Joel, Diego, and Alexandra

These siblings bring so much joy to my life! Each of them so loving. And each of them in such need of love. They also come from a broken and very poor family. Their father has left them, and their mother and grandmother do what they can to provide for them, and that is selling candies on the street, which makes an average of 20 soles a day (on a good day) which is close to 6 dollars.

Joel started in the program first. He is 8 years old, and takes care of his younger siblings well, but it has also been forced upon him. He has been a testimony of sorts to his mother who is not a believer. One of his stories that brings tears to my eyes is the following: he constantly is talking to her about how she needs to go with them to church on Sundays. She argues saying that she needs to work so they can eat. His response to her is that if she does not work one day, that they will not die of hunger and that they will be ok, even if they miss a meal that day. (What a child!) Before his brother and sister were in the project, he started to miss days there. When it was investigated, they found that he had to stay back with Alexandra and Diego because his mother or grandmother were not at home. So then his siblings came to the project.


Diego is the second child. He is 6 years old. Diego was born prematurely, and when his mother gave birth, essentially he was born in the toilet. She thought he was dead, and we don't know how long he was there before they realized that he was not dead. It could be for these reasons that he is a special needs child. He is a precious little boy, and has some weakness on his right side, especially his arm. They are working with him, some physical therapy exercises daily at the project. He is so caring!


Alexandra is the youngest child in the project at four years old. She is also quite caring. She has the cutest smile, but it is a broken smile as her tiny primary teeth are halfway rotten already. She loves puzzles and coloring, and is one of the first children to run to us when we arrive at the project.