GUATEMALA - March 13

A lot happened today, but there were three particularly poignant events, one clever solution, and one gross situation.  

Luis Fernando in the Chicks learned to walk by himself last week with the Spring Break college students, but he has been afraid to let go of someone’s hand and cries whenever he is left to walk alone.  Today, in the Chicks, we brought in bounce balls, big balls with handles.  Stephanie was walking with Luis who had one of those balls in his hand and her hand in the other.  Stephanie very quietly dropped Luis’ hand and because he still had hold of the ball, he kept walking alone.  He walked all over the chick’s room holding onto his ball!

Another memorable event was when Kennedy started feeding Victoria at lunch, but got called away to do something else.  Stephanie tried to step in, but Victoria would have nothing to do with her, nor would she eat anything.  She just cried and cried until Kennedy came back.  Then, she stopped crying and would only eat if Kennedy would feed her.  Kennedy had some other things she wanted to do, but she patiently continued feeding Victoria.  The nannies teased Kennedy and told her that she needed to take home a little sister. 

Billy had another special day.  As soon as Wendy walked into the Ducks with the IPOD cube, Billy said, “Cube.”  He said it over and over and then, patted Wendy’s pocket because he remembered that is where she kept it the day before.  Once again, he was mesmerized by the sounds coming out of the machine, but he paid special attention to the lights and kept changing them with his touch.  Then, he realized if he let the light dim, he could see his reflection in the screen so he started admiring his face and rubbing his hands on his cheeks and chin.
 

The situation that takes the award for the ickiest thing to happen today (besides several getting soaked by little boys while being diapered) was when one of the boys decided to play in his potty and...well, you can imagine!  It took Janisa, Patty and Danny to clean him up.  For that, Howie promised them ice cream at McDonalds.

Finally, what do you do when you are told the Chicks cannot come out of their cribs because it is too cold?  You get in the bed with them! Elizabeth and Emily curled up beside their charges, reading to them and cuddling to them.  The children really loved it.   

Now, on to WOW time:

Emily loved how Maria Asuncion smiled so much more today and was willing to go to so many new people. 

Dallas enjoyed working with Ella and how sweet she is to everyone.  She was particularly appreciative of the clothes that Ella loaned her when she got soaked during a diaper change! 

Bethany was encouraged by how every time she walked through the center, she saw do many people smiling and dancing.  She particularly appreciated overhearing Emily say to the other girls, “We don’t’ have time to talk, we have work to do!”

Several people noted how observant the children are.  How they will hand you their socks when it is time to put on their shoes or how they know where everyone’s bed is.  Abby reported how one little girl wanted a tricycle and lead her to another room to get one.   She also was taken aback when one little boy went and got the gloves and wipes, sat down on the potty and expected her to clean him up!  But, she did it!

Terri’s special moment was when she realized that her favorite baby when she was here last Fall had chosen Terri’s daughter, Aubrey, to attach herself to.  Like mother, like daughter!

Several were amazed at how much work the workers do and cannot believe that they do it all alone for so many weeks a year.  Wendy said, “It would be terrifying!”  And Janisa  exclaimed, “Why do we complain as mothers when we have so little to do in comparison to the nannies!”

Christy’s favorite part of the day was when she got to spend some time in the classroom helping the teacher organize her books and providing her with more books from the ones donated for the school.  She sat with Miguel while he read a book to her in Spanish and she thought, “This is how we can change Guatemala!”

Cathy’s favorite part of the day was seeing all the younger girls lined up in the bathroom scrubbing toys.  They had an assembly line set up and when asked if they needed help stated, “We have it under control.”  They scrubbed all the toys from Chicks room yesterday, the baby room today, and will do the Bunnies tomorrow.  Terri noted what a help that is with so much sickness in the Center right now.

Ella added that she was very touched with Iliana offered to help her and Dallas fold laundry. 

Rachel told about Aura, a tiny Down Syndrome baby who came to the center last week. T he workers told her that all Aura wanted to do was sleep, but when Rachel and Ella put her in a baby seat today, she came alive and was so alert and attentive to all around her.  Howie said that he was particularly touched because it was such an example of how touch and stimulation provided by volunteers can make a difference in a child’s life.

Robert told about the work that the men did on Basilo’s house noting that it made him very humble to see how they lived in a one room building with a dirt floor not more than a shed covered by a tin roof.  He stated that most of us keep our dogs better than that and yet Basilo was so grateful for their help and listened carefully when they told that they came in the name of Jesus.   

Vicki was impressed when she got to walk out back with Bethany and see the work that is being done on the bee hives. When she heard Bethany’s testimony about not knowing why she was being called to come to Guatemala to work with children only to find that God was calling her to work with Basilo and help him learn about bees and chickens. 

Stephanie told about not being sure that she would have enough money to come on the trip only to watch God provide all the finances through family and friends.  She said she is so grateful to be able to come particularly because she has fallen in love with Andres.  Today when she had to tell him goodbye, he took her face in his hands, gazed into her eyes and she thought, “I will never be able to leave here on Thursday!”

Patty’s favorite part of the day was when Pam came in to tell the story of David and Goliath in Spanish.  Then, she led the children in prayer.

Janisa told of leading devotion time with the workers.  She asked them many questions about their lives and encouraged them to pray for each other.  She felt that she had been called to Guatemala for that very moment. 

Jeanette told about coming to Guatemala reluctantly last July because her husband asked her to.  On that trip, she fell in love with a little girl who was lifeless with a blank stare.  She got to come back in January to find that same little girl, Madeline, happy and healthy.  Today, Madeline’s nanny told Jeanette that she had to take down a picture of Madeline with Jeanette because it made Madeline cry.  “She loves you,” the nanny said.

Kennedy told about a little girl named Michaela almost as big as Kennedy who fell asleep in her arms.  She could not put her down because Michaela would cry.  So, Kennedy took her to her bed and lay down with her.  Karen added that Kennedy was in an uncomfortable position but did not move because she did not want to wake Michaela.         

We hope this gives you a little sampling of what we did today, and more importantly we hope this encourages you to sign up for a trip, whether it is your first time or a repeat time to get back to see and help the children again.  They need you.  We are all already beginning to dread saying goodbye on Thursday.