Bolivian Mission - The Foster Home

In Bolivia, as in many third world countries, children without parents, orphans or abandoned children, end up living on the street. These children beg for food or become thieves to survive. The girls are usually sent to one of the numerous orphanages in the area, but orphanages for boys are scarce. One night a plan came to me in the night to build a foster home. This would be a different kind of home from an orphanage as it would have a family as “parents.” The children would learn parenting skills that cannot be taught in an orphanage, usually run by nuns. Also they could learn farming skills that would come in handy as adults. A carpentry shop could be built later to give the children a trade if they so desired. Perhaps an educational fund would be set up later to offer advanced studies to those wanting to become professionals if qualified.

During a visit in January 2001, I brought the concept of a foster home and $20,000 to purchase land to the leaders of the Rotary Club. I had always been told that doing things in Bolivia would be hard if not impossible due to the graft and corruption, and the lazy spirit of the people. Within ten minutes of the beginning of the discussion, one of the members said, “Let’s ask the mayor. Perhaps he will give the land for free.” He called the mayor on his cell phone and in a few minutes he appeared. The next day the land was given and we had $20,000 to begin the construction. We were already one year ahead of schedule. So much for the lazy spirit, which I have never seen on my trips to Bolivia, and the graft getting in the way of progress. Sometimes you know God is in control when your task is easier than it ought to be. This was one of those instances.

During that year we were able to begin the foundation of the home designed by Paul Schmitt in Highlands, and with an additional infusion of $20,000 the home was completed within a year. A $40,000 Rotary matching grant paid for all the furniture and appliances, including a computer and a TV. Now the children, from four years old to 13 have weekly lessons in computer, music, English, swimming, art and soccer. The children only go to school for four hours a day because the city has grown so fast that there is no time or money to provide more schools. Therefore, each child attends school for a short period of time in one of the three time slots each day.

Presently there are 17 young boys living at the home in one of the two buildings that have been constructed. The older boys live in the newest addition, allowing a separation of the young from the older boys and bring another family in to help with the enormous task of raising as many as 30 young men at the same time. 30 is our total capacity.

The carpentry shop was completed in 2004 and last year I brought a small lathe to the shop to introduce the older boys to the skill of making pens. These pens are sold in Highlands and on line to help the college fund. The boys were eager to learn and some of the pens were good enough to sell here. Made of fine tropical woods, the pens make great Christmas presents and graduation gifts. The refills are the same as the Cross pens. The wood is harvested from the carpentry shop waste pile so there is no cost aside from the pen inserts. These fine wood instruments sell in stationery stores from $25 to $60. To purchase a pen, a letter opener or a corkscrew click here: