All we want for Christmas...

Is a few Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiches!! Made with sausage, please (they are too cheap on the bacon!!)

It may be a little early for us to declare what we want for Christmas, but we’re doing it anyway. And until someone can figure out how to ship us some Timmy-Ho’s-goodness that won’t be moldy on arrival, then there is only one other thing that we are asking for.

Peter and I are going to make a donation to Ñanta before we leave, and we’d be thrilled if our beloved friends and family would consider doing the same!

Bolivia is the most impoverished nation on the continent and a few Canadian dollars can go a long way. It doesn’t have to be much – you’ve read how inexpensive most things are here.

There are a couple of options that we want to consider designating funds for. Ñanta feeds up to 250 kids a day, and often are not able to offer them more than a bowl of simple soup for lunch. We would like to consider designating the funds to making sure that there is more nutrition in their diets, for as long as possible. Alternatively, there is a great need for funds to help these kids get their birth certificates. Many of them have no idea of when their birthday is, or even what their legal names are. This prohibits them from being able to do many things – participate in sports, etc. We are currently pulling together the costs for both in order to share with you and make a decision based on the funds we can raise!

Last week we were at a pub with many of our friends and a young girl entered just after 10pm. We recognized her face from Ñanta (I would guess that she is no more than 10 years old), and she was trying to sell some chicklets. When she saw our faces, she smiled and immediately came over. We bought 3 packs of gum from her and let her keep the change. It is a sad reality for so many kids in Bolivia – there are estimated to be over 800,000 that are forced to work on the streets in order to help support their families. A place like Ñanta is so important in order to give meals, provide medical and social support services, help them keep up with their homework, as well as to just let kids be kids!

We’ve met some pretty terrific youngsters that have made a big impact in our lives. We want to do the same in return. We hope you’ll join us…

(Please email us for more information or to donate!! petergheck@yahoo.ca or daleneheck@yahoo.ca. We need to make our donation by Friday, Oct 23rd, and so we are looking for money before then!)