Visiting Leonardo and Andrea Carolina

 

The lobby of Hotel Edmar

 

 

After my visit the Bleidys and Maria, I needed to catch a company van to Santa Marta which is about an hour away from Barraquilla. Since I was late finishing up the visit,  I had to find a van company that was willing to travel to Santha Marta at this late time of the day. Emily, my translator, and Victor, the CI driver drove around the city until they were able to find a company van that was willing to do this. I arrived at the Hotel Edmar around 6:00 p.m. and checked in. It is a very nice hotel with a beautiful lobby area and restaurant. By this time, I was starving, so I took a shower and heading down for dinner which started at 7:00 p.m.  I took a brief walk outside trying to find a souveneir shop but the one that  saw was closing up and I wanted to turn in early so that I could visit Leonardo and Andrea early in the morning.

Here is some information about Leonardo and Andrea Carolina. Leonardo is sponsored by a group of CI sponsors. I first saw his photo on the CI site along with his brother's photo and posted the photos on LiftOne to see if anyone might be interested in a group sponsorship. A group sponsorship is when a group of sponsors contribute to a child's sponsorship fees and help out in other ways if they are able to. We have been sponsoring Leonardo for about a year. From his letters I learned that he is an active little boy who loves Superman and soccer. He also likes to visit the library at the community center.

Andrea Carolina is a little girl whose photo was posted onto my account after another child, Sonia, left the program. CI gives sponsors the option of choosing another child if a child has to leave the program and so when I saw Andrea's cute little face, I decided to sponsor her. I have only sponsored her since Nov. 2012 and I have learned that she likes school and they she enjoys playing with her siblings.



 The next morning after check out the CI van pulled up in front of the hotel and we headed over to the community center in Santa Marta. Two other staff members joined us on this trip and found out that one of them wanted to interview me about my sponsorship experience! Anyway, off we went to the community center and during this visit I learned that this was the only community center in Santa Marta. During the tour, I met several children who were reading books in the library and I met a group of children who were making little bracelets in one of the rooms, as part of a program which teaches children how to sell their crafts and learn how to save their money. The children were very friendly and allowed me to sit with them. They tried to teach me how to make the bracelets and they gave me one to take with me. It was a lot of fun. More photos of this should be coming soon!

This is me at the Community Center which has all of the rooms for doctor and dentist checkups, a library, activity rooms and other areas for sponsored children.