2+2 Sum it all up!

Dear family and friends,

Thank you so much for all of your love, prayers, and support for me. You are so greatly appreciated and I cannot fully express how much you mean to me and the children of Peru! Here is a bit about what has been happening lately in my adventures in Peru.

I think that if I had to describe the orphanage with one word it would be “family”. We have a much more family-like atmosphere compared to that of the government run orphanages in town. There are two girl and two boy houses at Hogar de Esperanza. Each house has a house mother to watch the 12 children (ages 1-16) in the house. They do everything as a family. They eat, clean, play, study, and go to church together as a family. We allow our kids to go to the private schools in the area depending on the age and school needs. The teenagers are allowed “privileges” to go to a friend’s house, or go shopping, just like a teen at home would. By doing this we are letting them live more like a family and not as orphans never allowed to leave the walls. As a staff we pray, meet, and worship together. The workers invite the volunteers into their lives and let us be a part of their families. I think that this aspect is what really makes us stand out and be different from the rest of the orphanages in the area.

Here is a glimpse at what my daily jobs are like. My mornings at Hogar de Esperanza consist of working in the office for a little while making crafts or running errands around the orphanage, playing with some of our 5 yr olds that go to school in the afternoon, and I also help out in the kitchen before lunch. That has been very interesting to say the least! I am learning how to cook Peruvian foods, but right now I am mainly chopping limes and onions. And on that note I have only cried chopping onions once! After lunch I have garden time for a hour with some kids from one of the houses. The garden is split into four sections and each house is in charge of one section. They help me prepare the soil, plant the seeds, weed, and then pick the vegetables. They get very excited about watching the plants grow. It is fun to see them so eager about learning and helping me in the garden! After garden I supervise Yuliana, who is in cosmetology school. She has to practice for an hour and a half, cutting, styling and braiding hair. I have really seen her grow and mature over four months. And of course I fill in at times in the houses when the moms are on their day offs or have to run to a child to the doctor. Those times have been some of the longest and hardest, but some of the most rewarding of all. I don’t really feel like you can really know some of the kids until you live with them. There have been times where I have been watching the boys house and they turn off all of the lights just so they can jump out and scare you, or they get into fights and you have to punish them, or my favorite times of all are those quiet moments before bed and that one kid wants you to read the bible with him. It has definitely been a rewarding experience.


I am very excited about spending eight more months in Peru and learning more every day. I hope that God will continue to use me and those I am working with, in the children’s lives and also the lives of the friends I have made. Please pray that God will mold my heart more and more like his and that I will be faithful to trust Him in every situation I run into. Pray that God will work in the lives of the children. Pray for their families also, and those children who do not have families, which those of us who are working with them can love them and provide for them while they are with us.

I want to leave you with this story of Kevin, who has touched my heart so much in the past four months. He was the 15yr old who worked with me in the mornings before he left for another orphanage. My very first day here, before I knew I would be working with him, he came up to me and told me that he would teach me Spanish if I would teach him English. He showed me around and let me play with him and his friends. Our friendship then began and he would join me in the mornings that first week doing arts and crafts with the kids. The next week we found out that I was working with him. I was a little nervous, but I knew they wouldn’t put me somewhere I couldn’t handle. As the weeks went on we began to get to know one another more and more. We would spend our mornings working, learning one another’s language and telling stories about our families and trying to figure out what we were going to do later in life. I would sit with him occasionally at meal times and later in the day I would play with him and his friends. He became less of a child I worked with and more of a friend. I started picking up on his favorite sayings, “como que no?” and “YIIIIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!” I found out that he doesn’t approve of singing songs that don’t glorify God, and that he would always remind you to pray before you ate. Then one day they told me he was moving to another orphanage. I cried. My friend was leaving. They told him little under a week that he was leaving, and noticed a difference in his life. He didn’t smile as much and he was much more somber. He spent his time reading and sitting in the presence of the workers and volunteers. He knew that life was going to be different. The day finally came and I helped him bring his things to the car. Everyone came out to say goodbye and wish him luck in his new life. I think I was the only one who cried. I remember him just looking at me with a blank stare. Oh my heart ached so much that day. The other children ran up to me and hugged me telling me it was ok and that it was ok to cry because I spent so much time working with Kevin. A week passed and we found out he was doing well, just wasn’t showering. He didn’t like the cold water, such spoiled kids we have! I was put on the list to go visit him and was thrilled to find out that my week was first! I was able to go with one of my friends and we brought him all kinds of food and goodies. When we got there one of his friends ran to get him. Kevin started to walk over towards us and then I yelled, “Run, run, Kevin, run!” and he ran over to us but with a blank expression on his face. He stood in front of us for a second and then all the sudden it seemed to hit him who we were and why we were there and the biggest smile came across his face! I about cried then too. We spent the next few hours’ playing cards, taking pictures, and he told us all about his new place. It was hard to leave but I knew that he was in a safe place and that God was with him. I am hoping that our friendship will continue on even though we are in separate orphanages.
I want to leave you with this verse that has so greatly helped me at my time serving these children. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

May God bless you this Christmas season,
Susanna Davenport

www.chiefsuzinperu.blogspot.com
susannadport@gmail.com

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is here....but is it bringing lots of cheer? And if so where does it come from?

Yes I do believe that for some odd reason people are much happier (well those I have encountered) this time of year. Maybe it has to do with all of the singing, yummy food (or panetone here in Peru), and all of the beautiful decorations. But then maybe it has to do with everyone you meet wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. But for those of us who know the real reason of Christmas I think we get our cheer for our Savior who so humbly came as a baby in a stinky manger one night in Bethlehem. We have something amazing to be joyful about. And I love that we can share that with our friends and even strangers on the street. What a joy it is to be saved and to be able to speak freely of what our Father has done for us!

I am extremely happy this Christmas. Yes it is very different, but in the big picture it is only one Christmas of many. I went through a rough time getting out of Peru and then trying to get back in, but through it all I was able to thoroughly enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and then the beginnings of Christmas. The holiday music, the baking of delicious goodies, a few Christmas parties, warm winter coats and beautiful scarves, and of course the decorating of our tree! (which is real like always) Shame on you guys who have fake trees. So getting to enjoy those things has definitely helped me out now that I am here and am enjoying the sun and warm weather, the multitude of Peruvian Chocolataras (parties with hot chocolate and panetone), snow men and Santa decorations (neither of which they have here) and of course the traditional Peruvian Christmas party at midnight on the 24th.

I think that today, the eve of Christmas eve, I have truly experienced the true meaning of Christmas. I have wrapped birthday presents, eaten banana bread with friends, went to the store to buy ingredients for a breakfast for the kids on the 25th, eaten a delicious mango, played freeze tag with some of the little boys, practiced for an awkward Christmas dance with Peruvian friends, and helped a little girl clean the kitchen. And now as I listen to Christmas music and drink spiced tea I am realizing that Christmas is not the things and traditions we are so accustomed to or where we are used to being, but it is the LOVE that we give. The LOVE that was so freely given to us by that small little baby. That is Christmas. I pray that you too will experience Christmas in this was as well. Help out a neighbor, say hello to an old friend, or just wish a stranger a Merry Christmas, and see how much Christmas is in your heart and not in your bright decorations!

With love to you all!

-Susanna

Why I am still in the US?

So what I thought was going to be a quick nice trip home for Thanksgiving turned into a long frustrating 2 weeks...er well i am still here so make it three.

It all started in the Linea bus station Saturday morning before Thanksgiving. Sam and I were waiting for Oscar to pick us up and we were going to look around Lima before we had to get to the airport. So while I was brushing my teeth Sam was watching our stuff. While doing so she got distracted by some very clever men and they stole my backpack. I came back and casually asked Sam where it was and then we started to freak out. It was kinda scary. We went to the police station and then to the embassy where they were really ugly to us and we sat there and cried for a good while. After we got it into our heads that nothing could happen until Monday morning. So Sam left and I stayed with Oscar and his family until I could leave. They were so nice to me. Told me that there home was my home. There I saw the love of Christ. I had a great time at church and spending time with them at the house and running to the store. I hope that I can help someone the way they helped me. So Monday came and we went to the Embassy to get my temporary passport and everything went smoothly until that afternoon. After lunch we all took naps and then missed the time that we were supposed to pick up my passport. Well I could blame us but I would like to blame Lima because it is soooooo stinkin huge. I mean it took us aver an hour to get anywhere. I would not like to live in a city that big at all. I do think I prefer the quaint quiet little towns that I have lived in. So I had to postpone my flight again and wait until the next day to pick up my passport. So the next day came and we picked it up early and i made my flight that night. I was able to talk to a few people on the way home about what I am doing in Peru and what Hogar de Esperanza is all about. That was really cool. People seemed really interested and asked tons of questions.

So I got home and had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with my family. It was small but nice. We had all of the wonderful Thanksgiving goodies and good coffee to go with it! I enjoyed my next couple of days at home with my family and I even got to see Vanessa! That was a nice surprise. We had a great time. I got everything ready and we headed to Jackson to visit some friends before I had to go down to New Orleans. I got to surprise my old cheer coach Dana and I had a great time getting to see my cheerleaders.

So then I had a great visit with my grandmother and we stayed with Mrs. Broomfield. It was really nice. So then we went to NO and got to the airport and I got rejected for not having a permanent passport. So we drove all the way back home 5 hours. I was crushed. I was heartbroken. I wanted so bad to be back in Peru. I had already been gone from the Alburgue for a week and a half and was so ready to see my children. So I called the Alburgue when I got home and talked to Lori about what was going on.

So for as now I am here in MS waiting to go to NO to get a new passport and then change my flight. I feel like I have missed so much in the past 2 weeks. I really miss my Peruvian family and even though I LOVE my family, friends, and my country my heart is currently in Peru with those kids.

So for now I am in Jackson and enjoying time with my friends. We went to the dance and then played in the SNOW! Kasey and I were like little children in the snow. It was such a great night! Tonight we are going to the Traditional Singing Christmas Tree at Belhaven. So for now I guess I just have to enjoy my time here with my friends and family.

Wishing to be in Peru.