This month I had the opportunity to help lead an incredible short term team from Fredrickton, New Brunswick. The bulk of the trip was spent in the town of Mizque working to prevent Chagas disease (for more information on Chagas, read my blog from October 2014). In Mizque we partner with a Bolivian organization called OBADES, together facilitating education, diagnosis, treatment, and home repairs in an effort to prevent the Chagas epidemic. This past week we plastered walls and ceilings and poured concrete on the floors of several adobe houses whose families were unable to complete the work themselves.
While I did do some plastering (with pictures to prove it!), I also did a lot of translating for our mixed group of English and Spanish speakers, and spent time trying to get to know the families we were helping. One of these families is Andrea’s, a single mom with four kids ranging in age from 15 years to 8 months. Her husband is incarcerated in Brazil. Her oldest son, Wilmer, dropped out of school to help on their onion farm. Nilda is in fourth grade and attends school in the mornings and Davis is in seventh grade in the afternoon. Andrea's 8 month old spends much of her time wrapped in a blanket on her mother's back as they go about her work on the farm. Often, Andrea’s sister would send her two kids, Johnny and Nayeli, over to play and we all became fast friends.
We also spent time getting to know the local church members and came to understand their incredible love for their community. One of our big efforts this trip was to make the local church in Mizque the face of the project. Several church members as well as their pastor, Ramiro, came to help us at the houses. As a result of these interactions, Andrea started bringing the kids to Sunday School and was very enthusiastic about me teaching her kids some Christian songs. Her favorite was one she saw us sing in church, “Peace Like a River.” She had me write it out in Spanish, English and then phonetically so she could remember how it went and requested a final performance from the team before we left.
Please pray for Andrea’s family and for their onion crop this year (last year it was almost completely destroyed by flooding). Here are some pictures from our time in Mizque.
While I did do some plastering (with pictures to prove it!), I also did a lot of translating for our mixed group of English and Spanish speakers, and spent time trying to get to know the families we were helping. One of these families is Andrea’s, a single mom with four kids ranging in age from 15 years to 8 months. Her husband is incarcerated in Brazil. Her oldest son, Wilmer, dropped out of school to help on their onion farm. Nilda is in fourth grade and attends school in the mornings and Davis is in seventh grade in the afternoon. Andrea's 8 month old spends much of her time wrapped in a blanket on her mother's back as they go about her work on the farm. Often, Andrea’s sister would send her two kids, Johnny and Nayeli, over to play and we all became fast friends.
We also spent time getting to know the local church members and came to understand their incredible love for their community. One of our big efforts this trip was to make the local church in Mizque the face of the project. Several church members as well as their pastor, Ramiro, came to help us at the houses. As a result of these interactions, Andrea started bringing the kids to Sunday School and was very enthusiastic about me teaching her kids some Christian songs. Her favorite was one she saw us sing in church, “Peace Like a River.” She had me write it out in Spanish, English and then phonetically so she could remember how it went and requested a final performance from the team before we left.
Please pray for Andrea’s family and for their onion crop this year (last year it was almost completely destroyed by flooding). Here are some pictures from our time in Mizque.
Cochabamba
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