Viviana

Many of you probably don't know the Viviana's story. She lives at our orphanage in Zona Frutillar here in Cochabamba. Before she was living in this house she was living in a small village in the jungle. She was orphaned at three years old and lived for about three years on food hand-outs and sleeping in different houses and huts. When she was about six she either fell or was pushed into a fire on her back side and was left with 60% of her body burned. Luckily, or more accurately, by the grace of God, a missionary/pilot from our church flew into her village a day later and was able to rescue her. With no one taking care of her she was left by herself for about 36 hours by the time he arrived.

This missionary took her to the burn unit of a hosital in Cochabamba where Mike and especially Bonnie Timmer ended up spending tons of time with Vivianna as she had surgery and healed from her wounds. And when she had recovered she came home to Marcelino and Sofia who are the house parents at her home.

So that's her past and now her present. She goes to physical therapy three times a week to continue recovering. But as she grows her skin grows. And as her skin grows it stretches and rips because of her burns. So it was time for more surgery. She went into the hospital about three weeks ago to have two surgeries and is recovering from those right now.

As you can see from this picture, her spirits are high! It is pretty amazing how happy she is when you consider everything she has been through. She has the best smile and the most contagious laugh. One time I was at her house, pushing her on the swing, and she laughed for literally ten minutes straight...for no reason! And she's smiling and laughing just as much in the hospital. She is still in the hospital now because some of her stitches have torn but she will hopefully be at home by next week. So you can be praying for her for a quick recovery and that she will get home soon.

*Picture courtesy of Kristen's blog