Almondo, Emilio, and Abram

Emilio!

2010-11-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

Emilio and his brother, Abram, tend to stick to each other in the club. However, you can really see that he’s gaining more confidence and making more friends in the club. Last year, I didn’t hear more than a couple of words from him. But during my most recent trip, he was coming out to baseball games, fighting for his right to play, and starting up conversations with me. I’m so proud of him.

Almondo!

2010-11-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Almondo has a sweet smile and even sweeter soul. Although he’s one of the older boys in the club, there’s so much of a child in him. You can tell in the way he hugs so whole-heartedly and laughs at everything. He’s often offering to help clean up or serve others. In English class, he tends to do a lot better one-on-one. In a group, he seems to be shy or intimidated to participate, but when he tries hard he learns very well. He’ll be the first to introduce himself to a new volunteer, but you won’t really hear him yelling in a group. Almondo also seems to know EVERYONE in the city, probably because of his friendliness and big smile.

A Little About Abram

2010-11-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Abram may be one of the smallest boys in the club but he has a strong spirit. Never cries and never gets pushed around, like what often happens to the littler boys. He and his older brother Emilio are very close and tend to stick together in the club. He likes to play baseball and playing outdoors in the park.

July - Almondo!

2010-07-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Wow! What a crazy summer we've had! It's been so busy - full of 5 days a week at the club, the addition of new classes and teachers, volunteers coming to serve from all over and all sorts of extra outings! We've had such a great time! We're loving spending so much time at the club with the kids and we are all certainly not ready for school to start again!

Here is a picture of Almondo just hanging out at the club one day with his friend, Oliver. We love summer!

Happy summering to you and yours!

July - Emilio!

2010-07-08T10:12:00.001-07:00

Hola!

Wow, we've already gone into July and it feels like the summer has only just begun! Where has the time gone? We've been having such a great summer spending so much time with the kids from adding more days of classes, to adding new classes altogether, to expanding pre-existing classes, we've had a busy past month and a half! Everyone is really enjoying our new summer schedule and we're really excited to see what the future holds! Here is a picture of Emilio just hanging out at the club one day, having a great time! We love summer!

July - Abram!

2010-07-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Wow! What an amazing summer we've had so far! We've been so busy but we couldn't be happier with the time we're spending with the kids - and they love it too:)
We've added more and more classes, had more teachers pick up the new topics, and have had volunteers from all over come and spend time with us! We're so excited about more and more people coming and learning about what we do! We're loving summer - and we never want it to end! :)
Here is a picture of Abram just hanging out at the club one day, having a good time!
Happy summering!

Getting his fishing rod

2010-01-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

Almondo

2009-10-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Summer Photos

2009-08-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

Working on beaded necklaces

Doing a crown craft with volunteer, Melissa.

Abram (bottom left) and Emilio (red shirt) with some of their friends during the Club.

Almondo and his good friend, Richard.

The three boys with some volunteers working in English class.

Almondo blowing up a balloon.

Abram and Emilio starting a craft at the Club.

Almondo sings english sings, learning body parts.

Emilio and Abram pose outside their house with their friends, Mother, and grandmother.

The boys posing at the school in Playa Oeste.

Visit From Their Sponsor

2009-08-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

The following are excepts from Crystal's blog as she spent 2 weeks in the DR volunteering and got to meet the boys, whom she sponsors.

"I got to meet Almondo today:) He`s my sponsor child and a real sweetheart. He thanked me for the gifts that I dropped off yesterday and gave me a big hug. When club was over he wouldn`t leave, he hung around until we left , because I was there. I got to take lots of pics of him and his little brothers and Yoandi too"

"The boys arrived and right away Almondo came over and took a bracelette off his arm and put it on mine:) He is such a sweetheart! Then we got down to buisness and teamed up to start building benches.Each boy went with one of the Minnesota group and Jenny, Jensen and I and we got to work. It was a bit chaotic but overall everything went well. They were all pretty excited to participate, especially when it came to the power tools"

I`ve been sponsoring this family since Dec. of 08 and was very excited to meet them on my trip in July. I was able to go to their house and meet most of the family. Their grandmother is wonderful and seems to run the show at home:) All three boys are sweethearts but I spent more time with Almondo because of the woodworking activity the class was doing.He is an absolute doll! He`s always smiling and happy, and wanted to be around me the entire time I was there.He even asked one of the other kids to move on the bus so that he could sit with me. He loved taking pictures with my camera:)One day near the end of my trip he gave me a bracelet that he was wearing...I think that one of the other groups volunteering in the area had given in to him and I was touched that he wanted me to have it. From that day on every time he saw me he`d come up giggling, touch the bracelet and give me a big hug. Almondo really stole my heart and I can`t wait to go back and see him again:)

Their House

2009-08-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Liz visits the house and delivers shoes.

The Boys

2009-08-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Almondo

Abram and Emilio

Emilio

Abram