I'm changed...

(I have been writing this entry over the last few days)

Yesterday I saw poverty firsthand. You see it on tv and hear people talk about their experiences, but nothing can really come close to experiencing it yourself. To be honest, I'm forever changed. I don't think it possible for me to ever be ungrateful or complain about how I live ever again. I wish I had a camera to take pictures - but I didn't so you will have to settle for the written description:

Sebi, Lucas, and I (accompanied by a coordinator) got to experience "Proyecto Apoyo Social Familiares" yesterday afternoon. This project focuses on going out to visit families in poverty to find out how FAI can help and to build relationships with the families in need. We went to visit a family of one mother and 7 children (one of which is actually a grandchild) in El Alto. This area is filled with a lot of poverty and that's exactly what we found. It started with a bus ride that went from paved road to a stone road with a lot of pot-holes to not being paved at all with garbage littering the road. When we got out of the bus we were greeted by the mother and two little girls less than 3 years old. She greeted us and walked us to her home (I should preface by saying that all homes here are fenced off by concrete walls and have an iron gate for an entrance). When we walked on to her (actually her mother-in-law's) property I was blown away. Her courtyard was more like a junk yard with trash littering the ground. When we walked into her house (more like a large backyard shed by our standards) we had to duck to fit in. She had us sit (since we were guests) in the only area there was to sit in her house – which was on 2 beds that were within a foot and a half of each other. The woman who is the project coordinator began conversation which quickly became emotional for the mother and then the oldest son who came in shortly after. I think the only reason I didn’t break down right then was because I couldn’t fully understand what they were talking about, but nonetheless I felt the emotion and the pain of what these people were going through. The hardest part of all was that they bought a 2 liter of Coke to give to us since we were guests in their home. I was close to tears because – I mean – what do you do in that situation? You can’t turn down the offer because it would be terribly insulting but at the same time you know they don’t really even have the money to be doing this for us. So we politely drank while the kids quickly drank the rest. The two other volunteers and I left the house basically in shock as it was the first time we had ever seen such poverty in our lives. I will be changed forever.

The next two days we got to visit all of the projects that are run by FAI (about 12 or so) to see which we might have the most interest in. All of the projects will have a great impact on the people who benefit from them as help is needed everywhere. I will find out next week which project I will be working at for the next year. I have an idea of where I want to work but my prayer is that God will put where I need to be and I will give it my all no matter what.

All of the volunteers have been working to get to know one another better, although I must say that there is somewhat of a culture gap since the German speakers tend to stick together – as do the English speakers. We try to speak to Spanish with each other to practice but not all of us are that good yet. The best of the bunch is Lucas (German) who spent a year in Mexico and Rose (American) who is just a brilliant person in general. Hopefully the friendships will continue to grow and become deeper.

Last night we had a dinner here where I stay at Niñas Obrajes where we got to eat spaghetti with the girls. They performed some Bolivian dances for us and then we all got up and danced the night away. I was caught up with Mavelin (pronounced Ma-bey-lean) all night as she wouldn’t let me dance with anyone else! But it was a blast and the girls who were near us commented on my nice dance moves!... Yea that’s right!

Today (Friday) all of us from America and the UK had to go take care of business for our visas which meant getting medical exams (that was 3 hours and 170Bs.) and no food or drink (even water) in the morning until we were done… My blood type is A positive by the way… didn’t know that. We also had to go to Interpol to get a bunch of paperwork done and let them take our finger prints; meanwhile our German counterparts just had to go to their embassy and sign some papers... Oh, and did I mention we still aren’t done with our visa process? There is still more to come!

Anyways, enough with the boring stuff and on to the more important things – like how I got to try some new food today! One was an empanada-like food that was stuffed with potatoes and meat and an egg (don’t know its name) and the other was a salteña – both of which were awesome in their own ways… It might have been because we had been fasting for more than 12 hours but I feel like I could eat them all day every day!

I know I’m leaving out some things that would probably be worth sharing but I just don’t have the time! Hopefully I will be able to be more detailed in the upcoming posts. Some pics for your viewing pleasure:

Un hermano y una hermana

Casa de Paso Playground

From the back of a Minibus

View from Alto Obrajes near sunset