Would you like to sponsor a child?

There is a program set up to help the children that I have been fortunate enough to care for. This program isn't directly associated with the Orphanage Support Services Organization, however, it works closely with OSSO to provide sponsors for the children OSSO cares for.  It's a great program providing funds for individual children as well as for the orphanage where that child attends.  The way the program works is:  you can choose a specific child to sponsor or you can have the program choose a child for you.  You pay $30 a month and 95% of your money goes directly toward that child.  It pays for the cost of school, medical costs, food, clothing, and everything else the child needs.  In return, you receive updates and pictures of the child you sponsor once or twice a year and you can correspond with and visit your child.

Again... here are the details in short:

-$30 a month (we're asking you to commit for a year, after that, you can decide if you want to continue)

-Once or twice a year, you will receive updates on how your child is doing as well as pictures

-You can write to your child and you can visit your child and take them on outings

-95% of the money goes directly to the child

-The other 5% goes to helping keep the program running

There are children in many different situations that need sponsors.  You can sponsor babies, toddlers, older children, as well as children with disabilities.

If you are able to and would like to sponsor a child, please call me at 773-865-2817 or email me at allisoncondie@gmail.com and I can get you in touch with the people in the program.  Also, if you would like, I can also help you choose a child to sponsor by telling you about some of my kids.

I have been so touched by this experience that I have chosen to sponsor a child and I hope that you will consider it as well.  By becoming a sponsor, you can help change a child's life as well as allowing them to touch yours.

Thank you!

Christmas in Germany

I've been in Germany for two weeks now and it has been a whirlwind. I caught a cold the day I got here which stinks, but for the most part, it hasn't stopped me from having some fun. The day I got here, Mom took me to down town Munich to see the Christmas market there. It was cold but fun. I had roasted chestnuts for the first time and they were actually pretty good.

The next day, Mom and I went to the Nymphenburg castle in Munich. It surprised me that it looked more like an old fort rather than a castle. It was fun to go inside of it and see how the king lived.

On Sunday, Mom, Dad and I drove to Vienna, stopping just outside of Salzburg to go to church. The next day, we saw the sights in Vienna including the Rathaus which I guess is some government building and another castle (I can't remember the name.) We also saw a bunch of cool Catholic churches and walked around the streets of downtown Vienna.

We were also able to see a really cool Christmas market in Nurnburg. I had heard that Nurnburg has the best Christmas markets and the one that we went to did not disappoint.

Something that I don't enjoy about being here is all the bratwursts. They are everywhere and sometimes, that's all there is. I tried one the other day and to no surprise to me, I still don't like them. In fact, they still make me want to hurl. So I have stayed far away from them.

The last few days, I haven't seen anything cool because Mom has grounded me and until I get over my cold so the only thing I've seen is the house. Hopefully soon I'll be able to go outside...

My roommate Heather.  She is serving in Mom and Dad's mission.
This is the Rathaus in Vienna.  I thought it was pretty all lit up.
I am on the balcony of the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna.
Outside the Schörnbrunn palace.  It was a little rainy.

In the gardens of the Nymphenburg palace in Munich.

At the Christmas market in Nürnburg.  We have one of these candle things at our house (except not as big)

Bittersweet

I know this is kind of late but better late than never.  I got back from Ecuador about 2 and a half weeks ago.  It has been very bittersweet.  It was nice to see my brother and his family and to eat American food for a few days.  But after about a day, I realized that my heart was very much still in Ecuador and it remains there two weeks later.  It was so hard to say goodbye to my kids.  Now, because I am so far away, I have to trust that the volunteers that are there now and will come in the future, some of whom I don't even know, will take good care of the kids that I love so much.  Even though I know I was supposed to come home, all I want to do is go back.  I feel like I belong there with my kids even though I have things I need to do here.  I hope I never forget the experience I have had there and the feeling I got every time I saw my kids smile.  These kids have impacted my life in ways I can't even describe and I hope that one day, I will be able to go back and see them again.  And even if they don't remember me, I hope that I was able to help them feel the love that I had for them and the love that Heavenly Father has for them.

Mindo... otra vez

We finally made it to Mindo this past Friday. It was definitely the best fieldtrip we´ve been on. We definitely saved the best for last. Mindo is this tourist town in the jungle right by a river. We went ziplining, cliff jumping from 40 feet up (although I have to admit that I was too much of a chicken to do it) and white water rafting. It was so much fun. The ziplining was my favorite. There were 11 ziplines that we went on... some of them probably at least a mile or two long. At first, I was a little scared to do the zip lining because of my height phobia but by about the third one, I really got into it and started to love it. The rafting was awesome too. We rafted down this river on a bunch of intertubes tied together. The river was really fast with a bunch of big rocks. But our guides were really good and knew the river really well so we weren´t worried at all. Although, if any of us had gone down the river by ourselves, we probably would have died.

I´ll post some pictures soon...

Mindo... and more

First of all, I just want to say that I am not dead. I know I haven´t posted for a while but I´ve been a little busy and sick so my blog hasn´t been that high on my priority list.

Today, we were supposed to go to Mindo which is this tourist town in the jungle. We were going to go ziplining, hiking, and swimming in the river. So we got up nice and early and left for the two hour drive to Mindo. However, an hour and a half into the drive, we came across a landslide that blocked the only road that led to Mindo. Because of that, we had to turn around and go back home.

Instead, we went to the coat store and I bought some more slippers because my other pair were too big. After lunch, I am going back to the Artesian for one of the last times to pick up a few more things.

Well, I don´t have that much time left. I leave for the Amazon in two weeks from today. I leave for home two weeks from Tuesday. I have to admit, I am going to miss Ecuador a lot. Even thinking about leaving my kids makes me almost break down. I have learned so much from this experience and, if asked to do it again, I would do it in a heart beat. I have grown so much as a person. Working with these kids has made me realize so much more God´s love for me as well as His love for children. I never thought that I could love anyone as much as I love these kids. They have changed my life and taught me more than I could every teach them.

That being said, although I am going to miss being here, I am looking forward to going home and seeing everyone.

Why I love my kids... part 3

Ok I know I was only going to do this on Saturdays but something happened yesterday that was too cute. I was at the site that I´m in charge of playing with this two year old boy on the swing. He was sitting on my lap and we were swinging. Then, I had to get up and help another kid. So I put him back on the swing by himself and he totally fell asleep. So I picked him up and he just slept in my arms for about 20 minutes until I had to leave. It was so cute! He was just so peaceful and innocent. I loved it.

Free Friday

Yesterday was kind of bittersweet. I dropped the title of being a new girl and officially became a member of the old group. That´s right, I have been here for five weeks now which means the old group is leaving and another group of fresh, nervous, and excited girls came in. The old group left for the Amazon yesterday morning. It was really sad saying goodbye to them, even though I will see them one last time on Monday. I mean, we did everything together. I saw these people every day. When you work with, eat with, and hang out with the same people every single day for five weeks, it´s sad to see them go. Now that half of my Quito family is gone, it´s like part of me has left as well.

That being said, I´m excited to be part of the old group now. The new group came late Thursday night. They all are really nice girls and so far we all get along great.

Yesterday, the new girls had orientation. That meant that the old group had a free Friday. And apparently, holding to the tradition that we didn´t know existed, we went shopping. First, we went to the mall in Old Town Quito. We didn´t stay very long because there was four floors of pretty much the same stuff. After the mall, we went to the Artesian again. (I can never get enough of that place!) We went through every aisle. It seems like it doesn´t matter how many times I go, something awesome just pops out at me even though I don´t think much changes each time we go.

After a few hours of shopping, we came back and chilled in Megan and Caitlin´s room (Caitlin is a new girl, Megan is in my group.) The new girls were still doing orientation so all of us old girls just watched a movie. Afterwards, Angel took us out to eat at Los Hot Dogs, which is the same place that we went for our orientation dinner.

I did have night shift last night as well so a busy day continued with an almost sleepless night. It was alright though. After night shift, it just kept going this morning. I had a few hours to come home and eat but I had to go back to the orphanage to cover for the site coordinator while she was on the orphanage tour with the new girls. It was alright by me though because I was so excited to see the kids. On Friday´s, we go to night shift later so the older kids were already in bed so I didn´t get to see them. So I was so excited to see the kids after not seeing them at all the day before that only getting two hours of sleep didn´t bother me in the slightest. What can I say, I love my kids!