a bit about Benjamin (Shelisa at the Aldea)

Benjamin is such a joy to be around. He always has a smile on his face and it just makes your heart melt, especially because one of his front teeth is missing. He is such a handsome boy. One day during football, Benjamin was running to get the ball and one of the boys, in excitement, pushed him to the ground. Benjamin had scuffed his knee and was on the ground crying so I went over to comfort him. At the time I was wearing a hat that my father had given me from his work and that Benjamin had taken a fancy to. So to cheer him up, I gave him the hat.

I must say he looks much better in the hat than I ever will.

Getting to know him, I have learned that he is very athletic and loves to play any sports he can. He is always out with his little gang of friends, all boys about his age. Everyone gets a long with him quite well because of his easy going personality.

He also loves to be tossed around while swimming and has fun playing sharks and fish.

Sweet Miguel (Shelisa at the Aldea)

Miguel is such a sweet child and you can tell that he has such a sweet spirit about him. When Miguel smiles at you, you can’t help but to smile back at him. You can see the love that is in his eyes. Talking with him gets funny after a while because he will continue to ask the same question over and over again. For any of you are not aware Miguel has a physical handicap as well mental. He is willing to help out around the house when ever we clean and he seems to not allow his handicap prevent him from doing activities with the older children.



I wish that I could see him have more things to do with his disabilities but I love to also see him take on the challenges that he faces being with other children that do not have a hard time as he does. When putting the pools up for the children all the kids came running in to help out and to assist in any way possible and part of that group was Miguel, he would but the pipes together and hand them to us when we needed them.



The other day while driving back from the beach all the kids had received some icy drinks and all the children had given Miguel their empty cups and straws, few minutes later looking over at him the had all six straws in his mouth trying to suck up every last drop. It was so cute to just watch him sit back drinking it with his little hat on his head that looks like a fishing hat. He also has such a funny since of humor the other night some of us volunteers went over to casa five to play some games and Miguel had joined us part way though at first he helped out one of the volunteers and then the last game got some cards of his own. During the game he kept cracking jokes and making all of us laugh.



I think that one thing that I truly love about this kid is that he is just so innocent and has such a simple and innocent mind, and a good heart. When he says something you know that it is sincere.

talented Kenny (Shelisa at the Aldea)

Well the week has again flown by again! We got to do many exciting things with the children this week such as teaching them how to swim because most dont know how. We have been teaching them to do some American style dancing, the kids just eat it up and dont want to stop. I love it! We also got to do some manners classes.

While at Dance class this last week a young man Kenny was playing around on the Piano, I dont know much about pianos or even how to truly play, but I was able to show him a few of the things I did know.

He got so happy and wanted to keep learning he just kept on persisting and would not back down. He has such a strong motivation and desire to learn. When he messed up he just kept a good attitude and would go right back to the beginning and start all over again. It was sad because the Piano at the Orphanage is out of tune and some of the keys dont work but that does not stop the children and expecially Kenny from trying to learn. Along with wanting to play the Piano Kenny has a great talent for drawing.

When we were in class teaching about washing hands to not have germs, we had the children draw their hands and Kenny went into such amazing detail. I was truly shocked that he drew with such incredible detail. Kenny also enjoys listening
to music and asks to barrow our ipods from time to time to have a listen. He is such a good kid with a lot of drive and motivation. I could definitely see this kid going places.

A bit about Fredy (Shelisa at Aldea)

Getting to the orphanage I was not sure what to expect, I was blown out of the water at how amazing the children are and how loving they are even to a complete stranger. When our truck pulled up the children came flooding in and they helped us instantly with our bags and carried them to our house. I enjoy and love so many of the children already and it has only been two weeks but they have my heart. The children have been so patient with me and the language barrier. They are also always willing to help out even without being told if they see us doing a chore they jump in and do it for us. I am there to serve them but it does not feel that way they are always serving me with their love and kindness.

The one child that I would like to tell you about today is Fredy, he has stood out to me the most. He is 15 years old, at first he is quiet and does not say much, but really just observes you. He is the father of the orphanage here. He is always setting the example to the children and is very kind to them. When I see a child having a hard time or crying he is there to cheer them up and take care of them. He is always there to help the little ones who get picked on of that just need a friend. He is also a very hard worker with a lot of determination; you can tell just by the way he carries himself and how he works around the orphanage doing his chores. He is now warming up to me, it may have something to do with the fact that we play soccer (football) with them.

I was told a story about him that just made me so happy, it was around Christmas time and he was running around the orphanage yelling "children children…. Come out and play", they created a train of children and played with them that day! He really is like the father of the orphanage. He is also always willing to learn new things. The other day while teaching the younger children to swim he was there watching and learning what we were teaching them.