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What a Wild
Summer! |
Greetings from Cochabamba,
Winter here in Bolivia is a time we always look forward to. It is a time when friends, old and new, come to visit and share in our lives, and a time when our kids can take a short break from classes. Most of all, winter brings with it a break from the routine, and more time to share together as a family.
As part of our extended family, we want to share some of the highlights of the past few months with you, and to thank you for helping make this incredible family possible!
Peace and Blessings, |
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Cochabamba-Carmel
High School Meet! |
This June, we spent an incredible week with the second team to come and visit us from Carmel, IN. This group was the first official "June Term" team to join us from University High School, and we hope after such a great experience to host more groups in the future.
A group of 14 high school students and adults joined us to provide outdoor seating for the high school that our teens attend, and spend some quality time with our girls and boys. We also held a talent show and a day out at "El Poncho", where we had some fun in the sun and swimming pool.
It was a blast, as the photos below attest!
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Jill, and her trusty selfie-stick, which rarely left her side.
Samuel enjoying some candy won in a game.
Garett, who returned for his second trip to Cochabamba, with our little Cristina.
Jhoselin, Johana and Evelyn showing their flexibility off to the camera.
Let's see who can get the Oreo in her mouth first - and laugh at them all as they try!
Isabelle and Tomás formed a special relationship in their time together.
The team and kids enjoyed having downtime to just hang out together.
Stacey and Diego - or is it?
Garett and his mom, Nancy, teaming up to cut some rebar.
Brooke, Emily and Ellen taking a break at our kids' high school.
Tyson, along with teacher and team leader, Stacey.
Nancy T. and Nancy F. cutting the rebar for the table-top forms.
The painting was actually finished by our third summer team, but here is a picture of the finished project - awesome job team!
Showing off the gifts given by one of the high school classes as a thanks.
Ellen and Jill enjoying some Wistupiku empanadas.
Making home-made modeling clay.
Clara, not so sure about this part of her facial.
Noah getting a special visit from a clown during a night out of music and dancing with our girls.
Our guide, Remy, explaining some history at the ruins of Incallajta, Cochabamba's largest site of Incan ruins.
Darren helping Alarico swim at El Poncho.
Cynthia and Fabiola in a traditional dance.
Manolo showing off his pipes.
Martina and Karina demonstrating their dancing talents.
Mariela and Diego in a taekwondo demonstration.
Our oldest teens in a typical dance routine.
Zamora and Nohemi.
The moms singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in Spanish.
Alarico, Eduardo and Marcos playing some music on the pan flutes.
Paty and Natalia in a hip-hop number.
Jill and Ellen closing off with something silly.
Our girls on the ride home after goodbyes with the team.
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Vacations, VBS and
Restoration! |
The first weeks of July brought with them winter vacations, as well as a team of 13 from Restoration Anglican Church that traveled all the way from Arlington, VA to host a vacation Bible school at our kids' church, and to share in some super fun activities in our homes.
One member of this team, Endel Liias, is the founder of Niños con Valor, so we were especially excited to be able to celebrate our 10-year anniversary with him. Our kids shared some of their incredible talents, and Tyson made a video looking back at 10 amazing years of nurturing our loving Niños con Valor family.
Check out some of the great photos below. |
The team at their VBS at La Trinidad church.
A couple boys from the community working on a VBS activity.
Playing a circle game in the park near the girls' home.
Susie playing ball with Alarico at the park.
Natalia with some of the team chilling on the monkey bars.
Craig and Louise playing some games on the basketball court with the kids.
Eva-Elizabeth and Liz getting right into the face-painting activity.
Liz and Marla, coloring with a group of our teens.
Mariela and Jhoselin posing for a photo.
Carson, with his sponsor "cousin" Manolo.
Abigail, Jhoselin and Johana, with Tía Kate up at the Cristo.
60 frozen yogurts - that's easy :)
Keeping the ball up at El Poncho.
Chilling in the kids' pool at El Poncho.
It was a day of fun and friendship.
Tía Carolina lounging in a hammock with baby Cristina, talking with Marla.
Endel and Andrew playing soccer with Timoteo and Marcos.
Tía Rossmery chilling with Ramiro.
Tía Sonia helping distract a very mischievous Eneas.
Marcos and Ramiro, relaxing in the hammock.
Gloria hanging out with Tomás.
Bolivian board chair, Ginny, opening our 10th anniversary activity.
Tía Evelyn with our little "angelitos".
Natalia, Zuleika and Laura making their dresses flow.
The team singing some songs they used at the VBS.
Tias and teens joining together for a traditional Bolivian dance.
Paulina, Evelyn and Cynthia shared from their own experiences what being a part of the Niños con Valor family means to each of them.
Manolo, Eneas and Eduardo, dressed as old men for a traditional dance performance.
Manolo showing his strength.
Timoteo and Endel breaking it down to Enrique Iglesias.
The tias performing a dance dressed as elderly women.
Eva-Elizabeth and Zuleika hug - goodbyes are so sad!
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| Coming to America! |
Last October, during Tyson's travels to the US, conversations started to arise about the possibility of having one of the young women who grew up in Corazón del Pastor girls' home join him on a future trip. We are excited to share with you that, after a long application process, which included an interview in La Paz and follow-up questions for our US and Bolivian leadership, Sofia has been granted a tourist visa to the United States!
She will be traveling with Tyson to all of his stops this October, and is working hard on her English so she will be ready to share a bit about her own life as a part of our 2016 presentation. Thanks for all of those who have been praying for this - Sofia is so excited, as are we, for this incredible opportunity she has been given. |
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Good Times with
Good Samaritan |
The folks at Church of the Good Samaritan (Paoli, PA) have been close friends and supporters of Niños con Valor since before we even opened the doors of Corazón del Pastor in 2006! They have sent several teams, have representation on our US board of directors, and most importantly, are constantly keeping in touch with us and holding us in their prayers.
Their team of 13 joined us for 2 weeks, put on a science show and spa day, helped fix up our kids' primary school and the park at Corazón del Pastor, and joined our teens on a trip to Mizque to help a rural community improve their daycare center.
It was a ton of fun - check out the photos below!
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Paty and Marianne painting at the kids' primary school.
Lexie and Kevin getting the higher spots on the wall.
Lauren and Natalia taking their painting very seriously.
Lexie and her mom Tammy helping finish up the University High School project.
Betsy ready to paint the slide at CDP.
Abigail playing cards with Timoteo, Victoria and Marcos.
Origami!
Andy and Manolo ready to test out their paper airplane.
Father and daughter playing crazy with Bemabe and Tomás.
There's always time for a bit of a dance party.
Kevin providing a lesson on science - and a bit of magic.
Paulina showing off her nails at the spa day.
Samuel and Morgan.
Our teens representing different cultures on world missions Sunday.
The team with Sofia at the Sendero de Esperanza transition apartment.
Molly and Lauren in the bus, on the way Mizque.
All ready to play a game of cacho!
While waiting for transportation, the girls had fun braiding hair.
Molly and Morgan posing in Mizque's museum.
Molly, Cara and Lexie with one of the dogs that wandered around Mizque's main plaza.
Some activities lead by Liseth to strengthen our group.
Kevin, Betsy and Cara, making a mess helping stucco a wall for the new daycare room in the community of Tablas Mayu.
Paola with Adriana, Karina and Soraya.
The team doing the same group dynamic with the kids in Tablas Mayu.
Martina playing soccer with some of the children from the community.
Hanging out with the kids in the community.
Lexie drawing a picture for some curious onlookers.
Massages for all the hard work.
Paola presenting materials and furnishings for the daycare.
Molly, along with mom Betsy, enjoying the local ice cream.
Getting on the plane to go spend a day in La Paz to wrap up their time in Bolivia.
Taking pictures from La Paz's cable car system.
Kevin bibbed and ready to try his first llama meal.
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What an Amazing
Ten Year Adventure |
As mentioned in our section on Restoration Anglican, July 2016 marked our 10 year anniversary. Technically, we became an officially recognized Bolivian charity in September 2006; however, our first home, Corazón del Pastor, actually opened up 3 months earlier with the support of Bolivian Family and Children Services.
So much has happened in the past ten years: two residential homes, a transition program and home, a special fund for children living with HIV, and most importantly, 89 lives have been touched by the love of Niños con Valor.
Here are just a few out of thousands of photos we've collected over the past decade - enjoy! |
Our first family photo! Way back in 2006 :)
Every single one of them is now a teen or young adult.
Tía Kim, with some of the first kids to join Pedacito de Cielo.
Marcos, along with Chale and Mariana, back when PDC was only a daycare.
Tía Paola and Tía Evelyn, both still a part of the NCV family, early on with some of our pedacitos.
Paty and Mariela - younger, but silly as always.
A miniature Manolo!
Jhoselin and Johana back in 2007.
Our sweet little Victoria back in 2009.
Lucas and Zaquiel, now both living with family and doing great.
Alandra and Zamora shortly after they joined the CDP family in 2010.
Our 2012 family photo at Pedacito de Cielo.
Adriana, Jhoselin, Evelyn and Johana, all within a few years of adulthood, have always been the divas of the home.
Our boys celebrating Carnaval a few year back.
Remembering our Alvaro, who passed away in April 2014, but always remains in our hearts.
We have always encouraged volunteering amongst our kids - here, Bryssa and Paty, at a nursing home for abandoned elderly.
A group of our boys hanging out at Lincoln Park.
The girls on a trip to Oruro in January 2010.
Marcos embracing Zaquiel and Miguel. Miguel is happy with his adoptive family.
Tía Liseth with Jhoselin in Copacababa. Encouraging our kids to explore their country and learn about their history has always been a priority.
Every January since 2007, with only one exception, we've held an annual "Moda Loca" crazy fashion show as a last "hurrah" before summer vacations end.
Volunteers, like Tía Kimber, have been an important part of our family over the years.
Sydney, who was around shortly after we opened PDC, with Marcos when he was just an infant.
Tía Megan has come back and visited several times since her initial volunteer time with us, and continues to help out from within the US.
Mark and Becky came and had a great experience together.
Jess built incredible relationships with our girls, and came back to visit them with her husband, Kyle.
Olivia was the first of our teens to celebrate her quinceaños, a big deal here in Bolivia. Below are photos of some of our other quinceañaras over the years.
Last year marked a major event in our family - Paulina gave birth to her sweet little daughter, Cristina.
Our most recent family photo - oh how we've grown!
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| October 2016 Travel Schedule |
If you would like to connect with Tyson, our International Director, or Sofia, the young woman who has grown up as a part of the NCV family and who will be traveling with him in October, please look over the following schedule and contact us for details on events planned at each stop.
October 2 - 5 : The Bay Area
October 6 - 9 : Southern California
October 10 - 11 : Boston
October 12 - 13 : Washington, DC
October 14 - 16 : Philadelphia
October 17 - 18 : Chicago
October 19 - 21 : Indianapolis
October 22 - 25 : Coeur D'Alene
October 26 - 31 : Seattle |
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| Sponsorship Spotlight |
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| Timoteo |
Timoteo joined the Pedacito de Cielo family in May of last year. He came from a home for children with severe neurological difficulties, and the nuns caring for him felt he was not thriving. He was the only fully verbal child in the home, and showed an incredible aptitude for memorization.
Just a little over a year later, at 12-years-old Timoteo is thriving. He loves to cook, is always the first to greet visitors to the home, and has recently started scouts!
If you would like to sponsor one of our children, and help them on their own journey to transformation, please visit our sponsorship page to learn how you can do so!
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| Fabiola |
Fabiola has only been a part of the Corazón del Pastor family since January, but she has adjusted well and has shown herself to be a fun, responsible 14-year-old. She came as a result of very difficult circumstances, yet radiates positivity.
Fabiola is incredibly curious. She is experiencing many things in the home for the first time, and likes to dive right in and learn. She especially enjoyes helping prepare meals, and sitting around and talking.
If you would like to sponsor one of our children, and help them on their own journey to transformation, please visit our sponsorship page to learn how you can do so!
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| All of our programs seek to provide holistic care, as well as integrate children and families living with various physical and mental health issues, including HIV/AIDS. |
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| Our home that provides care for up to 24 girls who have been orphaned, abandoned or removed from high-risk situations. |
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| Our home that provides care for up to 14 boys who have been orphaned, abandoned or removed from high-risk situations. |
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| We also host volunteers, who fulfill important roles within our programs. Click here to learn more. |
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| Our transitional program, helping prepare teens for independent living once they leave our residential homes. |
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