The Orcadian Features - Barbara-Ann's mission to care for street children in Bolivia

Barbara-Ann's mission to care for street children in Bolivia
By Stuart Laundy
(Story dated: Thursday, December 1, 2005)

Caring for others is in the nature of Barbara-Ann McVean.

The 24-year-old Stromness woman has recently taking up a volunteering position at a children’s home called the Casa de Amor (House of Love) in the city of Cochabamba in the Latin American republic of Bolivia, where she cares for children who call the streets their home.

This is the third time Barbara-Ann has headed abroad to help some of the world’s most needy children.

When she was just 18, she went to East Malaysia (Borneo), where she stayed for a year, helping out at a children’s home she describes as being “practically in the middle of the jungle”.

Then, in 2002, she headed out to Guatemala, spending two years working in a home for 150 children, just outside the capital, Guatemala City.

She returned home to Stromness and worked at St Peter’s House for ten months, saving up as much as she could to help pay her way for a year in Bolivia.

Barbara-Ann set off on her latest adventure in October, and has quickly settled into life at the Casa de Amor - a project she found by searching the internet.

“It was in Guatemala that I discovered my love for Latin America,” said Barbara-Ann.

“I was wanting to go back, so I looked up all sorts of different orphanages on the internet and I found the Casa de Amor.

“It just hit me - I’m not sure what it was about it, but it felt right.”

She e-mailed an application stating her previous overseas exploits, along with references and a police report, and it wasn’t long before she was asked when she could start.

As a volunteer, she has paid to stay with the home for a year, but says she may stay longer.

“I worked at St Peter’s House and saved as much as I could for the ten months I was home in Stromness.

“I also have a couple of people who are sponsoring me - giving me a set amount of monthly, which I am most appreciative of.

“It can be hard when you have to spend, but have nothing coming in.”

To reach the home, Barbara-Ann flew via the US, Brazil and Santa Cruz, in Bolivia, before the final 45 minute flight to Cochabamba, where she was met by the home’s director and founder, Jennifer Thompson.

“Staring out of the window, I was trying to absorb absolutely everything,” explained Barbara-Ann.

“The scenery here is awesome. Cochabamba has the stunning background of the Andes, and is blessed with a perfect climate as it is at a perfect height - 8,200ft.

“It doesn’t have the intense heat of the lowlands, nor the biting cold you can find higher up in the mountains.”

But behind this idyllic setting is lies a a tragic story, of an estimated 5,000 children either living on the streets or in orphanages.

After just a week, Barbara-Ann said she had settled into life at the home, helping to care for nine children, the oldest of whom is not even three.

And over the few short weeks she has been at the home, she has experienced many of the problems faced by people in the area — including being threatened by a knife-wielding mugger.

“I was walking with a Bolivian friend of mine and I noticed there were two boys walking towards us. They were 15 or 16, their hair was matted, their clothes in tatters and as they came closer I could tell that they were high.

“One of them said ‘Dame monedas’ - give me change. I was told to ignore them and keep walking.

“One of the boys followed me, opened his hand and I saw that he had a knife up his sleeve.”

He demanded more, but more forcefully, and Barbara-Ann handed over the equivalent of 50p and he went away.

“It certainly has made me a little more wary, but I have learnt from it,” she said.

On another occasion, Barbara-Ann had to accompany a social worker to give a statement to the police after a woman was seen throwing a two-year-old girl onto the road.

“The police wanted my social worker friend to make a statement, and it was made in front of the lady who had hurt the little girl.

“It is very different to how things work back home. I have no idea what happened to the woman, who was the girl’s aunt.”

Another upsetting incident happened when Barbara-Ann spotted a family sitting in a shop doorway.

“They were obviously very poor by the way they were dressed. I then saw blood all over the ground in front of a girl who was probably my age. She was coughing up mouthfuls of it, I think she had TB. I have heard it is very common here.”

In addition to her work in the home, Barbara-Ann has also taken care directly to those who need it.

She explained: “Every week, a couple come and set up a tent where they wash street kids, give them new clothes and a meal.

“For the older kids and adults, they wash their hair and give them food.

“This was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life - sitting there as the little kids come in one by one to be washed.

“I must have bathed between 15 and 20 of the little darlings. It was such a humbling experience, washing the feet of the little ones.

“They were thick with dirt and all cut from being barefoot all the time. I asked one of them if they had shoes and with her head hung low, she whispered ‘nunca he tenido zapatos’ - I have never had shoes.”

Barbara-Ann describes this as a rewarding activity and something she is going to continue to do in addition to her work at the home.

There is also a much lighter side to life in Bolivia.

A huge open air market, called La Cancha, offers the chance to buy everything from chicken feet to CDs, and Barbara-Ann has even found time to go to her first football match.

“The two opposing teams from the city were playing and it was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen.

“The referee was card happy and eight yellow cards and two red cards were given. One of the players who was sent off refused to go and they had to get the police to come and take him off, covering him with their shields so that none of the things thrown from the crowd would hit him.

“They were throwing bottles, bags, anything they could get their hands on.

“I am looking forward to the next match - and losing my voice yet again from shouting too much.”

How a young woman's dream helped build Casa de Amor

Casa de Amor - the House of Love - is the brainchild of a young American woman called Jennifer Thompson, with the help of her parents.

Still only 23, she has an interesting background.

As a teenager, she travelled to Russia with her parents to meet the baby they were adopting.

Inspired by the visit, she made eight more trips to Russia and also visited orphanages in Mongolia, China and Mexico.

She set about raising US$50,000 to establish Casa de Amor after reading an article about the Hospitals of Hope, an organisation founded by a physician from Kansas.

The two got in touch, and plans were drawn up to establish a home next to his new hospital in Cochabamba, initially catering for up to ten children, eventually expanding to 20.

Construction was completed last year, and Barbara-Ann McVean is one of eight staff who help run the home.

Ms Thompson acts as the home’s director, there are three childcare workers, a psychologist, social worker and a housekeeper/cook, plus Barbara-Ann.

The home’s children generally come one of two ways — a referral from the Bolivian government (such as a child who is abandoned, removed from an abusive home or orphaned) or a referral from another ministry.

Further details of the Casa de Amor are available online at: www.casadeamor.org