Women of Compassion and Springdale Community Church
Day 5:
Tomorrow (Thursday) is our last day at the Malnutrition
Center - The bittersweet ending to an incredible experience. It is sweet because we have some amazing
memories that we will forever carry with us.
It is bitter, because we've done so much this week, and yet we are
leaving with the feeling that we could never do enough.
Approximately 50% of the children in Guatemala are malnourished. There will always be work to be done. There is only 1 missionary,
for every 50,000 non-Christians in the world.
There will always be good work to do, everywhere.
My partner in the Dolphin Room, Karen Anne, had a “Wow”
moment today. It finally hit her that
the very best that the Center and the Nannies can do for these children is to
take care of their most basic needs. Every day, the Nanny in the Dolphin Room, Zoila, bathes, dresses, feeds,
changes, plays, cuddles, and administers basic physical therapy to seven
children with special needs. That is an incredible feat. Believe me, we are all
sore and worn out from just assisting! However, that doesn't leave much time to
take the children anywhere outside of the room.
Karen Anne has a child that is around the same age as some of these
munchkins, and she realizes now that these children don’t get to go on play dates,
take a stroll through the zoo, go to Disney, or see Barney in concert LIVE! And she wept.
The Nannies do things a lot differently than the way I did
things in raising my child. For example,
they put far more effort into feeding these children. As a mom, if my daughter turned away from her
food or a bottle, then I knew she wasn't hungry, and I would try again
later. When these children turn away
from food or a bottle, it is because they are not used to eating, and it has to
be forced on them. Really hard to watch,
but easy to understand.
Also, everything the Nannies do is on a strict schedule. If
it wasn't done this way, then it would be hard for anything to get done in a timely manner. The Nannies are constantly on the move. If a
child isn't ready to eat, sleep, or wake up, they are really good about moving
on to the next child, but eventually it needs to get done.
Many of you who came with Orphan’s Heart in the beginning
may have met Orily. She was the one that helped Robby and Lori as they were
building homes with us here in Guatemala. Today we had the chance to have
breakfast with her and she just found out she has cancer. The doctors want to
do surgery on her, but she has decided not to. Her daughter was with her and
has asked all of us to pray that her mom changes her mind and goes through with
the surgery. Will you all please pray with us that God will change her heart or
bring complete healing to her? Thank you in advance and may God’s Will be
done. Much love from Guatemala! Hasta manana.
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