Finally....a little about our trip to Peru!

I can't believe I haven't blogged about my sponsor trip to Peru with Compassion International yet.  I was busy catching up when I got back, and now I guess I've just been slacking :)

Here are a few highlights:

*Obviously #1 on my list will have to be meeting our 3 sponsored kids!
*Getting to meet other great sponsors who are also passionate about Compassion.
*Learning more about the different aspects and programs of Compassion such as the Child Survival Program, Leadership Development Program, and of course the Child Sponsorship Program.  Seeing these programs first hand was great to be able to see how the kids benefited in each one.
 *Meeting the great staff in the country....tutors, pastors, project workers, translators, etc. Our staff from Colorado was great too :)


Here are a few pictures from meeting our Compassion kids in Peru:

On May 7th, we had a fun day at a water park where we met Yessica (our correspondence child).

Here we are when we first met her.  We were all smiles.  I had cried on the bus in anticipation of seeing her for the first time.  Then when we got there and saw all the kids from a distance I found her in the crowd and got excited.  I held back tears for the hugs....but the end of the day the tears came back during the goodbyes.

Yessica came with her dad.  They had a 6 hour bus ride to the location and came the night before and stayed in a hotel.  I'm sure that was a fun experience for them.  Her dad had a baby only 10 days before so we were able to give them some baby clothes as a gift (we knew they were pregnant but not how far along....it was a little boy).  Her dad was so thankful for our support.  He made a sash for Adam and a messenger bag for me (which took him 5 days to make!).  He does these sort of textiles as a business so it was special for him to share his skills with us.

Here we are with his handiwork (Yessica and her dad are in the middle).

We gave Yessica lots of presents and clothes, including this Minnesota Vikings shirt.  I have the same one so we can be twins :)

Towards the end of the day Yessica and I were crying when we looked at each other and thought about having to say goodbye.  We wiped away our tears and took more group shots so that we'd have memories in the future.  She has red cheeks from the sun (and from crying)....and me too.

 One final group shot towards the end of the day.

Obviously this is only a portion of our pictures.  I took about 100 or so...which I printed out and will be sending to her 20 at a time because of the thickness restrictions per letter.  She'll keep getting pictures as the year goes on and will keep remembering new moments from our fun day together.  She is 14 years old and wants to be a doctor someday.  We love this girl so much!


Now on to the next fun day......where we met our two sponsored kids at an amusement park on May 9th.



First up was Said (age 7) and his mom.  Said was our very first sponsored child.  Adam gave him a big hug and spun him around.  We later found out that his dad is out of the picture so I'm sure he appreciated having a male figure show him affection and love.

 I awkwardly waited for my turn to say hello.

Next up was 11 year old Flor and her mom. 

Adam and Said.

Me and Flor.

We went on rides at the amusement park.  It was the first time they were on a roller coaster (for the mom's too!).  They enjoyed it but were a little scared.  

Flor and Said waiting in line to go on the roller coaster (again).  I love her smile.  She was shy though so when she noticed I wanted to take a picture she sometimes turned away so these moments had to be captured quick!  Said was hyper and talkative like any 7 year old boy so he lead the group around and Flor was quiet and shy and just followed him along.  Flor lives near Lima (so had about a 2 hour bus ride to get there that morning).  Said is from southern Peru so he had a 16 hour bus ride.  Said and his mom came the night before by bus and stayed in a hotel.  It was his 2nd time in a hotel he said, but the first time in an elevator :)  The transportation and hotel costs for the kids and their parents were covered by our trip costs so we were glad they were able to travel and have these fun new memories.

Flor and Said (and Adam) checking out the parrots in the small zoo area of the park.

The four of us being silly.

We had two great translators with us (both on the right side of the table).  With two kids, and two parents having two was awesome!  Said was super talkative so having a fast translator helped us understand him.  And having a second translator helped me try to ask Flor questions while Said was talking with Adam and the others too.

Adam and Said went on the log ride.  We used the towels we brought them (in case we went to the water park portion...but it was too chilly) to keep Said a little dry.  They still got wet but he didn't care.

Flor loved the animals, especially the chickens.  She got a sole (like 30 cents) from her mom in order to get chicken feed from the machine to feed the chickens (we later got more for the other animals).

 Here she is feeding a horse.  I love her joyful smile/laugh.

They both love the horses.

Here we are with both kids, parents, and our one translator (the other took the picture). We gave them backpacks full of school supplies, books, toys, etc.  We also gave each kid a bag of clothes as well as towels and gifts for their families.  I loved shopping for them :)

A group shot at the end of the day.  Said held on to his new soccer ball and liked his new stocking hat (even though it wasn't that cold...lol).

Us with Flor and her mom.

Individual shots so each kid felt special.

Said and his mom with us.

Again, we had a ton of pictures (probably between 150-200) of this fun day.  We printed a ton out for Flor and Said so they will be getting them a small stack at a time throughout the year.  We had given each kid a small photo album to put the pictures in but I should have given them a couple since they won't all fit...lol.

This second fun day we knew more what to expect after already going through one a few days before with Yessica.  I didn't cry at the beginning but at the end after we took these pictures, Flor started to cry so I hugged her and cried....and then Said started to tear up a little!  It was sad waving goodbye to them when their bus left.

These fun days were some of the best days of our lives.


Obviously I have more to talk about with going to the different Compassion projects and such too but this will end my post for today.  Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like help sponsoring a child of your own.  It is so worth it!

Click here to find children who are in need of sponsors.