The Kaya Family

Written by Rafael Torrez Montaño, one of the boys at Kaya Children. Translated by Stephanie Kuei, Communications Officer with Kaya Children.

I would like to tell you something that happened to me, but first let me say that I am very happy here. I have learned many things and have had many experiences which have taught me a lot. One opportunity is being able to go to school where I can learn to read and write. I also have many friends at Kaya Children, so it is very fun even though we also have to do chores. I am twelve years old and enjoy playing basketball.

My Life at Kaya

It is a joy to be at Kaya Children because I don’t lack anything. I have food, clothes, a house to live in, a bed to sleep on, and many friends. I like the daily devotionals we do every morning because I learn new things everyday that are important for my life. These days, we pray a lot for the people affected by the landslides in La Paz and those who were affected by the earthquake in Japan.

After devotionals, we head over to school in our minibus. On Mondays, we salute the flag, pray, sing the national anthem, and march to our classrooms. I love recess at Kaya Children because I can play on the patio.

I get along well with my teachers, tutors, and mentors at the Kaya Center, and they have taught me many things, such as being respectful to other people, especially those who love me. My best friend is Juan Manuel. Together, we do all sorts of things, like homework, chores, and fun activities.

When I grow up, I want to be a doctor, but a Christian doctor because of my beliefs and all the Christian values I have gained from going to church. I know that to become a good doctor, I will need to study hard. I am doing well in school, and my teachers constantly encourage me.

I want to continue to learn more about God because He fills me with His grace and protects me. I love everyone who works at and supports Kaya Children with all my heart because I am so grateful for the opportunities you give me. I hope that God always blesses you.

With love,

Rafa

15:30PM

Written by Ruth Härlin, volunteer with Kaya Children (August 2010 – August 2011).

There’s only half an hour left until the bell is going to ring. Adrian sits in front of me, busy entertaining his peers, laughing, telling the stories of the last weekend – busy doing anything but his homework; and it’s my task to make him do it. It could sound like an easy thing to do: helping the boys and girls with their homework after lunch. I really like working with them, these guys have conquered my heart within my first days at Kaya Children International in La Paz, Bolivia. But there are moments in which I wonder whether I have

the capacities to motivate them to do tasks like looking up the meaning of difficult words in

their small dictionaries. Especially on a day like this, with the sun shining in the blue sky, knowing that the boys already had a hard day at school filled with tests and presentations and teachers who want them to quietly pay attention…

“Adrian, look, you are going to have a break within a few minutes. Let’s finish this task, and you’ll be free to play whatever you want to,” I make a last effort.

“I know, but I think I’ve lost my encyclopedia. Someone must have stolen it. It was here, in

my bag. Now it’s gone. It seems like I won’t be able to do this task, then.”

He smiles at me, and I’m trying hard to resist his big, bright eyes that want to convince me

to not insisting on his task anymore. But I know there’ll only be more trouble for him. So I start searching. More boys and girls just finished with the same task, there must be some free dictionaries around here…

“Gabriella, could you pass us that dictionary, please?”

“Why?”

“Come on, Adrian needs to finish his task.”

Having thought about it during some seconds, Gabriella decides to be generous today. Adrian does not seem to be very happy about that, but I am willing to help him doing his homework as he should. We look up words like “tension”, “architecture” and “speculum”, Adrian writes them down, complaining that he’ll probably never need these words, and that the spelling is really strange.

Later, two minutes left until the break, he notices three words somebody has written on the first page of the encyclopedia: “I am silly.” His eyes lighten up. “Ruth! Look, it says 'I am silly!' It’s mine! It must be mine! The girl sitting next to me in class has put it there when I

stole her pencil case! Wow, that’s great! I found it! I am silly!” He wraps his arms around my neck, kisses my cheek, and runs outside, into the sun, singing along “I am silly, I am silly…”

This is just one of many experiences since I got here, and I’m so grateful to be with these boys who somehow manage to warm my heart every day I see them.

Celebrating Christmas at Kaya Children

Written by Paula Vargas, the Field Director, and translated by Stephanie Kuei, the Communications Officer.

Christmas at Kaya Children was a month-long period of preparation and celebration. The children at Kaya began the month of December with reflections and devotions in the homes. The staff, too, went on a staff retreat led by the new Field Director, Paula Vargas, and were able to reflect on the past year, renew their commitment to Kaya Children, and prepare for the upcoming year.

On Friday, December 17, the children went to the Iglesia del Evangelio Total (Full Gospel Church), where they heard a moving message and took part in a nativity play.

There was also a Christmas choir which delighted everyone with their Christmas carols, accompanied by flutes and guitars.

To conclude the celebration, the children decorated a white Christmas tree with homemade ornaments. There

was also a time of sharing where the children were able to give thanks for the blessings they experienced during the year.

On Christmas Eve, a special dinner was prepared in each of the homes and gifts were exchanged. Everyone had a very fun time!

Meet Our Staff: Paula Vargas

“This job found me!”

Kaya has hired Paula Vargas Salamanca as our Director in La Paz. Paula joins Kaya with a long history serving children, families and communities in need. Paula holds degrees in Social Education, Children’s Rights, and Social Policy from the University of Bolivia in Cochabamba.

Paula’s most recent role was as the Executive Director of Amistad Mission in Cochabamba. The organization oversees rural development programs in the mountain villages surrounding Cochabamba and Villa Amistad, a home for abandoned and abused children. The 10 homes in the village currently serve 112 children between the ages of 2 and 25.

Paula moved to La Paz in May 2010 with her family thinking that perhaps she’d pursue a different type of work. “It was very hard to leave my position at Amistad because of the close relationships I had with the children. I wasn’t ready for more close relationships, I thought. But then this job found me,” she reports. “It really is a God thing, I have to tell you.”

“I dream of a world where there is zero tolerance for children living on the street, “ Paula says. She speaks passionately about creating a safer future for children. “Kaya can be a little Christian community based in a safe model for children helping them rehabilitate back into a family life.” Paula firmly believes that those of us who have chosen to help children living on the streets have a moral responsibility to do what we can to prevent children ending up in that situation. “The Kaya Center can be that integral service for children, families, communities and schools.”

Paula sees her primary life role as that of a mother. “I’m a mother in Kaya and a mother in my home.” In addition to the 40-some children associated with the Kaya Center, Paula has a 13 year old son and a 9 year old daughter.

Kaya Challenge a Success!

It has been a busy time at Kaya Children! The month of October brought us the first ever Kaya Challenge, a fundraising campaign on FirstGiving, an online fundraising site, that lasted the entire month. Inspired by the success of the Global Giving fundraising campaign we had last spring, we started to brainstorm ways that would be a simple and fun way to get people connected with Kaya Children. What we came up with was the Kaya Challenge. Through this campaign, we shared the good works that Kaya Children does by reaching out to our own networks in addition to challenging Kaya supporters to become more involved by engaging their personal networks. We are happy to say that we raised $38,462 through this campaign to support our programs and met many new friends along the way. We are so thankful for and encouraged by the tremendous support everyone has shown and hope that you all continue to help us serve the children of Bolivia.

31 Days 31 Faces: Nicolas

Meet Nicolas, a sixteen year old boy at Kaya Children. His favorite subject at school is math, and he loves eating fruit. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, watching TV, and playing soccer. He hopes to one day become a professional soccer player, just like Victor Valdes, the goalkeeper for Barcelona.

31 Days 31 Faces: Antonio

Meet Antonio, a nine year old boy at Kaya Children. He loves studying and learning new things. When he is not studying, he enjoys playing soccer, basketball, and baseball. He hopes to become a professional ball player one day -- the game does not matter as much. His favorite food is chicken.