Casa Josefina is a full house with 16 children currently in the house (and 3 still outside of Cusco for medical purposes).  We had two little brothers join us in December through World Vision.  They are temporarily in our care while their mother is having cancer treatment in Lima.  This has added another small baby to the baby room and a toddler who came only understanding the Quechua language, though is picking up the Spanish basics fairly quickly.

We also welcomed Guadalupe in January, who is getting used to being with so many other children, but loving the attention and care of the staff.  She is about 5 years old, loves to color and draw, as well as the outdoor swings and her pink bike that the Judge brought the day after she arrived.  She is a very sweet-mannered child, always has a big smile for the Mamas, and likes to help out with the babies.

Sandra is almost four months old, came to us on February first, and may also only be in our care temporarily.  She has a partial cleft-palate and will require future surgery once she reaches the right weight.

We celebrated in a combined party Cathy’s 3rd birthday and Daniel’s 8th the first week of January.  It was a lot of fun, hosted by two families, with a Peruvian dancing video for the kids to try some moves and – of course -cake!  Some very beautiful ones at that!

Some of the staff had fun decorating the dining area with streamers, LOTS of balloons and fresh floral arrangements making it a very exciting and festive area.

Ruth and Keith brought back a red bike from the United States that Daniel is almost able to ride by himself and that the others like to double on.  The older girls also have a new bedspread to brighten up and go with their red and white themed room.

It was also little Danielito’s 3rd birthday on the 30th.  He continues to be cared for by his caregivers in Lima, who recently sent some new photos.  Veronica is also still in Lima, and her caregivers sent a recent photo to us as well.  She is running all over the place and happy.  We still await her surgery date.

Although January is in the midst of the rainy season, there are still many sunny days, and we try not to miss out on them!

December has been full of treats and traditions both Peruvian and American.

A popular tradition here, especially for kids, is “Chocolatadas” at Christmas time.  Businesses, individuals or groups, churches or schools like to host chocolatadas especially for kids in the schools, or families from poorer communities.  Our Josefina kids were given one at the House by some members of the board where they got to have homemade hot chocolate, panetón (soft Christmas bread with the candied red and green pieces), and were given little Christmas gifts (one for each one, even the smallest babies).  The kids were also invited to a chocolatada at a school in the community, which was a small adventure for them, getting to walk through a beautiful field in bloom, past a couple of grazing llamas (The Canadian volunteer was much more interested than anyone else), and up a hill to the school.  The school put on a presentation with some music and dancing for the kids before their hot chocolates, panetón and gifts.

One of the missionary families in the area also hosted a party for the children in their home, which another close family was eager to contribute to and be a part of.  The kids did crafts including cookie decorating (Fabi was much happier licking the icing-filled spoon) and angel crafts, which they put in their individually wrapped and self-decorated containers to take home, with candies and little Bible stories inside for the older ones.  The kids and house staff that came had cookies and popcorn to snack on, and spaghetti, bread and fruit salad for lunch with a North American version of Chicha Morada to drink (the Peruvian drink made with purple corn).

Angela and Hilda participated in their school’s Christmas program.  Hilda below:

Early December was warmer and there were more opportunities for playing outside, but the last couple of weeks have brought more rain, as typical for this season, and it’s been colder here in Cusco.  More time for crafts!  With Angela and Hilda home from school now for their summer vacation, it’s been a full house.  The kids have been doing lots of Christmas-themed crafts these weeks, as well as hearing a Bible verse or story before bed each night, as they followed the Advent tree that the House Mom’s all contributed to making, following a design of Ruth’s.

Our staff had a separate festive event where they had a special meal out and were all given baskets including panetón, rice, oil, sugar, chocolates, home-baked bread, and other goodies.

On Saturday the 24th, the children had their home Christmas dinner in the afternoon, with turkey and gravy, and a mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and a variety of cookies for dessert (not a Peruvian tradition).  Each one got a special gift.

Despite colds going around, the children have had lots of attention and are happy and content!

Wishing everyone a blessed 2012!

From everyone at the Casa Josefina, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

There are many fun cement parks in the city of Cusco with giant slides.  Some of the missionaries in the area took the older kids on a “Paseo” (an outing/ field-trip) to Marcavalle Park recently where they got to try out the giant tunnel snake slides, and had ice-cream after.

Some of the toys at the House are sometimes rotated, so bringing out the kitchen toys one day was a big hit for Fabi, Fabricio and Kathy.  Kathy and Fabricio are very creative in imaginary play, and Fabricio especially loves “cooking” in his various “kitchens”.  One of the staff recently commented that maybe he’ll be a chef when he grows up!

Luis is walking alot more now, which is alot of fun to watch!  Check out the video below!

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We have a new staff member with us now who specifically works with Daniel every day.  He is really thriving from the individual attention, though he still has his down days.  But, he loves when they go for walks, feed the animals, and do other activities together.

Each of the three new babies are becoming more expressive as they grow, and each are starting to connect more with their surroundings and starting to smile.  Carlos loves bathtime, and Marleni is all around a very content baby.  Lucas is also bringing out the smiles more and more and is very snuggly.  It’s also great to see Adriano smiling and laughing more and just adoring the love and attention from the Mamas in the house, and enjoying the many new experiences of toys and play.

We are just starting to put up the Christmas tree and decorations… Check back soon!

As is common to Spanish culture, there are many festivals and holidays in Peru every few weeks for some reason or another. During the last week of October the Mama’s of the house all wanted to take one or two of the House children home with them for the holiday day. The kids got to experience the home and family of the House mom that they stayed with for the whole day. They enjoyed the day so much that they didn’t get home until 2 hours past the planned return time!

On Oct 29th, one of the missionary families here hosted a Halloween alternative Fall Festival at their house, with about 50 parents and children in attendance. The Josephine kids and day staff also joined the party, where they got to wear fancy masks, eat potatoe chips and try good ol’ American hamburgers for the first time. There were various games such as potatoe sack races and bobbing for apples.

The Josephine House appreciated a couple of teams that dropped by this week to work on a painting project. A young adult team of 5 from Sweden came on November 7th to start on a couple of the outside walls that needed painting. They painted what they could reach in the time that they had, and the following day a team of 5 guys from Canada finished the project. They got pretty innovative using 4 extensions to get some of the hard to reach parts of the wall! There is still one outer wall that needs to be finished if any teams or individuals are interested!