Our Trip to Casa de Esperanza (Part Two)

Caranavi is beautiful in and of itself, but once I started meeting the people there, I knew they were what made the orphanage Casa de Esperanza beautiful. We first caught up with the directors, Fidel and Charito Corrales. Throughout our stay, their constant faith, love, grace, and hospitality never ceased to amaze me. They've been directors for 13 years now, and are still running strong! They accommodated us in the guest house right next to their home, and provided delicious meals for us during our four-day stay.

As for the children, well, once we'd gotten a good night's sleep, we spent all the next day getting to know them! There are six houses for the children. Each house holds ten kids, and all ten are cared for by two "aunts." For three of the four days we were there, I helped with the eight toddlers in the third house. Boy was it a handful! But boy was it a blessing! It was such a joy to clean up after them, play with them, and just to love on them! Lunch was usually my break, and then I took care of the children till five in the afternoon. My mom and brothers, for three days, attended three sessions of the CEC, a Christian training facility for youth. A session lasted all morning, so that later in the day, you would find my brothers either playing foosball or basketball, and my mom serving in whatever ways she could. These days passed much in the same wonderful way, with us serving, playing, eating, meeting, and cleaning. We drove down to the city once with some new friends and had burgers and smoothies for dinner, and on our third night there we joined the kids for their weekly movie night, which was great fun! It was such a privilege and blessing getting to know and serving the children there!

The children that Casa de Esperanza accepts are one to five years old, and they all come from poor conditions. One of the youngest, who had only been at the orphanage for four months still looked serious and laughter didn't come to him easily, while another girl who had been there for a while was full of smiles and laughter all the time. That's one of the miracles this place works, it turns them from hurting babies to joyful kids! It provides all of their daily needs, as well as plenty of school, work, and play. Most importantly of all, they grow up learning about God and His love for them, surrounded by a Dad (Fidel Corrales), a Mom (Charito Corrales), aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters. All these blessings could never be possible without God's miraculous work. In fact, in never ceases to amaze me how God is working through everyone in this orphanage! Our last day there was spent in soaking in the scenery, hiking up and riding down muddy dirt roads, loving on the children, giving gifts to the aunts and children, and hanging out with the older kids! Spending time with the kids was definitely the highlight, and we loved our time there! All the blessings these kids have, and really, all the ways they blessed us during our visit, are an awesome testimony of God's power and love! Praise Him!