Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sorry for the delay in the blog! It has been a really busy week, and at the end of the day we are exhausted...but our work doesn't stop then! After dinner, we have to come back and re-pack and plan for the next day so blogging comes last. Here are a few updates from yesterday and today....

Yesterday we stayed busy at the orphanage. We were brave (or crazy) and brought paint. Try to imagine 40 children (who don't speak English) with paint brushes and cups of paint. Needless to say, it was not easy trying to keep them on their own paper, keep them from painting us, or keep them from painting each other. Only one child ended up with paint in their eyes, thank goodness. Overall, the children had a good afternoon! We ended the day with an intense soccer game with Carlton as one of the goalies and Kris playing barefoot. Even though most of the players (the Americans) had never played soccer, they weren't too bad! The children enjoyed laughing at them!








If you aren't familiar with Silly Bandz, you might be living under a rock... Well, we have now introduced them to 40 Bulgarian children and they love them! For the past two days, we have played games where the children are able to win Silly Bandz. These games have been the highlight of the day! We threw balls into a bucket for over an hour. Every person who rung the bucket, won a Silly Band.....even the workers wanted to play! Thanks to all who bought us Silly Bandz!

We have had a great week! The children have enjoyed the bells, crafts, and games. Karen even gave a few haircuts!


The men have worked hard painting, digging, and building. Two of the boys stayed up till 4:00 am painting one of their rooms! We are putting the finishing touches on the puppet theater tonight and will take it to the orphanage tomorrow. It turned out really nice!






This year, 7 of the children from the orphanage have been moved into a type of foster home. This project has been sponsored by the European Union. These children live in a house with approximately 6 staff members, with one staff member present at all times. They are responsible for several chores, such as cleaning their rooms and cleaning up after dinner. They also participate in classes to teach them life skills. They have been on many educational trips around the country and they receive services from a psychologist, social worker, and counselor. Yesterday, we had the privilege of visiting their home. They were so excited to see us! They made us cards, prepared a snack for us, and showed us around their house! These children are very excited to be living here. The workers are extremely nice and welcoming. They have been visiting with us at the orphanage this week and some of them speak English. Please pray for these children and their situation. They have been chosen for this home because they have "tested well". These children will most likely be adopted before the other children. Several of them have foster parents that they visit on the weekends as well. For example, today one of the girls was visiting her "foster Grandmother" who took her shopping for new clothes. We were apprehensive about this situation in the beginning, but we feel really good about what we have seen! Unfortunately, this project has been turned over to the government of Bulgaria and no longer receives funds from the EU. This is a recent obstacle for them, and it is uncertain on how they will continue to fund the project.





Tomorrow we are having a party for the kids. We will be giving them t-shirts and pictures and serving watermelons! We have blown up lots and lots of balloons as well! Around lunchtime, we will be leaving for Lovetch. We will be in Lovetch Friday and Saturday, then travel to Sofia Saturday night. Please pray for us tomorrow. It's always sad to leave, but we hope that this week has been beneficial for all the children. We are currently working on arranging English classes through our translator for some of the older children. She teaches English in one of the local high schools, and has volunteered to teach once a week. We hope that this investment will be a long-term investment that will be valuable to the children in their future. Our relationship with her is important and we are excited for this new opportunity! We will finalize these plans before we leave Lom.


Sickness update...
Joe finally decided to visit the doctor and they ran a few tests and took some blood. The doctor decided that it could be an infection related to a spider bite that he got before we left the States. They gave him some medicine and he is feeling a little better.


Hopefully you aren't too confused now! It's almost 11:00 and we are still working on tomorrow's plans! I apologize for rambling...

Hopefully we will have another update tomorrow!

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