The Lord your God has blessed the work of your hands. . .

This quote from Deut. 2:7a kind of sums up some of our recent trips to visit families with whom we work in some of the villages.

While we continue to deal with hardships and very difficult situations here, the past few visits to villages have been very encouraging.  Families with whom we have worked for a long time are becoming healthier.  Kids are making progress in school.  We are blessed by the friendships we have with these people.


Once of our families that is thriving is the family of Jessica, who we met in 2010 when Dick brought her into the malnutrition project at Hermano Pedro after meeting her at a wheelchair distribution.  After spending almost a year in the ward, she returned home and continues to do well.  She is growing and her family, who is receiving a monthly donation for food from Bethel Ministries, is taking wonderful care of her.

Jessica has become quite the little flirt!

She was pretty intrigued when Carlin taught her to use my iPad

Her nephews, who were visiting from Guatemala City loved it, too

This family has not been receiving any help with school expenses, and we would like to help Blanca, Jessica's 17 year old sister, to remain in school.  The whole family is working hard to help her finish her education, which is unusual, given her age and the fact that she is a girl.  She has two more years of school to complete what would be equivalent to someone finishing high school in the US.  She would then like to continue studying either in Antigua or Guatemala City.

It will cost about $35 a month to keep this young lady in school.  If you would like to help her accomplish her dream, email Pat for more information on becoming her sponsor.

Another of my favorite places to visit is a group of single women who are raising their children in an aldea outside of Tecpan.  Many of the children in this aldea are going to school with the help of Bethel Ministries, and Bethel has recently hired a teacher to tutor the children in the afternoon.  This has made a great impact on their grades, and this teacher has proven to be quite creative in her approach.

Yep, those are small stones she's using for counters!

I think, though, that our most encouraging visit was to Marvin's family, in Cerro Colorado.   We had been here just a few weeks ago, and were very concerned about not only Marvin's health, but that of his whole family.  Dr. Jose had visited them with us, and made recommendations for treatment for parasites.  Click here to see the blog on that visit.)

When we got to the house, it appeared that no one was home, but were delighted to see Mom walk around the side of the house carrying Marvin.  There was a spring in her step that I'd not seen before.  They were both obviously, while still painfully thin, much more "sturdy" than when we had seen them a few weeks earlier.

 His brothers are doing much better in school, too.

 Jose will wear the "bandera" (sash) in the Independence

Day parade, Sept. 15, indicating he is the top student 

in his class.                    

When we talked to them about how they were doing, we were overjoyed to hear that all the suggestions we had given were being followed and were working.  They had completed the parasite medication treatment, and were now only drinking purified water.  The kids were taking vitamins, and even had their nails trimmed as Dr. Jose had ordered.  Dad's persistence in looking for work daily had even paid off--he had a job even though it is not cane season. But what really has made a difference, I believe, is the nutritional support they are receiving thanks to our ministry partners at Hope for Home ministries.  We could hardly believe the change we saw in this family.

Dick and I had both thought that Marvin was pretty cognitively impaired.  We discovered, though, that we had been seeing the effects of his severe malnutrition.  Today, Marvin was alert, attentive and responsive.  When I asked mom what hand he used to eat, he put his right hand to his mouth before she had a chance to answer.  He loves to scribble and color when he's in his wheelchair, and we promised to bring him crayons and a coloring book.  He almost jumped off Mom's lap when he heard this!  We promised, too, to work on a simple communication book.

                      

 Grandma, who we thought was close to death at our last visit, was looking pretty spry.  She had been to town to buy vegetables, and you could see how special she is to Marvin when she walked into the yard.  

For a few years now she has been telling us she needs glasses and evidently went to a clinic held by a visiting team and also needs eye drops.  For about $200 we can help this dear lady enjoy the rest of her days with adequate sight.  If you'd like to sponsor her, please email me.

Fidel's Going Away Party

A few days after we signed the legal documents, we were invited back to Hermano Pedro for a going away party for Fidel.  We all thought that this closure was important for him as well as for the other residents who had become his friends.  I didn't realize just how important, though, until I saw what took place.

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Fidel Moves in

I have been waiting almost a year to be able to write this sentence:

As of August 28, 2013, Casa de Esperanza has received it's first permanent resident with the arrival of Panfilo Fidel Hernández Alvarez.

This completes a process that began last November when Fidel made the decision he would like to live with us.  It has taken a lot of talking, waiting, planning and perseverance, but the legal documents have been signed and Casa de Esperanza is now Fidel's forever home.

Miguel and Fernando getting Fidel ready to go as Dick looks on

As we were preparing to leave to go to Hermano Pedro to sign the paperwork, the sky suddenly clouded over, and it began to pour.  For most Guatemalans this is not a problem, but it sure is if you drive a power wheelchair that can short out if it gets wet.  I called over to the office to see if we could sign the papers the next day, but was told it had to be this day because that's what the papers were dated.  So on to Plan B.

Dick happened to be in Antigua, though, and came to the rescue by driving us over there.

The boys loading Fidel into the car--not an easy task

It's not easy on Fidel, either, to travel by car

You can see a little bit here of how flooded the streets were--
a power chair would never have made it through

Dick waited in the car with Fidel as I went in to sign my part of the agreement.  In what I understand is typical Guatemalan legal process, they had to read the entire document to me aloud to make sure I understood what I was signing.  Of course, I probably would have understood better reading it, and finally began reading over the shoulder of the social worker who was helping me.

Since we didn't have Fidel's chair with us, we went out to the car and stood in the rain as he "signed" the papers with the print of his big toe.  (He can sign his name, but, with the close quarters of the car, I didn't say anything.)  And I wondered why we had to drag him out in a storm to only to press his big toe on the paper.   Would anyone know the difference if we had used my big toe?

And it's a done deal!  Fidel is legally part of our household.

Back at home Fidel doesn't look any too bothered by the process

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.~~Jer. 29:11

Now let the future begin. . .

Summer Time Teams--Xavier University

One of the groups from whom I learned the most this summer was a group of Occupational Therapists and students from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Since I have been teaching in a room which used to be used for occupational therapy at New Life School, I had much equipment available for my use.  My knowledge of how to use these things for more than play, though, has been quite limited.  I'm a bit more knowledgable now that these folks have shared with me some of the "secrets" of OT Land.

Diane accompanying Josef and his mom down in the elevator.

One of the unique aspects of this team is that all of the students who wish to come on this trip as part of their required service learning hours must take a course in fundamental Spanish and Latin American culture, taught by Diane, a Spanish professor at Xavier.  You could see the difference this makes in the comfort level of the group, and in their desire to communicate directly with the kids.  Diane accompanies them on the trip down, to help with translation, and she generously shared lots of her ideas for teaching young children using literature from her experience in the Montessori school on the Xavier campus!  

Johana obviously likes the swing.  Now I know how to use it to help her pay attention and focus better.

The team showed me how to use the different types of swings in conjunction with pre-academic and academic instruction. 

Ann, one of the instructors, also showed me how lying on one's stomach can help focus attention and provide "grounding" for a student while trying to learn new material.   (Now if I can just get up off the floor!)

Juan Carlos, one of our greatest challenges academically, really benefited from using the spinning table.  It's so much more than just a "Sit-n-Spin."

And no room is complete without the therapy ball!

What a great group.  Thanks for teaching this old teacher some new tricks.  Can't wait till you come back next year!

Summer Time Teams--The Guys from Louisiana

One of the advantages of having a school year here that runs counter to that in the US, is that, during summer when most of the teams come down here, our kids in Santa Maria are in school and can benefit from the expertise of these teams.  While I don't usually sponsor large teams myself (two or three people are enough for me to wrangle), I am lucky enough to often work with teams other ministries have brought down to serve here in Guatemala.

One of these was a team from Lousiana working at Hope Haven.  Brad Ferguson, the team leader, has become a friend after he and his wife chose to spend their 25th wedding anniversary down here, handing out wheelchairs and telling folks how much Jesus loves them.  This time, Brad brought a group of self-proclaimed rednecks down to build some houses and distribute some chairs.  What they did best, however, was love on our people.  This was just a group of regular guys who just wanted to make a difference for Jesus, and they did!

Brad using his best Spanish (which, sorry brother, is pocito) to communicate with the father of one of the patients who came in for a chair.

Dick and Brad's brother-in-law (whose name escapes me at the moment), a physical therapist, assessing the children to determine the proper seating system for each of them.\

Working on the chair to make it "just so."

But not too busy to just play with the little ones when the work is done.