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A Southern Cross Christmas
It´s hard not to spoil kids! We got a Christmas tree, a DVD player (donated), DVD´s and 3 bikes!
The kids had fun decorating the tree. You should have seen their eyes... wow, who knew decorating a Christmas tree could be so magical, (there are no real ones here, only artificial) The DVD player was a big hit as well. After cooking a big batch of popcorn we watched Nemo. It was so interesting watching it with them (in spanish). Frames of reference was almost non-existant, like underwater sceens, a fish tank or a dentist´s office! They all had puzzled looks on their faces, and kept nudging each other asking ¨what´s that¨type of questions.
The street children now at the Sunflower had heard a rumor that there exists a Santa Claus (Papa Noel), but that he only visits and gives gifts to kids in North America. We gave them a present on Christmas Eve, hung the stockings and said ¨Let´s see if Papa Noel comes¨. Each child made a wish for each other, and after a wonderful feast, went to bed. ¨Papa Noel is real, I SAW him¨, was the first thing Mayda told me when she saw me the next morning. Stockings were filled, there were 3 bikes for children to ride, and each had another present! Thank you to all who made Papa Noel so real.
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Christmas in Peru!
This holiday season, Laura Mabbott is in Peru helping the children get the spirit of the season. Making sugar cookies, distributing hot chocolate, handing out stockings and having a community gift exchange have all been big hits with the children. Learn about some of the events in detail in the following articles!
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New Children At Sunflower
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One of our newest children at the Sunflower home is Purfita, a darling little 8 year old who is easy going, has a quiet disposition and so far prefers only to eat rice. She has no taste for vegetables, fruit or meat as she has never had them. However, she did drink the hot chocolate and loved it. At this point, Joel is the benefactor with her ¨left overs¨.
We still need sponsors for incoming children. Skyline High School students will be her sponsor. We have 3-4 coming this week.
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CLICK to see all the Children at the Sunflower |
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Construction Update (Ninas & Nino's Dorms)
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(Note: Laura Mabbot, President of Southern Cross is now in Peru at the orphanage preparing for an influx of many new children).
"I arrived last Thursday morning, since then we´ve had the carpenter up to the Sunflower home and he is getting started on tasks, and as requested, his is working with some of the older boys so they learn how to do some of the projects. Friday we requested bids to finish the floor on the 2nd dorm and the bathrooms. They come up tomorrow to make plans and hopefully begin on Tuesday.
Two new children showed up just yesterday, cute little girls, and two boys are suppose to come within a couple more days. We need to get the floor finished (tiled) in the 2nd dorm so we can create boys and girl´s dorms...it is time to move the girls into one dorm and the boys into another. We just have to have the funds to do it. BIG THANKS to the Waggoner family from St. George, Utah, Hughes family from Mt.View, CA and Grethchen Mathern of Idaho Falls for sponsoring dorm rooms. We have two rooms left to go and it would sure be a great way to help not only one child, but many for years to come!"
We are also putting in gravel for our parking lot at the Sunflower.
The new security fence and gate are looking good - because the orphanage was so open, this was a necessity to protect our children.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS, they're the key to our construction progress.
Please send donations to our Salt Lake office (2607 Casto Lane, SLC, Ut 84117)
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The Day in Cusco with the Children
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Twenty children anxiously awaited catching a local bus to Cusco. Only hours earlier they had learned they would be picking out brand new shoes! The ride from Huayabamba to Cusco took about 2 hours and most of the children enjoyed the scenery with no motion sickness. Shoe shopping must be the same in regardless of cultures. The boys quickly picked out new tennis shoes, younger girls liked the pretty ones, and the older girls wanted heals that were impractical. From the shoes we went to a park and played on swings, slides, twirly contraptions of all sorts, with only a few sick kids once we left for lunch.
Leo had brought in the boys from Colibri and together we feasted on soup, rice, a meat-french fry dish and a pudding dessert. The boys from Colibri recieved Christmas presents from Southern Cross, we sang Christmas songs, and the kids from Sunflower started making their way home while the boys of Colibri stayed to play some soccer in a local field.
Thank you to our anonymous donor for making this day happen!
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HEARTBEATS !!
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"When people donate their time, they are giving of their valuable heartbeats"
Colleen Burns is a school teacher, on sabatical from Wisconsin. She has been developing a summer school program for the children that includes reading, writing, science, social studies and math... which involve small and whole group sessions.
- After Victor's photo and story in our last newsletter, we already have a sponsor who has contributed for his support for the next two years, and wll also support his brother who will soon join theSunflower.
- Students at Skyline HS have already raised $600 Their current project is coin donation bottles for businesses to reach their goal of sponsoring a child for a year. 10-15 kids from Skyline want to go on an expedition next year.
- Teachers from Kaleheo High School in Kailua, Hawaii cleaned their rooms and donated unneeded supplies like chalk and other items.
- The students at Eaglecrest Elementary in Lehi, Utah did a terrific job!! The goal was 300,000 minutes and they read 417,000. Every grade earned their alpaca and a check for $2,000 was sent to Southern Cross.
- The Yahoo Volleyball Club of San Jose, California donated enough supplies to complete 50 school kits, as well as socks and underwear.
- Thanks to so many friends of expedition members who donated socks, underwear, suitcases, quilts and money for the children of the Sunflower. Its heartwarming to see how many people want to help.
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Click here for the Southern Cross WEBSITE |
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December Expedition
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Thirty members of the December 29th expedition are frantically trying to prepare for their trip to the Sunflower, in addition to getting ready for Christmas. Van Evans will lead the group which will spend New Year's Eve at the orphanage with the children in the Sacred Valley. The expedition will be loaded with Tools, Homemade Quilts, Newborn and School kits and supplies, sheets, underwear and socks. They will also be bringing New Year's noise makers and other items to share with the children. This promises to be a New Year's Eve that none will ever forget. After spending time at the orphanage, the group will visit Machupichu and Lake Titikaka. We are all sooooo... excited, yet humbled to have this opportunity.
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Click here to see the 2007 Expedition Schedule |
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How do you like our new Newsletter Format? -- Help spread the Word!!
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Please add email addresses of friends or family who may be interested in our Sunflower Orphanage, especially those from Peru, have visited, gone on Missions and their families.
Just click the link below this article.
If you have a lot, you can just copy the list into an email and forward to ken@sxhu.org
(Let them know you've added their names because of their interest in Peru or helping children)
You can also forward this email to your friends by using the "forward email" option at the bottom of this newsletter.
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CLICK HERE to ADD Email Addresses to our Newsletter |
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JUST IN !! Six new children have arrived
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Laura reports that these six new children have just arrived at the Sunflower... We do have a sponsor pending for Maria, but need sponsors for the other five. You can sponsor a child for only $60 per month, please visit the Southern Cross website for more information and a sponsorship form.
If you would like to sponsor one of these children, please indicate their name, but also an alternate in case they have already been sponsored. Photos and some biographical information will be soon be added to our website.
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CLICK here for Sponsorship information |
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Thank You !!
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Thank you for being part of the Southern Cross Humanitarian Family.
Building bridges, awakening hopes and dreams - one child at a time, we can make the world a better place.
Laura
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