Urgent Need

Baby I waiting to have surgery to repair his cleft lip this coming week (we think).

We have an urgent need of $20,000 by the end of July!  The summer has been a little slow with funds coming in and we need money for salaries and 2 surgeries that are coming up soon.  We will keep you updated on how this is going with a thermometer like this one on the webpage (www.casadeamor.org).  Thank you so much for any help you can give.  To donate, click Here.

Provided byFund-Raising-Ideas-Center.com

Creative Donors

In 2002, the dream of Casa de Amor began from my family's Christmas card list - perhaps 100 names.

Now, nearly 10 years after receiving our first child, Casa de Amor is blessed with friends far and wide!

Some of our biggest cheerleaders are former volunteers who have seen and experienced our ministry in Bolivia firsthand. (Most of baby D's heart surgery donors were former volunteers, as I mentioned I this post.)

Friends Savannah and Kristin of Nashville, Tennessee, have set up a neighborhood glass recycling program that funnels donations to our children. See the website of ¡Muchas Glassias! for more information and Savannah's wonderful pictures. Their regular donations have provided everything from a refrigerator for the new girl's home to Christmas baskets for our staff.

My parents are also pretty awesome cheerleaders! They met Josh and April Samuels at their church. The Samuels have begun ellajude, a beautiful line of handcrafted jewelry. A percentage of their profits blesses Casa de Amor Children's Homes. Their first two donations have come at crucial times of need for us!

On behalf of our staff and children, thank you so much to these very creative supporters!

Baby D's Heart Surgery!

 

For the first posts on Baby D and his condition, see here and here.

WE HAVE A SURGERY DATE!!!

Baby D will be admitted to the heart clinic on Wednesday, May 7, for heart surgery on May 9! He is still about a pound shy of where he should be, but is currently healthy and progressing developmentally. Due to the chronic ear infections he has suffered through, he has been scheduled for auditory testing. 

PRAY THAT HE STAYS HEALTHY!!

We are so grateful for the dedication of volunteer Linnea to care for D around the clock and get him healthy and strong. She leaves Bolivia tomorrow morning to return to Canada, but return volunteer Lindsey is stepping in to fill the gap.

 Baby D with Volunteer Coordinator Elena
April 28, 2014

Last week when I sat down with our health coordinator, I realized how many details are involved. Maria had just spent the morning on 3 tests for the baby costing over $100. If that doesn’t sound like much, it’s a lot here in Bolivia. One of the things she found out is that we will need MANY blood donors. (An estimated 16?!)

Friends and volunteers in Cochabamba who are willing to donate blood: stay tuned for more details!

On the legal front, since baby D is a relatively new arrival for Casa de Amor, his official papers for his “shelter” in Casa de Amor had not yet been issued from the minors court. That’s normal but in this case we needed everything in line before the surgery. (By law, we have 72 hours to request legal shelter for each and every new arrival, but social services and the court can take months to process the papers.) Our social workers (Rosa and our new staff member Evelin) worked hard to get this loose end tied up so that we could present a report to the court with all the details of the surgery requesting permission to proceed. We expect a positive reply—this is more of a formality before embarking on major medical treatment.

We are very blessed to have two medical-minded volunteers arriving soon, our repeat volunteer "Canadian Katrina" and a repeat visitor to Bolivia, Elizabeth from Texas. They will be a huge help with all the special care baby D will need, and also our medical staff as they keep up with all of the other babies.

Financially, a HUGE THANK YOU to the TEN different sponsors of baby D’s life-saving surgery!! Every bit of what has been donated for baby D is going to baby D. Yesterday I transferred the first $3,500 to Bolivia so that our accountant can access it on time. All of the staff is marveling at how quickly we are able to move forward with this surgery!

We do need more to be able to pay for his post-op medications, tests, consultations, and anything else that might come up. Click HERE for information on making donations to Casa de Amor/GOAL. 

In summary:

~ Pray for baby D’s continual health and consistent weight gain

~ Pray for a sufficient number of blood donors (enough donors will reduce the total surgery cost)

~ Pray that the proper legal backing comes through in time

~ Pray that enough money comes in to be able to cover any extra expenses

A few more pictures of our volunteer get-together a couple of nights ago, thanking Linnea for her service to Casa de Amor:

My house looked like a second baby home, with quite the room full of babies - four babies ages 6 1/2 to almost 8 months!

 So fun! All of these babies can sit to some degree now.

And finally, we would be very grateful for any special donations towards health expenses in general right now. One of our newest babies, little boy E, was hospitalized twice at two different hospitals in the month of April with various illnesses that he has probably had since his arrival.

We have spent MORE THAN $2,000 on medical bills alone the month of April.  

Much of that was due to hospitalizations, but also because of the continual sicknesses we’ve battled at the Baby Home. Obviously, this went way over budget, and follows behind another high medical expense month in March. The babies are finally doing better thanks to a united effort on the part of the staff and volunteers, but it’s made it hard to meet other expenses like staff salaries and utility bills, now due.

Click HERE to see how to give via check or paypal.

Thank you to all of our supporters! 

  

Baby D Update

It's time for an update on Baby D!

First of all, his diagnosis is a VSD (Ventricular septal defect) - and most of the symptoms associated with that - and a PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) .

Currently, he is on two medications indefinitely.

He has struggled with repeated respiratory infections, a common issue with heart babies. He narrowly escaped hospitalization last week thanks in part to a valiant effort by Casa de Amor staff and volunteers.

Baby D currently weighs 4.8 kilos but needs to weigh SIX kilos for his heart surgery to take place. Pray that he begins to tolerate more formula at each feeding!

From past surgeries, we know that a little one going through such an experience needs lot of extra TLC. It's also best if the least number of people possible are involved to provide the best continuity of care. That's why it was pretty neat when a nurse visitor to the Baby Home was captivated by our tiny Baby D and asked if she could change her plans and come back in May! (Read her blog post on falling in love with our baby here.)

NOW the trick will be getting D healthy enough and big enough by May for the surgery, plus coordinating with the doctors and Clinica Belga!

At least we won't be held up by lack of funding. As mentioned in my last blog post, we have been told to budget at least $13,000 for the surgery and post-op hospitalization and medications. Tia Maria, our health care coordinator, was able to obtain a pledge of 70% of the funding from a Catholic foundation in our city. That is an AMAZING portion towards the surgery!

Donations to cover the remaining 30% have come in from far and wide - Australia, Canada, and the US. All of the donations have been from current or former volunteers with the exception of one family who explained that they understand the costs involved as they raise their own "heart baby".

At this point, only about $1,300 is still needed to reach our goal (yes, Linnea, a little more came in since you asked me this morning)!!!

Little D is a much-loved baby!

PS - For a few recent pictures, see volunteer Linnea's blog post!

Heart Surgery

Last month, we welcomed baby D to the Baby Home. It was obvious that he was very small and delayed for being four months old. He was closer to the size and developmental level of a newborn!

Our dedicated volunteers and health staff have poured extra attention into D, and he is slowly gaining weight and recovering from several illnesses. He is a sweet, generally quiet, little baby!

After several appointments with specialists, we learned more as to why D is not thriving. He has a heart defect that demands surgery as soon as possible. His life depends on it!

Throughout the years, Casa de Amor has received a number of babies who were found to have heart murmurs, and even one who needed two medications, but this will be the first time a defect is serious enough to warrant special intervention. 

We were in for a shock to hear how much this surgery will cost! Previous surgeries here in Bolivia, such as cleft lip or palate repairs, hernias, lazy eyes, etc., have cost us anywhere from 0 to several hundred dollars. This one is in a completely different ballpark!

The heart clinic told us to budget $12-13,000 for the heart surgery, plus more to cover any potential complications.

A substantial chunk of this amount is for the cardiologist. Once we are able to commit to a date for the surgery, we will know which pediatric cardiologist would be assigned to our baby, and could possibly negotiate a discount.

We trust that God brought us this precious baby for a reason, and that our team of supporters will be able to bless him with a life-changing surgery!

Please write Jennifer with any questions, or go directly to our support page for more information on giving.

Visiting SPAI, an Adoption Agency in Italy

My husband and I spent almost two weeks in Italy in June. Our main purpose was to visit some of the twelve Casa de Amor children now living in Italy with their adoptive parents. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip!

(To read more and see pictures of the children, go to my personal blog, here!)

Found it! Looking for SPAI's office right after arriving to Ancona by train.

While there, we planned a quick side trip to Ancona to visit SPAI, "Servizio Polifunzionale per L'Adozione Internazionale". SPAI is the adoption agency that has placed several of our children into Italian families, the most recent being Juan Gabriel in January 2012. (This year we have had zero international adoptions as Bolivia's government remains unwilling to even consider renewing international adoption agreements.)

Ancona is a nice little port town

Casa de Amor is also very grateful to SPAI for the past several years of financial support. We thought it would be nice to go thank them personally!

Meeting Doctora Clementina Merlan in her office. She would love to visit Bolivia again, but with adoptions currently closed between our countries, we are not sure when that visit would take place - or when we will have grants from SPAI again.

Touring SPAI's office, full of momentos from the countries they work with

I loved SPAI's street, pedestrian traffic only

New look!

On Saturday our little trouper M underwent his first surgery!

Read a bit of M's history from the post the day I brought him home here.

Some early pictures...

I took him to a couple different surgeons who work with projects or foundations here in Cochabamba to do cleft repairs, and in the end we went with the same doctor who operated on twin K last year. He was so upset that M had a "plaque" in his mouth (to form a roof) that he ripped it out and pitched it across the room when I first took M! Ah, the difference of opinions of doctors. So we stopped using it and actually, M drank better that way!

Then it was countdown time till the big day!! He is now 3 1/2 months old and plenty big enough for the surgery. (Amazing even to the nurses and doctors who have met him, he has had no problem gaining weight. He's often in clothing for 6 month olds!)

Just a couple days before...

...and hours before surgery

(This two pictures above and the one below were sent to me by volunteer Iris, who graciously volunteered to spend her Saturday afternoon comforting little M.)

Post-surgery!!! That night I saw this picture, the NEW HIM, for the first time when Iris posted it to Facebook, I gasped aloud I was so surprised how great he looks! (Apart from being pale, poor baby. He's now on treatment for anemia.)

Back at home, resting up!

Thanks to everyone who prayed for M. He's doing well apart from NOT being happy about the "milk in a syringe" procedure for his meals. That's the post-op procedure for two weeks, however.

We are so excited about his cute little perfect nose! In fact, hospital staff told us that M's surgery came out the best of anyone's that day!! Even beforehand, they had chosen to focus on his story for their next publication that goes to their funders in Holland.

Thanks to a March team from Canada, we had $200 set aside for M's first surgery expenses. In the end, the total cost was $310 (reduced due to the foundation's support).

PS - if anyone feels led to give towards our new little boy P's surgery, the cost will be similar so we'd be very grateful! The surgery, already scheduled for May 11, will be P's final.

Back to School

One of the neatest blessings we have at Casa de Amor is the constant flow of donated clothes, shoes, socks, hats, pajamas, etc. This means that means our donated funds are very rarely touched for these expenses. AND we have the best-dressed kids in Cochabamba because often the items are name-brand!

The only challenge we generally have is to properly clothe and shoe our children for school, as all schools in Bolivia have a uniform policy. This year we have 13 going to pre-kindergarten and up and the school year has just begun! (The Bolivian school year begins in February, takes a mid-year winter break, and resumes again until November.)

My ever-frugal office staff contacted Monaco, a shoe manufacturer here in Bolivia, and requested a discount for Casa de Amor. They agreed to sell us the two pairs of shoes each child needs at a 25% discount. Even so, the final amount is staggering: $500 for 30 pair of leather shoes for school!!

For the specific clothing needed and the "aprons" that go over the clothes to create the school uniforms, we've spent $185.

For school supplies, we will spend over $300 by the time we complete purchases of the school supply lists still coming in to us. (Several of our Casa de Amor II children are going to special schools for their special learning needs.)

Dividing these amounts by our 13 school age children, the extra expense per child is approximately $75.

There are many who tell us "please let me know of a need"...so here you go!! The higher expense than usual this year is putting a strain on our regular budget.

If all the sponsors of school age children could add a bit to their regular support this month, it would go a long way in offsetting this expense.

Please let me or Denise know if you have any questions! Thank you!!

remember those in prison...

See this post first!

This is a direct copy of the sign I created to explain the jail ministry for the Cochabamba guesthouse that will display and sell the artesian items.


"Remember those in prison as if you were together with them..." Hebrews 13:3


Prisons in Bolivia are nothing like the Western system. There are no handouts.

From the minute Ana (name changed) entered the Penal San Sebastian Mujeres, she had to come up with money for fees...but that was only the beginning. Stripped of her liberties since May 2009 and still awaiting a court hearing to prove her innocence or guilt, Ana receives a monthly stipend of 180 Bolivianos (approx. $26) from which to live. She is now 22 years old. She buys clothes, simple footwear, food, rents a cell, and cherishes something as precious as shampoo or soap. Jobs are few and far between in this overcrowded jail, a small, old building that is home to nearly 200 women and their over 200 children ages 0-12.

At first Ana had some family visitors, but now no one visits and her husband was detained in another jail just weeks after her. Ana’s children live in Casa de Amor but have no contact with their mother due to the long judicial process and uncertainty of her future.

Casa de Amor’s director Jennifer Thompson looks out for Ana as well as several other young women that she initially met when they lived on the street. A plate of simple food, a couple of dollars, or any simple toiletry item means the world to them. Seeing their abilities with any sort of thread or yarn, Jennifer began taking in supplies, paying the girls for the finished product, and selling the items among CDA staff members and friends. It’s a great way for the girls to spend their days more productively and be able to support themselves without falling into debt.

Consider supporting this ministry by buying one of the beautiful items they create! Donations of supplies are also welcome. Call Jennifer for more information — or if you’d like to visit her friends in San Sebastian!

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’" Matthew 25:35-36

new enterprise

On my last night in the US, while having a slumber party with my youngest sister Emma, we were talking about stuff and something occured to me.

I could help my friends in jail by selling stuff they make, particularly the creative, skilled girls.

They make something, are more productive with their days, and if I do it right, I can make something back for what I spend in street/jail ministry.

Simple, but it took me 10 months of visiting (street) friends "inside" before this dawned on me!

Within a couple weeks of getting back and catching up with everything and everybody, I was already taking yarns in to the girls. At first I just asked them to make in bulk some of the things they'd already given me, like this little monogrammed change purse...

This would be my name spelled Bolivian-style :)

And a beautiful scarf that they declared matches my eyes...

So far, things are going wonderfully!! I just need to start focusing more on selling than constantly taking in materials and picking up the products, which is always a fun surprise, and they do such quick, high quality work. I've had multiple other women come up to me in the jail and hug me or shake my hand, thanking me profusely for helping these girls who "have no one" by giving them legitimate work.

More stories and pictures in an upcoming post!

Orphan World Relief Team

Church Outing!

L-R: little girl L (almost 3 years old), Rick, Jennifer, Doug, the triplet's mother, Jason, Nancy...and of course the famous triplets!

A few years ago, I received an email from a man named Doug Riggles with a questionnaire was attached. I filled that out and later heard that Casa de Amor was one of three children's homes being chosen to be funded by a new organization, Orphan World Relief. Since then OWR has blessed us with a quarterly donation according to our current number of children. OWR also helped us purchase little girl A's hearing aids at reduced cost last year.

Orphan World Relief Founder & Director Doug Riggles getting cuddle time with a triplet

This month Doug is here with a few of his key people. During their ten day trip they will see different aspects of our work and also explore Cochabamba.

As the caregivers expressed so well this morning after their little presentation with the oldest kids, we are so grateful for their support and hope they have a great time visiting!

Go, Texas!

Nela, one of our terrific stateside volunteers, sent me details from 2009 donations a while back.

She put together a complete list of everyone who donated in 2009 and I just now got to really study it.

Here's what it shows:

There were 192 separate Casa de Amor donors (invidividuals, churches, non-profits, etc.)

95 of the donations were from Texas

88 of the donations were from other states in the US

9 of the donations were international (UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Switzerland)

That means that 49% of donors are still from my home state, Texas! Then 46% are from other states and 5% from abroad.

Keep in mind, this is not AMOUNT of donation, simply donor statistics.

Interesting!

Ah-hem

Time for a couple of announcements, folks!

I hope that many of you in the US realize that it is National Adoption Awareness Month!

Did you know that while more than 30% of Americans say they have "thought about" adoption, only 2% have actually adopted? As someone who has experienced firsthand the pain of children around the world who have no family to call their own, no one to tuck them in at night, and experience continual injustice and heartbreak due to overburdened legal systems.....please hear me, it's not the thought that counts, it's what you do about it!

Please plan how to make a difference in the life of a hurting, needy, abused child TODAY.

It doesn't matter to me where you choose to invest your time, prayers, and resources, so long as you do it, but allow me to make a suggestion.... =)

(Okay so I'm sure you know where this is going, although I have been honored to present the ministries of others here on my blog on occasion. However, the responsibility of providing for the round-the-clock care and growth of our children does rest on my shoulders. Of course I recognize that it all comes from God but for some reason I feel like when coffers get low, I'm the one everyone looks to. Since I was 22!!)

So, as Casa de Amor Children's Homes provides a temporary family and healing, happy home environment until each child receives a forever family of his/her own, here are some current needs...

$50 to repair a bad part of the roof at the Baby Home so that all the important papers in the office are not wet when the rainy season arrives in full force

$100 will cover baby B's specialized hearing test, needed ASAP

$700 will cover a car payment for the Alseth family as they purchase a desperately needed small SUV from another missionary family

approximately $4000 is needed by year's end to be able to provide a house for Casa de Amor II for all of 2010

a donation of any amount such as $10 or 20 will go towards Christmas presents (one of our former baby's new Bolivian parents are offering to buy presents for 10 of our children, so that leaves 32 others)

And then continual, ongoing needs...

$25 will provide one month of speech therapy for a child (might seem frivolous, but have you ever experienced the aggression of a toddler who has not a single word in their vocabulary to be able to communicate instead of bite/scratch/hit/throw a temper tantrum? Or the autistic-like behaviors that come as a result? Y-e-a-h, not pleasant...)

$40 will feed a Casa de Amor child for one month

$400 will cover all water and electricity bills for all three houses

And then of course there is child sponsorship! (Consider it for a Christmas gift!) There are still a few children without a sponsor, including the newest twins.

It's easy to give by credit card via paypal (www.casadeamor.org/supporting.html) or sending a check to GOAL, PO Box 3201, McKinney, TX, 75070. If you'd like to specify towards one of these needs, please do so!


Well that was a long winded first announcement, oops.

Second announcement!

This Sunday, we're heading to Nashville for the "Orphan Sunday" event, yeah!! Check out details here and see if a church in your area is participating or hosting a live feed of the concert:

http://www.orphansunday.org/

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Happy New Year/Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our friends, near and far!

May your light for Jesus shine brightly from wherever you are in 2009.

December 30, 2008
M., taking her role very seriously during a special song with candles at our end-of-the-year "thankfulness and praise" program for the three homes...it was a beautiful time!

Not to us O LORD,
not to us but to Your name be the glory,
because of Your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1

While writing this I received word of last week's donation deposit.....and it is enough!! We are fine through the month of January, PTL! Thank you to everyone who gives so generously.

"I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." (Psalm 140:12)

Special visitors...and news!

Last week, we were very very blessed by the fourth visit from one of our first and always faithful supporters, Ben Whisenant. He was accompanied by Bryan Doyle, Missional Life Pastor at First Baptist Church McKinney, Texas.

They were a great encouragement to us and even better are creatively leading their church to play a bigger role in the ministry here in Bolivia.

So here's the news: soon we'll have a new addition in ways to support the homes: child sponsorship!! We've felt led to this for a while now, both due to popular request and the realization that a "connection" to one of the children is very powerful, but I haven't had the time or full motivation to just go for it. However, meeting with Pastor Bryan easily brought me to the tipping point. I mean, how could I resist when he spoke of their THREE WEEK mission conference to be held in April 2009, and how they will announce the need to their thousands of members, and the big display table Casa de Amor will have, and they would expect every HDA child to garner 4 to 5 monthly sponsors in that event alone?!

Pastor Bryan also spoke of sending a professional photographer next month from Texas, to spend a few days with us taking pictures of each child and filming a video to be shown at FBC McKinney during the missions month. Wow, how could we say no?! With all of this "jump start" support, we can easily take the sponsorship opportunity to our home church, other churches, our website, etc.

Here's something to think about: would any of you former volunteers be interested in helping me design the child sponsorship packets, and/or assist with the communication process between HDA and the sponsors? Please let me know as we begin to put the details of this in place! I'm excited about the possibilities as I begin the process of researching other existing programs, creating our guidelines, and writing up short histories/bios on our kids. I still need to be cautious of increasing my administrative load here in Bolivia, since that's already way heavy, but with more help "the sky's the limit". Fun!

Advent Conspiracy

This video is a must-see. Please watch, be blessed, and let's commit to WORSHIP this year!!

Christmas: my feelings exactly.

11/22/08: "Jesus is the Gift" movement, click here.

Multi-tasking

At least they mainly sleep!! I've been chief spoiler of the babies lately. No one else has time to hold them for hours on end, so I'm touching them a lot so that they'll grow up smart (my Mom's saying). I'm blessed with long legs where I can easily prop one or two while I work--the slightly shorter staff all admire that. =)

Lately I've been tempted to say "too many" babies. Supposedly Mother Teresa said "Saying there are too many children is like saying there are too many flowers". However, the "too many" phrase could definitely be used in relation to the heartbreaking number of abandonments we've seen the past 11 months. It's nearly overwhelming. We received four babies in a row in August, one a week, and after the first week of September we've said no (or wait) to all of these:

1) a 1 year old in a bad situation (street parents)
2) transer of a four year old from the main baby home (I've heard they are up to 150 babies, which if true is absolutely horrific because their capacity is for 50, so just imagine...). He should’ve come to us last year but his very hard-core street mother couldn't make up her mind and shortly after he was forcefully taken away.
3) a toddler with medical issues and unstable (street?) mother
4) a newborn but his mother came back to the hospital for him, hallelujah!
5) a 2 week old, 1.5 kilo preemie. Reminds me of Alejandra, who arrived September last year. We’re going to suggest that he go first to the nutrition center and when he weighs 3 kilos (in 5 or 6 weeks?) we’ll see about our space.

We’re also keeping in mind two possible entries:
1) the 15 month old brother of Carla, one of our new babies (he’s in another baby home currently, but it’s best they are together for their eventual adoption)
2) a former child of ours, almost 4 years old, whose mother stays down more than up. Several who know them say he needs to come back to us, once they’re found.

(If anyone reading this desires to donate, oh say…$20,000? so that we can open a 4th home, let's go for it!)

Another factor is that we’re at the traditionally low time of year, donation-wise. And baby number 4 of August is STILL in the hospital (jaundice), so that will be a fun bill to pay, and baby number 2 needs a CT scan. Now we’re going to have to pay about $100 to do it in a private clinic because the public hospital’s machine is broken, with no idea of when it could be fixed.

But this is why Casa de Amor exists! As staff member Maria has told me for a couple years now and reminded me last week, she believes God sends us the special needs babies and kids on purpose. Reminds me of another favorite Mother Teresa saying…“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

Pray that we have grace and peace in as overflowing abundance as children! Babies are practically addictive for me, and I’m glad that Saturday is almost here so that I have more time for them (and not just while staring at a computer screen), but we’ve kept up an exhausting pace lately and I don’t want anyone burning out. We want to be entirely healthy so as to handle whatever—and whoever—God sends our way!

Addition: Not two hours after writing this, while I was at the hospital getting out the baby, SEDEGES called about 5 siblings. Yikes!! They needed a temporary place for the youngest three, but we're just too full and busy as it is...

Got milk?

We sure do! Every month I write a new thank you letter to be sent to all who gave to CDA. Milk is the focus of August's letter! Here's a link: http://www.casadeamor.org/news/Thanks_Aug08.pdf