Explosion!!

There seems to have been an explosion of activity at the Josephine house over the past few weeks. In the past 6 months or so, there have been quite a few kids who have been adopted or have gone back home to their parents, which is great, but has left us empty at the Josephine House.  A number of people have been praying for more kids to come and a few weeks ago, God opened that door wide open....

Luke…….

A few weeks ago, one of the ladies who works at the JH was walking along the street, taking her normal route to her destination. She always walks on one particular side of that street, but on this particular day, there were a bunch of dogs who seemed a bit crazy, so she decided to walk on the other side.  As she was walking down the street, she heard crying.  As she looked around, she found a baby, wrapped in a blanket and a diaper bag next to him.  Shortly after, the process to get Luke into the JH was started.  Luke was just three days old when he was found.  He is a beautiful, healthy, content baby, is growing like crazy and enjoying his sleep.

Little Luke, just a couple of weeks old

Marleni came to the JH just days old as well.  Her mom brought her because she has a cleft palate that will require numerous surgeries.  Mom would like to take her back after the surgeries are completed, but for now, she can’t care for Marlene.  As with most babies with cleft palates, feeding and getting an adequate intake of calories can be a challenge, but the mamás at the JH are working diligently with this little one to help her get enough calories so she can grow and develop well.  Other than difficulties with feeding, she’s a happy baby.

The "battle" with Marlene to get her to eat.  I lost and ended up handing her over to one of the mamás to work their magic with feeding her.

Carlitos……

This little one came one day after Marlene’s arrival.  I would imagine life has been difficult for him from day one.  This little one was brought to the JH by his mother who is an alcoholic and willingly gave him up. According to his mother, he is five months old, but he’s about the same size as the other two new babies.  After taking him to La Fuente the pediatrician said, it looks like Carlitos is probably closer to 3 months old, but he is still severely under weight.  Eating has been a challenge and sleeping as well, but he is in good hands. Since some of the feeding issues have improved, he’s a calm little baby at times.

Marlene and Carlitos

Marlene(3 weeks), Carlitos(3 months), and Luke(3 weeks)

One more…Adrean

Last Friday, I found myself at the Josephine house playing with the kids and holding one of the babies.  All of a sudden, one of the mamas came in with a naked kid(wrapped with a  towel).  They went straight to the bathroom, immediately started applying lice shampoo into the kids head and then proceeded to wash him from head to toe(he wasn’t happy about all of it, but he was good and clean…).  Adrean is about a year and a half.  He was found sitting next to his mom who was passed out from alcohol intoxication.  He’s a VERY active child who just jumped right on in playing with the other kids. Photos on this little one to come soon!

So...as you can see, the Josephine House is plenty busy these days with all kinds of fun and activity for now.  Stay tuned for more soon!!

The lion sleeps tonight....

One thing I've wanted to do before leaving Peru is visit the Amazon.  During my parents visit, I had the opportunity to visit Puerto Maldonado, a southern portion of the Amazon in Peru.  It was just beautiful.  Besides getting to enjoy a few days of summer (temps from 70’s-90’s and 70-100% humidity), it was just so cool to visit the jungle.  The few days I was able to spend there were just so much fun, even though the days started pretty early(one day we left for a hike a 0500). 

The lodge where we stayed was pretty simple.  It didn’t have electricity, so we used candles at night. Also, there wasn’t hot water, but it didn’t really matter since it was so stinkin hot outside.  During rainy season, mosquitoes and malaria are a big issue, so we had mosquito nets around the beds to protect from the mosquitoes at night.

One of my favorite adventures was the night walks in the jungle.  Our guide saw and was able to point out some pretty cool animals “hidden” in the jungle.  There were plenty of spiders and bugs to be seen, but thankfully no snakes.  I was really hoping to see a puma, but sadly they were shy and or hidden too well for us to see them.

One night we ended up going out in a boat looking for Caymans (an animal in the crocodile family). We got to see a few and some bats as well.  Another morning we went out at 6 to go bird watching and saw plenty of macaws at a feeding sight where they licked minerals off rocks. It was pretty cool! 

Overall, the whole thing was a blast and a sweet time away to enjoy other regions of Peru.

La Selva

la selva

a truly wild monkey

sunrise on the river

caymen

banana boat

a wild "pet" at the lodge

cool beetle on night hike

time to eat!!

my bed

cute little spider we saw on a night hike

cool frog

still here

Once again, it’s been way too long since I’ve written.  It’s been a busy past month with settling in with my recent move and then a visit from my parents.

Since it’s been more than a year that I’ve seen them, it was great to see my parents for a bit(they were here for about two weeks).  We did some traveling in Peru, but they also had the opportunity to see what life is like for me here.  They were also generous with their time and helped me with fixing and improving some things in my new place to make it feel more like home.  It was great to see them for so long and I’m thankful they had the time to come to Peru

So, after some fun and games, it’s back to normal life for me.