Rainbow Nursery brings new ray of hope to Alto Cochabamba
How one church’s concern for young children left alone all day compelled them to take a huge step of faith and open a nursery.
‘They
had no money, no water, no toilets and no equipment – yet they felt the
plight of the children was so critical they had to open NOW.’
Report
from Charles and Suzanne Windsor in Bolivia.
Sinai church sits near the top of the bleak hillside of Alto Cochabamba, Bolivia, a sprawl of one-room shacks which are home to 5,000 people.
There
are no proper streets and roads on the hill, and water and sewerage pipes
have only just been installed beneath the dirt track outside, though it will
be many months before any houses are connected up.
There’s no employment in the area either and so most people drift down to town on market days to try and sell something – anything – to make some sort of living.
Babies and small children are carried on their mothers’ backs, Bolivian-style. But once they get too big they are left locked up in their dark houses all day with nothing to do – perhaps with just a little food and a drink left for them.
Two- or three-year-old children may be left overnight in the charge of a big brother or sister, who may only be five or six themselves. Accidents are all too common among these tinies left to fend for themselves while older children roam the area in gangs.
Sinai church
felt so concerned about these children that, last November, they opened a
nursery.
Big hearts and empty pockets
‘This was a huge step of faith as they had no money, no water, no toilets and no equipment,’ says Suzanne. ‘Yet the staff felt the plight of the children was critical and that they should open immediately.
‘They worked really hard to make the inside nice for the kids. They painted the walls brightly and bought some cut-offs of wood from a local carpenter and painted them to use as bricks for the children to play with.
When they first
opened they were eating off the floor until the local Bible society donated
some wooden pallets which now function as tables, chairs and gates. Eventually
when they have funds to buy the real thing these will be taken apart and made
into cupboards and shelves.’
Bags to share
When the Windsor family returned from home leave in Britain they brought back five suitcases of toys with them – three were designated for the nursery at their own church, Mayorazgo, but they were able to donate the remaining two to the Rainbow nursery.
Mayorazgo church
is also in a poor area of Cochabamba. It runs an established nursery, but
six years ago they were in a similar position to Sinai. They were asked to
advise on the setting up of the Rainbow nursery and Charles and Suzanne went
along: ‘We were told we were the first gringos to set foot in this area
of town.’
Praying for increase
At
present the Rainbow nursery is only open on two days a week – the market
days – for twenty of the most needy children. There’s a huge demand,
with another 25 children on the waiting list, but staff themselves need to
earn during the rest of the week in order to be able to work voluntarily at
the nursery.
‘Abigail, who is in charge, is finding the reality of running a nursery on less than a shoestring challenging to say the least!’ says Charles. ‘Nevertheless she is showing remarkable faith and endurance.
‘We’d love to see the nursery open six days a week with 40-50 children – there’s no shortage of staff, or children, but we need to find funding to pay staff for six days.
'We are looking to God to provide but we don’t know how yet. Please pray for wisdom and guidance as we look together for the best way forward.’
- £40
a month would be enough to run a class for 10-15 children,
including all food, and a small salary for their teacher.
© Latin link 2002
Supporting the Rainbow Nursery
To find
out how you can support the Rainbow Nursery visit the Giving
Page, or contact James Jones:
tel. 020 7939 9007
email. jamesj@latinlink.org
