• A referral from the government of Bolivia
  A child who is abandoned, removed from an abusive situation, or orphaned
• A referral from another ministry
  We are one of only a few homes in Cochabamba equipped to care for babies, compared to literally dozens for older children

Whenever possible, our desire is to provide the support necessary to keep families together.

Casa de Amor, "House of Love"
                
                                                               Casa de Amor I
In operation since December 2004, we are blessed to work from a large sunny home in Cochabamba. Usually Casa de Amor's Baby Home shelters between 16 to 20 beautiful, active babies and toddlers: boys and girls ages newborn to 3 years of age.

                                                               Casa de Amor II
God has blessed us with another large home in Cochabamba from which to care for the children He brings us. Casa de Amor II opened its doors on July 4, 2006, and is home for approximately one dozen children ages 3 to 12 (average age of 5), including several sibling groups.

                                                               Casa de Amor III
The Alseth family, Casa de Amor volunteers since August 2007, followed God's lead to open "Casa de Amor III" to care for babies and young children who need more specialized care. Currently 8 children, babies to 6 years old, enjoy the highly personalized attention of their loving home.
 

Casa de Amor operates thanks to the generosity of many individuals and two churches in particular. We receive no money from the government or from grants. See Supporting for more information.


Our Hands
The Lord has truly blessed Casa de Amor from the very beginning in the area of staff and volunteers. He has brought us a loving team with much experience and a deep desire to reach out to these children.

YOU are also welcome to come visit us! Bolivia is a fascinating country with sunny weather and warm, friendly people. Christians from other countries are welcome to serve alongside the Bolivian staff on a (preferably) long-term basis. Accommodations for these volunteers are available at the homes or with local host families. Write Glenda for more information and trip costs.


Our Vision
"Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6)."

 Whenever possible, our desire is to keep families together, encouraging parents to take the responsibility for their children. If this is not possible, we will do our best to make sure Casa de Amor is only a stop in the child's journey to a "forever family". We look forward to the day when adoptions are again open between the US and Bolivia. Until that time, our children will be placed with families in Bolivia or other countries (see below).
 

Spread the word! Download our brochures here:

NEW DESIGN!! Casa de Amor Children's Homes (English):
download page 1 HERE 
download page 2 HERE 

Casa de Amor Hogares de Niños (Español)
 

We realize that being raised in a children's home or institution, no matter how wonderful, is far inferior to that of a loving family. Therefore, Casa de Amor processes papers with the government for each child who will never return to birth family members. PLEASE NOTE that we cannot work directly in adoptions. We gather all reports (social, psychological, and medical) and pass those on to the local child welfare office. From there the reports transfer to a judge who will then match the child's file to that of a family already working with an adoption agency. We work closely with all parties involved to make sure this process is carried out as legally and efficiently as possible, but strict regulations keep us from becoming very involved in the process.

Bolivia will only work with countries that have signed, implemented, and ratified the "Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption". Children are generally placed with families in Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, or with foreign residents living in Bolivia.  All adoptions are currently closed between Bolivia and United States residents.

US-BOLIVIA ADOPTION UPDATE, DECEMBER 2007
Bolivia recently chose to once again renew the current moratorium on adoptions between Bolivia and the United States. This means that basically, new adoption agencies are not being granted licenses to do adoptions in Bolivia for another year at least. In fact, Bolivia would like to reduce the number of agencies they currently work with, so at this time prospects are slim for an adoption agreement between the two countries.

ADOPTION UPDATE, DECEMBER 2008
Although the United States now has Hague accredited agencies (as of April 1), and several of them have met requirements to adopt children out of Bolivia, there has been little sign of Bolivia-US cooperation as yet. In fact, the Bolivian government would prefer to work with less foreign adoption agencies, not more. 

However on the bright side, Casa de Amor children continue to be matched to adopting families in European countries! This is a huge joy for both sides since the parents wait 2-4 years once their papers arrive to Bolivia to reach the exciting point of a child referral. The whole process is taking much longer than before, but at least it continues. We would appreciate your prayers that the slow wheels of adoptions keep turning and that the overall situation improves.
 

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love." Mother Teresa