Life with the Boys

As I wrote the title of this post, I realized that Fidel and Osmi are really more young men than boys.  But, just as with my own sons, I guess they will always be my "boys."

They are continuing their classes and making good progress with their studies.  I know this is challenging for them, but I believe will serve them well in their futures.  Completing Basico (9th grade) is one of the few requirements I give them to continue living in the house.  I know, though, that like me, they are enjoying having a week of vacation for school.

Juan Carlos waiting with Osmi to see the doctors

There was recently a team of US orthopedic surgeons at Hermano Pedro, and one of the regular physicians there suggested that Osmi be seen to see if there was any way surgery could help him gain better mobility of his hands.  As I had thought, since Osmi does not have Cerebral Palsy, the typical surgeries would not help him.

Osmi with the hand surgeon on the team.
He had taken pictures of Osmi to use for teaching purposes,
so we told him he had to let us take one of him!

I was glad that we went, however, because the team from the States said that he does not have Scleraderma, but a rare disorder in which the muscles actually calcify into bone.  This is very strange to me, since he also has osteoporosis, where his bones are losing calcium!  This is so rare that the hand surgeon said he knew there was a specific name for this disease, but it was so unusual he could not recall it.  The bad news is that it is a progressive disease, and his condition can worsen in the future.  Physical therapy will not help slow the process, and, according to the therapists who came with the surgeons, will not impact his condition.

The good news was that in talking to the doctors, it is more and more probable that Osmi's dramatic improvement was due to direct divine intervention, rather than medical remission.  We look forward to see what God will be doing with his life in the future.

Both Fidel and Osmi are enjoying the new addition to our household, Charlie, a baby parrot.  He was Osmi's birthday gift from his parents.  It is a joy to see how tender the boys are with him, and, despite my early concerns, are doing an excellent job caring for him.  Now Fidel is trying to talk me into a dog!

Dick's boys still like to come and visit and talk the guys "out on the town."  Here they are just returning from getting caught in a downpour.  Gratefully, they managed to cover the controller and computer in Fidel's chair to keep it dry.

Please pray for the continued performance of the two power chairs our guys use.  They are delicate equipment, and the rough terrain here is hard on them.  Some wire or other always seems to be coming loose.  It's also impossible to purchase proper batteries here in Guatemala, and Osmi is anxiously awaiting a new shipment from Hope Haven Canada.  He now has to charge his chair a couple times a day if he goes outside our house.  We are so grateful to Dick Rutgers who do all he can to keep us going, and to Bethel Ministries who does the repairs when Dick isn't available or the required repairs are too extensive for him to do alone.

Osmi continues to study computers and English on Saturday mornings, thanks to his sponsor, David Dean, a friend from Hermano Pedro.  Fidel would like to start taking art classes and we are looking for a teacher who can come to the house for a reasonable price.  It is so nice to see them each developing their own interests in addition to the computer.  I was hoping this would happen.  Would love to have a recreational therapist come and do an evaluation of each of them.  If anyone knows a rec therapist who might be interested in coming down for a week or so, please email me.  We could put them to good use!

Fidel out cruising with David Dean in his convertible.
David is a good friend to our guys.

Our final news (in addition to the new house, of course) is that a friend of Juan Carlos who works at a local TV station has spent a couple of afternoons video taping our ministry and is working on developing one minute video spots, both in Spanish and English to help spread the word about Causa de Esperanza.  Stay tuned to see them.  I'll be sure to share them when they're ready!