Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:
Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PM
Tuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PM
Tuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM

Aero Sur Flights
111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Another day in Cochabamba....

It was good to be back at our ¨home¨ in Cochabamba today. We started out by having a little meeting with all of the MAP staff. They told us who they are and what they did and we sang together in Spanish. Then we had a time of prayer together which was very meaningful. We are all so amazed at their committment to helping the people and their dedication to sharing God´s love with the people around them. We then piled into a bus and headed to CUBE (the sexual abuse center) and we heard a presentation about the center, the impact it is making in Bolivia, and had a tour of the center. It was very difficult to hear about the situation that many children face, but it is amazing to hear that much progress has been made in the last three years. After the trip to the center, we had lunch and celebrated Miriam´s 22nd birthday with some delicious cake that we all appreciated! We then went to the school to look around at the science fair that the kids had. They made beautiful projects and it was fun to talk to them about what they made. In the afternoon we split into three groups: two groups worked on houses and the other group worked on the chapel. As always, we finished the afternoon with sore backs, a bit of sunburn, and all of us were covered in dust. However, it is wondeful to work together with the people, talk with them as we work, and see the progress that is being made. Tonight we had a presentation from the MAP workers who deal with disabilities in the community. Usually disabled people are rejected from society, but MAP tries to teach people to respect them and tries to give the people and children with disablities purpose and self esteem. After the presentation, they gave us each a little gift with this poem inside that we want to share with you:
Who is Disabled?
If you don´t see the person
without just seeing the disablity
then who is blind?

If you can´t hear the cry
for justice of your brother
who is deaf?

If your heart or mind
is not moving towards your neighbor
who has the mental disability?

If you can´t communicate with your sister
but instead push her away
who is disabled?

If you can´t stand up
for the rights of all people
who is the paralydic?

Your attitude towards people with disabilities
can be our biggest disadvantage
and also yours.



Please continue to pray for all of us as we are learning about the hardships that these people face daily. It is difficult to face reality, but we are also learning that there is hope and we are amazed at the strength that the people have. Please pray for our health so that we can fully engage in our last few days here. Especially pray for Allison who has been sick for a lot of our time here. Thanks for all of your support and prayers.

The Mountain Adventure

Well let me start by thanking all of you for your prayers. Our trip up into the Andes was certainly the adventure of a lifetime. We left early Monday morning and arrived at a rural hotel in Sacaca about 8 hours later. The roads started off lovely but quickly turned to dirt and rock. God was really testing all of us in our faith, but some more than others. However, as always, God is faithful and pulled us through. We were very thankful for the worship books Elisha prepared so that we could focus on God. Alison was sick the entire trip with flu-like symptoms and could not participate in any of the activities. However, she is feeling much better tonight and will hopefully be able to be more active tomorrow. Monday evening we had a meeting at the rural hospital in Sacaca to hear about how they are partnering with MAP´s health promoters. God´s work through MAP is greatly changing the rural communities. The people in Sacaca were greatly accepting of us as demonstrated by their willingness to include us in one of their most significant cultural ceremonies of thanksgiving to God. It was great to be included since these ceremonies are almost never shared with others, especially strangers. This was significant because it meant that they fully accepted us and wanted to learn about our lives and have us return again in the future. Tuesday morning we traveled about an hour past Sacaca to another rural village with a health promoter from MAP. The people here also warmly greated us and shared with us about their lives and hardships. We learned all about their struggles and how they are improving their community. They are so excited about the things their people are learning from MAP that they invited us to return next year so that we could see the improvements that they are sure will come. They also shared with us their cultural music and dances and invited us to participate. The women also showed us how to twist sheep wool into string that they then dye with plants to make their clothing. We also visited their school, which only goes up to 3rd grade. We headed back to Sacaca for lunch and left for Cochabamba from there. We just returned and were warmly greeted by the MAP staff that we have been working with the past week. We are all headed for the shower now as we are all covered in dust because it is the dry season and dust storms were frequent. Tomorrow we are headed to the sexual abuse center for children, which is called CUBE, for the morning. Then in the afternoon it is back to construction. Please pray for us to be able to connect with the children at CUBE tomorrow and for the construction to move along quickly. We really want to finish all 4 of our projects before we leave, but at this point that seems a bit of a big goal. Also, please continue to pray for the team´s health, especially for Alison.

day 6 - the fiesta

i was able to snag a few minutes to write. This morning we had a worship service for our sunday service. following there was a carnival led by the school. The carnival was to promote health with in the community and different map staff had different stands about good health. The kids and the parents put on traditional dance performances and they excitedly made us join with them. We ate unique the most popular dish was a combination of french fries, onions, tomatoes, pig, beef, and peppers. Surprisingly most of the studetns enjoyed it. We were able to develop community with the families and see the different interactions of the parents with their children. In the afternoon we went to el cristo del mundo, the biggest statue of christ in the world. Half of the students hiked there as the others took a bus. There was an opportunity to climb up the christ and peer out of his armpits for a view of cochobamba.
brisa and jada are feeling better today. Alison is still sick and spent the day at the house. Tommorrow we will be departuring for the mountains!
Pray for us! we will be returning tuesday night.

Day 5

Today we started out with a presentation about the health clinic followed by a lecture about the Millenium Development Goals. It was good to hear how the health clinic runs and about their emphasis on preventing disease in the community. After the presentations some of us began to work on painting the preschool again and others had a time of reflection about what we have been learning so far. After lunch we split into the work groups again. One group continued to cement the house and then they took an hour and a half hike up the mountain to a waterfall. JT said that the best part of the experience was seeing Jesus in the distance. He was referring to the Cristo del Mundo (Christ of the World) which is the biggest Jesus statue in the world. Those who want to will be hiking to the statue tommorow. Another group went to the other house and mixed a lot of mud to put on the adobe bricks. A couple people stayed at the school and finished painting. Then they organized all of the toys and supplies, washed them, and put them in the classrooms in an organized way and we added the donations of toys and books that we brought from home. All of the classrooms are completely finished and cleaned! We have a little bit of free time right now before we go to the Discoteca to go dancing... we are all really excited to go!
We really need your prayers for our health. Caroline is feeling a little bit better, but Jada and Allison have been sick today. Some other people are also not feeling their best. Brisa hurt her back and had to get 11 shots and is not supposed to move for a few days. Hopefully we will all be feeling better for the next few days because we have a lot planned. We probably will not be able to update until Wednesday because we do not get internet tommorow and on monday and tuesday we will be traveling to remote villages in the mountains to see the work that the health promotors do. Thank you all for your prayers and support and we will definitely update as soon as possible!

Day 4

Hello everyone. Como estas? Our Spanish skills are increasing everyday. We have been able to make many friendships the past few days despite some of our limited Spanish. Today we started off with discussions on partnerships, and the science majors stayed behind to discuss how to integrate the wholistic health approach we are learning here with our science education. Meanwhile, the rest of the team continued painting the preschool classrooms and played with the kids at the school. Just before lunch there was a basketball game between our guys and the Bolivian women. Bolivian guys joined later, and we lost but found out that Matt and David have some mad bball skills. After lunch we again split into groups. At house one the teammembers began plastering the interior walls and put cement on the outside. At house 2 the teammembers mixed mud to build up the mud brick house. Others transported the mud bricks to the MAP facility. We are helping to build a chapel here for the staff´s morning meetings. We broke ground today. Those working the preschool rooms this afternoon are almost finished. There is only one border left to put up and then we are going to clean all the toys and fill the room with the school supplies and books that many of you provided. Thank you so much, we know this will mean the world to the children and the their teachers. Tonight we had a presentation from the health guardians. We will be traveling with them to rural areas in the mountains starting on Monday. Now there is a soccer game going on and Steph is giving and teaching the Bolivian teenage girls how to do hand manicures. They are loving it! Please pray for the team´s physical strength because the construction is really wearing on us. Some people have sun burn, allergies, colds, nausea, headaches, and minor scrapes and bruises. Please pray especially for Caroline because she is not feeling well. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow. We also want to thank all of you for supporting our trip. We received an email that we have reached our total fundraising goal! Yay God!

Day 3

We started out today by learning about total health. Then the kids from the school did a skit for us about their experience in this new educational system where their teachers are more encouraging and supportive and are free to learn in more creative ways. Then we were invited to spend some time in the classrooms with the students. Some people continued painting the preschool rooms and were able to completely finish one. The others are about half way finished. It is a big improvement and the kids and teachers are very excited about the changes. We were thankful for Steph´s expertise in art as she designed the rooms and we were blessed to have Justin and David´s height in order to paint the ceiling. In the afternoon some people went to the medical clinic to observe and help, some went the sexual abuse center, and the rest were split between two housing projects. At the housing projects we lifted many mud bricks to a house that is being built. At this site Katie was bit by a dog but was well taken care of by her team mates and the MAP staff in the clinic. The doctor thinks she will be fine, but please pray that there will not be an infection. At the other house, the team worked with cement to cover the house in order to prevent the people from getting chagas disease from the bugs that live in between the cracks of the mud bricks. Tonight we watched a short video about Globalization and had a good discussion about the issues. We are learning a lot of theory but also putting it into practice. After the discussion, there was an intense soccer match: Bolivians vs. Americans. Our guys team lost with good effort but our girls team rocked the cheese like an earthquake in Wisconsin. Girl power!!! Currently there is a basketball tournament going on. Thanks for your prayers, the team is bonding really well with each other and the people we are meeting and we already have many wonderful memories.

second day continued

JADA PASSED HER MCAT´S! thank you to all who were praying for here. All of the luggage arrived today! I want to go in to more detail of the second half of the day. One of the groups of the house had an amazing time putting out a wildfire minutes from the house. They spent the day compiling rocks to build a foundation for a new house. The other group at another house took a trip in a not powerful truck full of mud bricks and students. The truck broke down adn the bricks had to be carried to the house. The truck alos attempted to cross a shady bridge that did not seem fit for use. We had a meeting tonight with health promoters and learned their testimonies as well as students that are in their program, to uplift their families and the community.

El segundo dia

We started off today with an early morning with a 7 am wake-up. Justin led a brief devotional followed by breakfast. In the morning we have lectures and today we discussed personal and institutional development. Around 10 we split off and the group from houghton continue to go more indepth with the topic and a few eastern students stayed behind. The rest of the students finished sanding the walls of the kindergarden and painted. Steph, who is an art gradute of this year really stepped up and designed the layout of the 2 rooms we have painted so far. You can feel the warm and excitment of the teachers as they see the finished product of their once worn and tatered classrooms. Following lunch we split into 2 groups. One groups went to work on houses with in the community and a smaller group remained at the school to work more on the kindergarden wing. Today we finshed both rooms and painted the furniture as well as the door of the classrooms. the students are very excited and willing to join in and help the efforts. The boys of the school love the many boys we have on our team and have been playing on going soccer games with them. As a team we have been bonding very well. Today everyone was healthy and everyone upheld positive attitudes. Thanks for the support and happy birthday tom ridington!

arrival

After a long and difficult experience we have finally in Chilimarca. It started off great at the Ridington´s house, but when we arrived at the airport things went hay-wire. After practically all the girls on the team were hit on by the gate authority in the terminal the plane was delayed by a mere hour and a half. We were afraid we were going to miss our connecting flight in Miami, but we arrived just as the last people were boarding. When we landed in La Paz a few team members were experiencing altitude sickness. After immigration we were late and had to RUN through the gate onto the tarmack but caught the plane just before it took off!! Alison and Caroline enjoyed their flights with oxygen tanks strapped to their faces (but are now breathing fine) (i love you mom and dad) We were greeted with open arms by MAP staff and had Juan shimmy up to the roof of the jeep to stap all of our luggage on. The bus was over crowded but we really bonded through our close contact. There is another group here of 6 girls from Houghton College who are working with us through the 2 weeks. We met them in Miami, they immediately identified us by our massive green blob. Everyone´s luggage came through except Parker and Emily, and the donated playhouse that we duct taped together, since it wouldnt fit in a suitcase, jammed the conveyer belt in 2 airports, but it made it here and we can´t wait to un-duct tape it. We are currently taking a tour of MAP´s facilities. We plan to take it easy the rest of the day. Thank you for prayers, and please pray for the continued health of the team, for the missing luggage to arrive, and that the construction will start off well tomorrow.

We're off.........

well we are leaving in about an hour and are very excited to go. We look like an army of green with all of our matching shirts. Everything is running smoothly and just hope the flights will be the same!
We should be arriving around 7:30 am tomorrow and we begin learning and working right away!

one more day

Graduation was yesterday and we are leaving tomorrow. So for this seniors this is a very exciting week. Keep us in your prayers and once again thank you for your support!!

Prayer Calendar in Bolivia

we will be arriving on the 15th and start work as we set foot in Chilimarca. We are excited to depart and are ready for graduation to be over since we have a few anxious seniors.
so please pray for:
14-15th safe traveling
16-pray for all of the members that have never been to a 3rd world country. We hope that the culture shock will be eye openeing but a easy experience and that comfort levels will arise.
17-18th The development of relationships with the team we will be working with as well as the families we will be servicing. We also will be spending time at the sexual abuse center in chilimarca and hope to impact their lives showing them that there is justice in the world.
19-24th We will be comfortable in our surroundings and pray that the team has grown together and have made an impact on the bolivian people. Pray for are safety with the construction work we are doing as well as with the people.
25-27th- we will be traveling around the country, so safety with travel and that our eyes and hearts will be open to a different kind of poverty that we could have never imagined.
28th- a safe flight home.

Prayer Calendar upto Departure

There are specific topics of prayer that we are requesting for each week prior to the trip.
Week of --
March 4th: the growth and relationships within commitees.
11th: The fundraising can continue to be a success and that God will provide for our needs.
18th: Team unity.
25th: Leaders of our team and the leaders we will be working with in Bolivia.
April 1st: The staff and relationships that we will build while we are there.
8th: The people and children we will work with.
15th: The School, teachers, and students
22nd: The sexual abuse center and health clinic
29th: The families of the houses we will be repairing and the construction of the houses.
May 6th: A stress free finals week and for all of the seniors graduating.
May 14th: The flight and travel arrangements.

Donations

Thank you all supporters for your monetary donations we are almost half way to our goal! We are also wanting to collect donations such as books, simple school supplies, baby clothing, and YARN! Last year we taught the girls at the clininc to knit and they quickly used the yarn we had brought. Thanks!

Welcome

Welcome to Eastern's Bolivia Missions Trip!