Today, Monday, we started our day with a walk. Again I didn’t go as they went at 5:30 am. Then we had breakfast and then loaded all of our bags of donations for the Malnutrition Center in the van and headed for San Juan, where the Center is located. It took us about an hour to get to the center. We were all excited about finally getting to see the Center and to get to be one on one with the children. We unloaded the van and took everything into the center. Then Ron took us on a tour of the facility. What an eye opener it was. The Center is coming along and although there is much still to do, it is very clean and the new paint etc really makes it look nice. We entered the kitchen area and saw the new oven and stoves that the First Baptist Church of Sarasota donated. They are really great and really appreciated by the staff. We saw the laundry where a new commercial dryer and washer are arriving this Thursday and will be installed Friday. We took a peek in some of the children’s rooms and began to see some of the children. We ended up in the Canary Room where we then started pairing up with the children. As you can see by the pictures it was a thrilling moment.
We were completely enthralled by the kids. They came to each of us with open arms and immediately won our hearts. They smiled and cuddled, talked and cuddled, ate and cuddled. It was a very precious time. The little girl who chose me was 2 years and 2 months old but, was more like a girl 1 year old. She couldn’t walk but could stand and take a few steps with some help. But she is on the way to having a normal body and hopefully a normal life. We had a ball as you can see by the picture. Eric’s little girl was so beautiful and we spent quite a bit of time rocking in the new rocking chairs, again donated by our church. We sang Jesus Loves Me, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves the Little Children etc. Lynn, Tom, Mollie, Julie and Maria all were rocking and walking with their babies also. It was a wonderful, wonderful time for all.
Here is a God Thing story. The center had said they needed a nebulizer and Ron had brought three with him. They had just been brought into the center when a mother arrived with a baby who was very undernourished and very sick. Guess what the first thing they needed was? Yes, a nebulizer. So as you can see by the picture the new nebulizer was put to work almost immediately. If that doesn’t give you goose bumps you must be sleeping.
By the way, the little girl in the picture, although she looks like a 10 month or year old girl is actually 3 years old. That is what being undernourished will do.
When we went to lunch it was a little hard to put the babies down. My little Blanca, started to cry as soon as we got to her bed. When I put her down she held out her hands and cried and pleaded with her eyes for me to pick her up. As I left her room Eric was putting Brenda down in her bed and the corners of her mouth turned down into the saddest pout you have ever seen. I don’t mind to admit there was a tear in my eye when we walked out to go to lunch.
After lunch we went into a nice room where Eric unpacked his guitar and with the help of Maria we had a sing along with several of the children. Now this was fun. We sang, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Itsy Bitsy Spider and several more choruses. We taught the children the hand motions and how to say, “Jesus Loves Me” in English.
After the singing Eric showed them a little magic trick to show them how God loves everyone. Then one of the boys, who had been playing “Air Guitar” during the choruses, got to come up and strum on Eric’s guitar. What a great time.
There was a moment of sheer comedy and I was the unwilling cause of the fun. I went and sat in one of the little chairs with a small girl on my lap to help her with the motions to one of the choruses. Right at the end we made a big circle to represent the world. Well, right at that moment the chair collapsed and the little girl and I fell in a heap. No one was hurt other then my pride and the children laughed and laughed. The boy in the yellow shirt in the pictures laughed so hard every body ended up laughing at him laughing at me. Shirley will under stand how this happened as she says I am just a big kid at heart.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with the children. Some playing ball, some playing in the swings, some rocking and some just having a great time. I went and picked up little Blanca again and we rocked. I thought she would take a nap but, she sat their wide eyed while I kind of drifted off a couple of times. What a great time.
Then it was time to leave and what a difficult time that was. Blanca cried as I left her room and Brenda did the same as Eric left. Even though we will see them again tomorrow, it was pretty hard to just walk out. Everyone left with a heavy heart but also knowing we will get to do it again tomorrow.
So we are all looking forward to tomorrow and another day of bonding with the children. What a blessing God has given us. The time spent with these children is priceless and will be remembered forever.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I took about 400 so as you can see we could only show you a few. So until tomorrow.
written by Arky Nelson
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