The Houseman Family: Ayudame and Round Two

February 23 was an anticipated day. This was the day that we were supposed to tour Ayudame the orphanage that Luciana spent the first six months of her life at. I in particular was curious to meet those who took care of her and what her environment was like. We were to take the tour with Isabel (our representative) and the Thompson family at 3:30 in the afternoon.

The morning was spent prodding Jacob to do his homework. There were multiple occasions where he needed to be redirected to the task at hand. We tried to convince him to finish his Language Arts workbook today but we must not have presented it to him in a convincing way. (He only has six pages to go to be where his class will be on April 5.)

We were beckoned to the dinning room by Juanita calling "lunch". We ate tasty tilapia, fried plantains with salsa verde (picante), and fresh tossed green salad with a light vinaigrette. After lunch we had one hour or so before the van was to pick us up for our Ayudame tour. No sooner had we gotten to our room and out of nowhere Dave started round two of intestinal distress. (We think that it might have been from eating at Subway the day prior....possibly food poisoning.) There was no way that Dave was going to be able to accompany us on the tour. So Jacob stepped up to the plate. I asked him if he would be able to take pictures because I would have my hands full with Luciana and the backpack. He rose to the challenge.

It was a quick ride in the van to Ayudame. The building was situated off a main street in Bogota with several tiendas around it.

Once inside we were asked to sit down and wait. Apparently ICBF (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar...AKA Colombian Family Welfare Institute) was there to perform an audit and Maria Clemencia (the director) was busy gathering the necessary paperwork for the ICBF personnel.

I thought that it would be easier if Luciana was in the baby bjorn versus trying to carry her in my arms. This little girl has put some weight on in the past three weeks! I also strategically covered her head with her pink hat. I was slightly nervous about what they would say about her haircut.

While we waited to tour the building, Jacob posed with Isabel Romero. (He also met a boy around seven years old. I cannot remember his name because it was an unusual name. I will have to ask Isabel the next time I see her.)

The first room that we visited was the kitchen area. Josiah and Jacob were given a treat of cookies to satisfy their cravings.

We first noted that we were being followed when we entered the kitchen area. To the right of the above picture there was a service window from the kitchen to the dining room. There poking his head through the window was that little boy again.

I am not sure what this boy's story is, if he is up for adoption or if he is under protection. Anyway, he sure was a happy boy and was drawn to Jacob.

What a patient kid allowing Jacob to take his picture.

I forgot to mention that this boy had a little friend. The squishy toy with bulging eyes. Every where we went the boy and the toy appeared.

We exited the kitchen to ascend a spiral staircase up to the mother's living quarters. Jacob posed with Elana (I hope that is correct). This room is where the mothers lounge and watch television. There are currently two mothers living here. One was present at the time of our tour. I asked Isabel if she would tell the mother in elegant Spanish words how wonderful she was in choosing life.

There were two bedrooms that had three beds in each room (if I counted correctly).

We descended the spiral steps and walked back toward the entrance. There was another set of spiral stairs. These stairs led to where the children lived. We only saw a small part of the children's living quarters. We were told that currently Ayudame was housing 80 orphans ranging from infants to seven years old. I think that our little shadow was one of the oldest kids that resides at Ayudame.

Several of the caretakers talked to Gabriela and Luciana. Gabriela had smiles for the caretakers but Luciana had no affect. I wonder what she was thinking or if it was because I woke her from a nap prior to leaving the hotel.

We saw several toddlers on this floor. You couldn't help but to have tears in your eyes and an ache in your heart when you saw these little ones.

We ascended to a third floor. This was their designated play area.

As you can see, the room was well lit with natural light from the numerous windows. The floor was covered with fake grass like you would put in front of your camper door. Also, please note that there are three ninos. Yes, that little fellow followed us up to the third floor.

Once again Jacob was communicating with this little guy verbally and with nonverbal gestures.

The tour was basically over at this point. We descended from the third level to the ground floor via the spiral staircase. As we past the second floor, I noticed a little toddler sticking his face in between the railing. I stopped for a brief moment and said "hola" and tickled him under his chin. He smiled and I once again felt tears in my eyes for this little one. My hope and prayer is that this boy will be blessed with a family that will love him unconditionally.

We were back in the van in no time with our tour lasting maybe an hour. I have to admit that I was disappointed with the tour. I guess that I had different expectations of how today would be. Two things that I know for certain...I am grateful for Jacob's assistance today in the absence of Dave (carrying my heavy backpack, taking pictures, and having a great attitude).