At first glance Oruru seems like a very dark place with a history involving devils, giant frogs, giant ants, various old Gods, poverty, spent mines, and, once again, rural migration. Temperatures drop below freezing most nights as Oruru is almost 4,000 metres above sea level making survival on the streets extremely difficult. However there exists a growing community of highly dedicated people helping the street living and working children, just as Jesus taught us. The Red Alert programme in Oruru is a great and very necessary opportunity to reach many more children in a city which so desperately needs help.

There are a number of projects Toybox is working with in Oruru . These projects are now benefiting from a city-wide strategy that is ‘Red Alert’. The network of projects, doctors, local traders and local government is established and training is now taking place in the projects and through local Churches. The first leapfrog grants have been implemented and the benefits to these projects is immediately obvious as we visited them. More children are being reached and the quality of care is excellent.

We visited ‘Maranatha’. This is a project in an extremely poor area and is attached to a local Church. Training and Leapfrog grants are improving and increasing the capacity of this project – visible in the new rooms and equipment. Beyond these physical facilities is an extremely committed group of people working with these children. The children are clean and clearly learning values that they did not previously have.

We were given lunch at this project and presented with some Peruvian hats which suited some of us better than others! During lunch I was served by a wonderful lady of 76 years. Through tears she explained to me that she, with 5 other ladies from Church, voluntarily cooks a meal every day for the hundred children in the project. She serves the food to the children and then sits with them adopting a counseling role. Clearly this is her life and it is people like her who Toybox supporters are enabling to reach more children through their generosity.

 We also visited ‘Agua Viva’ which I can only describe as a ‘lighthouse’ on a building site! The project facilities have been built with a Toybox leapfrog grant. These children came from such a poor community with NO services. The project had washing facilities which resulted in good education of the children as they were certainly clean. During our time at this project when we saw the children dance, sing and worship we could see the wonderful hearts of the workers in the project who all came from  a local church. The children worshiping was wonderful and they gave us a pair of gloves each. We had previously been told that the children each put 2 Bolivianoes (15 pence) into a fund three times per year that they spend on something special for themselves. The children had decided to buy us gloves with this money. This was an extraordinary lesson for us in the importance of receiving a gift on behalf of the Toybox donors.

The market area in Oruru is where most street children work. It was here that we found a group wrapped up against the cold at the end of the day as the warm sun dropped away. This group had been shoe cleaning and were going to one of the illegal bedsits where they could rent a space on the floor, out of the freezing night, for 1 Boliviano (8 pence) OR a piece of floor space plus cardboard for 2 Bolivianos (15 pence). These children are met with regularly and are in the process of restoration. We can only pray as some will embrace this opportunity and some will not.

We also went to another project called ‘Philadelphia’. This project helps working children, street children and children at risk … in fact 120 of them! Local Assemblies of God church support this project which has also benefited from ‘Red Alert’. Juan Jose was one of the children who told his story. He described his former street working life and how he had changed and expressed his thankfulness to God. He then told us of his family … he had NO parents or Uncles and Aunts …. All he had was the project and his ‘little sister’. The children here were quite extraordinary with amazing ambitions and obvious strong values – living proof of the difference that the projects make in the precious lives of these children.

The Toybox travellers are back!

Thank you for all your prayers and for following their progress. The team arrived tired, but safe and full of stories and experiences of their time in Bolivia and Peru. The team said that they felt inspired by the dedication and vision of the staff and teams they met out in Latin America, and that they are even more passionate about supporting more projects like the ones they visited.

We would like to share with you a quote from the pastor of ‘Filadelfia’ Church which is a member of the Red Alert Network in Bolivia:

“Thanks to God and all family which have let us form part of this important project for the children. Always remember God will bless you for your effort and we give you this verse.

Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

The experience we’re living in is new for our Church. The constant training this centre has given strengthens us at the Church. Many thanks for your support.”

We visited two projects in Cochabamba today meeting with ‘on and over the edge kids’. Firstly we spent time with some street kids in a drainage channel which passes under a road. This is their home – dirty and smelly with disused glue containers littering the ground. As we chatted to the children we discovered that just last week one of girls, Elena aged 14, had lost her baby at 3-4 months. She had also self harmed herself, abrasing her wrists. Her boyfriend was there too, but clearly the relationship between them was not very equal. The group presented itself as ‘together’ and strong, but really most of the kids’ relationships were based on survival rather than true affection. 

We were able to get to meet these children through a very interesting couple connected with Red Alert called Skip and Liana who have been working, being with, and loving this street group for some time now. They have a great attitude and ministry as servants, building relationships and demonstrating love to those who don’t know right love in such simple but powerful ways; giving the kids haircuts, caring for them, and helping with the above mentioned needs. They are working towards seeing these kids moving off the street and away from addiction, helping them to move on Its early days but there are some early signs of success too - please pray on with them.

The second encounter was a more positive one, perhaps surprisingly considering that we were meeting with children who live with their parents in prisons. This was ‘Casa de la Amistad’ (Friendship House) where prison children are supported and nurtured in a day centre close to the three jails in Cochabamba. It is a sure thing that a lot of these kids would be on the street if this programme was not changing the tide and reversing the spiral from down to up. We had a fantastic welcome at the centre from 70 of the 120 children this project works with. They sang & danced so well. We exchanged gifts and watched some carefully choreographed dance acts. The centre has been able to increase their quality of care to these kids thanks to the input from Toybox partners who mentor and support the centre’s team in a quality improvement scheme. As part of this carefully tailored support to the centre a ‘leapfrog grant’ was given to improve facilities (toilets, playground and shelter for big group activities). This has all been possible due to generosity of Toybox supporters.

A third encounter was with the local government authorities to find out how we can collaborate with them. The head of the child protection department for Cochabamba was there. Everyone we met was well qualified and very capable, but we kept hearing that there are not enough of them and not enough resources to facilitate their work. They are doing a good job against the odds and clearly have a very good working relationship with Toybox partners. We also heard some shocking facts from these hard-working people. 3,800 cases of abuse have been reported since January 2008 in Cochabamba alone. The child protection department expect reporting of cases to continue to increase as people feel more able to report. There’s much to do but with sustained prayer, support and co-operation gains are being made ‘step by step’.

So we continue on this amazing journey of insight into the lives of children here in Latin America. From Cochabamba, the food capital of Bolivia, (and wow it certainly is with the incredible diversity of climate and local food produced in the area) we will move to Oruro a mining town high up in these Andean mountains which is also high up on the ‘needs scale’ for children. Toybox are involved there.

Let’s wait and see what encounters we have – and what stories of hope and encouragement we can uncover in the darkness.

Martin & the Toybox travellers