Beautiful Children

We just spent a very sad yet wonderful morning at La Casa Cuna - the orphanage that Leticia´s family operates. Right now they have around 20 of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. One little girl, Mary Bell, spent most of the morning in my arms, and she was absolutely precious. The majority of the children there come from the streets, and I can´t believe that anyone would abandon any one of them. My little Mary Bell was around one and a half, maybe two years old. I asked if she was found in the streets also, because she had a big scar running down her chin, and the back of her little elbow was healing from what looked like a pretty big wound. I don´t know for a fact if these were injuries she got before she came to the orphanage or not. One little boy, Israel, had brain damage, but Leticia said he has made amazing progress. When he first came to the orphanage he couldn´t even sit up by himself, but this morning he was walking around, eating cake, and smiling like an angel at all of us. One little baby was only around 10 days old, she was abandoned at the police station.

Leticia said that Americans aren´t adopting from her foundation because connections have to be made with your Congressman to get the process started. I don´t know what else is involved, but I do know that the family who wants to adopt has to come stay in Cochabamba for a month to bond with the child and make sure the adoption is going to work out. I think I have decided, if I ever adopt a child, I want to go through Leticia´s foundation.

I can´t believe the difference in behavior between the children here and the children at home. And sorry, kids, the Bolivian children win hands down. They are so calm - not one child was crying the entire time we were at the orphanage. The Indian women here who sell things on street corners just set the baby down on a blanket under their cart, and the child just plays and amuses itself - and I mean teeny, little babies. On the way back from Tarata we saw little girls who couldn´t have been more than 6 and 8 wathching the family cows out in the fields. They were just sitting there in the middle of the cows braiding each other´s hair. That is both amazing and so sad to me at the same time. They lose so much of their childhood because they are expected to work and help their families as soon as they can walk. In Huayaculi we were told that the children begin to learn the pottery trade as soon as they are off the bottle and can sit at the potter´s wheel.

Well...I´m all talked out now, I guess. I still can´t believe that I have had an opportunity to come and stay in Bolivia for nine days. Wow. I am SO blessed. I have loved this experience more than words can say, but I am ready to go home now. I miss my family and friends, but I can´t wait to share everything that I have seen and done with ya´ll!

Nicki