Westfalia Orphanage 2011 Christmas Drive
On December 17 we’re hosting our annual Sonrisasenperu Christmas party for the 100 kids of Westfalia Orphanage. These kids all come from broken and abusive homes, abandonment or their families had to give them up as they simply don’t have the money to care for them. These kids don’t have toys, video games, televisions or any of the things we took for granted as kids so we want to brighten up their Christmas which is traditionally a sad time for them as they don’t have the family time we all have.
We started to get the children to write letters asking for what they wanted for Christmas and noticed that instead of asking for Barbie dolls or toy trucks, the kids were generally asking for food and fruit! Some were also asking for their school text books for the following year (since they generally had to copy the teachers’ books the whole year as they couldn’t afford their own). But we’re going to organise each child a present anyway as well as throw a party for the kids with food, drinks and lots of games. We’re even going to try and hire a jumping castle depending on the costs … BUT we need your help! If you can help out please send us a donation, and remember every dollar counts! And if you would also like a Christmas card that the kids personally made send us an email. If you’re here in Lima Peru and want to donate a gift, please send us an email.
You can also see photos of the children at http://thechildrenofwestfaliaorphanage.wordpress.com/up-close-and-personal-individual-photos/ or check out more info on Westfalia Orphanage
We have a steep hill to climb with this project. Let’s hope there are some significant responses to help provide for these children.
What a lovely project!!! My friend and ex-coworker Sandra Galimberti informed me about it and I woul like to help 🙂 I will contact you via email for the specifics, but I wanted to leave my comment to let Sonrisas en Peru know they can count me in!
Hi Scott,
I hope you are well and I wanted to tell you that I admire the work you are doing. That’s great and I hope one day I will be able to come back to Peru.
As I also wanted to help and contribute, I have decided to launch a party for my birthday this Friday and I have asked my friends not to give any card nor buy me a present, but instead to give the money to your association to buy Christmas presents for the children.
I will, therefore, have a box during the night and will send you all the proceedings afterwards.
A friend couldn’t make it and she already donate through the website.
All the best and thank you for who you are and what you do,
Love,
Patricia
Happy New Year Scott. I visited Westfalia with my daughter Kelly during Christmas week. I was so impressed with how the orphanage was run and how happy and well behaved the children were. I thought I would send a package down every month, but after thinking more about it, if I just donated what it would cost to ship from the US to Peru, it would be more helpful. So, that is what I will do. I see that I can donate via VISA and that is what I will do unless you want me to handle it another way.
It was a pleasure meeting you and I admire all the work you put into giving the children a decent chance.
Best Regards,
Betty Fair