Dia de los niños

Så nærmer det seg slutten på dette eveentyret her i Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Det har vært 6 fantastiske måneder.

Å dra fra barna mine kommer til å bli noe av det tøffeste jeg har gjort i hele mitt liv. Jeg føler meg så utrolig heldig som har fått lov å ta del i livene deres. Den kjærligheten de har vist meg og delt med meg å den beste gaven jeg noen gang kunne bedt om.
Jeg har forandret meg, og jeg har lært at uten kjærlighet så er det veldig lite i verden som egentlig betyr noe.

Det viktigste jeg har lært i mens jeg har jobbet for Alalay dette året er å se mennesker. Det høres så lite ut for selvfølgelig ser vi mennesker heletiden, hverdag er vi omringet av andre mennesker, men nå har de menneskene fått ansikter! De har fått en verdi, de er noen.
I Norge er det så lett å dytte det fra seg denne kjenneskapen om at så utrolig mange mennesker i verden er uten verdi. At den nye jakka som du fikk kjøpt superbillig er laget av et annet menneske med akkurat den samme verdien som du har, men som har mistet denne verdien i en verden som bare tjener de rik og sterke. Og da kan man jo stille spørsmålet: Hvordan ble verden så skjev? Hvorfor har jeg penger og muligheter til å gjøre hva jeg ønsker med mitt liv, mens andre er tvunget inn i et liv med slitt, nedverdigelse og fattigdom.
Hvem ga meg retten til å tråkke på andre?
Og hvem sa det er greit å ikke dele?
Man lærer helt i fra barnehagen at man må dele med andre, men når stopper det egentlig å gjelde?
Når ble det akseptabelt å tvinge andre mennesker ned i gjørma å så hoppe på dem bare for moroskyld?
Jeg håper og tror at jeg har forandret meg, om ikke fullstendig så forhåpentlig nok til å utgjøre en forskjell i mitt eget liv. At de valgene jeg tar i fremtiden er mer beviste og gjennomtenkte. Dama på gata som sitter og tigger har fått et ansikt, hun er moren til et at de barna som jeg har lært å elske med hele mitt hjerte. Hvorfor skal ikke hun også ha rett til et liv i verdighet? Hvorfor skal drømmen om eget hus og jobb være fullstendig uoppnåelige?
Hvorfor? Det ene ordet summer som et mantra oppe i hodet hver gang jeg ser noe som minner meg på hvor urettferdig verden virkelig er.

The boy who broke my heart

The sun was shining hot over Santa Cruz as we were walking by the side of the rode. It was just a normal day for the street team, walking next to the big highway talking to the street children. For me and Anna it was different, from working in the village too talk to the children that actually live on the street, this was a new and raw experience. At first we stopped and talked to the older boys who were washing cars, and then we played card games with the youngest girls. One of theme told me she used to live in the Alalay-village, but that she had moved back to the city, witch meant the streets.
After one hour or so we went to drink something cold, the street-team told us that we would walk to another place near the airport, so we started walking.
By the side of the rode into a gate lay a body with pink painting all over. It looked like “it” was dead, but we still poked the body in the side. It came awake and “it” was a boy of 14 years called Alfredo. With his box with glue up to his nose and pink paint all over his clothes and skin, he smiled at us: “Ustdes son Hermanos?” yes we replayed, we come from Alalay. Alfredo smiled and lifted the glue to his nose and took a deep sniff.
It was all starting to seem unrealistic to me, how can a 14 year old boy live on the street, SNIFFING GLUE!!!
Me and Anna started talking too him, asking if he was hungry and wanted to come with us to Alalay. Alfredo just smiled, sniffed, and answered
”I want to shower and yes I’m hungry!”
The street-team discussed it and they agreed that we should take him with us. However first we needed to go to the airport. After 10 min walking in burning sun, Alfredo started to get tired so we quickly decided that I and Anna should take him to the 1.stage.
But before we could take Alfredo anywhere he had to put away the glue. It took 5min with intense sniffing and a lot of co-axing from us before he was ready to go.
We had to take the bus and people watch in horror as we, two white chicks, sat down with a street-boy. It made me so annoyed watching them watching us as if Alfredo was a dangerous diesis!
When we finally came to the 1.stage Alfredo got to shower of all the pink painting and after that he could eat with the other boys. He looked so happy and all the boys seemed to like him.
Me and Anna spent 1 or 2 hours there visiting the boys from 4.stage that 5days earlier moved from the Alalay-village. And of course the other volunteers who works in the 1.stage.
When we decided to leave we couldn’t find Alfredo so we went to the gate. All the boys
Were staring out on the street,” he left, he left”.
I couldn’t believe it! He left, back to the street.
It just broke my heart to know that that night he would be out on the street again sniffing glue.
It really made me think about the injustice children suffer as a consequent of decisions made by adults, politicians and international companies. I mean who decides that one child is more worth than another? Who decides who should have an education? And who decides not to change this? The world has enough reassures for everybody, and it’s not fair that because of what a few people decide should affect children all over the world. What did they ever do to deserve it?
NOTHING!!

My first Christmas far far away from home.
It wasn’t all what I had expected, but it wasn’t all bad either. It felt good to bee here with the kids and if I didn’t have my Christmas spirit for most of December I certainly had it Saturday before Christmas Eve. I and Hermana Juana took our 6 boys to visit “Papa Noel” or Santa Claus. He lived in a Coca Cola house and drank Coca Cola all day long, but the kids didn’t get that information. They only saw the Santa and they still can’t stop talking about him and now it’s the January. We saw all the lights in the city, it was beautiful! We didn’t return home to the Aldea before 12pm.
The next day the 23.the whole Aldea went to a Christmas event for many of the organizations that works with children in Santa Cruz. The Mayor graced us with his present and it was a big media fuss. We got a lot of food there but the program was somewhat stretched out for many many MANY hours! When they finally started to give out the present we were all tired and just wanted to go home. In the bus home it would be an understatement to say that we had room for everybody, but somehow we managed to put everybody in and shut the doors. With present, food, sewing machines and the whole of the Aldea!!!
Christmas Eve contained of waiting, waiting and more waiting. We didn’t eat until 11pm and then of course my kids were so tiered that they just wanted to sleep, I had to walk around with them so they wouldn’t fall a sleep in the food on the table… hehe
The next day I found my self with the head in the toilet the whole day, I couldn’t hold anything in stomach. I was sick the next 3days, what a way to celebrate Christmas!

New Years Eve was celebrated in the house with pizza and salad. It was so nice 5 girls and one boy, at 11pm we went to the plaza Central to watch the fireworks it was so beautiful and a perfect ending to 2007.
Happy New Year!!!!

And then it started raining, so me and the kids took a swim in our new pool...Hehe

Ho Ho Ho.. Merry Christmas. I tried to decorated for Christmas in my cabanja, but it didn't really give me so much christmas-spirit that I had hoped for...It's just to green here, and warm!

Finally we got a playing park for the youngest kids, but it isn't finished yet... But me and Lena can't wait to play there..

the moscitos is trying to kill me. I hate them!!

Not knowing until the last minuet

The last week has really though me something about planing and time, here it dosen’t really exist.
Or it does exist, but they don’t tell you when it’s VERY important that things happens exactly “punto”, and when it’s “later relax”
Let me give you an example:
Late Tuesday evening the leader of the Alalay-village told us; tomorrow everything has to be out of the Cabañas before 7am. Because they are going to spray all the Cabañas with bug toxic. And we had to be out at 7 because then the men would start, so we woke up very early the next day to move out everything, and the bugmen started. But my dear reader not on the inside, no no no, on the outside. Yes of course they started were we had stashed all the clothes. We had three very noisy nights after that with crying kids who were itching from the toxic.
So when we came to the apartment on Friday we were of course very tiered, but then, we had to help moving to the new house. And we had to help packing everything. Because apparently one week wasn’t enough time for the our dear dear contact person to pack down his cloths, so we had to do that too, with him asking us to do everything faster cause the moving truck were coming soon. I can tell you that it was 4 some what angry girls that paced down everything in that apartment…hehe
And then when all was on the moving truck, we had to get on the truck. It was an interesting experience to stand back on the truck with all the things while it was driving through Santa Cruz… so fun and so dangerous...hehe… we are living on the wild side here.
Alalay bought two small houses 20 min from Centrum, they are really cute, but need some work and cleaning… but at least we have space for everybody now…
I can’t believe it is December and soon Christmas, but I look forward to experience Bolivian traditions. However something is very wrong when it’s sun and 30degreec on Christmas Eve, when it should be cold and rain/snow.