Casa Hogar Santa Julia

When we started planning our trip to SMA, I emailed a local girls’ orphanage to see how we could help.  I want the kids to be in the habit of helping to improve the places they visit, not just do the touristy stuff and fly home.  I’ve been emailing back and forth with someone from the orphanage to find out what would be helpful for us to bring, and as I’ve mentioned before, we settled on underwear (270 pairs!), school supplies, crayons, frisbees, and the indestructible soccer balls from One World Futbol.

We weren’t sure which day we’d be able to go visit, or what we’d do while we were there, but I got an email today from my contact saying that she was available this afternoon.  We jumped at the chance to go, especially since there is currently an American woman there (Becca) – a recent college grad who majored in bilingual education.  She is now our connection to the orphanage and was extremely welcoming and informative.  She took us on a tour and showed us the whole facility.  While Elizabeth and I were asking her tons of questions, the kids just naturally started playing together.  They had a great time running around and playing on the swing set.  One little girl – around 7 years old, asked Becca if we were staying forever.  So touching.

I will be posting a lot more about the orphanage, including photos, but I didn’t want to take too many the first day.  At the end of our long talk with Becca, she got some of the girls together for a photo op with the supplies we brought.  The same 7YO girl saw the underwear and got really excited and said “Thank you!” in English.  The girls weren’t very happy to have to give it all back to the director, but it needs to be distributed properly when the time is right.  I would love to find a way to help and stay connected long-term, but we’ll see what the future holds.  For now, we’re going to spend some time there during our trip, just playing and socializing with the girls and maybe helping to organize their library.  I think Becca is going to be a great resource for us and will help us figure out what they need and how to help.

Here’s the photo from today’s photo-op:

If you’re interested in reading more about Casa Hogar Santa Julia, there is a very in-depth article here.  There have been a lot of changes since the article was written and they are currently working on even more including a new dorm, moving the cafeteria to a beautiful space, and improving the play area and soccer field.  To everyone who contributed toward the balls and frisbees, THANK YOU!!!  They will be put to good use!  More later…