Rock Lizards

Rock Lizards Raise Funds

By Sal Beisly in Bolivia

In March 2011 our three children: Toby (11), Aedan (9) and Annie (7), who we affectionately refer to as “The Rock Lizards”, decided to do something for the thousands of people made homeless in La Paz Bolivia by large landslides. 

We live and minister in the impoverished city of El Alto, which is a satellite city in the hills above La Paz. 1,500 homes were lost in the devastating landslides below us.

The Rock Lizards decided to raise money to help rebuild some of the wrecked homes by undertaking a sponsored climb. Not just any climb. They decided to climb Chacaltaya, a 5,400m mountain near El Alto, starting from just above our city. That’s right – they decided to climb to an altitude of 5.4km above sea level! The round trip was a 35km trek, the last few kilometres being done in… The. Dark!

The going was so hard, we hadn’t been in the hills for ages and even I was stumbling near the end, dragging myself along with every step. The Lizards did better, although Aedan struggled more than the others. He suffers from altitude sickness and after 5,000m he always has difficulty.

For the final 400m of the climb he was really struggling, so the others kept cheering him on, encouraging him to keep going, saying, “think of all the people we can help if we all keep going”. Knowing there was so much support for them to complete the climb REALLY helped. Gregg and I were so proud of them. True to form, as soon as we started descending Aedan came right and charged down the hill.

Then it was Annie’s turn to struggle. She tripped from tiredness a couple of times, kept kicking rocks and hurting her toes near the end as she stumbled along in the torchlight.

We think its a great thing to learn perseverance, to feel like you can’t keep going and to keep pressing on anyway – great character development! It’ll hold the Rock Lizards in good stead for the future.We’re partnering with a local church here that is buying things for the many homeless instead of giving money. So many people have lost everything – pots and pans, beds and blankets, and clothes. They fled their homes to save their lives. It’s been a privilege to be able to help buy from a list of what’s needed and get people started again.

It has been a great blessing to see so many friends sponsor the climb and donate so generously to help those struggling here in Bolivia. In addition to the household goods we’ve been able to buy, the money raised by the Lizards so far will also be able to build two entire houses!

The Beisly family are working with impoverished youth in El Alto, Bolivia.

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