Sunday morning

The group spent all day Saturday at the orphanage here in Cajamarca. We decided it's hard work playing with kids all day, but everyone had a great time. The orphanage is sponsored by the state, if you can say sponsored, because they do it very poorly. The buildings are all in need of paint and repair. The children are fed beans and rice most of the time. Villa Milagro provides their milk and 2 protein meals a week. There are about 70 kids ranging from babies to 17. At age 18, they are given a blanket and sent out on the street without any skills. Many of the girls are forced to go into prostitution. Villa Milagro has been providing scholarships through private donations to provide better futures for as many 18 year olds as possible. We headed out to the orphanage at 8:30 and were greeted by several little boys spinning tops (I'm not sure what they are called...little wooded spools they wrap a string around and throw on the ground). They were pretty good at it. Some of us started playing with the kids and taking their picture, while others painted the front gates. Many of the children were happy and smiling, while some were very solemn, and never smiled all day no matter what we did to entertain them. We played ball, blew bubbles, and made bead necklaces. One little boy had an old roller skake that he entertained himself with by pushing around like it was a little truck. One little girl had one small plastic dish that she washed with a tissue over and over with. At the end of the day, Fellowship Baptist provided a chicken supper and we sat with them and ate. You can't imagine how they gobbled the food down. The kids were pretty rowdy while playing outside, but inside, during meal time, they were very well behaved. Everyone was touched by the needs of these children. The state has offered the orphanage to Villa Milagro to run, but at a cost of $15,000 to 20,000 a month, it is going to take a lot of support from the states for this to happen. Keep this project in your prayers. Pictures at the orphanage have been added to the link listed in the previous post. We are off today to La Ramada, a 2 hour drive for church and some repairs to their church.