Casa de Sion

The two new boys have settled in well. great kids. Neftali has already taught them a ton of sign language.
We have decided to start a preschool/special ed school at the orp with Nicho[ Neftali] as the director. He will hire some more staff. He also has tutoring the school children in the afternoons. We will have 8 " normal" preschoolers and 5 special ed. It will actually be cost efficient as we are spending $10.00 a day tranporting our 5 special ed kids to Santiago.
Abraham is finally starting to walk. If I hold both his hands he will grudgingly walk 5 or 6 steps. Cindy, the 14 year old who came with her two year old, is begging money from everyone she sees, at the orphanage, in Cerro de Oro and today at church. This is how she used to make a living on the streets.
Sat. we moved 12 kids from the city to the lake orphanage and their beds and kitchen appliances. The town of Santiago loaned us a truck and driver and Pedro and our son Johnny drove our van and moved them out here. It was alot of commotion, but Nicho who runs the orp on the week-ends , had them all at church today where Cindy tried to panhandle me in the bathroom. This move will save us about $2000.00 a month. And allow us better supervision. On Weds., Harvey with orphan resources, will use his truck and move the rest of the furniture from the orp. They are a Mennonite group who is a ton of help to us. Nicho has the job of getting all the school age kids in school tomorrow.
Friday Jody and I met with Ryan Williams, one of the board members. He had with him 5 other men from the US. They are starting a humanitarian tour group. There tours will be half tour and half volunteer work. We will be the main humnaitarian project. One of the men is a photographer who video taped me and the kids telling all their stories. Should be on Ryans website soon.
In the midst of this we celebrated two of our kids birthdays and valentine's Day and dealt with a major stressor with one of our teens.
Did I mention I had a new grandbaby born last Sunday. Baylee Mae Dalia born to Crystal and Joey. Some of you know Crystal as she is my administrative asst. Sarah Dalia Bodily, the head of the orp association, is expecting her baby and my grandbaby no. 6 anyday. Her name is Talia.
I really want to go to the states for a few days to see my grandbabies. Does anyone have any frequent flyer miles they want to donate?
Vicki Dalia
http://www.safehomesforchildren.org