Last Saturday in Otavalo

Last weekend we had the privilege of visiting an aids orphanage in otavalo. The orphanage is about 2 hours away from where we live so we spent most of the day there. This is the same orphanage we visited while I was on the justice tour last summer. You might remember me writing this post about this little girl last year after I returned from my trip to Ecuador.

She never spoke and so I never learned her name while I was there last time. Well as you can see from the picture above she was a much different child this time. A much healthier and happier one!

I was finally able to learn her name was Lizbeth! We were all given chores to do when we first got to the orphanage and I was outside washing some toys when she came out of the house and started playing in the yard, then her and another little girl Leslie came over and started helping me wash the toys. They were enjoying helping me scrub all the toys and listening to me try to speak Spanish.

We had so much fun, needless to say we did not fully finish our chore :/ whoops!

We spent part of the afternoon just playing with all the kids after they finished eating lunch. It's very bittersweet going and volunteering at an orphanage. It's great to be there and love on them, play with them, and just give them undivided attention for a while but it's also hard because these aren't kids who when you leave go back home to their parents. For a little while you almost forget they are orphans, that is until you get ready to leave. When it's time to say goodbye it kind of hits you again that all these children are sick and have no parents to raise or love them. All the children have such different reactions to saying goodbye too. Some won't let you go and follow you all the way to your car to yell goodbye at you because they had so much fun playing, while others, like Lizbeth did, just shut down once you tell them you have to leave. I tried to tell Lizbeth goodbye but she wouldn't even hardly look at us once we said we were leaving. I'm glad I get to love on these kids even if it's just for a little while but it's always so hard to say goodbye. I mean look at all these precious faces!

I'm really hoping we get the chance to go visit again while we are here. My heart for orphans has grown so much more since I have been here, hoping I can use my life to make a difference in the lives of orphans.

-Jamie

A name I never learned and a face I'll never forget.

I figured it was about time I started telling some stories about my trip to Ecuador. I thought I would start out sharing about when we went to an aids orphanage and spent the afternoon playing with the children there. When we first arrived I was handed a little girl who had been sleeping so I was able to just hold her and love on her while she slept.

You could tell from her physical appearance that she was much more sick then the other children. Once she finally woke up she wouldn't speak and showed absolutely no emotion. It wasn't until about 15 minutes before we left that she finally opened up to me and started laughing and playing with me, she still wouldn't speak and I never did learn her name.

 When it was finally time to go and my entire team had already left and got on the bus I had someone tell her that I had to leave now and tried saying goodbye, she instantly latched herself to me and wouldn't let go. My heart broke into a million pieces as I tried to sit her down and she started screaming and holding onto me tighter. I felt physically incapable of letting her go; I just couldn't do it by myself. Another girl had to help me put her down, the whole time she is still screaming and crying. I would have just taken her with me if I could have but I had to walk away with her crying and reaching for me, my heart hurt so bad as I walked back to the bus no longer being able to hold back my emotions. As I said before I never did learn her name and I may never know what happens to her but I'm so happy I was able to hold her and allow her to feel safe and love on her even if it was just for a little bit. She will now forever be my motivation and reminder about my dream to give a home to orphans one day.