On our last trip to Huehuetenango, Dick, Joyce and Abby Clark and I visited a number of families that we have come to know and love over the years. Freddy is a little boy who has been sponsored through Bethel ministries for several years now. If Freddy were to go off from the medicine that a sponsor in the USA pays for Freddy would have several seizures a day, but thanks to this sponsor Freddy is now nearly seizure free. Today we delivered a three month supply of medicine to his home.
I brought along flannel diapers that some ladies from Westside had made and Freddy seemed to be delighted with them. Previously, Freddy’s momma had been diverting some of the funding sent for medication to buy diapers, saying Freddy only liked disposable diapers. Well, I think he’ll like these just fine!
One of our next stops was to see Jose who drives his power chair to school and back every day. His current chair had been shorting out on him and he had been hesitant to go very far in it. Today we traded his old one for a newer one. Neat thing is we will take the old one back to Bethel's shop where it will be refurbished to like new condition and soon be given to some one else.
Because of maintenance and the cost of batteries is high, we do our best to give out power chairs only when they are absolutely needed and the person that receives them can not use a manual chair to get around. Unfortunately we are presently out of batteries so we can not give out any power chairs or even keep all of those those that have been given out running. If anyone wants to help out in some way with batteries, please contact me for more information.
I was happy to Maria Garcia and two of her grandchildren again. The last few times I’d been up here, she had either been ill or in Guatemala city. Maria has been a real blessing to us. She has been instrumental in helping us reach many families in her community that are in need of food, schooling, medical help or wheelchairs. She loves her family and loves her community.
She seldom asks us for anything, but this trip wanted to know if we could bring in a small team to paint and possibly wire the church they had built in their aldea. Since this is a relatively remote area where few “gringos” come, we would like to bring in no more than 3 people (preferably someone who knows about wiring) to do this job. Alternately, if funding became available we could hire local people to do this work. This is not something we often do, but this is such a poor community and Maria has helped us so much that I couldn’t say no. The people in this church have already sacrificed much to construct a building where they can worship together. If you’d like to help with this, please let me know.
One of the families that Maria put us in contact with a few years ago is Juana and her family. Juana is a poor widow who had three children who Dick gave wheelchairs to a few years ago, plus a few more kids that she took in simply because they had no place to live. One of her daughters died a year or two ago and a few months ago her disabled son who is pictured here was brutally assaulted only a hundred feet from their home. We are reasonably sure that had he not been disabled the villagers would have done something to the man that did this but since this boy is disabled nothing was done and the man still lives in the village.
We made a quick hike in to see Ruddy and make a few adjustments to his artificial leg. He’ll need to see Marvin in the future to get more adjustments made, but hopefully this will get him by until then.
Only Lionel's mom and the two youngest girls were at home when we stopped of at their place. Father and the older kids were out working the fields and the two younger boys were in school.
Lionel's family misses him greatly but they know that he is not strong enough to survive at home. He misses them a lot, too. He is back on a feeding tube and is nothing but skin and bones. Mom said that they are grateful for the addition that Bethel Ministries put on their home a few years ago. The six children that are at home still live in the old adobe section but it is very unsafe. It and the 8 foot retaining wall that it stands on have a large crack in them and Dick fears that the next heavy rain will take down the section.
We managed only a quick stop to visit our friend Clara who directs a community center in Huehuetenango. We brought some vitamins, and picked up a number of applications for wheelchairs. While we were there, Clara asked if I could start doing Bible Study with her and some of the ladies who come to the center. Since none of these women are connected with any local church, I am excited to return and do this.
On our way to Huehuetenango we had made an unscheduled stop at the home of Gema, a little girl we met at a Hope Haven distribution last spring. A short time later, Dick was able to set her up in a power chair. There was really no need to stop but I really wanted to visit this family since I had not been able to come along when Dick and some of the boys brought Gema the foot controlled power chair in April.
We were all invited to come back for dinner when we came through on our way back form Huehuetenango. When we arrived Gema climbed up on Dick’s lap and when dinner was served he asked her if she wanted him to feed her. She thanked him, but told him that she could feed herself. One of the other children picked her up and set her on the table. There she confidently fed her self with her foot.
Once again Gema showed us that you are not disabled unless you think that you are. For her having no arms and only one leg simply means figuring out another way of doing things. She is more capable and actively involved in life than many able-bodied people I know!
Gema's family knows they are blessed to have such a precious little girl. Gema is truly blessed to have a family that recognizes that God has truly blessed them by giving them such a special child and strives to help her develop her full potential.
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