Our princesses live in a city of around 600,000 people; so when we were given an invitation to spend the day out in the country we could not pass it up! A local partner invited our girls to spend the day at their house in the country. Our girls who love animals were persistent in chasing after the chickens until they were able to catch one and pet it. The dogs enjoyed the extra attention too. Some of the girls spent most of the day in and out of the pool. There was space to ride scooters, a tire swing, toys, hammocks and hotdogs on the grill. It was a memorable day for all of us!
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Living in a country with such a mild climate means none of our girls have even seen snow. While on winter break from school, they were invited by their church’s young adult group to take a trip up a mountain to play in the snow. They were so excited they could hardly sleep the night before. After a 2 and half hour bus ride (most of the trip, driving up the side of a mountain), they were ready to get off the bus and play!
Below are pictures of their unforgettable day! We had our first birthday celebration on May 10th and we have two more in May! In many group homes, birthdays are celebrated once a month for all who have birthdays in that month. At Daughters of the King, we celebrate each girl’s birthday individually, thanks to the help of our Bolivian volunteers and their families. Our first birthday girl turned 10. This is an important age in our home, because at 10 our girls begin their leadership training. We start early, so that we have enough time to help our girls become leaders in their community, church and future profession. At age 10 we start our lessons with the textbook written for pre-teens, Walking in Peace: How to resolve conflicts. Our girls are counting the days until the next birthday party!
All the nation of Bolivia celebrates the Day of the Child on April 12th. Our girls at Daughters of the King had a very special Sunday. At church they participated in this special day’s festivities, and then they had a surprise in the afternoon. The girls’ “madrinas” (God-mothers in Spanish) prepared a party for them. They had a fun afternoon of games, cake and lots of hugs and attention. The girls are blessed to have a group of ladies here in Bolivia that are taking the time to be with them.
Our first princess! Our first princess to arrive at the Daughters of the King Orphanage is a teenager. Katy is a little shy and has such a tender heart. She is now attending school near our house and forming new friendships. Her dream is to be a dressmaker and own her own shop, and we want to help her achieve that dream. Waiting for the littlest princess. The youngest girl we are receiving in Daughter's of the King, will soon be checked out of the hospital's burn center. Ana is less than three years old and it is such a lovely little girl. We will be helping her recover and providing her with needed physical therapy. If you would like to join the Daughters of the King family and help these precious ones grow into strong, independent and healthy women, visit our Give link. Each child is given a fictitious name to protect their identity. Here in Bolivia, the rules for renters are not quite the same in the States and are not necessarily required to fix everything before renting. We decided on this fixer-upper house because the rent would be so much less and the location is just perfect, not to mention the extra rooms and the large garden to play in. So a month ago, we started: fixing walls and holes, ripping out bad carpet, painting and quite a lot more. Right before we thought we were about to finish, we discovered several leaks from the roof. The owner is fixing and covering the cost of the roof, but this delays our opening date by a couple of weeks. So if all goes well, and believing it will! We will be ready to receive girls on the 21st of this month. Below a few before and after pictures, and will send more soon! (Click on each picture below) How can we assure that our girls will receive the preparation they need to be successful adults?9/10/2014 Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” We, at Daughters of the King Foundation are in strong agreement with Ben Franklin’s words. If we want to see each child that lives in our orphanage become socially, spiritually, and emotionally strong and with the training necessary to be successful adults, this will only happen with much preparation and planning. Part of this preparation includes our Growth and Development Plans that we are now meticulously writing for each age group. These plans include: values lessons, social skills activities, Bible lessons, emotional and physical health lessons, finance and leadership training, skills training and more. Each Growth and Development Plan will be completed before we receive our first child in the orphanage, so that from day one we are prepared to give them the best possible environment for growth within a loving and caring home. Carmen, our psychologist on staff is about to complete our plan for ages 0 to 3. Our plan for ages 4 to 5 and our plan for ages 6 to 9 are finished. I am now starting our Growth and Development Plan for ages 10 to 14. Join us in raising up victorious orphan children in Bolivia by partnering with us! Visit our Give Link for more information. In the process of sharing the vision of Daughters of the King Orphanage, I have had to often confront the question of why only having 20 girls in our home. Living in a society that is focused on numbers, there is a temptation to want to get as many children in an orphanage as possible.
In starting an orphanage there are two roads one can take, reaching a large number of children, clothing and feeding them: yet, with a large number there will be a lack of quality of attention and individualized learning that the orphans will receive. I have heard of girls aging out of state-run homes accepting the first minimum wage job they can find because of their lack of skills. I have also heard quite a few testimonies of girls in these larger homes that end up with the first guy who promises to take care of them and end up with husbands that mistreat them. Our vision at Daughters of the King is to prepare the girls for a successful future where they are able to make an impact in their environment as adults and in the process receive an abundance of love and quality care. These girls will not only be treated as if they were our own daughters, but also daughters of our Lord, and as His disciples. They will be raised in a loving environment filled with knowledge of God’s Word, receiving social, leadership, moral training as well as skills training, everything that will help them make an impact in their generation. Yet, there is still the burden of the huge number of orphans in Bolivia. To help make an impact in a larger number of children, it is also part of our vision to help other orphanages in the quality of care they give to their children. All of our staff training, development material, and our time for counseling is available to any orphanage director in Bolivia. Our desire is to develop a “model” orphanage that others can reproduce. All of this may sound wonderful, but we won’t be able to start Daughters of the King Orphanage until we reach the minimum finances required by Social Services. Please join our Daughters of the King family by becoming a monthly financial partner. Together we will transform the lives of girls in Bolivia. Just $20 or more a month will be a much needed resource to make the vision of Daughters of the King Orphanage a reality. To sign up and find out of the various ways to give, visit the Give link. All donations are tax deductible. 4 reasons why Daughters of the King Orphanage is an urgent need for Bolivia:
1. At the beginning of this year, a Bolivian newspaper published, “Global statistics show that 20% of children 18 and under receive physical aggression; and in Bolivia the percentage is higher with 34%.” With over-crowded government run orphanages, many institutionalized children are trying to protect themselves from such aggressions. 2. According to UNICEF, 19% of women in Bolivia are illiterate, as opposed to 7% of men. Daughters of the King Orphanage will not only provide a complete education for the girls but they will also receive leadership, financial and skills training to escape the cycle of poverty from which they came. 3. Although Bolivia’s constitution takes into account women’s rights – there is still high levels of violence and discrimination. The macho mindset is such a part of the culture that many women see this negative treatment as acceptable. Girls at Daughters of the King Orphanage will have the opportunity to develop a mature spiritual life and know they are loved and valued by God. 4. James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” In reference to this verse, Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans said, “As we do this, we reveal God’s heart to the world. Whether by adoption or foster care or supporting the local Church in care for orphans around the globe, we display the astonishing reality that the Great One cares passionately for the least. And in the process, we experience God’s heart more deeply ourselves as well.” We only need 100 people to commit to $20 a month for Daughters of the King Orphanage to become a reality. I would like to ask you to consider forming part of the Daughters of the King family. On the Give link, is a sign-up form to become a part of this family and help make Daughters of the King Orphanage a reality. The following testimony is from a woman that grew up in two government run orphanages in Bolivia, and shows why it’s so important that Daughters of the King Orphanage can become a reality.
“…I only know that I ended up in a public orphanage…a home with very unfavorable conditions for childhood, I remember that I was in this place for a short time. There, the children had to survive however we could from the aggressions of the educators and from the same children that were older than us. This is where I met a friend who still is to this day. I remember that she defended me against the rest of the kids and when I was scared of the dark, we joined our beds together and slept together. When we were hungry, we helped the educators to calm the crying of the babies in order to earn a hard bread….Suddenly, one day, with approximately 20 children, we were put into a car and taken to another place, a place that was my home for the next 13 years. Thirteen years that perhaps I would have liked not to live. We are still in need of partners to make Daughters of the King Orphanage a reality. Will you consider partnering with us for $20 or more? If you would like to know how, visit our Give link. |