Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Guatemala, December 16 Team


Streamers, decorations, a manger scene, and a Christmas tree…the Malnutrition Center is ready for Christmas! Even the children’s clothing reflect the time of year with holiday sayings and patterns. It’s been a while since an Orphan’s Heart team has visited (about 6 weeks), so there are some new faces in each of the children’s rooms. Most notably lots of the boys need haircuts and the girls’ bangs could use a trim! For those of us who are returning to the Center we are excited to see new faces. Those of us who are serving for the first time are enjoying getting to know the children. As always, the nannies are happy to see us and we are just as happy to work alongside them and hopefully give them a little bit of a break now and then.


Feliz Navidad!

The Comedor all decorated for Christmas

Those of you who eagerly await the blog update (I’m one of you too!) let me fill you in on some of the new names and faces that you can expect to see in our pictures.

New to the Canary room are Edgar, Cristian, Evelyn, and Paola. Continue to pray for Paola as she is 2 months and came to the Center weighing 4 pounds. Thank God she is eating well. Marvin is learning to crawl and Kimberly is trying to stand up but keeps falling down although she happily tries over and over again. Maria Fernanda, who has a cleft palate, is now 6 months old and weighs 11 pounds, so she is just one more pound away from being eligible for her surgery- pray that she gains it quickly.  Carmen is currently quarantined because she has the chicken pox.

Canaries

Some of the Bunnies have recently moved up to the Chicks: Franco, Marta, Sucena, and Dairin. Danny is also new to the Chicks, but he went home for a few days due to the fact that his grandfather is dying and the family is traveling to be with him. Danny will return, but say a prayer for his family and health while he is away.
Maria Josephina

Rosa

   
Mauro and Elias have been promoted to the Ducks and fit right in! Joining them in the Ducks and new to the center are Marvin, Victor, and Kevin- who has the chicken pox. (Not the same Kevin who was here this summer.) Cindy is now a Squirrel and there are many new Squirrel faces at the center: Angelica, Cecilia, Leslie, Elvira, Rosario, and Madelyn Julissa.  It’s as if they’ve been here for a while though and they have the routine down! 

Mayra is ALL smiles!

We’ve yet to have a dull moment around here with so many new faces and exciting happenings. On Monday, the nannies and Lucky helped us celebrate Las Posadas-a Guatemalan tradition this time of year. We remembered how Mary and Joseph wandered through Bethlehem looking for a place to stay. A few of the older girls carried a manger scene and the rest of the children paraded behind followed with the nannies singing. In town, the group would have gone door to door, but at the center we just went room to room singing. The last home you come to lets you in and feeds you…so when the caravan was finally let in, we celebrated with tostados, cake, and hot chocolate. What a treat to get to be a part of this celebration and enjoy some authentic Guatemalan treats!
Las Posadas

Today we had another surprise. The family of a local doctor, who did a rotation at the Center during his medical training, came bearing gifts of cake, piñata and many treats. The Ducks, Squirrels, and Chicks were invited to the front porch where they received a bag to collect their ’dulces’ (sweets) in. Of course, it wasn’t a party until everyone had their hats on! While the kiddos were waiting in anticipation of the piñata fun, cake was passed out. Some of the older children took turns beating the colorful piñata, but Angelica had the hit that released the sweets! Once the candy hit the floor it was a free-for-all with niῇos and niῇas crowded around to get as many pieces of candy as they could. Victor wins the prize for collecting the most; his baggie was overflowing! Even so, a few of our more dainty Squirrels were more interested in the cake and took their time finishing it. We made sure to spend as much time outdoors as we could to run off that sugar!
Pinata Fun!

Our team has seamlessly divvied up chores and tasks. The former interns even commented that it hardly felt like a Monday and all the children were fed and ready for nap by 1:30. For those of you who have been here before, can you say WOW moment?  Pastor Dennis from Louisiana has been hard at work fixing things and doing maintenance projects. Tim from Palatka can usually be found toting the weed whacker here and there. Andres in the Ducks was especially intrigued with it this morning and wanted to help! Seth and Jacob attempted to make tortillas, but Jacob earned the name “No Bueno” from Lupe if that gives you any indication as to how well they did. Seth had another first encounter today: the diaper. Unfortunately the Canary he was feeding had a clean one, so he got away clean handed. I’m sure he will have another chance, as no one who comes to the center gets away without changing a diaper! It’s pretty much an unwritten rule.
Ducks are enthralled by Mr. Tim!


We look forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow and how we can be His hands and feet here in Guatemala. 

1 comment:

  1. Hooray for a new blog post. Keep the stories coming! Tell them all how much we miss them and give Billy and Nanny Christy a hug for me!

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