Every morning, for the last two-and-a-half years, we at Love & Hope Children’s Home knew exactly when Mandy entered the house. She offered a hearty greeting to everyone – sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in Spanglish – and it was usually accompanied by several little voices vying for her attention, “Mandy! Mandy! Can we play a game? Can I go grocery shopping with you? I need help with my computer homework! Can you make me a costume for dress-up day at school?”

Mandy was Love & Hope’s jack of all trades. She was the administrative assistant to Yanira (our administrator) and the first point of contact for visitors, donors and people who were interested in our ministry. She made sure that every birthday, holiday and outing was special. She kept our storage rooms and kitchen organized and well-stocked. Mandy worked with our teams from start to finish, a process that took months to organize. On top of this, she took the time to know each one of the Love & Hope kids, spend time with them, support them, love them.

In December we said goodbye to Mandy, as she moved back to the states. Love & Hope already misses her. She made sure that many, many things at Love & Hope ran smoothly, that every person felt special, that every visitor had a great experience. Mandy explains below the impact that Love & Hope Children’s Home had on her life:

“One of the hardest things I had to do was leave El Salvador. Since my first visit 6 years ago, I never imagined that it is where I would be spending the last few years. Before I went, people would ask me, “Are you prepared to go there?” I always was. I never had a hard time adjusting and life became normal very quickly. However, no one prepared me for was the day I would have to say goodbye: goodbye to the kids that I have loved and invested my life and time in for the last few years, kids that have played such an important part in my life, kids that I didn’t know how to say goodbye to. I know life brings different things and God has seasons and times for everything. As much as I knew it was time to move back, it is always hard to say goodbye.

“I hope and pray that my time there has impacted the kids in ways that they will remember and hold on to all their lives. My hope is that in the last few years I made a difference in El Salvador. El Salvador has taught me so much; it definitely changed my life. It made me stronger, more fearless, more loving, and forced me to step out of my comfort zone. It gave me a new view of life, of people and of the world. Before I decided to ever go to El Salvador, I met many people who said, ‘I wish I would have done this or that with my life.’ After hearing that statement many times, I knew that I never wanted to say it. I always wanted to go to a children’s home but was afraid to just let go of everything and do it. I am so glad I let go of that fear, trusted God and did it. It was amazing to see how God truly provides for you when you are where he wants you to be. I now can say I did what God wanted for me during that time of my life and I will never have to regret not doing it or wish that I had done it. Now I am excited to see what God has next. I know that Love & Hope will always be a part of me. Even though I can’t be there physically to watch all the kids grow up, I am excited to see where their lives will go and I will always continue to support and love them no matter where I am in the world.”

We are so grateful that even from a distance Mandy continues to be involved in communications and organizing teams and volunteers. Mandy, we love and miss you! Thank you for giving your all to this ministry, even from far away. The house is a little quieter without you here, and we don’t like it. Come visit soon and make some noise with us!

In January, Love & Hope hosted two different teams of women, and we had a great time getting to know everyone who came!

The first team, composed of Kathy, Mary, Christie, Kayleigh, Lauren, Kirstyn, Sarah, and Mattie, focused on helping Love & Hope get ready for school. We’ve talked about this before: in El Salvador, every book and notebook must all be wrapped in plastic or contact paper. Sometimes, they even have to be color-coded! It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to wrap all of the books. Since each child has at least 20 items to be covered, we easily have over 400 books and notebooks to wrap each January! We’re always extremely happy to get help with this enormous project, and the women’s team delivered!

The team helped the kids create great Easter cards to send out to their sponsors. If you’re a sponsor, be looking for that handmade card in the mail this spring! Additionally, we enjoyed a game-night where we played Bible Pictionary (very, very intensely!) and a new game for us called Left-Right-Center. The winner won a giant container of chocolate kisses!

Our first group also took everyone on a trip to an indigo farm called San Juan Buena Vista. It is a wonderful, cultural, Salvadoran experience. Indigo was once one of El Salvador’s biggest exports until advances in chemistry allowed indigo to be synthesized in the late 1800’s. The people at San Juan Buena Vista are trying to re-claim that part of El Salvador’s heritage, growing and selling indigo again. The farm gives group tours and invites visitors to make an indigo tie-dyed shirt, which our kids now proudly wear.

Our second team, composed of Kathy, Rachel, Hannah, Suzanne, Tiffany, and Anita started their week at a local public hospital, San Rafael. They painted in the psychiatric ward and also provided funds for the construction of a new consultation room. A few days later, the team returned to San Rafael to have a party with some of the patients there and dedicate the new space. Love & Hope is excited to have made this connection with the local hospital and we look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

The team also treated us to a day at the beach. We arrived a bit late due to a large traffic jam in the city, but once we got there it was a blast and the kids played until the sun went down.

Finally, our second team closed the week with another game night. We did relay races and created crazy balloon sculptures. We are very competitive here at Love & Hope; everyone loves to win. This makes any organized games we play very fun and very loud!

Both of our teams also visited a local community where we hosted “back to school” parties for the children who live there. The kids loved it and had a great time making bracelets, decorating folders and pencils, playing games, and just goofing around with a bunch of gringas.

Thank you to both teams of women for serving with us in El Salvador. We loved having you, and we hope you’ll come visit us again soon.

Last November, with the help of a team from 5ive.14, Love & Hope undertook one of our most ambitious projects to date: we built a house!

We have always viewed Love & Hope as a family, and over the years the shape of that family has continued to change. Even when one of our children is sent “home” to their biological family, they remain part of ours. One of those children, Kevin, now lives about 2.5 hours away from our house in San Salvador in a little town called Alegria with his older sister, her husband, and their two young daughters. When Kevin moved in with them, they were living in a tiny two room adobe house with a tin roof. It was a small space for 5 people, and when it rained (which is does half the year in El Salvador) they would get wet. We wanted to help Kevin and his family know the safety, security, and stability of a proper home, so we began looking into the costs associated with building a house and searching for a team who would be willing to help. When our friend Brett heard about what we wanted to do, he jumped in with both feet to assemble a team, raise the money, and organize a trip. And before we knew it, we had already started.

During their trip, Brett and his team kept a daily journal, so I’ll let them tell you the story in their own words. After a long drive across El Salvador and bumpy ride out to the worksite, everyone was ready to start building:

Upon getting to the work site, we met up with our contractor for the build – Nelson – and his two helpers – Christian & Juan Alberto.  We didn’t take long to drop our belongings, and dive right into working.  They had already built a retaining wall, and started the first few rows of cinder block.  We started with digging holes, mixing concrete/mortar, and helping to move materials around.  As can be expected, the work itself tended to take a back seat to connecting and building relationships.  Aside from connecting with Nelson, Christian, and Juan Alberto, we had opportunity to meet the neighbors who live immediately adjacent to the home we’re building… and then, we finally got to meet the actual people for whom this project was created– Kevin and his sister, Lilly.  They looked to be beside themselves.  Kevin’s smile out shined the sun.

Even without proper footwear, you can get a lot of work done:

Today, although a little more physically demanding due to less cloud cover (= HOT), was another very successful day.  We were able to stick with the system we developed and continue to make very good progress towards completing the walls of Kevin’s new home.   On a personal note, I call any day that you unintentionally wear flip flops (don’t ask) to a construction site and return home with both feet intact and undamaged a success…

Finally, it was time for everyone to head back to El Salvador as the work carried on:

We spent the better part of today putting the finishing touches on our portion of the surrounding structure of the home. Cinder-Block walls stacked on top of each other rising to the sky allowed us to complete each layer by being able to really see the whole project for what it is- a home for a family that will be a light for their community and every person they welcome into it moving forward. The work will be completed in the next few weeks and we are each excited to see the finished project, but will never forget this chance to come to an unfamiliar place and leave it knowing that we are now united with our God family here in Christ Jesus.

After the team left, Kevin, his family, and the contractor continued to work on the house. They added the final few layers of block, put on the roof, and poured the concrete floor. The transformation from start to finish is remarkable.

BEFORE

 DURING

 AFTER

On our last visit out to Kevin’s house, all that was left to do was install the doors and windows. Love & Hope’s vision has always been for our children to someday bless their own families. We never guessed Kevin would have the opportunity to do it so soon. We’re so happy that with the help of the 5ive.14 team, Kevin has helped give his family a home – a family that only a few years ago he didn’t even know existed!

Read the whole story from the 5ive.14 team in their journal. It’s filled with stories of faith, gratitude, love and hope. It also talks about how we all got stuck in an elevator on the first day, features a harrowing story from our day at the beach, and a very generous gift for Love & Hope.

Love & Hope Children’s Home was a full house on Christmas Eve: 23 kids! We planned plenty to keep us busy though. We wanted to share our fun day with you!

On Christmas Eve in El Salvador, “Noche Buena” in Spanish, many families stay up until midnight. Salvadorans eat a late dinner, and at 12:00 am Christmas morning, the country lights up – with fireworks! What the rest of the world might refer to as a “Silent Night,” is anything but silent in Central America. Our children are no exception. They want to do it all: stay up and celebrate the birth of Christ with a bang. In order to keep the adults awake that late, we keep busy with games and activities beginning early in the afternoon!

The fun begins at 11:00 am with a coloring contest. We have three categories: little kids, big kids and adults. This year, the winners were: Vanessa, Raquel, and Tio Henry.

After eating a normal lunch at noon, the kids are supposed to enjoy a nap while the adults start cooking dinner. This year, no one really wanted to sleep. Our average age is increasing, and naps aren’t as necessity anymore. Some of the kids opted to go to the park and play instead. Later, we wrapped presents for the community (we’ll talk more about that later).

Next, it was time for gingerbread houses. Each room of kids was a team. There isn’t much gingerbread in El Salvador, so we use the term loosely. Maybe we should call them sugar houses; they are made of cookies, candy, gummies, frosting, chocolate and the like. The groups hurried to finish their house in the most creative way possible. The older girls won the best house this year! They even made a little pond for a gummy penguin. 

Just like your family, our favorite time of year at Love & Hope Children’s Home is Christmas. We start Christmas early in December, thanks to the generosity of many people and groups that want to celebrate with us. We can’t talk about every event inidividually, but we wanted to share some of the fun that we had and thank those who blessed us this season!

We enjoyed meeting new friends and reuniting with old ones. There are so many people who feel compelled to meet, share with, and bless our children, and it is such a pleasure to spend time with them!

We danced, sang and laughed at clowns. Chamba was the most enthusiastic, of course.

No Salvadoran party is complete without a pinata! The Love & Hope kids never get tired of that rush for candy.

It’s fun when party throwers get creative and bring crafts to do with us. We made bracelets, did spirograph drawings and made sequinced versions of Santa Clause and Rudolph.

Don’t forget cake. We ate a lot of that too!

We don’t expect any snow for Christmas here in El Salvador, so we were also able to enjoy some sun and fun at the beach. What a great way to bring in the season!

The Love & Hope kids were also blessed to recieve gifts. We were blessed this year like never before. The kids received several new toys and gadgets to keep them busy all month.

Before we went to church on Christmas Eve, Rachel sat the kids down to talk. She wanted to remind them about that the true reason for Christmas was a baby born 2000 years ago in a manger. That baby, God incarnate, Jesus Christ, is the reason that Love & Hope Children’s Home was so blessed in 2014. He worked through so many people, near and far, to provide for our children in every way. We want to say thank you to the following people for taking time to spend with us at Love & Hope Children’s Home, for spreading that spirit and love in our little home, for making our children feel special: Academia Britanica Cuscatleca, Sanofi Aventis, The Reyes Family, The Mendoza Family, and Ronasa.

Last Friday, Love & Hope Children’s Home invited the families of our children to spend the day at the pool with us. This is a yearly event where we celebrate family, healing and Christmas. We call it Love & Hope’s Convivio Familiar, or Family Reunion.

This year, our Convivio Familiar was held at Los Chorros. Los Chorros is made up of pools fed by naturally filtered rain water that falls from the cliffs and hills surrounding the pools. The water is crystal clear, fresh, cool and clean. There are even little fish that live in the pools. If you stay still for long enough, they come nibble on your feet.

Most of the Love & Hope kids had special family members present: mom, dad, aunt, cousins, sisters and brothers. All of the kids had a great time running around together, playing in the pools, running under the waterfalls, trying to catch fish and having water races. We eventually stopped to eat lunch and rest for a while, but afterwards, we enjoyed the pools into the afternoon.

Around 3:00pm, we loaded up the cars and took everyone to the park. There, the Love & Hope kids gave their families Christmas gifts that they had personally shopped for. We do this every year, and the kids always do a great job of buying things that their families need: cleaning supplies, toiletries, sandals, food, special treats, etc. We were also able to give each family a basket of food staples and goodies, thanks to our friends at Focus.

The families of our children are very important to Love & Hope Children’s Home. Our mission is not only to raise the children living in our home, but also to foster healing within their biological families. The parents and siblings of our children visit on a regular basis, have “parents’ school” and therapy with our psychologist, and when possible, attend school events. Love & Hope regularly supports the families of our children with food staples.

We love seeing the Love & Hope kids being able to interact with their families and hope that one day, they will be agents of positive change within their families and in El Salvador. Please pray for our children and their families. Please also pray for Love & Hope Children’s Home as we seek to provide a Christ-centered family atmosphere for our children!

We’ve got BIG news! Jocelyn, Love & Hope Children’s Home’s oldest child, is our first high school graduate, and we couldn’t be more proud! Jocelyn first came to Love & Hope when she was seven years old. Jocelyn finished her high school career at Colegio Luz de Israel, in San Salvador. She graduated in early December surrounded by her Love and Hope family. Jocelyn was able to invite several special people to see her graduate. Among those she invited were, of course, Rachel (Mami), and her Love & Hope “sisters”: Michell, Brenda, Raquel, Daniela and Shelby as well as several of her Love and Hope “aunts and uncles.” Afterward, everyone celebrated with Jocelyn by going out to lunch.

In mid-November, Love & Hope Children’s Home was invited to visit Finca la Providencia, a ministry of Fundación Esteban here in El Salvador. Fundación Esteban has provided Love & Hope with rice, beans, corn and fresh produce for a few years now. Their mission is to help provide food to schools and children’s homes, and they do so by running their 85 acre farm, Finca la Providencia, in the western department of Ahuachapan, El Salvador.

From our home in the city, the farm was about an hour-and-a-half drive away. It’s beautiful drive: mountains and volcanoes everywhere. Arriving at the farm, we were greeted by three dogs and the Love & Hope kids instantly made friends with them. After an introduction to the farm, we were led out to see some of the produce. Finca la Providencia has two acres of maracuya, or, passionfruit. We learned that passionfruit grows on a vine and is ripe when the skin is yellow. The vines were overflowing with fruit.

After seeing a couple of interesting trees, papayas trees, and the farm’s vegetable gardens, we were led to the guayaba, or guava, orchard. Love & Hope Children’s Home loves guavas and Fundación Esteban has obliged us several times with donations. It is common in El Salvador for guavas to be eaten with lime, hot sauce, salt and ground pumpkin seeds (don’t say “ew” until you try it). At the farm, we each got to pick a guava, which were wrapped in newspaper and plastic on the tree to protect them from insects. The guavas were huge! After picking them, the kids were hesitant to put them in a basket to be cleaned; everyone wanted to eat their own guava!

It was a hot day, so everyone was happy to be led back to the hacienda for lunch and shade. We were served chicken, vegetables and rice with corn tortillas made on a comal (a clay griddle which is heated over a fire). To drink we had fresh passionfruit juice. It was delicious. For dessert, we enjoyed the guavas we had picked an hour earlier.

After lunch, the Love & Hope kids were invited to take a tractor ride to the pond. The kids loved riding in the trailer through the corn fields. At the pond, the kids had the opportunity to explore, and a few even tried their hand at fishing. Jacobo caught a tiny, tiny little fish. It was still exciting!

The farm had great views of mountains just over the border in Guatemala. Central America sure is beautiful!

Thank you so very much to our friends at Fundación Esteban for inviting Love & Hope to visit Finca la Providencia. We loved every minute and we are always grateful for your donations. Fundación Esteban has truly been a blessing to Love & Hope Children’s Home!

Love & Hope Children’s Home recently celebrated the most exciting part of any child’s year: vacation! The Salvadoran school year begins in mid-January and ends in mid-November. We’ve made it and the kids are buzzing (the adults too). We were ready for the break. But supporting 20-plus children means Love & Hope also has to get an early jump on the 2015 school year. We’ve already started the registration process, paid fees and begun gathering the supplies that our kids will need. As Love & Hope prepares for our 2014 Education Fundraiser, we thought we’d take a minute to describe what it takes to get through a school year in our ministry.

During the school year, Love & Hope comes alive at about 4:30am. The tia or tio in charge of breakfast rubs the sleepiness out of their eyes and heads to the kitchen. Meanwhile, the Love & Hope kids take turns showering to get ready for breakfast and devotions at 5:30am. By 6:15, everyone is packed into the microbus, book bags at their feet, poster boards and projects on their laps. Alberto, our driver, made four stops every morning in 2014 to get the kids to their respective schools (we have done our best to match each child with a school environment that best suits their needs). If there is no unexpected traffic, everyone makes it on time.

At noon, Alberto leaves again for pick-ups and by 1:45pm, the kids are home. They change their clothes and eat lunch (they ate a snack at school and on the way home). It is rare that all of the kids are home at one time after school. Many of them are involved in activities outside Love & Hope Children’s Home like soccer, horseback riding and French class. Sometimes they have a medical appointment scheduled.

At 2:30pm, we start homework. Everyone sits down in the dining room to work. We put on some music to make the atmosphere a little more relaxed. Shortly after sitting down, the kids start to call out, “Suzana! Kirsten!” Suzana and Kirsten spend every afternoon supporting the caregivers during homework time and the kids are quite demanding of them: “Kirsten, can you put the password in the computer?” “Suzana, I need posterboard.” “Kirsten, my pen exploded!” “Suzana, can you help me with English homework?” The caregivers, Suzana, and Kirsten spend the afternoon going from child to child, checking their assignment books and making sure their homework is done. As in any household, getting homework done or studying for tests is not always an easy task. Sometimes the kids don’t want to do it, and sometimes they claim not to have anything to do. We try our best to make sure everyone is busy and has the support they need.

Around 4:00pm, someone yells, “HORA DE REFRIGERIO!” “SNACK TIME!” Finished with homework or not, the kids all run to the kitchen for a snack. At this time, some of the kids begin receiving one-on-one tutoring with Kirsten or Suzana. We also have a speech therapist that comes to the house once a week to give attention to several children.

Finding, handing out and buying supplies are another huge part of the school routine. The kids start the school year with everything they need for class. But every day, they come home needing materials to complete projects and homework: permanent markers, glue guns, science tools, art supplies, novels, food to share at school, poster board, huge sheets of Styrofoam, yarn, glitter, photos, clay, foamy, costumes, construction paper, file folders. You name it, we’ve probably provided it for a school assignment (once we sent two whole fish to school for a dissection…seriously). Providing supplies and completing projects for one or two children can be complicated; we are doing it for about 20! Sometimes it is difficult to keep it all organized, but we’ve found that a running “request” list outside the office does the trick.

If all goes as planned, the kids are usually all done with homework by dinner time. After that, they are allowed to watch T.V. or play video-games for an hour before bed if they’ve completed their tasks for the day and have behaved well. By 8:00pm, everyone is pretty exhausted. Bed time isn’t long after as it all starts again at 4:30am the next morning.

For Gloria, Kirsten and Suzana, the evenings and Saturday mornings are also sometimes occasion to go to the schools for parent meetings, parent’s “school” and grades pick-up. There were many mornings this year where Gloria and Kirsten spoke with teachers personally or via email to discuss and resolve issues our kids experienced at school. We also have attended countless talent shows, concerts, sports days, science fairs, family days, etc., in the evenings and on the weekends. There is always something happening at the schools.

Can you see why we’re excited to end the school year and have a vacation in November? We think the kids (and adults!) have earned it.

Love & Hope is able to provide our children with quality, private education thanks to generous donors. This year, we saw many of our children improve, gain confidence and look forward to going to the right school. Without your support, this would be impossible. Love & Hope Children’s Home is already raising money for the 2015 school year, because we know that a good education can mean the difference between a life of sustenance and a life of success. Learn more and support our 2015 education fund by clicking here.

El Salvador is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most geographically active land in the world! The Ring of Fire is home to a huge percentage of the world’s volcanoes, and almost all of the world’s earthquakes.

El Salvador itself is home to 22 active and extinct volcanoes, the largest of which are now lakes. This country may be small, but it certainly doesn’t lack beautiful scenery. The volcanoes are impressive and majestic to see from afar, or for the brave, up close!

From our front yard at Love & Hope, we are able to peak over the wall to see the top of the San Salvador volcano, also called Volcan Quezaltepec  (the volcanoes have a Spanish and indigenous name). The San Salvador volcano is quite impressive and it can be admired from almost every spot in the city. It last erupted in 1917, and tourists can now drive to the crater to visit one of El Salvador’s national parks. In many images of the San Salvador volcano, one can see that it has a higher peak and a second, flattened out peak. That flattened out hump is actually a giant crater! Some of us have climbed into it, all the way to the bottom.

Recently several of our kids climbed to the top of the Santa Ana volcano, or Volcan Ilamatepec. Santa Ana last erupted quite recently, in 2005. In the middle the crater at the top of the volcano is a bubbling, sulfurous, aqua colored lake. It is quite the spectacle (but safe to climb!).

Last year, around Christmas, the big news in El Salvador was the San Miguel Volcano, or Volcan Chaparrastique. It erupted in December, 2013 and was quite the sight! Many of the people living around the volcano had to evacuate the area.

When we say geographically active, we are not only referring to volcanoes, we are also talking about earthquakes. The last major earthquakes occurred in 2001, a pair of them in January and February caused major damage and over 1000 deaths. Thankfully, there have been no serious earthquakes since, but we frequently feel tremors, some that send us running out the door just in case. According to Earthquake Track, El Salvador has experienced 124 earthquakes this year, but that doesn’t mean we’ve felt all of them!

A few weeks ago, we experienced the largest earthquake this year, which measured in at a magnitude of 7.3! It happened at almost 10:00 pm, so many people said they didn’t feel it, but our house sure did. It wasn’t a very violent earthquake, but it was long, and sent the Love & Hope kids running to the driveway. It rattled (literally) everyone’s nerves a bit. Thankfully, the quake didn’t cause much damage in El Salvador, but there were tsunami warnings on the coast! We were surprised that the quake made international news; we woke up the next morning to text and Facebook messages from the States making sure all of us at Love & Hope were safe.

Recently, our staff formed evacuation, fire and first-aid brigades. It sounds unbelievable, but having a plan of action in case of a volcanic eruption or earthquake is necessary in El Salvador! The three brigades of staff members have been working to plan out our strategies for evacuation, practice drills and other precautions.

El Salvador certainly doesn’t lack an interesting landscape. We see and feel it every single day! Salvadorans are proud of their unique country, and much of their culture and folklore has been majorly influenced by the land. El Salvador is known as the “Land of Volcanoes,” and for a good reason!

Photo credits: Justin Klubnik, Mandy Sidorski and Esther Lee