Wednesday Coloring Time

A few months ago, Chandler Christian School donated some coloring books and crayons to use at Anija. We have used a lot of them for birthday gifts but I also set a side a couple to use in the library. Wednesday afternoons I only have one library class with the first graders so I've made it a point to hang around the library until the afternoon classes start at 2pm. I started to notice that several of the kids came early as they would visit me in the library. One afternoon I decided to bring out a coloring book so the kids wouldn't get too crazy pulling out every book they saw. Well, it's become a tradition now, to have coloring time in the library before class starts on Wednesdays. Usually there are three or four kids but yesterday there were two tables full of kids! They were so cute I couldn't resist taking some pictures. :)

Library full of kids coloring!

Most of the kids who come early are in preschool or kindergarten.

It was great to see Tervens pull out the coloring book he got for his birthday.

They did a great job sharing crayons with an average of only two crayons breaking per week.

Concentrating on coloring well.

Another coloring book that was a birthday gift. :)

What's Cookin' at Anija

Part of being a sponsored child at Anija is food! Every child gets a snack and lunch every day. The snack varies between oatmeal, hot chocolate, bread, juice, banana bread, brownies, etc. For lunch, almost always there is some sort of rice with beans, some days there are meatballs, chicken, or beef, sancocho (a Dominican stew), pasta, potato salad, and a cucumber & tomato salad. For a lot of our kids, this is most of the food they eat for the whole day. It's one way we can help our kids stay healthy and ready to learn!

Haitian kids eating before they start class in the afternoon.

Preparing lunch...

Lots of rice!

Rice and meatballs!

Enjoying lunch!

Ever Thought of Sponsoring a Child?

Part of my job here is to find monthly sponsors for our kids here at Anija. Below are some pictures of kids who still need sponsors. I can tell you personally, that each of these kids really do exist and you could really make a difference in their lives by helping fund their education, meals, medical care, and even more important, giving them the opportunity to learn about Jesus. Sponsoring a child is $35/month. Sponsors receive 3-4 projects a year including a Christmas project, Easter project, and an individual progress report/newsletter. We celebrate each kids' birthday and celebrate Christmas/King's Day with everyone. You can write letters or even send an email to communicate and get to know your child. I'm telling you I have the best job in the world, helping allow our kids and sponsors to make a connection and get to know one another.

Please let me know if you, a relative, friend, youth group, class, or anyone else is interested in sponsoring a child and connecting with one of the kids I've been working with over the past year and a half. You can email me at julieannebailey@gmail.com. As always, thank you for your prayers for our kids and teachers here at Anija!

Whailan

Christal

Algenis

Lyndsey

Anyone Can Make a Difference

This is a sign that a girl made to help raise funds for the child her first grade class sponsors. Here's a note that was written to her teacher on the back...

"We just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how God used Heaven (changed name). Last Friday on the way home from school Heaven told us about the little girl in the DR that your class sponsors and said that she wanted to help. Heaven said she wanted to have a lemonade stand in front of our house. We discouraged her because of the weather.

We had been home about an hour when Heaven approached us with a sign that she had written. Her grandmother said she would help her make some brownies. Together they made two double batches of the brownies. Heaven informed us that her goal was one hundred dollars. We took turns accompanying Heaven door to door. When the last brownie was gone, she counted her money, she had $101.25.

Praise God!!!

I was so encouraged by this story. This first grader raised enough money for 3 months of support for their child here at Anija.

Happenings in April

April holds a lot of exciting things!

April 5-12, my good friend Megan (from PLNU) is coming to visit! I am so excited to spend time with her as I haven't seen her since her wedding in October.

April 14-16, Anija 8th grade camp

April 15, My BIRTHDAY! Wahoo 25 years!

April 16, I'm throwing a bridal shower for my roommate, Katie

April 17-20, the parents of one of my best friends (Jessica) here in Jarabacoa, are coming to visit and invited me to go to the beach with them during our Semana Santa (spring break)

April 21-27, my good friend Deanna (from PLNU) is coming to visit! Deanna will be here to celebrate Easter and will (hopefully) be running a race with me here in Jarabacoa.

April 30, I get to be a bridesmaid in Katie and Cristian's WEDDING!

Through all this, I will be still working of course and focusing on getting 145 progress reports started. I am really looking forward to this fun month as I've been feeling a bit homesick but at the same time not wanting time to pass too quickly as I only have four months left here. I would like to ask for prayer for safety, for time spent with friends to be a blessing, and that God would be the center of every activity.

A Week in Review

Monday- was a good day with a normal schedule. A couple of library classes, some sponsorship work, and dinner with the work team to talk about sponsorship.

Tuesday- is usually my hardest and longest day. This is the day I tend to see and think about what difficult situations our kids at Anija live in. The morning is full of library classes with third, fourth, and fifth graders and the afternoon with Awana. As I try to break up fights, explain that we are all God's children, whether we are Dominican, Haitian, or American and should treat each other well, struggle with communicating in Spanish, give tons of hugs, let kids play with my hair, and try to keep kids focused for 15 minutes when saying memory verses, I remember the times I've been to their houses and have seen the lack of love, support, discipline, basic necessities, and remember why each of us are here helping.

Wednesday- I finally got to go to 27 waterfalls! Twenty-seven waterfalls is about an hour and a half away from Jarabacoa. We spent all morning hiking up to the top of a mountain and coming down by jumping in waterfalls! It was beautiful. :)

Thursday- I have more library classes in the morning and sponsorship stuff in the afternoon. Each week I read a book to the first and second graders but this week I played a book on CD and we sang along to "De Paseo por la Selva." The kids really liked it! Now that we are done with Easter projects, we are starting the next sponsorship project to send to sponsors: Progress Reports!

Friday- I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we got two more new sponsors at Anija, which makes a total of 10 this month! (we are still in need of about 100 more sponsors for our kids at Anija, let me know if you are interested!) The bad news, my mom informed me that Datadoctors could not recover any of my files from my new computer which leaves me without pictures, an updated list of supporters addresses, sponsorship stuff, and much more from the last year. Praise the Lord I kept up my blog and have those pictures!

Saturday- was a relaxing day filled with a long run with Jessica, a motorcycle ride with a group of girls, and talking on skype with my parents and good friend Kristen.

*sorry for the lack of pictures, I've been unmotivated to take pictures as I don't have space on my old computer to upload them, I will post some soon*

What You May Find When Doing Laundry...

So I woke up early to do laundry this morning and look what I found...

This was seriously the biggest cockroach I had ever seen.

I'm so glad it didn't put up much of a fight.