Sucre

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Well suffice to say that this blog entry is slightly overdue. I'll keep it brief and you can look at the pictures! We arrived in Sucre and went to live with our host family in a very smart apartment block. They had 2 children and a dog and we ended up with a very pleasant room with a nice view of Sucre. We spent 2 weeks studying Spanish at a language school. We managed to fit a few activites in between our studies like visiting the famous market at Tarabuco and joining in the "Day of the Dead" celebrations.
After 2 weeks we started our planned voluntary work in an orphanage for disabled children. Ally had a class of 4 year olds whilst Amelia was working with the 7/8 yr olds. They had a range of disabilities. The orphanage was infinitely better than we were expecting but still tragically understaffed and under-equipped. The children were a delight to be around - constant smiles and desperate for us to play with them. It was hard to leave at the end of the 2 weeks. There really isn't much hope for them. Most of them will probably pass into adult institutions. There's very little hope for lots of adults without disabilities in Bolivia let alone those with often extremely severe disabilities. There is no state funding either - the orphanage relies on religious donations and benefactors.
At the end of our time in Sucre, it was time for us to go our separate ways and on with our travel plans. Amelia went off to LA and then to Canada for a month to do a ski instructor course. Ally went to La Paz to meet a tour group to go across from Bolivia into Peru.

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Photos

Our family
Grandpa and the youngest son

Our family
Mum, Dad and Grandma

Conversation lessons
Working hard!

Loki-the family dog
have you ever seen an animal look so angry?!

cemetery in Sucre
on "day of the dead"

the orphanage
playground, dormitories and classrooms

Santos
never stops smiling