This week's update

There are no new donations to show. I've had several people tell me they have items to donate but I don't have them yet, so no pictures. Today we made our official presentation to the church, asking for their support. When I say we, I really mean my friend Kelly made the presentation. All I did was get some pictures on a disk for a slide show. We all know I can't talk and cry at the same time and when I talk about this subject, I cry, sooooooooo, I didn't talk (but I did cry while she talked).
We're planning a taco dinner after church on the 14th of June for donations. We had several people offer to help with all aspects of the dinner today. That was really a blessing. Such good friends.........and good hearts. I can't wait to see how God blesses our efforts to help the children.

Stay tuned.................I'll keep you posted

Woo Hoo

The "Donate" button is up and running! I can't believe I did it right! I have surprised myself once again when it comes to technology! Hope this makes things easier for those of you who would like to donate online.
Thanks for the donations so far!!!!

Donation Update

Donations are starting to come in slowly. I'm also working on setting up a Paypal account with a Donate Button here on the blog to make it a little easier for those who wish to give money towards the orphanage. Hopefully by the middle of this coming week, I'll have the Donate Button up and working so please check back.

Items donated so far

Keep the items coming! The kids are going to be so blessed by everything we send!

Thanks for visiting our blog dedicated to brightening the lives of the children who live in Casa Alegria, a government orphanage in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Here are some facts about the orphanage. There are two houses. The first one is home to 97 children from birth to 6 years of age. The home is overcrowded and understaffed, although the staff seems to be doing their best to care for the children. The biggest need at this house is:

*Clothing

*Shoes

*Playground equipment

The second house houses 15 special needs children on the first floor and 17 babies from 1 month to 9 months of age on the second floor. The second house needs everything you can think of for babies:

*Bottles
*Nipples

*Pacifiers
*Formula
*Diapers

*Baby Wipes
*Small toys with lights and music
*Exercsaucers (3 or 4)
*Punkin seats or bouncy seats (aprox. 6)
*Baby bed Mobiles (could use 15)

*Soft Rubber interlocking floor squares
*(No stuffed animals or cloth toys that can't be wiped down with antibacterial wipes)

I was not allowed to take any pictures of the children but I do have a few pictures of empty rooms. The hogar is clean. The colors of the rooms are bright and cheerful but there are just too many children and not enough staff. Any kind of toys that offer stimulation for the younger children would be a great benefit. Unfortunately they spend way too much time in their beds and their little brains need to be working.

This is a typical bedroom. As you can see, it's full of beds. Each bedroom I saw was completely full of rows of beds with just enough room to walk around each row. Most rooms had a rocking chair where the room mother could sit. The day I was there, each room mother I saw was holding and rocking a sick child. With so many children in such a small space, they can't help but pass along their sickness to each other.

This is their little dining room. There were 18 little chairs around this table and it's the only one in the room. I can't imagine 18 toddlers sitting down and sitting still at a table like this but I guess if they want to eat, they learn to sit and sit still.

Small items can be sent relatively easy. Our friends Danny and Brittney are traveling down the end of June and have offered to take an extra suitcase full of donations with them.

If you would like to donate items (new or gently used) send them to:

Shelburn First Baptist Church
520 West Mill Street
Shelburn, IN 47879

Monetary donations in the form of check or money order can also be sent to the church.
Please be sure you put Guatemala or Casa Alegria on the memo line.
If you have a specific way you would like the money to be used, just enclose a note with your wishes .

Right now, I think the easiest way to supply larger items, is to buy them in Guatemala and deliver them to the orphanage.

I would love to supply them with some Little Tikes play houses or something similar and some ride or pedal toys. The children will be so grateful for anything we send. They currently have nothing so anything we send will be wonderful.