250th and OSSO

What better way to celebrate my 250th post than to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart. As you all know, I went to Ecuador with a program called OSSO 4 whole years ago, from December 2005 through March 2006. I loved it so much that I went back 5 months after getting home to spend two weeks there, visiting the kids that I grew to love so much. My friend Kylee was able to go back with me and see a little bit of what I had experienced for three months.

When I arrived in Ecuador the first time, I knew nobody. But over the course of the next three months, my life was forever changed as I grew to love the children. I have a bond with the volunteers that I served with that is also beyond my capacity to describe accurately. Although it has been four years and we have all gone on with our lives, I still count them as some of my dearest friends.

The city I served in, Quito, serves four main orphanages. There is a Girl's house for girls from the street, a family style orphanage with children divided into families and assigned a "mother", two special kids orphanages, and the main orphanage we worked at, that serves mainly children under 2 years old. This orphanage is staffed by OSSO volunteers 22 out of 24 hours per day (Yes that means night shifts! Fabulous times had by all during those...). The children in this orphanage are divided into three salas, or rooms. Sala Uno is for new babies up to about age 6 months. Sala Dos is for 6 months to a year or so. And Sala Tres is for a year to two years. When I was there, there were about 35 kids at one time. This orphanage also has the family style housing for the older children, but only two volunteers from each group worked there. I happened to be one of them and it was a challenging, but huge growing experience for me.

Ask any volunteer who has been done this program and they will tell you that it has changed their life. Leaving the babies was heart-wrenching. I still remember very vividly saying goodbye to them and watching the other volunteers with me do the same. Let's just say the tears flowed. I also grew attached to quite a few of the workers at the orphanage and particularly a 16 year old girl who had grown up there and now worked there. She was a challenge sometimes too, but I cried when I left her.

I can honestly say now that the closeness I felt to the Savior during that time was by far the closest I have felt in my life. I know it was because I was doing what He would do, serving as He would. I wish the experience could have lasted my whole lifetime and every day I wish there was someway that I could bring Devin and Hallie back to serve there too. Hallie would fit right in. We could throw her in a cloth diaper and she could eat the same soup every day just like the rest of the kids! It would be so good for her.

Anyway, the reason that I am writing this post is because OSSO needs volunteers. Because of the down economy, less people are choosing to go because you pay your own way to serve there. All past volunteers receive updates from OSSO on a regular basis and the last one asked that we facebook, blog, twitter, or whatever about OSSO to get the word out. I missed the days they were doing it (the 28th and 29th), but I thought now is good too. I know most of you, like me, have families or are in school, or have other reasons why you can't do this. However, if you know anyone, siblings, friends, relatives, who would like an opportunity like this, pass the word on to them.

OSSO's website is http://www.orphanagesupport.org/.