Greetings from Cochabamba!

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." – GK Chesteron

Let us begin this New Year with many thanks to all of you who made possible the continuation and growth of NCV throughout 2014. We are thankful for those whom have been supporting us for many years and are thrilled to have so many new partners as well!

Peace and Blessings,

If gratitude truly is happiness doubled by wonder, then all of our kids are super grateful for the wonderful Christmas that we were able to provide because of so many generous donations both near and far!

Here in Bolivia, the big celebration day is Christmas Eve, so everyone gathers together—Corazón del Pastor, Pedacito de Cielo, Sendero de Esperanza, all the staff, volunteers, board members, and friends of the foundation—for the annual NCV Christmas Pageant, a crazy number of gifts and a massive meal.

It was especially great to have so many new girls who were celebrating Christmas with us for the first time. It’s always so fun to see them truly be in wonder of the whole holiday celebration.

Above Left: Our girls along with Tía Celia made these amazing snowmen to welcome us!
Above Right: It's great when the girls and boys get together to play.

Above Left: Getting to swing always brings a smile to Fabian's face.
Above Right: Is Bemabe's face just because of the sun, or the anticipation?

Above Left: Some of the older girls got to go to Tía Caitlin's to make sugar cookies.
Above Right: Adriana and Mariela doing some taste testing.

Above Left: Tía Caitlin, Adriana and Evelyn with their cookies all decorated.
Above Right: Jhoselin and Johana are clearly excited about theirs.

Above Left: Our nativity pageant this year was a bit of a "fly on the wall" perspective on Jesus' birth.
Above Right: The animals listening intently to the angel's message.

Above Left: Mariela announcing the arrival of the Savior.
Above Right: Kattia made a lovely butterfly.

Above Left: Some of our dancers doing an original number.
Above Right: Katrina showing off some of her newly acquired dance skills.

Above Left: Mariela, Evelyn, and Paty put together a humorous number that had us all cracking up.
Above Right: Tío Bernardo from the Bolivian board helping Marco with all his gifts.

Above Left: Tía Caitlin and the boys checking out their stocking goodies.
Above Right: Tía Maru from the Bolivian board admiring Victoria's new bracelet.

Above Left: Paty showing off one of the new house gifts—a much asked for flat iron.
Above Right: One of Fabian's favorite things to do is throw things and have people bring it back to him, so this was a perfect gift!

Above Left: As many girls the world over, Clara was so excited to get a doll from Frozen.
Above Right: Tía Paty and the girls loving all the new books for the house.

Above Left: Tía Maritza and the girls prepping the always amazing Christmas dinner.
Above Right: The girls enjoying the results of all their hard work.

Above Left: Tía Caitlin and Fabian obviously enjoying their dinner.
Above Right: A little sibling affection between Bemabe and Bryssa.

We are also incredibly grateful for a major milestone reached at the very end of this year- our first two high school graduates! It's hard to believe that these two, who were just such young girls when they first arrived at CDP are now young women living on their own, holding down a job and about to start university.

Above Left: Sofia and Ana, the day of their graduation.
Above Right: Tía Lizeth and Sofia all smiles minutes before Sofia and Ana walked to the stage.

Above Left: Ana, with her father and younger sister Vanesa.
Above Right: Sofia, with her brother, mother, and sister Adriana.

Above: What an inspiration for all of our teens!

Our girls have always been good dancers, and anyone who's been down on a team has seen the talent these girls have. This past year it was an honor to have a number of our girls be given scholarships to study dance at two dance academies. Both academies had their end of year recitals, and it was certainly a proud moment to be able to witness all their hard work come to fruition with wonderful performances by all!

Above: A couple photos of our girls performing during their dance presentations.

Above Left: Clara all smiles after her performance.
Above Right: Going to the sock hop!

Child Sponsorship

We saw great growth in our Sponsorship Program this past year, and not only in the number of sponsors, but also in the deepening of relationships between sponsors and their children. We're seeing regular communication via email and Skype happening with a growing number of our sponsors, and it’s been a powerful transformative presence in the life of our children. If you haven’t become a sponsor yet and would like to, visit our website and learn how easy it is to sign up!

We currently have 7 children without any sponsors, and we think it would be wonderful if we could report back next month that all of our children have at least one person sponsoring them!

Above Left: Clara was SO excited to get a letter from her sponsor!
Above Right: Tío Tyson helping Zamora read her letter.

Above Left: Tía Kimber handing out letters to the kids.
Above Right: Manolo showing off a gift that his sponsor sent him from the US.

Above: Kattia writing an email to her sponsor.

Each New Year brings the anticipation of growth and transformation, and we are thankful to have you join us as we continue this journey of caring for children in need. May we be filled with hope and gratitude for what this coming year holds for us all.

Peace and Love from the Kids, Staff and Volunteers of Niños con Valor.