Malnutrition Center - January 11

I often say in my “real life” that time flies by, but it truly has sped by this week.  It’s so hard to believe that we have only one day left serving the children of the Malnutrition Center.  Today was another full day of playing with, feeding, diapering, and loving the children. 

In the Canaries, twins Marta and Sucena are both close to walking.  Marta spent as much time as possible toddling around holding our fingers with a contagious smile on her face, while Sucena enjoyed standing at the bar looking at herself in the mirror.  Rosita also greatly enjoys the bar and mirror.  Her big, toothy smile is nearly always present on her chubby-cheeked face as she grips the bar.  Her twin, William, still prefers to scoot around on his bottom instead of crawl, but he now likes to walk by holding some fingers, too.  He isn’t as adept as Marta, but he’s getting there!  Walter was a bit under the weather in the morning, but was better in the afternoon and permitted to join the children again, which pleased him immensely.  Jefferson was also feeling a bit puny, though, and will hopefully be back to his normal sweet self tomorrow.

All little children love music and these children are certainly no exception!  The older kids had a time of singing before listening to the Bible story about Jesus feeding the crowd with the bread and fish.  They sang several songs, including “Jesus Loves Me”, “I’ve Got the Joy”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, and “My God Is So Big.”  Observing some of their faces as they looked at the pages in the Bible storybook was priceless.  The most touching moment for me, though, was watching them bow their heads and have praying hands while learning to talk to their Creator. 

The afternoon was filled with lunchtime, “train” rides, outdoor play, and naps.  Bubbles are a favorite, as well as sliding.  Victoria, from the Canaries, joined the Squirrels for part of the day and had a great time riding the train and taking her first ride down the slide.

Some additional projects and handy-man work was also accomplished today, including work with faucets, toilets, trashcans, and ceiling tiles.   So much work to be done and so little time!!  We also took a tour of the area that will soon house the interns and teams that come to work at the Center.  It’s going to be a great space and is on schedule to be completed by March.  What a blessing it will be to not spend 2 hours each day on the bus!

After an action-packed day, we wrapped it up with a fabulous meal at La Pena de Sol, complete with live musical entertainment.  We were all SO stuffed after dinner, but most of the team still managed to find room for a McFlurry (or 2) on the way back to the Hotel. J  It was a sweet end to a wonderful day!