Support 22 Kids w/ Special Needs at OSSO Orphanage

During the month of December of 2021, we had different activities related with Christmas. Almost every week there were people contacting us to ask what the kids would like for Christmas. We could feel and see the support and generosity of many people.

Regarding the care that we gave to our kids during December, two little girls, who were transferred from another orphanage in September and October, have been receiving constant physical and psychological therapies from our therapists. This have helped them to improve their mobility and communication ability. The oldest one, who is 3 years old, now is able to walk more with a little bit of help, which is amazing considering the condition she had when she just got to our orphanage.

The kids have been healthy for the most part; however, we have had to give them treatments for colds and flu. They are better now. Our doctor is always on top of all the medical treatments. We have been working on getting donations of medicine, and Farmasol EP keeps donating medicine every month according to an agreement that we have with them.

For Christmas, Karina Jara, one of the volunteers who works with Hearts of Gold Foundation, and her group, gave special gifts to all of our kids, as part of their project “Cumpliendo Sueños” -Fulfilling Dreams. All of our kids got presents, according to their needs, wants and desires. The ones who were able to communicate with signs, asked for things they liked. They were very pleased and happy because they got exactly what they wanted.

During December, the Hearts of Gold Foundation has kept donating us food and cleaning supplies every other week. They also shared with us 19 bags of whole raw chicken.

An activity that our kids enjoyed the most was to go to visit the Miraflores Park, and see all the Christmas decorations and lights. They liked to see the tallest Christmas tree of Ecuador, and also the many different colors of the lights.

It’s been a very good and blessed time. We feel that the spirit of Christmas has touched the hearts of many people to think of our kids. We are very grateful with Hearts of Gold Foundation because of their unconditional help and support during the whole year.

These last months, things related with COVID-19 have been less stressing because of our kids having been vaccinated. All of them but the two youngest ones are completely immunized against the virus. In despite of this, we continue to follow all the guidelines of our biosecurity protocol. We have the hope that if we do so, we'll keep our kids safe

We have been receiving donations of food and cleaning supplies every other week from the Hearts of Gold Foundation. We are so grateful for their help and continue support, especially during all this time when having constant help from other organizations and people has been hard to get.

The kids who attend school had vacation; to keep them busy, we planned activities focused on participation, socialization, inclusion and recreation of all the kids. They enjoyed activities such as board games, bonfires, gastronomic activities, art and painting, cognitive and physical activities, etc.

We continued to celebrate the birthdays of kids and workers every month. This activity gave us all the opportunity to strengthen our ties of friendship and companionship. The kids enjoyed the music and eat some candy and cake made by our talented cook.

Regarding medical care, our kids have received the medication needed to treat their delicate health issues. Thanks to the donations of the Hearts of Gold Foundation and other organizations such as Farmasol, we were able to get some anticonvulsants and other medication for the kids who needed them.

We are deeply grateful for the support we receive from the donors of the Hearts of Gold Foundation. This constant support allows us to provide better care for our children.

 In December we had a Christmas party. With donations of generous people, our kids were able to receive presents and some candy. It was fun for them to be able to celebrate Christmas by decorating the tree and by listening to Christmas carols.

As a tradition, the last Friday of each month we celebrate the birthdays of our kids and workers. One of kids was so happy to blow out the candles on his little birthday cake that didn’t think twice before smashing his face into the cake. He was extremely excited about it. It was so fun to see this.

In February we had a little party for Carnival. Our cook prepared some traditional dishes to share with the workers and the kids. They enjoyed it.

The last Friday, before the Day of the Mothers we had a special program to thank the “tías” (aunties) and therapists for the love and care they give to the kids. We had the election of the “Mother of the Year”. This time Jenny was the winner. All of us had so much fun. It was a good opportunity to renovate the motivation and thankfulness for having the opportunity to serve these wonderful kids and being surrounded by so wonderful people.

We are very grateful for the support that we consistently get from the Foundation Hearts of Gold and its donors. Thank to them, we have had the opportunity to provide the kids these fun experiences.