Muchas gracias!

The moment you all have been waiting for is finally here; time to reveal how our fundraising-project turned out and how much money we raised!

Thanks to all of you who supported us our project has been a great success, much greater than we could expect. Within two weeks we got more than 40 donations from families, friends and acquaintances. In total we got 1943 euros worth of donations, which is about 18 200 bolivianos. 

Since the beginning it was clear that we would use 1000 euros (40€/girl) for one year worth of school materials and school uniforms. We personally took part in the shopping, at one of South Americas biggest markets, which is located here in Cochabamba. Shopping in Bolivia is always an adventure, as everything is located in different areas and it's not always so easy to find what you are looking for. Oh how easy it would have been if all the parts for the school uniforms would have been in one place, instead of being spread around the market which practically covers the area of a small city. Buying the the school uniforms also became a little adventure itself as a couple of the girls from the home joined us so they could give their opinions and help us to pick the right sizes. 



Next on our shopping list became kitchen supplies. Various problems which make eating interesting, so as eating chicken wings with a spoon or having the ketchup running to the table through the plate, made the decision to invest in new kitchen supplies easy. Due to problems with our car we haven't been able to buy the supplies yet, but we hope we'll get to do it next week before we leave!

 
As the home doesn’t always have volunteers to drive the car during the weekends, there is a big need for someone with a driver’s license among the staff. When we leave back to Finland it would quickly become too expensive to take the girls from one place to another by taxis, so we decided to invest 1000 bolivianos (about 120€) for the driving school and license for one of the tías. In the long term, it’s in ever way a big benefit for the home. Well, we all know there’s no use for a driver if the car doesn’t work, and as our space miracle is acting irregularly from day to day we also decided to invest a small amount to the maintenance of the car.

During our time here we have noticed that the girls love to play all sorts of games but unfortunately both the basketballs and the board games are in bad shape. So we got a few new board games and the long desired new UNO-cards, which by the way have been in big use since the girls got their hands on them. We'll be buying basketballs later.

In the beginning of December we’re also taking all the girls and staff members from Corazon Grande to enjoy a ballet show, in which our little ballerinas Julia and Patty are performing.

Visiting the foster home of Gladys

At last we decided to invest some of the money to another foster home, founded by our spanish language teacher Gladys and Norwegian Hanne. There are almost 40 boys and girls in different ages living at the home, which nowadays consists of three houses. During our time here Gladys has become more than a teacher for us and she has been an irreplaceable support on behalf of our work here. Both Gladys and her foster home has become important to us, so we want to help them as well now when we have the chance. 

All in all everything we have been able to buy and invest on have been an incredible help for the girls home, and the joy is going to last for a long time. We couldn’t have done this without help, so the thanks belong to you.

We want to thank everyone who supported our project and helped us to share information about it. The girls and staff at Corazon Grande are very grateful and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014 !

  

And as we promised, honor and glory to all our supporters. Here they come!

Susanne Halmén-Björkestam

Aija Mandell

Betty-Maj Forsman

Sanni Isoviita

Hanna Hyvärinen

Ida-Sofie Asplund

Familjen Nylund

Katja Laitila

Jules Dittmann

Krister Widenius

Max Widenius

Carola Sevelius

Paul Ingram

My Widenius

Mimma, Fifi & Mats

Leena & Björn Finne

Saga Finne

Anu Koskenkari

Stella Kanerva

Elma & Marjo Ekblad

Anniina Salo

Mary-Ann Alanne

Karo Mikkonen

Maija Mikkonen

Bencin

Tättä

Mikke & Leena Soini

Anna Hedenborg

Barbara Karstén

Mommo Karstén & Mamma Lindén

Joni

Valontalon yhteisö

Arcada studerandekår ASK

Team Spark, YH Novia

Familjen Simpson

Sara & Fredrik

Gustav Juslin

Jan & Liisa Halmén

Santtu & Uffe Halmén

Annika Halmén

Mia Halmén

Ira Turunen

Salla Paananen

Misa Pihlaniemi

Tuhannet kiitokset!

Vihdoinkin se on täällä, hetki jota me kaikki olemme odottaneet. Kuinka meidän rahankeruu-projektin kävi, ja mikä on lopputulos?

Kaikkien lahjoittaneiden ansiosta projektimme on ollut suuri menestys, suurempi kuin osasimme odottaa. Kahden viikon aikana saimme yli 40 lahjoitusta perheiltä, ystäviltä ja tutuilta. Lahjoituksia kerääntyi yhteensä 1943 euroa, joka vastaa noin 18 200 bolivianoa. 

Alusta asti oli selvää että käyttäisimme 40€/tyttö, eli 1000€ tulevan lukuvuoden koulutarvikkeisiin ja koulupukuihin. Olimme itse mukana tekemässä hankintoja Etelä-Amerikan suurimmilla markkinoilla, joilla ostosten tekeminen on aina yhtä seikkailua. Koulupukuja ostaessa myös pari nuorta lastenkodilta olivat mukana makutuomareina ja sovitusapuna. Koska markkinat ovat kooltaan kuin pieni kaupunki, ei tavaroiden löytäminen aina ole kovin yksinkertaista. Olisikin ollut liian helppoa jos koulupuvut olisivat löytyneet yhtenä kappaleena samasta paikasta, sen sijaan että pukujen kaikki osat olivat ripoteltuna ympäri markkinoita. 

Tytöt auttoivat kirjaamaan jokaisen tavaran

Muutaman tunnin jälkeen samalla kojulla.

Seuraavana hankintalistalla oli keittiötarvikkeet. Vaihtelevat ongelmat jotka tekevät ruokailuhetkistä välillä haastavia, esimerkiksi kanankoipien syöminen lusikalla tai ketsupin valuminen lautasen läpi pöydälle, saivat keittiötarvikkeisiin sijoittamisen tuntumaan luontevalta päätökseltä.Vaitettavasti emme ole vielä päässeet ostamaan tavaroita, sillä auto on ollut rikki. Toivomme kuitenkin että kerkeisimme ostoksille vielä ensi viikolla ennen kotiinlähtöämme.

Koska lastenkodilla ei aina ole vapaaehtoisia ajamassa autoa viikonloppuisin, on toiselle ajokortilliselle työntekijälle suuri tarve. Lähtömme jälkeen tulisi matkanteko pidemmän päälle kalliiksi taksilla, joten päätimme sijoittaa 1000 bolivianoa (noin 120€) yhden työntekijän autokouluun ja ajokorttiin sillä siitä on kaikin puolin pitkäaikainen hyöty lastenkodille. Kuskista ei kuitenkaan ole hyötyä ilman toimivaa autoa, ja koska tilaihmeemme reistailee päivästä toiseen päätimme myös sijoittaa pienen summan auton huoltokuluihin.

Olemme täällä ollessamme huomanneet että tytöt pitävät kaikennäköisten pelien pelaamisesta, mutta valitettavasti sekä koripallot että lautapelit ovat huonossa kunnossa. Tyttöjen iloksi hankimme siis muutaman uuden lautapelin sekä pitkään toivotut uudet UNO-kortit. Koripallot hankimme myöhemmin. Viemme myös joulukuun alussa kaikki tytöt ja työntekijät nauttimaan balettiesityksestä, jossa pienet balleriinamme Julia ja Patty esiintyvät.

Lopuksi päätimme että lahjoitamme osan rahoista lastenkotiin, jonka perustajat ovat espanjankielen opettajamme Gladys ja norjalainen Hanne. Lastenkodissa asuu melkein 40 eri-ikäistä poikaa ja tyttöä, kolmessa eri talossa. Täällä ollesamme Gladys on ollut meille enemmän kuin opettaja ja hän tukenut meitä paljon työmme puolesta. Sekä Gladyksesta että hänen lastenkodista on tullut meille tärkeitä, joten haluamme autttaa myös heitä kun meillä nyt on siihen mahdollisuus.

Kaiken kaikkiaan nämä hankinnat ja sijoitukset ovat olleet uskomattoman suuri apu lastenkodille ja niistä tulee olemaan iloa ja hyötyä pitkäksi aikaa. Emme olisi voineet toteuttaa projektia ilman teidän apua, joten kiitos kuuluu teille.

Tuhannet kiitokset kaikille lahjoittaneille, sekä kaikille ystäville ja tutuille jotka pistivät sanan kiertämään projektistamme. Corazon Granden tytöt ja henkilökunta  kiittää ja kumartaa, sekä toivottaa kaikille erittäin Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta 2014 !

Tusen tack!


Äntligen är stunden som vi alla väntat på här. Hur gick det med penginsamlingsprojektet, vad blev resultatet?

Tack vare alla som donerat har projektet varit en stor succé, större än vi kunde förvänta oss. Under två veckors tid fick vi över 40 donationer från familjer, vänner och bekanta. Allt som allt fick vi insamlat 1943 euro, vilket motsvarar 18 2000 bolivianos.

Från första början var det klart för oss att använda 40€/flicka, alltså sammanlagt 1000€  för att skaffa skolmaterial och skoluniformer inför nästa läsår. Allt skaffades på en av Sydamerikas största marknad, där vi själva var med då inköpen gjordes. Då vi var och handla skoluniformerna fick vi hjälp av två av våra flickor, med att pröva storlekar och säga sina åsikter. Som ni kan tänka er är det inte alltid det lättaste att göra stora inköp på marknaden, och det tar sin tid. Det skulle ju vara alldeles för lätt ifall t.ex. skoluniformerna hittades på ett och samma ställe, istället för att söka varje del skilt på en marknad som är nästan lika stor som en liten stad...

 

Som näst på inköpslistan kom köksredskapen. Matstunderna i huset känns ibland mer eller mindre utmanande, då t.ex. hönslår försöks äta med sked eller då ketchupen rinner genom tallriken. Att investera i nya köksredskap kändes således som ett naturligt beslut. På grund av att bilen för tillfället är på reparation har vi inte kunna göra uppköpen ännu, men vi hoppas att vi hinner med detta nästa vecka innan vi åker hem.

Eftersom barnhemmet inte alltid har volontärer som kör bilen under veckosluten, finns ett stort behov för en till i personalen med körkort. Efter att vi åkt hem till Finland, skulle bilresorna snabbt bli dyra med taxi, vilket fick oss att investera 1000 bolivianos (ca.120€) i att en av personalen går bilskolan och skaffar körkort. Detta kommer i långa loppet att vara en stor nytta för verksamheten i hemmet. Att ha en kusk är ändå till ingen nytta ifall bilen inte fungerar, och eftersom vår mirakelbil med jämna mellanrum har ett eller annat problem bestämde vi oss för att ge en liten summa till bilens reparationskostnader.

Under vår tid på hemmet har vi märkt att flickorna tycker om att spela alla sorters spel, men tyvärr är både bordsspelen och korgbollarna i dåligt skick. För att glädja flickorna skaffade vi således några nya bordsspel, nya bollar och de länge efterlängtade UNO-korten. Dessutom för vi flickorna och personalen till en balettföreställning där två av våra flickor, Julia och Patty, dansar.

Till slut beslöt vi oss att donera en del av pengarna till ett annat barnhem, vilket är grundat av vår spanskalärare Gladys och den norske Hanne. Barnhemmet bosätter nästan 40 pojkar och flickor i olika åldrar. Under vår tid i Bolivia har Gladys varit mer än enbart en lärare för oss, hon har varit ett stort stöd i frågor om arbetet på hemmet. Både Gladys och hennes barnhem har blivit betydelsefulla för oss, och nu när chansen finns att även kunna hjälpa dem vill vi gärna göra det.

Allt som allt har dessa inskaffningar och investeringar varit till otroligt stor hjälp för barnhemmet, och kommer att vara till både nytta och glädje för en lång tid. Vi kunde inte ha förverkligat projektet utan er hjälp, och således hör tacket till er.

Tusen tack till alla som donerat, samt alla som delat informationen om projektet framåt. Flickorna och personalen på Corazon Grande bugar, tackar och bockar, samt önskar alla en riktigt God Jul och ett Gott Nytt År 2014 !

We're getting there...

Look what I just made - the first Christmas 
cracker! (Picture by Julia)

 Exactly two weeks from now we’re already going to be on our way home, actually at this time we’re probably just about to board the plain from Lima to Amsterdam. These last weeks go by so fast, and it feels like we’re running out of days to do everything we still want to do. Well, at least we got one thing off our list today - we finally finished our secret project, the Christmas calendar for the girls. In the end it turned out quite awesome and we can't wait to show it to the girls! Each cracker contains a bracelet we made, some candy and a riddle or brainteaser... in Spanish of course.

What comes to the project, don't worry we're getting there... We’re heading out to the stores on Wednesday this week and after that we’ll tell you all about it and post a letter of thanks. All of that if everything goes as planned, as you can never know here. And right now our car is broken, but we hope it’s getting fixed before Wednesday!

Meanwhile I thought it would be nice to share some pictures of the past week, I’ll let them tell the rest!

                                              The awesome Christmas calendar

The birthday of Marisol and Carla, the other director of Corazon Grande

Enjoying the rain period of Cochabamba! (Picture by Julia)

Garden party at our spanish-teacher Gladys

Cochabamba at nightfall

Practicing the "Sankta Lucia" song in Swedish - chaotic as usual.

Monday night at Casa Baste

It has only just begun

I know you're all eager to hear about the project - how much money we raised and how we are going to spend it. Well, you're going to have to wait still for a while as we want to have all the money properly sorted our before revealing what a great success the project has been! But I promise you that we'll tell you everything within a few days, and as we said before, give honor and glory to everyone who supported us. At the moment I can only reveal that the shopping has begun.....

While working with the project we've experienced a few, not to say bad but challenging days here at the house and outside. Our long awaited trip to the jungle was a total fiasco and the following day we experienced our first car accident in Bolivia, which though considering the amount of accidents here isn't that exceptional. Luckily no one was hurt and our space miracle didn't suffer as badly as the other car which had to be towed away. We've also had problems with some of the girls, but I don't want to put anyone in a bad light so I'm not gonna say more. Therefore, back to our trip to the jungle...

So our plan was to do an overnight trip to Villa Tunari, which is located in Chapare, in the northern region of Cochabamba. Chapare is a historical area for growing coca, but was due to a new law no longer permitted to legally grow it. This resulted in ongoing, messy confrontations between the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), the Bolivian government and the cocaleros (coca growers). Therefore the law has been changed by a deal between the current Bolivian president Evo Morales and the former president Carlos Mesa - so now the law permits the Chapare area to grow only a limited amount of coca every year.... what can I say, it just keeps on amazing me how this country works. After all, the troubles in Chapare aren't gone and there's a lot of crimes and murders committed because of the coca business.

Even though it is (if you are lucky) only a three to four hour drive from Cochabamba to Chapare, the climate is totally different. After crossing the mountains and descending more than 1000m down, the climate changes in a second. The heat and the humidity of the rainforest hits you in the face, but the scenery is amazing! The blossoming nature with all it's rivers and all it's life is a total opposite to the wastelands all around the country. The downside with this beauty is of course the mosquitoes and other tropical insects that quickly gets on your nerves. Well unfortunately we only got to enjoy the rainforest from the bus, as our journey due to several "traffic jams" took about nine hours instead of four. typical Bolivia... The road toll was closed so we had to sit in the bus and wait for three hours  - which isn't that much, but you can imagine what happens when about 100 frustrated drivers are let through the gate after having to wait... I can say that the following few hours were the scariest I have experienced in Bolivia so far, speeding down the roads among impatient drivers - on a mountain road that reminded a bit too much of the death road. But well, we survived the it and we even stopped on the way to help a man who had driven off the road - luckily not over the edge. When we at last arrived to Villa Tunari it was already getting dark. So we had dinner, enjoyed a beer with a traveler from Argentina and went to bed, only to wake up at 6am the next morning to head back to Cochabamba. That's how much we saw of the jungle.

Furthermore the life here at the house continues as normal and we are day by day getting more closer to the girls. I don't know if it has to do with time or the fact the we're leaving soon, but somehow some of the girls and tías seem to appreciate us more than before. I could say that the sadness of leaving is getting to me too, at the same time as I can't wait to begin my next journey, somewhere else. The funny thing is that even though we've been here for more than two months I somehow feel like it has only just begun. We're leaving in less than three weeks, now when I feel that I'm finally getting along with the language, starting to adapt to the culture and beginning to feel like home here. Our days are filled with Christmas preparations - practicing instruments for the Lucia-event, and when the girls are not around Julia and I are working on our secret project - which is making a Christmas calender for the girls and small gifts for the tías. And of course every week we are celebrating someones birthday... Oh and I almost forgot to mention that yesterday also was an exciting day as we again got a new girl to the house, Juanita. She is the 10-year old sister to Julia and Patty, our little ballet dancers. And so Corazon Grande, a foster home with capacity for 24 girls is now a home for 26 girls. 

Discovering new ways to teach children to play the piano

Yet another week

From this day, there's exactly four weeks until our plane will land at Helsinki Vantaa airport. That means that we have less than a month left at Corazon Grande and Bolivia, before we return to our lives in Finland.

Our project that we started about one week ago is going great, thanks to all of you who have helped us. The support we have got from our friends, family and others has been overwhelming and I can already tell you this project is going to be a great success! And it’s not over yet. We hope those of you who still want to participate will do it before Friday 15.11, though it’s not the end of the world if you miss the day – as long as we get the money before we leave! 

While the project has been running we have continued with our everyday life here in the heart of Bolivia. Life at the house is going smooth, and as many of the girls only have exams left they are spending less time at school and have less homework. During the past week we have baked cookies and traditional Finnish cinnamon buns with the girls, who by the way loved them! Otherwise everything is mostly the same, nothing special. Oh except that I yesterday attended a parental meeting at one of the girl’s school, while Julia had to manage the evening routines at Casa Baste alone. This is a very typical situation here; that someone asks us with a ten-minute warning if we can attend a meeting or pick up the girls from somewhere etc. No matter if we’re in the middle of English teaching, cooking or whatever. And now when I’m on the topic, I think I’ve never mentioned that Julia and I actually attended two parental meetings almost right after we arrived to Bolivia. You can imagine how much we understood of the discussions and how absurd it was to even be there. 

Laundry time!

Our little Yanina helping out as always.

a tired tía Julia

a dogs life - at corazon grande

When we’re not at the house or with the girls we still attend private lessons in Spanish three times a week, I’m dancing salsa twice a week and during our free days we mostly sleep, hang out on town, eat good food and so on. This week we spent our free day visiting Christo de la Concordia, or as we friends call him; Crisu. The Cochabamba Christo is standing on San Pedro Hill, 265m above the city, and 2 840m above sea level, so you can see the statue from all around town. It is 40,44m high, which makes it the largest Jesus Christ statue in the world, even 2m higher than the one in Rio de Janeiro! Despite the warnings of it being dangerous, we had decided to walk up the stairs leading to the statue. Maybe not the best idea to climb up the 2000 stairs in the mid-day, without any shadow and one of the hottest days so far. Not even the muggers can deal with the heat, so against all odds we didn’t get mugged jeijj! 

It didn't sting?

And down in a cable car....