Dear Family and Friends,
We hope that you are all well and happy in the New Year. There is so much
to share from the past several months.
In August the children have their mid year break, so we went on a field
trip to the ruins of Tipon in Cusco. It was a great trip, lots of fun for
all. In august we also began working on getting Michael ready for a visit
to the US; he will be going for one year as an exchange student into the
home of dear friends, Trisja and Ben Malisoff. He will be able to go this
August and study for one full school year; he is absolutely excited about
his great opportunity. August birthdays were celebrated by Guadalupe - 12,
Lillian Rose - 2 and Rosa - 14.
In September is the anniversary of the children‚s school so it was a month
full of school activities. The festivities culminated on the 22nd of
September with all of the kids participating in local dances and presenting
at their school. September birthdays were celebrated by Raysheil ˆ 10,
Dylan ˆ 5, and Jorge ˆ 15.
October was a great month! The children participated in their school‚s
interscholastic competition and brought home several ribbons. Michael won
first place in the art competition, second in the math competition and
second in chess. Belisario got first place in reading and comprehension and
in math. Exwar was third place in chess and in math. All of the children
enjoyed participating. We had a costume party with the children with
everyone creating an original costume from the tons of great stuff we have
from doing theatre, it was great fun. October birthdays were celebrated by
Leonidas ˆ 12, Michael ˆ 15 and Jorgito ˆ 8.
November was a fairly quiet month around here; everyone was just ready to
finish up with school and to enjoy their summer break. Birthdays in
November were celebrated by Papà Allen - ?? and Maria Flor ˆ 7.
December on the other hand was busy, busy, busy. The children were all in
finals the first two weeks, which is a ton of work. Just imagine trying to
help 25 children study!!! They all did very well. Their last day of school
was on the 15th. This year we had three different graduations to attend.
Roberto, our oldest son, graduated high school in December. This is our
first!!! He is thrilled to be out of school, but is ready to start
university in April. Here in Peru, the kids go to preparatory schools
between high school and college, usually just for the three months in
between, but if they do not pass the entrance exam they may attend the
preparatory to prepare for the exam more. He is interested in studying
Systems Engineering, a tough and demanding major, but we are all confident
that he will be successful. So Roberto is in Cusco, with Michael who is
studying English for his trip to the US.
We also had two other graduations, one from the sixth grade, Rosa and
Hermelinda both did well and will now go on to Secondary. The sixth grade
graduation was quite a moment of triumph for Rosa. When Rosa arrived at
Casa de Milagros 6 years ago her family believed that she was mentally
disabled. In her first three months with us she did not say a word, which
seemed to confirm the worst. Little by little with much stimulation and
care Rosa has budded into a lovely young woman. She is 14 years old, which
is older than the average 6th grader which is 10-12 years old. The road has
not been easy for Rosa she has had to work extremely hard to overcome past
emotional traumas and to be able to accomplish learning all that she has.
She is not mentally disabled so much as emotionally scarred. In many ways
this is an advantage because it can be overcome with lots and lots of love
and attention. She does have some minor learning trouble, but for the most
part with God‚s blessings she has come out ahead. Rosa is very nervous
about going into her first year of secondary, but with the same support and
love that got her through to sixth grade we are sure that she will able to
get through this next year with very little trouble. For Hermelinda it was
an entirely different story. Hermelinda is extremely intelligent. She has
been first or second in their class since they started school. She
accomplishes her school assignments with much ease. She is very good about
helping Rosa along and explaining at home what the teacher taught in the
class. This is a big milestone in both of their lives.
The third graduation was from preschool; Dylan graduated from the 5 year
old class and is ready to enter first grade at the big school with all of
the other children.
Our annual chocolatada Christmas party for the community was a huge
success. The children enjoyed their hot chocolate and fruit bread even
under the rainy skies of the valley. They each received a toy and crayons
and a coloring book. This year the local police captain also came to help
animate the party with live Christmas carols and dancing. It was truly a
blast for all.
We were also fortunate enough to have Allen‚s mother, Tisha Buda and his
daughter Alexis join us for the Christmas holidays. They had a great time,
enjoying every minute here with the kids.
The gardens and greenhouse are flourishing in our warm summer weather. The
rains are here so it is much easier to grow all the different varieties of
food we need for this family.
We now have three great horses and are doing horseback riding with all of
the children. Allen is especially thrilled with the horses, he is just a
cowboy at heart and now he gets to live it out. He rides daily with a
different child; it is a wonderful way to get around out here in the valley.
Mama Kia is also enjoying the newest mode of transportation.
In January Mama Marie was busy getting everything ready for summer school
in Saccllo, Jugando Aprendemos 2007. this year we broadened our program to
include all of secondary. There are 90 children participating this year,
which is the most ever. We have 6 teachers, 3 primary teachers and 3
secondary teachers. Our children are also attending these summer classes to
be more prepared for the year to come. The summer school will continue
until the 23rd of February. This is a yearly program that helps the
children in the community to have extra help in all areas of study during
the summer so that they start the next year with a head start. This year
one of the boys that participated was so proud, he had come in second place
in his class, a feat he never imagined being able to succeed at. He said
that he owed it to the teachers that prepared him through the summer that he
was able to keep up and understand his classes throughout the year. This
program that we run each summer is in need of sponsors each year, the total
cost for the summer program is $2,400.00 dollars. We are also seeking
support for an ongoing after school program that will provide home work
support for these same children. The sad reality is that by 3rd or 4th
grade their parents can no longer help them with their homework. In some of
the families the parents are completely illiterate. Along with this help we
would like to sponsor a library for these children, there is a small library
in Calca, but that is an hour‚s walk from Saccllo, which makes it impossible
for the smaller children to take advantage of the books. We also sponsored
a major clothes drive in January for all of the people in Saccllo and Huchuy
Qosqo, in total about 250 children and 100 mothers and babies participated.
Each person received at least 2 pieces of clothing and we had a great day
all spending time together. One of the many joys of living and working here
are the times that we get to really interact with and bring together our
community.
Sopa del Dia, the soup kitchen in Saccllo is a continued success. The
children are ever grateful for the meals that they receive there. The
nutritional recovery in the children and elderly is significant with their
bodies and minds recovering a great deal. Their spirits are also touched by
the love and caring shown to them by Mama Kia and Mama Marie. The children
love when we stop in just to visit and give hugs and kisses to each and
everyone of them. In a society where families are pretty cold and hands off
they love to have a loving hand give them a hug or a pat on the shoulder.
Thank you Levani and Sheree of the Ananda Foundation for continuing your
support of Sopa del Dia. And thank you and congratulations to Erin and
Anthony for really getting things going there.
All of the children are healthy and happy. Normal children with fairly
normal lives, if you can call 28 brothers and sisters normal.
We have been extremely blessed this year with donations of clothing, school
supplies, games and toys, linens, seeds and many other necessities
generously gathered and carried in by many visitors. Because of our
blessing we were able to share with the children and families in the
community.
Thank all of you who helped to make this year a wonderful, amazing, and
great year here at Casa de Milagros. We truly appreciate all of your loving
support.
Please remember to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to
care for the children here at Casa and work throughout the community
supporting the children there.
Please check out all of the new photos on:
www.casademilagros.shutterfly.com

Sending blessings and love from our home to yours,
Mama Kia, Papa Allen, Mama Marie and all at Casa de Milagros