23 Dec 2006


Merry Christmas to one and all

From Glenda and Milenka

cochabamba Bolivia

27 Nov 2006


Dear Friends

Well its been a diffucult month but last saturday had the privelge of going 3 hrs out of town to a poor village.

we went in two bus loads and there were puppets and clowns and games for the children

Down in another room we helped with doctors and dentists

Many of these people in this village walked 3 hrs to receive medical help and food.

It was a big eye opener to the city i am working in



Glenda

2 Oct 2006

What a busy week

between bolivan lunches and afternoon teas and birthday dinners and Birthdays at the centre also visiting the orphange on top of my daily work with the kids at the centre.

much more to tell but dont have time

glenda

20 Aug 2006

Hi my dear Friends

well tonight we had the farewell for julie.
I coped through most the night until the teenagers gave their speeches and had slow sad music playing and many of the teenagers cried the rest of the night.

YES, its difficult having a Bolivian leader as they think differently.
us westerners would have everything organise well ahead of time but Bolivians arrive a 6pm for 7pm start. So many changes for me to experience.
My class trippled tonight so we sang julie a song.

In my spare time i love helping at an orphange with 37 kids
I feel that i have gone from having 11 neices and nephews and 3 Godchildren to having 37 kids who are all awaiting for adoption.
I took 6 kids down town to get their photos taken for the judge so they can go through the adoption process and receive a new familly awaiting in Europe.
It breaks my heart as they said Peter the man in the orphange "I want to be adopted by her"!
I said sorry I don't have a husband and that I love you all!
how could I every choose between any of you.
So I just keep visiting once or twice a week to help out where ever I can

Thats all for now as its very late


Glenda

13 Aug 2006

hi

I have just been to a 2 yr old Bolivian Birthday party.
They don;t know how to entertain the children.
I taught them how to play parcel the parcel and then we played musical chairs.

The two year old was happy any way.

I am now busy teaching 4 days a week between english and spanish lession


glenda

8 Aug 2006

Hola

A week of many changes as the old boss has left and the new one has differnt ideas
I am the only expat so we will see what happens in the coming weeks

our numbers have dropped but we get the regular ones

the littles one still come to hear bible stories and do activities etc

more later


Glenda

29 Jul 2006

Hi

this week has been interesting as its a week of Goodbye's. No not for me but my boss returns to england after 9 yrs. tonight was her last night and so that was sad for her.
I asked my Bolivian team what do they expect to do for her last night and they said not much just wait til her farewell party in august. So as an Gringa i told them that it was their responsibilty to organise things. And later on I found out that they ask do they have to plan things for her farewell, yes of course she replied.
For Bolivia its always (manana) tomorrow.

One funny thing that happened this week is that we called for a taxi to take me home after bible study as we always do each thursday night But this one night a taxi arrived with 2 bottles of PEPSI. I said no i didnt call for pepsi but for a taxi so we laughed all the way home as they thought we rang to deliver 2 pepsi and not 2 taxis.

Another unual site this week as that i say a man in a wheel chair at the side of a main road but he appeared to be standing up with the aid of a lady whom I thought was standign too close to him. But as i got closer i discovered that she was holding a bottle for him as he couldnt get to a bathroom. As we say ONLY IN BOLIVIA!

Well next week will be quite strange as i will be the only westerner working a the centre so the only time i will talk english is now on the internet with family and close friends.
Continue to pray the the children and the poverty they face each day


Glenda

25 Jul 2006

Hi

This week is a week of many changes as my boss leaves bolivia after nine years.

also when i took a little boy home the other day i witness that his 3 year old sister was peeling the potatoes for the family dinner. I was very surprised as kids in OZ would be watching TV or playing computer games. how did we end up with two differnet worlds. I dont know.

20 Jul 2006

Hi
Well next week my boss leaves Bolivia after being here for 9 years
I will be the only Gringa working in my centre with the children. So I will be speaking all spanish except when chatting on internet.

I hope and prayer that the transition goes well


Glenda

11 Jul 2006

First shower for 10-year-old boy.

Yesterday I noticed that a young boy was limping. I asked him twice about his foot but he said that it was nothing and that he had no pain. But I could tell that it was very swollen and he had many infected bites.
I went and spoke to his teacher at our centre and when she looked she said no its not just bites its something else.
I washed his feet so we could put some cream on his bites but he ended up going to the doctor for penicillin and came back for a shower. It was his first time to ever have a shower so he was afraid of the water but one of our male teachers helped him and changed his clothes and someone went and spoke to his family.

Many parents in Cochabamba have left to work in Spain. So the children are left with other relatives to care for them, which doesn’t happen.
We have a 4 yr girl with her 2 yr old sister, who is waiting for their parents to return from Spain and have no idea when they will return.

Glenda

8 Jul 2006

Blog 7th July 06

Well after one month in my new apartment I have had the busiest week so far.

On Tuesday we went to a farewell for the 5 English girls working with Tear Fund UK.
Wednesday night was the farewell for the 2 girls from the U.S.
Thursday was my 18-hour day.
It started at 6 am. I left home after 6.30 am and picked up a friend to go to the airport to say goodbye to the English girls. When we arrived we discovered that they had many problems with their tickets as Tear Fund haded paid for one leg of their trip and it took 2 hours to sort out their tickets and they had to pay again until they get home and then be reimbursed.
Then we went home for breakfast and after 10.30 am we were picked up again to say goodbye to the other 2 girls. Their flight was delayed so I left after 12 noon and went into the crazy markets and our lunch time traffic jam due to road works it took me 35 mins to travel a 10 min journey. I then went to a pharmacy to buy some medicine for a child at our centre. I raced home at 2 pm for lunch etc and then went onto work for 3pm and then we had a team meeting at 4 pm til 6 pm I then raced home again for dinner and went to bible study at 7.30 pm but with every one that had just left we were low in numbers so their was only 3 of us and all were very tired so we just talked and had our hot chocolate.
Then I went home at 10 pm to wait for a friend to chat to me on the Internet until 11.30 pm.

For the last two weeks I have had man men working on the roof. Back home this job would only take 2 days but here it takes 2 weeks so far, and also an electrican on many days and also a carpenter on one day. I will be glad when they are all finished but not until my shower gets fixed.

We are in the middle of the school holidays but unfortunately we are not getting as many kids as we usually do. Our centre is going through a big change this month so we may loose more!

12 Jun 2006

Hi

have just moved into my own place and i am happy with internet at home finally

Glenda

2 Jun 2006

Hi

this week has been busy as we have 3 girls from the america here to paint the centre out again.
Unfortunately one girl is leaving after one week as the poverty is too hard for her to bare.

Its great for me to have some extra company.

I have just finished my spanish classes as i am about to move into my own apartment next wednesday God Willing!

This week we took the kids to the park as we had no access to our class rooms so the kids enjoyed this outing.

Glenda

25 May 2006

Camp Bolivian style Blog 25th May 2006

In the past I have had many years experience working with teenagers but last weekend was definitely a different experience. I don’t work with the teenagers so it was hard to communicate in Spanish, with teenagers I don’t have a relationship with.

Let me give you a taste of what went on Friday and Saturday.



Teenagers (21 of them arrived for 8.30pm)

We arranged to have some foam mattresses for the kids to share to sleep on. I was amazed how many kids said that they don’t have a bed at home so the mattress was like a hotel! Some teenage boys sleep with their mother so they found it hard to sleep alone on a mattress and don’t seem to use a pillow; so in my class with 6 girls I felt like the queen as I had a pillow. I was a bit embarrassed.

We did a bible quiz and had supper and the lights went out at midnight but this just encouraged the teenagers to talk more and as I said I didn’t know any of these kids personally so it was hard to tell them to go to sleep. So around 2am it was peace and quiet but it didn’t last long as the boys woke up at 5 am and in their classroom up stairs they kept stumping so that way they would wake up the girls down stairs with me. I sat there thinking “I’m too old for this” but I survived!

After breakfast we had to arrange for all the teenagers to practice a drama or song or bible reading etc. Luckily I had a Spanish lesson from my teacher that I could use at this camp. Then at 12 noon we boarded a bus to take all the kids to a park. We had lunch around 2pm and we were all responsible for 4 kids each so that way they wouldn’t go off on their own. We went for a walk and wait for the young people from church to come and help but they came too late so we did our own thing. We had dinner at 5 pm and each group preformed their drama etc.

We got the kids home by 7.30pm and we all went home exhausted!

17 May 2006

Blog for Bolivia 16th May 06

Yesterday was a challenge in many ways. My heart breaks for some of these kids here and there is not much I can do for them except love them with all my might while they are in my class.

My latest newsletter introduces, 2 little ones named Coco and Josie. I don’t really know how many are in the family as Bolivians sometimes have extended family living with them. But this family run a local pub so the parents are often drinking a lot and the kids are left to wander the streets and care for them selves. They are only 4 and 3 yrs old and their 2 year- old brother some times visits my class but he always comes without any pants or shoes. His name is Francisco.

Yesterday I had problems with the whole three of them!
Francisco had pants that kept falling down and all I could see was where he hadn’t been cleaned after going to the bathroom and he kept playing with his rear end.
This is not very hygienic for my class, as I don’t want the other kids in my class to get sick. Then Josie doesn’t like you to touch her as maybe she gets abused at home but yesterday she had a running nose and is always tired in my class and doesn’t want to participate except for sleep. I discovered that she had hit another child so I sent her home. I am aware as they wander the streets they have to defend for them selves so they think this normal.

Then Coco was in my class with a cold and blood shot eyes. I told him that we didn’t want all the kids to be sick so could he please go home and rest! I knew that he wouldn’t like this, as he would miss out on his drink and biscuit. He disappeared for a while and when he returned his eyes weren’t red at all so I don’t know what he did. He still came to class and coughed and sneezed on everyone but at least he was somewhere where people care for him and pay attention. Before class started I patted his back to break down his congestion.
When our classes had finished Josie returned with another little one as I guess she wanted her biscuit and drink. The little one that was with her looked only 2 years old also and none of the kids had had a wash for days and didn’t like it when I washed their hands and face but this new little one had the BIGGGEST knot of hair that I have ever seen! I would guess that you would have to shave his head to remove.
WHAT DOES ONE DO?
If I give money, they expect it all the time and I have to be seen doing it fairly for all not just one. Several weeks ago a little girl came and said that she couldn’t go to school because her mother didn’t have any money to buy schoolbooks etc. I don’t know if her mother received any assistance for the centre but I privately gave her two schoolbooks and she left contented but often doesn’t come back as they have received what they came for! When I saw her next time, I asked how school was going and she said “Good Thanks” so then I was happy that she is going.

Bolivia with no “Change”
It’s a crazy system here as no one has change. When you withdraw your money from the ATM machine it only comes in larger notes. Normally back home you buy something and then get change but here no one has it, they all borrow from each other. Many times I go to buy something small so I can have change for transport but of course they don’t have change so you can’t buy what you wanted. I’ve even heard of someone going to a BANK to pay a bill and the bank didn’t have change also. When I visited Potosi I discovered that money here stopped printing many years ago so our money if very ancient. There are many people forging money so now at many shops they have a special machine to see if its real money or not. Some times you end up with money that you can’t use.

Glenda

11 May 2006

Hola

Just a short note to let all my friends know that my passport has arrived after 6 months of dramas so now they can stamp my one year visa inside the passport. ya....................

STill eagerally waiting to move into my apartment in early june

At the moment the maid does all the cooking, cleaning, washing and shopping and makes my bed etc.
So I will have to start cooking for myself which will be good...............


Glenda

8 May 2006

Hola

I´ve been going to a prayer meeting all in spanish every fortnight so this is good for my spanish and hope to teach the ladies some more crafts in the future.

yesterday i went to a fair and was amazed at the security standards for the rides
I am amazed that no one gets injured.

Another point of interest is that my passport is ready......yeah.....
its only been since november

til next time


chaw


glenda

5 May 2006

Hi
Today friday I am going to teach my Bolivans friends some crafts so this should be good

glenda

1 May 2006

Hola

Going on a picnic Bolivian style is a whole new experience.

Normally in OZ you may go after a sunday lunch but in bolivia you dont get to you destination til 4.30pm and of course it gets dark around 6.30pm so there is not much time to enjoy daylight as the sun is setting. Half of us returned from our bush walk before it got to dark but others left too late and had to walk back in the dark without a torch. It could have been dangerous for them but we waited for an hour and they all returned safely. They dont have Careflight here if some one got injured. We arrived home around 8pm.

Well monday was a public holiday but as usuall we all worked at the centre.
I gave a little party for a girl who turned 5.

I had a nice saturday afternoon I meet a team from Norway. It was really great to talk to them and I hope to see them again before they move on to the next place

thats all for now


Glenda

28 Apr 2006

April / May 2006
Hola!
Mi nombre is Coco
I am 4 years old and I live with my family who run a local pub.
I often wear the same clothes for 3 days.
I enjoy going to the centre as it keeps out of trouble.

Hi my name is Josie and I live with Coco. I am 3

5 Year
Anniversary


Hi, we are the 3 musketeers
Ours names are,
Dani, Maria and Sheila.
Sheila lives on the premises and Maria lies across the road and Dani further away.


Six of us went on a 5 day holiday to the
Salt Lakes in Uyuni and then onto Potosi.
After this we all split up and I spent
Glenda Hurlstone

4 relaxing days with some other
Missionaries in Oruro.

While doing my passport application
In La Paz, I had a lovely day with
Another missionary

Prayer and Praise Points.

1.
All donations to:

International Teams
PO Box 1123
Baulkham Hills
NSW 1755 My 7th attempt for passport is finally in process!
2. Pray for new leadership in process for when Julie retires in August 06.
3. Postage taking one month due to the problems with our airline.
4. Will move into new apartment early June.

Prayer letter Co-ordinator
Mrs Deirdre Coles
7 Alicante Street
Minchinbury NSW 2770 (02) 9675 2252


sorry photos didnt attach

glenda
Hola

My week has been pretty normal except for having my first meeting in spanish so that was a challenge.
Then when I sent a fax to Australia I didnt have enough cash on me and the man in the shop wouldnt let me go and get extra money so I had to leave my watch until I returned with some cash. That was strange for me but its normal for bolivia. Then on my way home a Glue sniffer street kids hassled my for money and I kept saying that i didnt have any and their were no people in the street so I thought he was going to harass me more but he just touched my backside while I kept walking and praying hard. These are the nomal challenges in Bolivia.

I will try and post my newsletter her also.


love and prayers


Glenda

22 Apr 2006

Hi PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMBILES

Now i am back from La Paz i can write briefly of my holiday.
First we went to see the salt lakes at Uyuni and this was amazing and then we did 2 days in a 4wd seeing different lakes etc. Then we went off to the historical town called Potisi meaning
I was once Rich! then we 6 of us all split off to various locations so I head on to Oruro and spent 4 lovely days relaxing with various missionaries.

Then i was home for one day to find out that i had to head to la paz for passport issues.
In the past i have not liked this place as you usually just wait in airport but once you get a chance to see this place its amazing.............
A captipal loocked in mountains and snow on them, its quiet unique and only my photos do justice.

So life goes back to normal with all the normal issues. Looking forward to moving into my own place early june. yipee.............


til next time


Glenda

19 Apr 2006

Hi

am back from holidays and had a great time with various people

am off to la pa for passport application so i pray that this will go through smoothly. I am back at the centre and going through many changes in the coming months with julie leaving etc

please continue to pray for this change

til next time


glenda

4 Apr 2006



Hi

Today we have a transport strike and tomorrow its the whole country.

please pray for this country in crisis

Airlines and buses etc.

Glenda

3 Apr 2006

Hi

Just to let you all know that i have been delays the 5th time to get to la paz as we have a paro here tomorrow (transport strike) so i could get there but not home from airport and its too close to my holidays this friday as i dont want to be trapped in la paz so will go late april God willing


love and prayers

Glenda

2 Apr 2006

Hi
Off to La Paz tomorrow so dont have much to report until back tuesday.
Will be on Vacation on the 7th til the 17th April.

Will write more soon


Glenda

1 Apr 2006

31st march 06 King for a day!

Well yesterday I wrote a good blog, but I lost it while doing something else, so here it is again.

Yesterday while having lunch with a missionary from Canada we had many beggars asking to shine our shoes or buy lollies etc.
Lorna struck up a conversation with a teenage boy and we found out that he was only 13 and he was responsible for his 8 and 9-year-old brothers as their parents were never home. He goes to school in the morning and try’s to make money in the afternoon.

When we had finished our lunch Lorna decided to bless this boy by buying him lunch. She ordered him a hamburger and fries and he chatted to us while waiting for his meal. He looked like a king for a day. While waiting for his burger the other street kids kept telling him to get out of their territory but he said that he was waiting for him meal.
When his burger arrived he wasn’t sure how to eat it so my friend cut it in half and told him that it was ok to use your hands. When he finished, he told us he was very full and Lorna gave him 5 Bolivians for him to buy something for his brothers to eat. He went off happy and content!

1st April 06 Country with no “Change”

The first day I have missed my car.
Saturday morning I went out to post a parcel for my nephew’s birthday and discovered that it was raining so I thought I would catch transport but discovered that I had no change. Normally back home you would just buy something small and get change but as you ask each shop here they have no change and the taxis and buses don’t carry change either. I walked in the rain with only my umbrella and went to a local gas station and managed to get change, which got me down town to post the parcel.
I normally keep it small but when I went to post it they said that it will be 80 Bolivianos and that is all I had so I paid for the postage and then I was back to square one with no money to get home so once again I walked home in the rain.
So the simple things in life took 2 hours and not 20mins.

29 Mar 2006

Hi

On monday i went to the police station in cochabamba to get my report to send to the bank in australia to report my stolen money from last month.
This was a long process, at first they didnt want to do a report as its now march and not feb. and then they wanted to d o an investigation but they would require money, so we said no!
Then they took a report and told my friend and I to come back in the arvo so they could type the report,which we did. I am thankful for now having that report . I suspect the police wanted a bribe but we didnt give it.
Now u an just waiting for mail from my bank in australia but postage is really slow and I just received a christmas card from a friend dated dec 05.

With all the rain we are having which is not normal it affects how many kids come to the centre, but yesterday i painted the litle girls finger nails and they enjoyed that.

Please fell free to leave an comments


glenda

26 Mar 2006

Hi my friends

Yesterday was a very interesting day
we had the heavyest down por for over six years
many off the homes got flooded as well as julies and another missionary here.
i was fine in my home just watching tv on a rainy day

Next week at the centre i hope to paint the little girls nails and make their hair look pretty and i have bought an outfit for a two year old in my class as i feel she needs it.

There are many road blocks out of town and a recent Bombing and they tried to target the Chilean embassy in la paz but got caught just in time.
I hope they dont target the australian embassy as i have to go there next month

love and prayers


glenda

25 Mar 2006

25/3/06

Hi my friends

I am new to this technology of Blog

Please feel free to read the happening of my week

Well this week i should have been going to La Paz to get my new passport but the office is closed to next month. So the day i should have been there. there was a terriost attact at a hotel and my spanish teacher told me that this saturday they were due to blow up the chilean consular in la paz.
Many times the Lord has stopped me just in time. I hope to get there safely next month.

This week with the children i have been consentrating on a poor girl. so each day i wash her hands etc and next week i hope to do here hair pretty and paint her nails. Her family run a pub at home so they are always necglected. She fell asleep on me for an hour. I have to becare how much attention i give her so the other kids wont get jealous. I hope to add some pictures soon.