New Hogar Belen

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January 20, 2008 - Moquegua, Peru

Well, I finally made it to the new site of the orphanage. Like I said before, the first one was a lot nicer, but is now unstable due to the 2001 earthquakes.

Arriving there was not a walk in the park, let me tell you. There is a small river between the road and the path to Hogar Belen. Normally this could be driven over with a truck or car. But this week the river had been just a little too high to attempt that. Instead we crossed over a flimsy little tree which was streched over the width of the river. We had to bring our 4 50 lbs. suitcases for the orpahange over that. I am surprised I did not fall in!



As soon as we arrived, it was lunch time. We had an unusually large meal, because the home was having a fiesta that day. To our surprise, we met some people from Canada and the States who had come down to help Hogar Belen. One of them was a doctor so he brought several types of medications to the home. Sister Loretta, the person in charge, was extremely glad.

As soon as that meal was over, the three from North America went to set up the doctor's office. My dad and I went to play with the kids. We went walking, we played on the playground, we talked, it was so fun. You can tell the kids really enjoyed it. There is only one thing that a child needs to grow up, love and affection. Without it, you cannot grow up healthy.

Even though the kids do not get whatever they want, they get what they need and everyone there is happy. Some of the children have extremely tough lives, but they still smile. This is why the orpahange is such a nice place to be at.

After we played with the kids and had a blast, we went for a tour of the premises. We took several pictures which are below with little captions.

Before we were just about to leave, we heard the river roar! We ran down the path, and to everyone's surprise, the bridge was washed away and the river had expanded over 6 ft width wise. It was taking out anything in its path. We did manage to get around it and get home that night, but it was a hike.

We will visit Hogar Belen again on the Tuesday.

More then.

Sincerely,

David Kreiser

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