Greetings from Cochabamba,

Happy New Year! Here in Bolivia we can't believe that we are already one month into 2013, and that just a week from now, twenty-nine of our boys and girls will be heading back to school.

Since our last update, so much has happened. We have had nearly two months of vacations, celebrated Christmas both in Cochabamba and in Mizque, had a staff change, volunteer visit, a new arrival in PDC, and a staff wedding. We are so excited to share with you photos, stories, and most importantly our thanks for continuing to be a part of our extended family in 2013.

Peace and Love,

Paty's Wedding

In our last newsletter, we shared some beautiful photos of a wedding our girls were a part of at their church. This time around, we are excited to announce the marriage of Tía Paty and her husband Edison. Paty asked that the ceremony be held in her second home—Corazón del Pastor—and we were all so grateful to be a part of this special day.

For those of you who don't know Paty, she has been with us for five years now, and heads up the educational component of the home. She is an important part of the home, a much-loved member of the family, and we are so happy for her! It has been encouraging for our girls, especially our teens who are very interested in boys these days, to witness this relationship grow over the years in a healthy way.

Photo Gallery:

Above Left: Paty and Edison listening to the message, prior to signing the marriage certificate.
Above Right: Edison placing the ring on Paty.

Above Left: The happy newlyweds - congratulations!
Above Right: Paty walking down the aisle with her father.

Above: Mariela and Tía Andrea giving hugs to the bride and groom following the ceremony.

Christmas 2012

Hands down, the most anticipated event of vacations for our boys and girls is Christmas. It is a magical time of year, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, the family we are a part of, and are able to share gifts with one another to show how much we appreciate being a part of each others' lives.

This year, both homes prepared some theater and song, a neighbor lent us a sheep, and we shared an incredible meal with the kids, staff, volunteers and board members. It was a first Christmas with NCV for several of our kids: Alvaro, Eneas, Alejo, Diego, and Abran. It was fun to see their faces light up!

A huge thanks to Canadian churches Elevation, Living Waters, and The Commons for raising the funds for this year's gifts and stocking stuffers, and thanks to Keep Calling here in Bolivia for covering the costs of our Christmas lunch.

Here are some photos and videos taken by the girls and volunteers... Enjoy!

Photo Gallery:

Above Left: The girls of CDP acting out the nativity.
Above Right: A group of surly looking shepherd boys.

Above Left: Bryssa, Mariela and Karina ready to dance and sing.
Above Right: Our Christmas tree, decorated with care by our girls.

Above Left: The neighbor loaned us a lamb, but she wasn't too happy about joining us inside :)
Above Right: Diego, showing off his goatee.

Above Left: Joel hanging out with a very intelligent looking Mateo.
Above Right: Cathy, spending some time with Alarico.

Above Left: Bernardo helping Victoria with one of her presents.
Above Right: Mariela, excited about her stuffed toy.

Above Left: Nice shoes Cedro!
Above Right: Our newest boy, Abran, getting some help from Carolina.

Above Left: Bryssa can't even believe it!
Above Right: Karina showing some nice knit slippers sent from her sponsor in Canada.

Above Left: Alejo, content with the wrapping paper :)
Above Right: Diego was excited to spend his first Christmas with his NCV family.

Above Left: Bemabe's Christmas letter to Santa - how did he know how to draw a snowman?
Above Right: Lucas' letter - he asked for fruit, cookies and... a BUTTERFLY!!!

Video Gallery:

Above Left: Bryssa, Mariela and Karina dance a modern Christmas dance.
Above Right: While Jhoselin, Johana, Evelyn and Vanesa go more traditional.

Above: Check out Alejo as Baby Jesus - he gets that bouncy chair a-going!

Maxam

Every year, Maxam-Fanexa, a local military company here in Cochabamba, hosts different events for our children. Each child has a sponsor from within the company, and it has been exciting to watch these relationships grow. For Christmas this year, both homes were invited to a party, and sponsors purchased a special gift for each child. It was great to see the smiles on their faces - both the kids and the grownups!

This is something we are working on in Bolivia, to expand our national support base, and thus encourage long-term sustainability of our programs. Since our services are not "project" based, but lifelong investments in children, having support here and abroad helps guarantee that our children will continue to receive the excellent care we have been giving them.

Photo Gallery

Above: Photos of some of the children with their sponsors from Maxam, and some of the clowning around they got up to :)

Mizque is so fun! Seriously, just ask any of the teams and volunteers that have been able to join us on these trips. What we do on these trips varies, but there is something incredible about getting up into communities where, despite their economic poverty, are rich in values and culture. For us, these trips are best when they include the children from our homes.

Three weeks ago, we travelled for 4 days and 3 nights, with 15 of our girls, volunteers Jeanette, Cathy and Bill, as well as several staff members. As we have done each year since Christmas 2007, we brought breakfast, toys and baskets of non-perishables to children and families in need. The communities we visited are the three pilot communities we are working with for an integrated program we are going to be unrolling over the next several years: Pantipampa, Kuri and Uchama. This program will empower communities to improve the education and health services available to their families.

Of course, with 15 girls from CDP, the trip was bound to be anything but serious. We shared games with the children in the communities, played late night cacho (Bolivian Yahtzee), and spent a lot of time in the Mizque River. Here are some photos of our time:

Photo Gallery

Above Left: A set of family "baskets" ready to head out to one of the communities.
Above Right: Our preferred mode of travel - dump truck!

Above Left: Jeanette, Bill and Tyson joined the boys of Kuri for some good ol' dodgeball.
Above Right: Some more dodgeball up in Pantipampa.

Above Left:Tug of war - who's gonna win?!
Above Right: Our girls taught the kids some great jumprope games.

Above Left: The kids of Kuri were crazy competetive in the sack race.
Above Right: Soccer... of course!

Above Left: And Mariela takes the lead!
Above Right: Elena and a donkey.

Above Left: The donkey was a huge hit in Kuri.
Above Right: Yippee!

Above Left: In all three communities we cooked up some buñuelos and api.
Above Right: And it was much enjoyed :)

Above Left: A few girls braving a photo.
Above Right: Doesn't that look tastey!

Above Left: Of course, we brought our parachute - always a hit on these trips.
Above Right: Lourdes, drawing a heart on a little boy's hand, so he doesn't try for repeats :)

Above Left: Jhoselin, Adriana and Johana helping with the family baskets.
Above Right: Lourdes also made sure the mom's didn't come for seconds.

Above Left: Lining up for breakfast in Pantipampa.
Above Right: A group of our girls sang some Christmas carols.

Above Left: Just ridiculously cute!
Above Right: On the return trip from Uchama, we had a nice picnic along the roadside.

Above Left: Evelyn and Tía Lucia.
Above Right: Tía Celia striking a pose.

Above Left: Paty, Ana and Celia hanging in the dump truck - oh yeah!
Above Right: The ride was bumpy fun!

Above: Vanesa and Johana posing by some sunflowers in Uchama.

Above Left: Jackie and a sunflower.
Above Right: Ana and Jeanette sitting by the Mizque river.

Above Left: The girls built a dam so they could have a swimming area, as the water was still low.
Above Right: Even with low water levels, that didn't stop our girls!

Above Left: Celia, Jackie and Lucia dipping their feet.
Above Right: Elena and Sofi, enjoying some respite from the sun.

While these have been our big events, our girls have also been busy with extra curricular activities and just having fun around the house. We also had a staff change, as we mentioned above. Tía Lilian let us know at the end of 2012 that she would be moving on to other things, so we are in the process of looking for a new night caregiver. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to find the perfect person for the job.

Photo Gallery

Above Left: Alandra, distracted by the camera during soccer practice.
Above Right: Victoria, checking Raeka's hair for lice, and being silly at the same time.

Above Left: Lucia and Olivia hanging out during snack at the home.
Above Right: Celia and Zamora, still in their pjs :)

Above Left: Playing outside on a lazy vacation morning.
Above Right: Skyping with some former volunteers.

Above Left: Kattia taking a picture of Jeanette taking a picture of Kattia taking a...
Above Right: Mariela and Raeka getting their silly on.

Above Left: Some spontaneous dancing
Above Right: Jeanette, with Abigail and Zamora - we loved having her back!

Above: Snack time - check Zamora's look... stay away from her yogurt!

So, hands down the biggest news we've got for you in this update, even moreso than all the events shared above, is the arrival of our little Abran. He is just shy of two-years-old, and came to us from the province of Tarija. He arrived a very serious boy, severely malnourished, and despite his age was unable to walk or hold himself up. In the couple of months he has been with us, he has made amazing progress, and is now smiling a lot, and trying hard to catch up with the rest of the boys.

The rest of the boys have been having a great vacation. This was the first year they were able to get involved in extra-curricular activities, and all but our smallest joined a soccer club and absolutely loved it. Here are some of our favorite pics from their vacations :)

Photo Gallery

Above Left: Bemabe with older sister Bryssa, enjoying an orange break at soccer practice.
Above Right: Yeah, Lucas may need to grow into his jersey...

Above Left: These boys play some serious soccer!
Above Right: Eneas, waiting for the pass.

Above Left: Zaquiel takes a shot!
Above Right: Not sure, but Manolo is having fun :)

Above Left: Lucas and Zaquiel, lovin' those oranges.
Above Right: Bemabe with one of his other sisters, Alandra.

Above Left: Playing at the home.
Above Right: Manolo, showing recently arrived Abran the ropes.

Above Left: Bryssa with Alarico and Mateo at the home.
Above Right: Mateo, enthusiastic about his puzzle.

Above Left: Manolo cosy and warm in his new tuque.
Above Right: And.... presenting our little Abran!

We hope you enjoyed reading these updates and looking through the photos - we sure enjoyed taking them and celebrating the times they capture. Until next month...

Peace and Love From the Children, the Staff, and the Volunteers of Niños con Valor.