Camperos continues to be a favorite outing for the residents of Hermano Pedro. It's such fun for them to actually be able to choose what they want to eat. Some, like Julio pictured above, are fed pureed food at the orphanage, and love to enjoy a bit of "real" food now and then.
Bobby really enjoys feeding himself these days. It's a struggle, but he's so proud of himself when he manages to do this. Ice cream cones have become one of his favorites, though he still needs a little help to keep from crushing them.
The swing donated by Bill Specht, a therapeutic p.e. teacher from the US gets a good workout whenever there are volunteers available to push.
The kids love doing simple crafts and other fine motor activities. Don't tell them it's good for them!
Fidel is one of our favorites. Though he only has use of his feet, he manages to run a computer, draw, write, and even run a remote control car. Fidel is one of the reasons I hope some day we can begin a community living home for some of the more independent residents of Hermano Pedro.
Melvin can't move, can't talk, can barely manage to eat, but there is no one who is happier. His nickname is Romeo, because he flirts with all the women who come onto the unit. He laughs so hard when I call him my "novio" (boyfriend).
Henry has now joined Sonya and Moises, attending school at one of the private collegios in Antigua. Thanks to Nineth, the wonderful teacher provided to the orphanage by a sponsor through Bethel ministries, for all her work in making this happen.
Gloria was very sick at the end of last year. She has made an amazing recovery, and has a volunteer from Germany who has fallen in love with her and spend a great deal of time just walking around pushing her wheelchair. Gloria couldn't be more delighted.
David, one of our children who has been very sick for a very long time has celebrated his first Easter in heaven with Jesus. While it has been hard to say good-bye to him, we know he is now healthy, whole and happy, and I hope hanging out with some of our other kids who went before him into glory.
Ervin, who the nurses call my "son," returned from Christmas much thinner, though he could have used to lose a few pounds. His nickname was "gordo" (fatty). For some reason he seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time stuck in his crib. Please pray we can find an appropriate way to confront this with the orphanage staff. He's a challenging kid, but only becomes more so when confined to his crib.
Yofri has one of the most severe cases of Cerebral Palsy of any of our children. His back muscles constrict so forcefully his head almost touches his heels. Here he is lying in a special form constructed by Dick to help keep him straight. He returned from Christmas much more flexible, and we're wondering what his family did to help him. We found a child-size hammock which we're going to try using to see if this helps maintain him in a better position.
Please pray for our dear Lionel. He has continued to lose weight, though he has been on a feeding tube much of the time since Christmas. The orphanage has done a trial of allowing him to try\to bottle feed, and it's only become worse. We're hoping we can influence the staff into putting him back into the malnutrition project.
Many of our kids have been home with their families for Holy Week and Easter. Some, like Jessica, have families who could not afford the transportation needed to take home an individual in a wheelchair, so had to stay at the hospital. Her family did come to visit her, though, and she really enjoyed their time together.
Please pray for the safety of our kids as the return to Hermano Pedro this week.
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