--*Beautification Project Update* -- A Little Color From a Whole 'Lotta LOVE

What began as a fundraiser for repainting the hogar has turned into a full on Beautification Project for Hogar Nuestra Señora de la Paz. With the generous donations people have sent and the helping hands of all of the volunteers who came to visit to fix this place up, the home looks absolutely amazing! And most importantly, it looks like a respectable place for the kids to live in.

Mil gracias to all the support that got the job done from the people in the states who sent nearly $1600 USD, to the groups of volunteers that showed up to Santiago to put the supplies to use. Thanks to VE and the current volunteers for the first round of painting. Thanks to Crooked Trails for dedicating a day from your tour schedule to help paint. It was so thoughtful of you to bring school supplies and soccer balls AND take an extra trip to the Home Depot of Santiago to buy more supplies AND still have a great attitude after a cart of purchases got stolen in the parking lot. Tammy, you and your crew were so fun to work with! Thanks to Ryan, the best volunteer sidekick ever, and Gabriella, “I’ll be there,” and you were, Fuller. Thanks to Jorge DaVeggio, the director from the Big House, who gave us 4 buckets of Halloween orange paint -- even though we only used half of one and diluted it with 8 buckets of white. Thanks for loaning us the truck, your volunteers, and your kids, too, for drop offs and deliveries. The despacho a domicillio service was better than any flete. Michelle, thank you so much for making connections and making it all happen! Thanks to Stefin and the University of Virginia Alternative Spring Break Crew who helped us pound out rounds 2 and 3 of painting. That was a lot of kabob’s you sold to fund your visit. The group had such a good attitude and such great energy! Finally, thanks to the tías who prepared scrumptious lunches for us and to the little tikes that live there and helped to prep the walls with me by cleaning, spackling, and sandpapering. You did a great job painting your rooms and your playground equipment. Oh, and yourselves!

Besides repainting the place with brilliant bubble gum pinks and sunburst yellows, we were able to give the staff and kids some other long overdue purchases to add to the makeover, too. They received 2 new washing machines, door handles and light fixtures for all the rooms, fluorescent lights and fuses to get old lights in the bathrooms, hallways, and office up and running again, front porch lights, table cloths, and kitchen and gardening supplies. Yeah, Sebastian! You finally got the weed wacker I've been promising you. To finish the job, our computer tech is putting all the office computers on a network so the director, psychologist, and social assistant will be able to easily access each other’s information and connect to the Internet. It's amazing how far this hogar has come.

Now that this part of the beautification project is practically completed, and since the walls look better than the furniture, a few volunteers and I are considering adding another phase by replacing the beds and bedding. But for now, the girls are learning to respect their new surroundings by taking care of everything and asking when we’re going to start up the photo project again since OJOS nuevos had taken a temporary back to seat to all the new changes!