La Aldea Infantil: Helping Perla

The following post is from Jill, an intern at La Aldea Infantil: 

This week we decided to make a memory flashcard set of the alphabet for Perla. We were all focused on teaching her how to recognize and write the first few letters in the alphabet and it was cool to see how quickly she was learning. We think we can help her a lot in this way and its great to see her enthusiasm for learning!

Alegria de Vivir: Meet Jhon Felipe

The interns at Alegria de Vivir, Katy, Ryan and Izumi introduce us to Jhon Felipe: 

Introducing Jhon Felipe! This five year old boy has an amazing spirit. He has a wonderful smile and a cute and quirky sense of humor. In November, the Alegria de Vivir foundation was able to raise up enough money to send him to Bogota to receive a much needed surgery on his legs to help him walk. The surgery was successful, but unfortunately there wasn't enough money raised to be able to purchase a brace. Since November Jhon Felipe has been practicing walking, but without a brace he is unable to learn the proper leg movements. With the help of a brace and physical therapy he will be able be contribute to society with his sweet and caring spirit. With the help of Alegria de Vivir and Eagle Condor these children like Jhon Felipe will be able to live a happy and healthy life.

Katy, Ryan, Izumi

Aldea Infantil: Boosting self-esteem

Check out this great activity the interns at La Aldea Infantil have cooked up. This post is from Annalee: 

As interns we’ve been working on boosting the self-esteem of all the children at the Aldea.  We take a night at each house and focus on why each child is important.  We’ve made this crazy looking stick, and whoever is holding it is the child we are spotlighting at the moment.  Everyone shouts out different things they like about this person or something they are good at. Each kid gets a chance to be spotlighted and hear what other people like about them.  It’s really hard for the kids to say nice things to each other; they just aren’t use to vocalizing the nice things they think about each other.  It always starts out a little slow, but by the end of the night the kids are really good at giving each other compliments.  I love seeing their faces as they hear good things about themselves.  A couple of the kids have started crying as they have heard positive comments about who they are and why they are special.  It’s really touched my life to see the happiness this is bringing to the children.  

Thanks!

Annalee

Semillas de Amor: El agua es vida

The following is a post from Ryan, an intern at Semillas de Amor:

June 19
Water is life here in Colombia.  Each drop is collected, saved, and then used for multiple purposes.  Even though rain falls in abundance, water always seems scarce.  Maybe living in conditions where no running water exists highlights water's importance to me but it is obvious that to most Colombians, water plays a significant part in their lives.

For the kids in Nueva Colombia, water means even more.  Washing dishes or clothes and cleaning the house can wait-- swimming is what takes precedence.  And these kids can swim anywhere-- the waterfall near their homes in Mamellar or the stream that feeds the falls.  Even though trash has invaded the stream and begun to pollute the water source, these kids know how to appreciate the water's refreshing nature on a hot day.  With school out for three weeks, the stream will become an even more important part of daily life than before.  After all, what's summer vacation without a trip to the pool?

Aldea Infantil: Meet Alyson

We are excited to have Alyson as a new intern! In the following post, she describes her arrival and first week at La Aldea Infantil: 


June 17
When I arrived at The Aldea early Monday morning I was immediately overwhelmed by the quaint and cheerful environment. Ten little houses, painted orange and pink, surrounded a big grassy area. There was a rusty old playground and a cement soccer court and all the large rocks had colorful, animated faces painted on them. It appeared to be a mini village, especially designed for little kids.


While the peaceful atmosphere quickly disappeared once the kids came back from school, the place still remained a cheerful, safe haven from the outside world. For many of these children, The Aldea is a sanctuary from some rather awful things. I am grateul to be a part of that sanctuary.

My week involves playing and chatting with all sorts of children. One girl I often talk with, Maribel, is only a year or two younger than me. She taught me how to make these colorful little bracelets, and we have become friends. Maribel is a great help to the interns. She often helps me when I can't understand the little kids' Spanish and is always willing to watch after the little ones with us. As I sat making one of those bracelets with Maribel, I wondered what fate or power made me the intern, the girl with loving parents and the financial means to travel to her country, while this intelligent, sweet girl, barely younger than me, was the orphan? I will likely never know the answer to that question. But I suppose it doesn't really matter. That is the situation and my responsibility is to help in any way I can.

Aldea Infantil: Update on recycling program

The following is a post from Jill, an intern at La Aldea Infantil:

June 17
This week, we found out that the recycling bins at the Aldea outside had been dumped into the same pile on the other side of the wall- the same wall that the recycling bins were leaning up against. So we put on some gloves and went to work! Maribel and I, along with another intern from Scotland, organized this huge pile of recycling. We built a little wall and separated each section (plastics, glass, cardboard, etc). This will benefit the Aldea because they can sell the recycling and make some profit!  

Read the original post explaining the Aldea's recycling program.

Aldea Infantil: Craft fun

The following is a post from Stephanie, an intern at La Aldea Infantil:

June 15

This week we got the chance to do a fun craft with the kids. It was so fun to see their excitement and creative energy at work. We made egg carton caterpillars’ and the kids loved putting on lots of glitter, bouncy eyes, and lots of color; I loved seeing the kids joy as they made them! I LOVE these kids; they have so much excitement for life and love to share with us.