Tia Raquelly

I've been spending most of my days at the Hope Center with the kids from the First Steps program.

If you didn't know, the kids from the First Steps program are too young to stay at the Home of Hope. 

Instead of being in the prison all day, lacking the care that they need, they are picked up every morning and brought to the center, then taken back in the late afternoon. 

These kids are six and under,

and I absolutely adore them.

They call all of the adults that are helping either Tio or Tia (Uncle or Aunt).

One of the girls there, Beba (pronounced Beh-Bah, not Bee-bah), who is three (I think), randomly spat out the name "Tia Raquelly!" while the other kids were also trying to get my attention by simply yelling, "Tia!" 

It got kind of quiet, and the other women looked at her and then me. We all laughed, and then suddenly, all of the kids were yelling it. 

That's how they all are in there: loud and they copy each other. I'll have to take a video of when they bless the food before eating. It makes me laugh every time.

So, I guess I'm Tia Raquelly now. Thanks, Beba.

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In other news,

Today, Sandee and I took Marioly (13) and Daniel (10) to the concha. 

The concha is almost like a flea market, except packed, and it smells. Bad. You can get really nice clothes there cheap. Nice jeans for around ten dollars. Cute tops for less than ten. Nice shoes for around ten. Shopaholic paradise, basically. 

Since their birthdays have recently passed, we took them shopping for their own clothes. In this culture, even teenagers don't pick their own clothing. They wear what they are told to wear. So, it was exciting to watch them be able to pick their own clothes to create a style for themselves. 

As each day goes by, I realize more and more how blessed US citizens are, and also how ignorant we are about the rest of the world. We need to be thankful, and we need to be aware. 

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Tomorrow we'll celebrate their birthdays with a party at the Hope Center. The clothes they picked, we will wrap. Even though they know what it is, everything about the presents is very special to them--down to the wrapping paper. See what I mean?

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