I recently had the chance to visit an orphanage down in Bermejo, Tarija. Bermejo is the Southernmost town in Bolivia – just a few minutes and a river separates Bermejo and Argentina.
Bermejo is unfortunately like many border towns around the world; it suffers from severe emmigration, poor infrastructure, few economic opportunities, and a fair amount of nefarious activity (or so it is said).
Bermejo is one main gateway for goods passing between Bolivia and Argentina, it sits only 40 minutes from Oran, the closest town in Argentina and about 3–4 hours from the larger regional city of Salta.
The views 
from Tarija city down to Bermejo are gorgeous, 
but you just never know what might be sharing the road with you – from a 
landslide,to 
chickens, to a
herd of cattle !!
My friend Julia Milne 
lives in Bermejo and this is her host Dad who owns a rotisserie chicken restaurant.
Like myself, Julia mostly teaches English and helps out with tutoring various kids in her town Mondays through Fridays in the evenings.
During the day she tries 
to get out to the orphanage as often as possible. Many of these children are in a state of limbo – not yet wards of the state and therefore un-adoptable.
It is illegal for foreigners to to adopt Bolivian children, which exacerbates an already difficult situation. There are few Bolivian families capable of and willing to adopt the kids and thus most of them grow up in these orphanages. 
There are a few run-aways who escaped from harsh physical and emotional abuse but many come to the orphanage early on 
because their family lacks the resources to care for them.
These children are unbelievably lovable – amazingly full of smiles and laughter. I had the best time teaching them how to play monopoly
– a great game for practicing adding and subtraction (all who know me know I needed the practice!).
Bermejo as a town has plenty of issues, but the orphanage is doing the best it can with what few resources at its disposal. Julia also carves out a large amount of her own time to play with the kids and keep them smiling. I loved my time with these beautiful children and I can’t wait to get back!
                               
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Sarah, what is the “severe immigration” problem? And, why can’t non-Bolivians adopt these children? Perhaps these questions are politically sensitive and you, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, may not be able to answer. Great photos and very compelling story.
Left by Linda Hudson on September 27th, 2007