Heather.

Help my kids!

2009-03-08T20:01:00.000-06:00

IM HOME!

Iv been back for almost a month now and im still trying to get back into real life:) I miss my kids and not a day goes by that I dont think about them!

OSSO is always looking for people to sponsor the kids so that they can give the children the things they need. I have selected three kids and I am hoping to find people to sponsor these wonderful children for more information please go to

http://www.orphanagesupport.org/sponsorships.html

http://www.orphanagesupport.org/Sponsorships/SponsorInfo.pdf

Jonathan

Jonathan has a disease called muscular dystrophy and it prevents him from walking and and he has very little mobility. When I first saw Jonathan in his wheelchair he was smiling using the little movement he has in his hands to fix a toy that had been broken. I asked Jonathan if I could help him and he quietly continued working and showed me that he could do it on his own. Jonathan worked on fixing this toy for a solid hour and never gave up. I was amazed at the persistence and dedication Jonathan was putting into fixing this toy even when it would have been easier and faster for him to just let me put it back together for him. I quickly learned that Jonathan doesn't let his disabilities get the best of him. Jonathan taught me that we all have disabilities but if we can instead focus on the the abilities of those around us then we can learn valuable lessons from the variety of people in our lives. By sponsoring him you will help Jonathan live the life that every kid deserves!

Edison

The first day I met Edison he ran up to me and gave me a tight hug and a small kiss on the cheek. I automatically fell in love with this fun eight year old boy. Edison has a form of autism and has some learning disabilities but he has enough energy for two kid. Just being around Edison I often found myself smiling and enjoying the time I was able to spend with him. He made everyday fun and I never left not laughing at something that Edison had done or said. Since Edison has some disabilities his chances for getting adopted are slim to none. By sponsoring Edison we will be able to give him the funds he needs to live.

My little Alex

Alex is my little guy. I never imagined that leaving him would be as hard as it has been for me. One of the things that keeps me going to knowing that the other volunteers will take care of him and there are people who will be able to sponsor Alex. Alex came into the orphanage about 2 weeks after I had arrived. I remember when he came in I just wanted to hold him in my arms forever but with not enough worker and volunteers for one on one time with the kids it made it very difficult. At first Alex had a hard time adjusting to life in the orphanage, competing for attention from the other kids and not having a mother anymore. I always tried to give alex extra hugs and kisses to make him feel loved and wanted. Alex soon became my little boy and I enjoyed seeing him grow. My favorite thing about alex is that he is not only constantly smiling but he always seems to be laughing. He would often run up to me with his arms open for a hug. Alex is a very sweet boy and he was always sharing toys and trying to cheer up the other kids. Please help me give Alex the best possible outlook for life by sponsoring him!!

I LOVE MY ALEX!

2009-02-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Every three months or so the volunteers plan a field trip for the kids at San vincent de Paul, one of the orphanages we work at. The kids rarely get to venture far from the orphanage and spend most of the days inside. Last friday we planned to take the kids swimming and everyone was assigned to a kid to take and watch. I love all the kids but I REALLY wanted to take my little Alex so I was really good all week in hopes that they would let me take him:) We woke up friday morning and got in a bus to go pick up the kids. When we walked in the door they all ran over with huge smiles and we took our kids (yes I got Alex) and got on the bus. I snuck me and alex some fruit roll ups in my back pack and we had fun eating them and he cried when they were gone as did IAt the pool Alex could not get enough of the water. All the other kids were crying and screaming and Alex would not stop splashing and laughing. I had ridiculous amounts of fun with him and he kept me smiling and laughing. On the way home Alex fell asleep in my arms and I had so many overwhelming thoughts running through my head that made me choke up. I realized that the one on one time that I got to spend with Alex that day he doesn't get on a daily basis as most kids his age do. I don't know what its like to have kids but I feel like Alex is mine. I want him to live the life that every child deserves and its hard knowing that chances are he wont. The orphanage continues to take good care for children bathing, feeding, and dressing them but they are struggling to meet the individual needs of each child and they cant provide everything that Alex and the other kids need. Most of the Children wont get adopted and will grow up not knowing what its like to have a mom who sings them to sleep or a dad that teaches them to ride a bike. These kids mean the world to me and I pray that the volunteers who come after me will also be able to love and care for them.

If anyone knows a way I can sneak a child over the border, please inform me:) hopefully my parents dont mind another grandchild.

Mothers are remarkable

2009-01-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Being here has given me a taste of what being a mother is like. I often find myself with toy cars in both hands making noises, chasing around the kids, sometimes trying to entertain them without much success and trying to keep them from killing each other. After a days work of changing diapers, feeding food, and running around I go home with a greater appreciation for the patients of mothers. Mothers don't get to go home after a days work, they are at work fulltime with their kids. After observing this and thinking about my own wonderful mother I know that their is no greater role in life than that of motherhood.
The older I get the more I see how great my mom is. She has always put the love for her family a top priority. My mom as always made me feel loved and special. She is hands down the best!!! I have often walked past my parents room to hear them praying for me and brothers. My mom has taught me to pray, study, and teach the gospel. My mom has largely shaped who I am today and continues to inspire me. I hope to one day be able to raise my kids as she has.
When I see these kids in ecuador daily growing without mothers I am deeply saddened. Mothers are so essential to the growth of children and I pray that me along with other volunteers can act as mothers to them and show them that love. Helping these kids has given me a deeper respect for my mom and other mothers who treat motherhood as the truly divine calling that it is.

I love my mommy:)

Christmas in Ecuador

2009-01-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Christmas is by far my favorite Holiday and before I left I was exited to see what it would be like to spend Christmas In Ecuador. There would surly be no snow, that I knew but was very very okay with:) Christmas Morning usually starts with my daddy coming into my room to get me and my little brother both of us usually already awake about to pee our pants ready to open presents. We wake up to smell of either cinnamon rolls, waffles, or pancakes. We go around in a circle as a family and open all our presents. Afterwards I usually call my friends to tell them what I got and we compare gifts over the phone. The rest of the day is spent with family and usually ends with my moms chicken noodle soup, my all time favorite!
This Christmas however was completely different and not my normal Christmas routine. Since I have been here I had not really been homesick until Christmas eve. I wanted so badly to be with my family. Something that I have learned here is how important family really is and on Christmas eve I really really wanted to be with them. I woke up on Christmas morning at about 6:00am not to my dad but to my alarm clock. The house didn't smell like breakfast and instead I put some oats in some yogurt and ran out the door to head to the orphanage. While driving down I was desperately missing my family. When we pulled into the Orphanage I decided that I would make the most of the day for the kids and give them the best christmas that I could. While walking in I realized that these kids didn't have a family to wake up to on Christmas, They didn't have a special Christmas breakfast, and they didn't get to spend Christmas feeling that extra love that seems to be in the home during the holiday season. I broke down into tears when I saw the kids and had to leave the room. The kids had no presents, family, or any other holiday traditions. Instead they woke up like it was just another day. I continually told the kids throughout the day "merry Christmas" and made sure they felt extra loved. Later in the afternoon we had one of the volunteer family dads dress up as santa and we brought the kids toys and sang Christmas songs to them. They loved the presents although some of them seemed to be more interested in the wrapping paper... I left that day feeling so blessed to have been able to spend Christmas with these kids. Christmas wasn't about me this year and I didn't get any presents or the special attention that kids usually get on Christmas. I was humbled by the experience and although I dearly missed my family I realized that this was possibly the best Christmas ever. All the other Christmas sort of blend together but this one will stick out and be unforgettable.

Loving Ecuador

2008-12-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Life is wonderful.
Iv been super busy because a bunch of the girls in the group I came down with are getting sick and so iv been taking their shifts at the orphanage because luckily i have the immune system of a dog. (hopefully dogs have good immune systems or I just sounded really ridiculous) I love it more and more everyday though, wiping poo and boogers with my bare hands all day...doesn't get any better than that:) kidding, I love the kids and we just got a new boy named alex who they found on the street in bag a few weeks ago. He cries a lot but he is about two and is probably so confused because all the sudden he just doesn't have a mom anymore and lives with tons of other kids. Im falling in love with him and everytime he sees he he runs into my legs and hugs me. His little laugh and smile make me so happy and I love playing with him! Im starting to get to know the kids personalities more and more, they are I feel like turning into my little kids :)
so the other day i'm eating some soup and Angel (the project director) comes in and says that Enrique ran away. Enrique is a 15 year old boy who has developmental disabilities from the special needs orphanages. I about died, we drove around for 2 hours looking for him in the cold pouring rain. He only had a long sleeve shirt on and I of course was thinking of all the worst possible things that could have happened. We finally got a call saying that they had him at a police office somewhere outside of Quito. We drove to go pick him up and he looked so sad. Luckily he has not been walking in the rain and had jumped on one a bus and just stayed on forever. Finally someone noticed that he wasn't getting off and took him to the police station. It really was so scary but I prayed like crazy the whole time. I know heavenly Father protected him!!! Yesterday marked my one month here already!!! It feels like I have been here for like 1 week! Its going by so crazy fast. I LOVE it and I don't know how I am going to leave.
have been asked to be the site leader over the special needs boys and girls orphans for the rest of my time here. I am in charge of the kids and have to plan the activities and attend weekly meeting to discuss goals and things we can do better to help these amazing kids! I am super exited for the opportunity!
once again
Life is wonderful!

baby booger

2008-12-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I pulled out the biggest booger string I have ever seen in my life. I should have measured it because it looked like like a good 12 inches.

YUCK

ONE WEEK DOWN

2008-11-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

I have officially been here for 1 week! It seems like iv been here for more like three. The old volunteers say that the first week is the slowest and the others will fly by. I think im going to be bringing home a little boy named Carlos. He seriously is the cutest thing i have ever seen. Everytime I see him he smiles and runs into me. Im seriously loving him! Chasing around two year olds all day can be hard though. For Example.....

Me and Hilary took out about 11 kids to play outside on the playground outside the orphanage while we were out there Hilary had to take one of the kids inside. It was just me with ten little boogers. They were being fine just running in the field, playing in the dirt, climbing on the toys, and just being kids. Then one of the kids started biting so I was trying to control her. I then turned around to find about five kids that had climbed up the stairs uptop to a hill will a big drop. I ran up saying "ninos no no, tas tas!" I grabbed two kids and ran as fast as I could to the bottom and then back up to get two more. The little kids of course think its funny when you start chasing them, like its a game and start running faster laughing at you. I got a hold of two more little ninos and started to take them down the stairs only to realize that the two kids I had just brought down had climbed back up. Then all the other kids saw how much "fun" it was and decided to join in the hill climbing and running around. I chased the kids for what felt like an hour. I was completly out of breath and decided I never want to have quadtruplets+ when you get ten 2year olds all toghether its no bueno. I also was able to work in a few houses with orphanes that were specail needs children. They were so awesome and I loved being with them! We played games, did puzzels, colored, and went to the park.
Me and all of the volunteers went to church this last Sunday and of course it was in spanish so I could understand NOTHING! The ward was about the size of my gospel doctrine class in my ward at home. You could still feel the spirit though and it was a really cool experience. Im loving it here, its hard work but I love it!

IM HERE!

2008-11-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

After a long long day of being on the plane I am here! I guess i should start working on my spanish because right when we got here I was handing one of the passport checkers my papers and she then look and me and said something that sounded like toyust. I looked at her and just smiled she then look at me again and said toyust I had no idea what she was talking about so I smiled and said what? She said toyust again but a little louder and I could tell she was getting frusterated. I felt extremely dumb and thought she was saying some crazy spanish word I obviously didnt learn from my attempt to practice spanish by listening to some CDs before i got here. She then pointed at my papers to the word tourist....

so my spanish is not off to a good start already, so please pray for me:)

The streets are crazy and people drive like the lanes dont even exist and everyone honks. The volunteer housing is actually a lot nicer than I expected. I share my room with two other girls, one who has been here for awhile and one who is from Canada who got here today as well. Everyone is very welcoming, its crazy that I am going to be living here for three months!! The older girls who are here warned us that we will probably get sick at least once, gain weight (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO), and fart a lot. They also said not to use the water from the sink and of course what do I do? Run my toothbrush in the sink. So i might just be puking my guts out tomorrow. great....
Im so exited to get started and meet all of the kids! tomorrow we have orientation and we will learn how the Orphanges run and then start our first shifts on Saturday! Im stoked.

Hasta La Vista Heather

2008-11-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

I leave for Ecuador this Thursday and have to be at the airport at 4:50 am...... and I though waking up at 5:30 for cheer was early. Its a good things I dont mind flying because I get to be on a plane pretty much all day with one stop in Houston Texas. Then arriving in Qutio at what they say 10:18pm why they dont just round it up to 10:20 is beyond me. People keep asking me if I am nervous or scared and maybe I will be when I get to the airport but right now I am so exited and just want to go! Once again thank you to everyone who contributed and sponsered me so that I was able have enough money to go. I am very grateful! If anyone would like to send mail to me while I am in Ecuador my mailing address is

Heather Niedert
Casilla 17-07-9856
Quito, Ecuador
Sud America

***please no Packages, any packages that are sent to me can take 6-8 weeks to arrive and it also will cost me 50%-100% of the packages value to even get it out of the post office. Although I will be missing my favoritest things in the world FRIUT ROLL UPS so if you are just so desperate to send me something try and shove on of those bad boys into an envelope:)

If anyone would like to donate money directly to the children in the orphanges you can make out a check to OSSO and send it to
P.O. box 345
Rexburg ID 83440
It is considered a Tax Deductible

If anyone would like more information on OSSO the program I am going with you can vist their website at www.orphangesupport.org