help Mauricio could realize his potential and start moving and learning.

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Show your gratitude this Thanksgiving by donating to help children like Mauricio!

Semillas de Amor: Halloween Party

 Update from Sheena at Semillas de Amor: 

 The Seeds of Love the kids celebrated Halloween at a surprise party put on by foundation volunteers. Wendy, and many of the other children, were met with applause after singing a song or reciting poetry they learned at school. Thanks to local donors each child was sent home with a belly full of ice cream and other goodies and a head full of confetti.

 The jewelry project here at Seeds of Love is progressing! This week foundation volunteer Damaris, pictured on the far left above, taught the moms how to make necklaces. Moms like Karen and Evelis, pictured in the center above, were quick learners. 

It took a lot of concentration, but in the end the necklaces came out beautiful, dotted with brilliant pieces of blue or red coral.The purchase of these necklaces will support the construction of the foundation so that these kids may have a place of their own to learn and play.

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Semillas de Amor: Battle of the Sexes

Update on what is happening at Semillas de Amor from Sheena: 

This week was a battle of the sexes at the foundation! Girls in one group and boys in another, the children quizzed each other on the numbers in English from one to ten. On the boy's side Wilson (10), pictured above, led the review. Each side worked hard with the hope of crushing the other team in a number game. In the end the girls took the win, much to the dismay of the boys.

This week also marked the beginning of our jewelry project here at Seeds of Love. The mothers of the children at the foundation are learning how to make bracelets and necklaces. With limited funds the few women who run the foundation are regularly forced to use their own money to keep things going. Though it is inspiring to see so much generosity coming from families that have very little themselves, it is also troublesome to see them under such financial burden. To help these families and to support the construction of the foundation the jewelry made by the mothers will be available for purchase in December. Just in time for Christmas!

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Semillas de Amor: Construction in Progress!

Update from Sheena at Semillas de Amor:

Good news! Construction has begun on a permanent structure to house the foundation Seeds of Love! Without a permanent structure, children are crammed into the limited patio space afforded them by a friend of the foundation. This is only made more inconvenient by the rain, which falls incessantly during these Winter months. However with a respite in the rain our dedicated handymen have begun preparing the space for construction!

In more good news, the children of the foundation this week learned the alphabet in English. Leadership was practiced by older children as they guided others through pronunciation of each letter. The children then faced a group challenge of tapping the right letter in an alphabet game and team “Hot Dogs” beat team “Hamburgers” five to two!

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Semillas de Amor: The English Race

The following is from Sheena, an intern at Semillas de Amor:

The boys have invaded the English class, and so has grammar! This week the students started working on sentence construction. In pairs they raced to put the words in order to form phrases. I was incredibly proud to see my more experienced students helping newer students. During the last class Silfredo (8), pictured above with arms waving high, was having a lot of trouble putting the sentences in order. This class, with a little repetition and guidance from the others, he was able to not only put the sentence in order, but also give his brother Cristian (15), to the right of Silfredo, a run for his money during the racing game. He's become a lot more confident in the process and when I see him outside of class he's always ready to ask, "What is your name?"

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Semillas de Amor: Dreams and English

Entry by Sheena, an intern at Semillas de Amor: 

Many of the local girls here in Turbaco, Colombia have great aspirations to be chefs of international cuisine, doctors, and everything inbetween. Wendy (17), second from left, wants to be a nurse and Yuriko (10), third from left, wants to be a doctor. English is emphasized in school and at the local public university in Cartagena. In order to graduate from the university they have to pass a rigorous English test. Desipte this, many of the girls have a hard time with pronunciation and speaking and many do not know the alphabet from memory. We´re practicing as a group and the girls are already showing great progress.

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