The Value of things

Three weeks ago I went to Cohana the community where the project is running that I had been working on and stayed overnight there. I left home with mixed feelings as it was my first time staying over in that community and the reality of their situation hit me. In these communities there is only very limited drinking water. There are only about half a dozen if that drinking water taps for the 5 communities that run along the side of the bay. The river is contaminated so they don’t drink it and the river along with some of the taps dry up between June and November (the dry season here). Meaning they have to walk a few miles to another tap! This had me wandering what they drink when it runs out!

Then last week a colleague was talking in devotions about trying to teach his children the value of things. When he was growing up he, his 7 other siblings and his Dad everyday used to queue to fill up their water bottles with the rest of the community from a pump. Now in his house in La Paz his children turn on a tap and get hot water and the other for cold. His comment was how hard it is to teach them the value of things when they are so freely available.

This reminded me when we were living in Gloucester in the summer of 2007 when our water was cut off, because of all the flooding that happened that summer. We had to go out into the streets looking for water tanks that had water in them and then carry the water back home. Overnight we became very aware and careful how we used the water we had, using it for as many things as we could before using it to flush the loo.

So how do we value these everyday things that are always there and freely available?

Cheese Grommit?

M is for...

M is for Micros
There are hundreds of Micros (buses) here in La Paz of varying sizes from small 8 seater Suzuki vans (Bedford Rascal van size), mid sized combi vans seating about 12 people, and old rickety looking ‘dodge’ buses where the only limit is how many people you can squeeze in, which will usually involve at least two people hanging out of the door! Each of these micros display a sign in the windscreen of their destination and very often have a person hanging out the window shouting out the destinations for the benefit of those in the population who cant read.

M is also for Mocachinchi
This is a drink made from dehydrated peaches which are boiled in water together with cinnamon and then left to cool before drinking. The first time we where served this drink was about a week or two after we arrived. We were celebrating All Saints Day (2nd November) with our host family. Sarah saw them pouring out the drink from a saucepan into a jug and got worried. She knew a part of the traditional dish for this day was pork and was worried we were going to get served a pig’s eye drink!!

L is for Llama

This a video click I took last year of some Llamas that came past one of our offices in the countryside. I am guessing that the colours in their ears mark out who the animals belong to. They also have bells on them, and the guy speaking on the click is asking me and my colleague for money for taking pictures of his animals!!

The community of Puerto Camacho

Puerto Camacho is a poor community situated on the outskirts of the city of El Alto where the majority of housing is constructed form adobe bricks where large families with 6 – 12 children live. Water and electricity can be found there, however it lacks a sewerage system resulting in its inhabitants using the river as a toilet. Roads are made of dirt and are very uneven and in poor condition, so much so that no public transport ventures that far, requiring its residents to walk for 30 – 45 minutes in order to reach a main road.

Life for the people of Puerto Camacho is difficult as people struggle to find jobs and scrape together a living from the meagre pay they may receive from manual labour. Many of the children in this community are left to fend for themselves day after day whilst parents work to try and keep the family going. Others have simply been abandoned. A cycle of poverty is repeated generation after generation as children are unable to finish their education and find better paid jobs.

But there is hope, through the grace of God it is possible for this community to change for the better. That is exactly what the work of FH through the love of God in this community hopes to achieve.

Puerto Camacho

Last Saturday we visited a poor community in El Alto called ‘Puerto Camacho’ in order to be part of a celebration for all the children that live there. Before going we were a little apprehensive as to what to expect, but the whole morning was good fun and enjoyed by all.

All the children from the community had been invited along with their parents to come and take part in the morning. There was quite a sizable team of FH staff at the event so there wasn’t much for us to be doing other than observing all the goings on and getting involved where we could.

After the formal introductions the event kicked off with a troop of about 20 clowns doing dances, games and a drama. On first appearance they all looked a bit scary as they all bundled out of a little minivan, but once they got underway they weren’t so bad. They soon had all the children taking part in the dancing and a giant round of Limbo!

After all the fun and games it was time for a snack and a little breather. So how does one organise over 800 children to receive a snack and gift without duplicating? I was amazed how orderly it all happened with 4 lines divided girls and boys. Each was marked with a pen before receiving their goodies and returning to their seats.

No sooner was that over then we were off again with a drama with the gospel message, more dancing then a puppet show emphasising the importance of accepting everybody no matter what their skin colour or situation (there is much racial discrimination within this county between the darker skinned Indigenous people and the mixed race fairer skinned, so such a message holds great significance).

Some of the children were then able to show off some of their own talents by either reciting a poem or singing a song, which they did really well. That brought us to the end of the morning.

Much fun and many smiley happy faces!

Moulding Chronicle March 2009

Dear Friends,

After much stress and questioning of what God was really saying to us we are finally here and
getting settled into our new home in La Paz. Once we found a place things moved very fast and within a week we had moved which didn’t give us much opportunity to say goodbye to Sucre friends but we were glad for it finally to all be sorted and are happy knowing that we will have other opportunities to say goodbye properly to friends in Sucre as we will be returning frequently to visit our FH staff there.


Alana coped well with all the packing up and being shifted about, however, she has taken longer to settle on this side, which made life a little difficult for the first week or so. She appears to be happier now and has started going to Kinder for 3 mornings a week.




Ed has started working in El Alto but frustratingly things still are not very clear as to his role,
particularly as they are still in the planning stages. Hopefully things will begin to become more clear in the following weeks.


The first few days for Sarah were quite hard, adjusting to a new routine with Ed gone for most of the day from 7.45 am until 6 pm, Alana not being very easy to handle and feeling under the weather. However things are beginning to improve on all accounts so hopefully soon she can pick up again with work herself.

Church has been good, we knew where we were wanting to attend before we moved so that has helped in not having to do the whole church hop thing. Though that too is taking a bit of adjusting too as the style is very different to what we are accustomed to with over an hour of praise and worship followed by an hour of preaching. One good thing is that there are people who help out in crèche so it means that for the first time in ages we can enjoy a service together. Alana stays with us for the worship part then goes and plays during the preach.

So we praise God and thank you for all of your prayers and encouragements that has helped us through this difficult time of change.


Thank God for:
• Our new home
• The friends we already have here
• Our new church

Ask God for:
• To all feel settled and at home quickly
• Wisdom as to what to be involved with outside of FH
• Good health and opportunity to rest
• Building friendships within FH in La Paz

With much love
Ed, Sarah & Alana

K is for Kilo

There are not many words in Spanish that begin with K in our dictionary there are 6 words. 4 are to do with measurements, one is a country and the last one 'kiosco' translated as bandstand!!

So what is the country that begins with K?
Answers on a postcard to the usual address

J is for Jell-O!!!

What is this??

One problem of living here in Bolivia is that most people who speak English just don’t speak it proper. They speak American instead missing out ‘u’ from words and saying words like jell-O for jelly, jelly for jam, pants for trousers, cell phone for mobile phone, trash for rubbish, and many other words that are just said wrong!!

Results of a short storm in La Paz!!!