January 9, 2011

On New Year’s Eve, when we were visiting Jessica’s family, Virginia (Jessica’s mom) told us about a little girl “just like Jessica” who lived in a village not far from them. Today Dick, Tony and Brian and I made a trip up to Vera Cruz to meet this family.

After waiting in Patulul for Virginia we were a little surprised to see (well, not really surprised, maybe disappointed is a better word) to discover that not only she, but her daughter and a young man living with them had come meet us. It was a difficult conversation for me to explain to her (though I had done so repeatedly on the phone when we talked earlier) that only one of them could come back with us to Antigua. There were a number of good reasons for this, but it’s still hard for me to say “no” knowing that especially Erma (her daughter) missed Jessica terribly and would love to see her. This in one of those times when I’m learning I can’t meet every need or desire, as much as I would like to.


Though disappointed, they all seemed to understand, or at least accept this decision, and agreed that the young man (whose name I wish I could remember) and Erma would return to their home after visiting the family in Vera Cruz.

With this settled, we were soon on our way to meet this family, whose daughter was also named Jessica. After a short drive on the highway, we were met by Jessica’s brother, who would show us the way to their house along a dirt road. We had expected the house to be “off the beaten path” as most of these homes are, but I don’t think even Virginia and her family were prepared for just how far off the path this was. It took between 20 and 30 minutes of driving on rock, dirt, some cement, and often grass before we reached the family’s home. To think this young man (12 years old) had walked this distance alone, and then waited for us, seemed incredible.

We had been prepared to find a child with severe malnutrition, and we (at least I) was relieved to find this young girl looking well fed and cared for. That would not be the end of our involvement, though.

Jessica could definitely use a wheelchair, and Dick expertly measured her for one. Mom also shared with us that she was a single mother who had to work, and had no one to care for Jessica during the day. Her only solution was to keep her eleven year old daughter out of school to care for Jessica while she was at work. The girl had missed much of the previous school year because of this. Did we think we would be able to help her get Jessica a permanent placement at Hermano Pedro?

It’s hard when asked these questions, because we are not “officially” part of Hermano Pedro, only volunteers. We do have some good friends on the staff, however, who often help us out, and we promised to do what we could. Actually, since there had been five recent deaths in Anibal, the children’s area, it seemed that this might be a possibility, though we didn’t share this with Mother. As we talked further, we discover Mom had already begun the process, and would be bringing Jessica to Antigua on Jan. 20 to begin the first examination. We would talk with our friends, and ask them to meet Jessica and her mom when they are there. Mom did not know about Case de Fe, where families coming for treatment at Hermano Pedro can stay free of charge (kind of a Ronald McDonald House, Guatemalan style), and she was delighted to find out she could actually travel down the night before the appointment. I’ll be meeting her when she comes down and doing whatever I can to facilitate the process for her, though there surely are no guarantees. I’d ask for prayer for this family as they make this difficult journey to placing their child outside their home, and also prayer that Hermano Pedro will open its doors to her if this is for her best.

A number of things struck me today, but nothing more than the kindness and love Dick’s kids show these children we visit. Often they have a better rapport with the kids than two older gringos ever could. The kids seem to trust them more readily, and the ease with which the boys reach out to children with disabilities is a beautiful thing to see.

Today I got to see Tony in action. Tony drives a tuk-tuk and seldom gets to come along on visits, but today he loaned his rented tuk-tuk to a friend to drive for the day. (Tony pays Q200 a day—about $25—to lease his mini-taxi, and at Q5 a ride must drive at least 40 fares to even break even. How he can make money is beyond me.) Though not around kids with disabilities as often as the others of Dick’s kids, he was a natural with Jessica, and she enjoyed the attention from a young man immensely.

I’d had a similar experience the other day when we were at the orphanage in Patzun. I’m used to Fernando being a kid magnet, but Kevin surprised me a little. Kevin is a bit shyer, but once a little one I was holding reached out to him, he, too, rose to the occasion and did a great job with the kids, especially the tiniest ones who seemed most drawn to this gentle young man.

I think Dick sometimes wonders about the time he invests in the kids in his neighborhood—I know he’s had to eliminate some more typical ministry activities to be available to the kids. But the past few days have convinced me of the benefit of his “ministry of hanging out” with these young people, and the impact he has made on their lives and their futures. I’m sure we will get some “home missionaries” out of this bunch, and the rest will be better parents at the very least. Not a bad return on the investment of time if you ask me. . .

Today, a chair for Miguel (Jan. 7, 2011)

Before:  Miguel in his stroller

After: Miguel in a properly fitted chair

I had visited an orphanage in Patzun in December (see journal Dec. 9) and had met Miguel Angel, who needed a wheelchair. When I mentioned this to Dick he didn't hesitate for a minute before saying, "Let's do it." So today, a little less than a month later, Dick, Fernando, Kevin, Heidi (one of the Hermano Pedro nurses) and I headed on our way.

When we arrived at San Fransico Home, we were immediately greeted by kids. One little guy immediately latched on to Dick, and "shadowed" him most of the time we were there. Though none of the kids there have families, this group of kids have really become "family" under the guidance of the Sisters and nannies who care for them. This is one of the happiest places I've visited in Guatemala.

The gift of this chair brought a great deal of excitement, not only to Miguel and his caretakers, but to the other kids as well. They were all so excited to see him get the chair, and couldn't wait to help adjust it or push him around in it.

Once again as I watched Dick work I was amazed at how he turns fitting a wheelchair into a true ministry experience. Though he is highly skilled in seating, it really isn't about the chair for him, it's about the kids. The one who he is seating, and the ones around wanting to help. Though as he has said before, his "helpers" can turn a ten minute job into a one hour process, he makes every effort to include anyone who wants to pick up a wrench. Today was no exception.

The seating began with Kevin and Fernando starting work on the chair, but soon many of the children gathered around wanting to help. Dick patiently instructed them, giving each some small part in the process, even if it was only to hold a screwdriver or turn a wrench. He really seems to "come alive" during these times, though I don't know how he does it. The number of kids helping would drive me to distraction, but he has infinite patience with them.

Two young men at the home, both named Mario, really caught on to the process, and were great workers, demonstrating real mechanical ability. Dick had to slow them down sometimes, because the would anticipate (correctly, though somewhat prematurely) the next step before he was ready to move on. These two guys seemed to blossom under Dick's direction and attention. Again, each part of the chair was adjusted as perfectly as Dick could get it, even making a trip into town to "rent" a vice to reshape a part that wasn't just right.

When the seat was ready, it was truly a celebration for the whole group, and almost everyone got into the act. Even the littlest ones got their share of attention, and anyone who could took turns pushing Miguel around in his new chair, as he grinned ear to ear.

We stayed and played with the kids as long as we could, but soon had to leave to get back to Chimaltenango in time to take some of Dick's kids to youth group in Antigua. It was hard to pull away, especially for Fernando and Kevin, but we promised to come back and visit again soon. The next time we come, we hope to be able to bring a therapist with us to set up physical therapy programs for a few of the kids.

Heidi with Miguel.
Heidi first brought me to this orphanage
where I discovered Miguel needed a chair.

As we drove away, we couldn't help but contrast San Francisco with Hermano Pedro, where we usually work. Though both institutions care deeply about their children, there is such a striking difference. The inclusion of kids with disabilities with non-handicapped kids at San Francisco seems to be the key. The "special" kids get what they need, but it's part of the natural environment where the Sisters and caretakers try to give each kid what they need. Nothing "special" about the kids with disabilities. What seemed special to me was the way the other kids accepted, loved, and supported those who needed a little more help!

Luisa gets a chair, and Pat gets new friends (Jan. 6, 2011)

Dick and Carlin with Julio and Mercedez @ Camperos

I spent much of my morning at the orphanage today. Though there are still not many kids back from vacation, it was good to spend time with the ones who are there. More and more I see that these kids who have no where to go for a holiday are often the ones most overlooked and neglected by the volunteers, including me. I’m trying to use this time to correct that.



Esbin and Julio





Colocha

Dick was also at the orphanage today, working with a team of therapy students who had come in from Emory University in Atlanta. They were working on repairing and adjusting the kids’ chairs, with Dick’s support and insight. Around noon we decided to take a few of the kids to lunch since it seemed we could both use something to eat. Since many of the kids in Anibal (the children’s area) had been out with us recently, we only took Julio, at the request of Cesar and Carlin. We also took two young women Dick knows well, Colocha and Mercedez, out with us. I really didn’t know these two very well when we left, but by the time we returned felt I had made two new friends.

After lunch, we took the kids back to Hermano Pedro, and picked up two students to come with us to Luisa’s house. Gio, the Celebrate Recovery pastor at our church, had introduced us to this family a little more than a week ago. Dick had managed to find a chair he thought would work for her, and we were anxious to visit her family again.

Though Beatriz is a single mother of six, she is doing everything she can for Luisa. The expenses of caring for her (special food such as Ensure and Encaparina, diapers, etc.) are difficult for her to manage, but she didn’t ask for any help. She only was grateful for what we were doing. Looking at Luisa, though, it seems she could use some extra income in this area.

I couldn’t help but notice how this house was neat as a pin, despite the four dogs and four children living there. Mom is proud of her family and cares for them well. She also is extremely hospitable, offering us drinks and inviting me to come into the bedroom to visit with her and Luisa while Dick and the others worked on the chair.

Beatriz was quick to share her story with me, one I’d someday like to write and publish in its entirety. For now, it’s enough to say that she’s had her struggles in life, God placed Giovanni in her path, and he gently though repeatedly kept inviting her to join the Celebrate Recovery group at Iglesia del Camino. She said it took a long time for her to take the risk, but once she went she found a group of people who loved and cared for her, and did not feel so alone anymore.

She continues to be involved in the group, and lights up when she talks about the program and the effect it has had on her life. Her affiliation with a group in an Evangelical church has been hard for her mother, a Catholic, to accept, and has caused a significant strain on their relationship. Beatriz regrets this, but is willing to pay the price to grow in her new relationship with Jesus.

After working with CR and recovery for a number of years in my “previous life” at the church, it was wonderful to hear her testimony about the impact it has made on her and her family. I don’t think it was by chance that I just happened to be with Dick when Gio brought him here last week. I know Beatriz and I will continue our friendship, and to encourage each other in our walk. I also have promised to visit again soon to help make some communication symbols for Luisa.

While we were visiting, Dick, the students and the boys adjusted and arranged a great chair for Luisa. We discovered that a tray would also be helpful in allowing her to play while she sits, and will try to find an appropriate one for her. Though Dick warns me not to spread myself too thin (and he’s right, of course) I feel compelled to return to this family about once a week to help them with Luisa, help teach her things she’s not had an opportunity to learn before, and continue my friendship with Beatriz. I don’t think it’s a coincidence (maybe a God-incidence) that they live only a short walk from Hermano Pedro!

I love this picture of Beatriz and Luisa with Dick. 
The look on Luisa's face says it all!

Jan. 4, 2010--With the Hernandez Kids!

(From the beginning of Dick's blog in which he once again "appropriated" my journal.  This time, though, he was kind enough to insert the pictures for me.)

After only a little arm twisting on my part, and agreeing to post her picture at the top of my blog, Pat has once again graciously agreed to do part of this weeks Journaling.  I will verify that most of what Pat has written is fairly accurate bear in mind though that although Pat excels me when it come to spelling and language skills my recollection of numbers (especially when it come to soccer scores) far exceeds hers.   (Dick, I thought it was still a sin to lie!!!!  Only left this in to once again demonstrate Dick's tendency toward exaggeration--Pat)

January. 4, 2010

For months now we (Dick and I) have been promising the Vincente-Hernandez kids we would take them to a motel overnight as a reward for their good grades in school last year. About six weeks ago, we weren’t sure all of them would make it, since Ronnie was hospitalized with pneumonia and near death (or so we thought).

 

Yesterday we were gratefully able to load all five school-age kids, including Ronnie, into Dick’s car and head for the coast. Ronnie has made a full recovery (or as full a recovery as is possible for a 17 year old with Muscular Dystrophy), and he, is brother Orlindo (age 8), and sisters Jessica (16), Clara (14) and Estrella (12) were more than excited as we drove away from their house. We also had with us Elder, a little guy from Dick’s neighborhood who was excited to be the only one we had brought with us from home.



We arrived at the hotel about lunch time, and were all hungry, so we headed directly to the restaurant to have a bite to eat while our rooms were being readied. The kids were delighted to find that there were hamburgers on the menu, and for the girls at least, this became their choice of food for every meal we had here, including breakfast! We swam for a long time after lunch, and the kids got progressively braver in the water. I think Dick and I had as much fun, if not more, than the kids did!


It had been at pretty long and hot ride down to the hotel (except for the few times Dick stopped to let the center-pivot irrigation spray into the car to cool us off) and all the kids wanted to rest after dinner. The girls and I settled into our room watching TV. Imagine my surprise when, at 8:30, Jessica turned off the TV and the overhead light, announcing it was their bedtime. I had hoped for some sleep while rooming with them, but never imagined I’d actually get MORE sleep than I do regularly.


They were up bright and early, however, and had a great time in the shower. This is a rare treat for kids who usually have to bathe from a small tub, and they took full advantage of their opportunity to use hot (well, warmish) running water to their hearts’ content. (I later found out that Dick and the boys were still trying to sleep through the noise, but, it was worth it to hear the girls enjoy themselves so much with something I take for granted, even here in Guatemala).

Since the boys weren’t up yet, we ladies made our way to the restaurant to have our morning coffee and play a few spirited games of UNO. We were almost disappointed when then boys joined us and it was time to order breakfast.


This is a great hotel, with the slowest food service in all of Guatemala. I think we got it figured out, though. Today we placed our food order, and then went to play soccer while our meal was prepared. It was girls against the boys (with Ronnie being score-keeper). The girls easily whooped the boys, even though the girls played in dresses and bare feet! (Case in point abut Pat's poor recollection of soccer scores.)  Dick kept trying to talk me into joining the game, but I think that was only because the girls were ahead  (Hard to believe that Pat came here as a missionary.  D.R.) , and he thought I’d be a “handicap” to them winning.




After breakfast we all quickly changed into our bathing suits and went swimming again. Today everyone swam except Elder. For some reason he was very anxious whenever he was around the pool. Dick’s frequent attempts to coax him out were futile, though I think Elder not swimming probably bothered Dick more than it did Elder, who seemed to enjoy himself greatly playing on Dick’s computer.




It was great fun to watch the kids become progressively more comfortable in the water, today even venturing onto the waterslides. Ronnie was even able to swim with Dick’s help. All too soon it was time to check out of the hotel and head for home.
We were all anxious to find out if the new baby (child #8) Mom was expecting had been born yet. None of us were a disappointed as Mom was, though, when she told us that there were still no immediate signs of his/her appearance. Dick suggested she wait until the weekend and deliver on his birthday (the 8th). We’ll see if Mom takes his advice.

Pat 


(From Dick's jounal--Baby Briefing. . .he "forgot" to tell me about this call until days later.  He may think he remembers numbers, but he sure forgets a lot of other things!)

Believe it or not mom did take my advice.  I got a phone call from Ronny's dad a on the 10th telling me that his wife had a baby boy on my birthday and that they are considering naming it Dick.  

Goodnight,

Yours in Christ: Dick

A New Kind of New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2010

Since I have provided Dick with a number of journals this week, he's graciously allowed me to use his from yesterday.  (Of course, I'll need to add a few comments of my own!).  The "fancy" pictures are also from his journal.  Me, I'm more plain Jane! Thanks, Dick.  He writes:

This is my favorite picture of Virginia,
Jessica's mom. 

On Friday 2 visitors from the States, Pat, 2 of my boys and myself went and visited Jessica's family. Jessica is still in the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro but as well as she is doing I think that she will likely return to her home with in a few months. Now that the family has a new house and monthly support for food it should be a lot easier for Jessica's widowed mother to care for her.







Today's visit was more of a social call than anything else. Pat had not yet seen the new house and I simply wanted to see how the family was doing. Mom and the kids were delighted that we had come to visit and mom insisted that we stay for lunch.  (Mom, who usually is so serious, was delightful.  She even joined us to eat--after Steve  insisted--and had a great time teasing us!--Pat) While we were there Pat stayed at the house and learned how to make tamales while a few of the kids walked us down to a small stream that the village water comes from. (Mom told me I could now make tamales for Dick. When I replied, as any liberated North American would, that he could cook for himself, Mom was absolutely horrified.  Now I understand what it means when "cultures collide!"--Pat)

This is a delightful family and none of us wanted to leave anymore than they wanted us to but since it was new years eve I wanted to be off the roads before dark.

Over all it has been a good week but it has also been a hard one. On Thursday one of the men at Hermano Pedro that I have been friends with for over 10 years passed away and yesterday I received a phone call at 5 AM from the family of Cesar (The man who's leg I have been treating) telling me that he had passed away. This is the second son that this family has lost in less then 3 months. Pat, the kids and I picked up 92 year old father Bernardo and went and visited Cesar's family before heading out to visit Jessica's family.

(Cesar's family was the second Guatemalan family Dick had taken me to visit, back in June of 2008 when I was first thinking of moving to Guatemala.  He'd allowed me to come and translate in my very "broken" Spanish.  This visit had helped me confirm my call to serve here, and therefore, though I have seldom seen this family, they are special to me.  I am grateful to Cesar for the part he played in my jouney to Guate.--Pat)

I can still remember the day that Father Bernardo introduced me to Cesar. He was dismayed because none of the hospitals were willing to do anything for Cesar. On our drive back from Cesar's home father Bernardo told me that he would love to join me more often when I brought out wheelchairs or visited people. I quickly explained to him that I would love to have him accompany me but that I wanted him to know that I was Evangelical and not Roman Catholic. Farther Bernardo (who was dressed exactly like he is in the picture [to the left]) then informed me that he was Roman Catholic and not Evangelical.

He then looked at me and said,

"End of our theological discussion. Now lets go do God's work."

(I pray we will all live in 2011 by these words of a very wise and compassionate Guatemalan priest!--Pat)

Goodnight,


Yours in Christ: Dick



You also might be interested in seeing this trip through the eyes of one of the pastors who accompanied us.  I'm taking the liberty of posting his blog entry for today. 

Written by Gary Newton  (pictured above eating tamales), pastor of Living Waters Church, Hastings, Michigan:

Guatemala – Our visit off the beaten path
Posted: January 13, 2011 by lwch in Guatemala


We were having lunch with Dick Rutgers and he mentioned that he was going to visit the family of Jessica, one of the girls at the orphanage, the following day and he had room for 2 if we wanted to go with. So, Stevie and I volunteered to ride along with Dick, Pat, and 2 of Dick’s boys. Riding with Dick was an adventure all of its own in his Toyota Land Cruiser. We pulled off the road and wound our way across the creek and up the mountain into this ex-rubber/coffee plantation. At the top of the hill we found a village nestled in among the trees in such a way that at first I didn’t realize how large the village was. Their school had 200 students. We pulled down a path and parked a short distance later at momma’s house. That was how Dick referred to this Jessica’s mom. Earlier they had constructed a new metal home for her and her children. They installed a new wood stove and gave her a water heater. We visited and took a walk down to see what their water source looked like. They had water for 2 hours every other day.

When we got back I enjoyed watching her roll tamales in banana leaves. And then she invited us to eat lunch with her which we did. Initially it was a challenge because of my sensitive gringo stomach, but the tamales were delicious. Her living conditions were far from glamorous, but this woman was filled with grace and she loved her children. As we waited for the tamales to finish cooking we sat and visited, what a lovely time, it reminded me of camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her story wouldn’t be complete with sharing the video below. It tells the story of Jessica and how she received the help that saved her life. In 2 months she will be in good enough condition to be returned to her mother who lives off the beaten path.

Thanks, Gary and Steve for coming with us.  You're just the type of folks we love to work alongside!