The Lake with Laurie and Dick

After picking up my friend Laurie at the airport in Guatemala City, she, Dick and I headed for Lake Atitlan.  I wanted to show her one of my favorite places in Guatemala, and both Dick and I were due for a rest break.

We were a bit disappointed to find out that, though we had reservations at our favorite hotel, we would be staying at the building across the street which the hotel had just purchased.  Our disappointment was short-lived, however, when we saw the beautiful view of the lake from the porch outside our rooms.

Of course, we can't take a fun trip without visiting some of our friends in the area.  Sunday, we took a boat ride to San Marcos where we visited Nathaniel, and were happy to find he and his family were doing well.

We then took a tuk-tuk over to Tzunana, and stopped in to see Joaquin.  Visiting his family is always quite a challenge, since most of the family members speak only Tzuil, one of the 26 Mayan languages we have here in Guatemala.

We managed to find a neighbor to translate for us and had a great visit.  We discovered that while Joaquin primarily uses a walker, his mother said she could use a new wheelchair to help transport him longer distances.  We promised to return Monday with a chair on our way back to Antigua.  We also, discovered that, thanks to his attendance at Centro Maya in San Juan, Joaquin has learned a significant amount of Spanish and understood most of what we said.  He is a bright young man!

Our next stop was to Santa Cruz, a town on the Lake we had been told could only be reached by boat.  We stopped for a snack at the Hidden Iguana Restaurant, and Dick was challenged to find something on the menu he liked, since it is mostly vegetarian.  He managed to discover a sandwich with bacon and decided that was good enough.  Laurie and I just had wine and coffee, respectively, and enjoyed the view.

Side note:
Dick kept asking people if there was a way to get into Santa Cruz by car.  He had seen some trucks in town, so knew there had to be a route in.  Last week he studied Google earth, and found a trail in down the side of the mountain, and took it the other day with Marcos.  Never tell Dick he can't do something.  As they were trying to leave, however, the discovered that a back-hoe had dug up the trail, and it took some fast talking on Dick's part to convince the back-hoe operator to let him try to get out of town.  If you're friends with Dick on Facebook, you have to check out his post.  It's a good read!








While we were traveling, I received a call from the mother of Jessica, a little girl who spent almost a year in the malnutrition program.  She had been running a fever for the past week, and mom had no money to take her to the doctor.  We promised to stop there on our way home the next day.

So, after an early breakfast on Monday, we set off to run our errands which had accumulated during our two day "vacation" at the Lake.  First stopped at Joaquin's and delivered a new chair to him.

Next we dropped by to Centro Maya Linguistica in San Juan La Laguna to drop off some dried food and vitamins.

While there, I met the new physical therapist, and also met a little girl who would be perfect for a Mulholland walker.  Dick agreed, and soon we hope to return with one for her.

Our final stop of the day was to see Jessica.  This was a nice side trip for Laurie, as she had gotten to see the mountainous part of Guatemala.  Now we were descending to the flat lands.  Quickly the crops turned from coffee to sugar cane, and the temperature rose rapidly as we came down to almost sea level from about 5000 ft. in the course of an hour.  It still amazes me how you can drive a short time in Guatemala, and feel like you are in a totally different climate (because, really, you are!).

We had stopped and picked up some Tylenol and a thermometer.  We were pleased to discover Jessica's temperature was only about 101 degrees, and she was bright, alert and responsive.  Since she had had the fever of over a week, though, Dick did give her mom money to take her to the local doctor we had used for her in the past.  There are so many mosquito borne illnesses in this region and we wanted her checked just ot make sure.

Not a bad couple days work for a "vacation" trip.  You should see how much we do when we are actually planning on working!

Visits from (US) Friends

This past month we had short visits from two of our friends and supporters in the US.

Joe Turner, a.k.a. Grandpa Joe, was down with a team working with Hope for Home ministries and our friends Daryl and Wanda Fulp.  We met Joe about four years ago when he was down on a team, and he became one of our faithful supporters ever since.  We were so happy that he was able to join us for lunch one day, and get to know our guys.  Thanks, Daryl and Wanda, for making this happen!

Lida Merrill, from Heritage Homes in Rochester, New York has been a long time friend of our ministry.  She had a team down working with Bethel Ministries, and managed to break away for a Saturday afternoon to visit with us, bringing with her Pastor Todd from her home church.  Lida is a wealth of information about programs for those with disabilities.  Her area of specialization is the spiritual development of people with special needs, and ways in which the church can become more inclusive and welcoming to those who may not fit our current programs and facilities.  It is always a joy to visit with her, and it was fun to share our vision for the future and get her and Pastor Todd's feedback.

Finally, Laurie Voss, a long time friend and fellow teacher from Omaha Public Schools, spent a little over a week with us.  Laurie and I taught together for many years at Jackson School, working with mentally ill and behaviorally challenged children and youth.  Working in that tough an environment forges fast friendships, and ours has endured over the years.  Laurie took early retirement this year from teaching English as a Second Language, and wanted to be away when school started this fall.  Coming here was a perfect fit.

Dick and I picked her up at the airport in Guatemala City on Saturday, and we headed for Lake Atitlan for the weekend.  Usually we do a "fun" trip at the end of a person's time with us, but we decided that we better do it first or we might not get it in.  Both Dick and I were ready for a break, and this was a great excuse to take one.

Monday we returned to Antigua, after making a few ministry stops along the way.  (Click here to read more about our weekend.)

Laurie got to spend time with me and my kids at Nueva Vida in Santa Maria.  As a English as a Second Language teacher, she was anxious to spend time with Sandra, our English teacher at the school.  I think they had a good time together.

I know I enjoyed having her in the classroom with me, and the kids did, too.  While her Spanish is not fluent, Laurie was easily able to communicate with the kids, and that meant a lot to them.  I enjoyed having another teacher around (besides our Speech Therapist, Jennifer) who actually understood what I was trying to do.  Was hoping for some suggestions, but Laurie declined.

The rest of our time together we spent doing some tourist shopping, running my regular errands (yeah, I know how to show somebody a good time) and hanging out with the boys.  Laurie taught them to play Farkle, and they enjoyed playing war with her.  They seemed to like playing table games with her more than me, but then, that's no surprise.  Anyone who knows us knows she's the fun one!

Thanks, Laurie for spending your time, money and energy on us.  It was so good to have you here.

Youth Group Connection

The beginning of this month, a youth group from a local church came to do an activity with our young men.  Sandra, the psychologist at New Life, and Nisza, one of our teachers, are a regular part of this group, and they have wanted to bring the group to meet the guys for some time.  When they chose the date, however, I didn't realize that they also had plans to celebrate my 63rd birthday with me a few days early.

Sandra sharing with Roberto

They planned a number of activities, and one of the young men gave a short but effective teaching on the life of Paul.  While all our young men believe in God, they are each struggling in their own way as they each decide what this faith means in terms of how to live their lives each day.  Having contact with other young people who are completely sold out to Jesus is important for them as they try to discover who Jesus is in their lives.  I am grateful to the group for caring about our guys.  It made me realize we need to have more opportunities like this.

Fidel enjoying Nisza's company

Gustavo, a friend who works at the Hope Haven wheelchair factory outside Antigua, and his wife Marleny, happened to stop by and joined the party.  Of course, when Roberto mentioned that one of the sides on his wheelchair did not lock properly, Gustavo went right to work to fix it.  Another way in which our guys felt special and cared for this night.

This experience reminded me once again of the importance of the "ministry of hanging out."  The group didn't come to "bless" our guys, and, while they had a teaching, their main goal was not to "convert" our young men.  They came, really, just to share life with them and get to know them.  The talk of Jesus sprang naturally as they shared with our guys who they are and what's important to them.  This is the way outreach was meant to be done!  Thanks, Templo de Cordero de Dios, for sharing your lives with us.

Miguel Marries Mirna

Sr. y Sra. Jose Miguel Sirin Ambrocio

On August 1, our family was able to celebrate the wedding of our former companion-caregiver, Miguel, to his girlfriend of seven years, Mirna.  It was such a special time, made even more special because we were all able to go to the ceremony and reception, thanks to Dick.

He arranged to borrow a wheelchair van from Hope Haven International, so our three guys could attend, along with Rigoberto, who was working that day.  It was quite a feat to transport three guys in wheelchairs, even with the lift, but it was well worth it to see their enjoyment at celebrating with Miguel.

Miguel's invitation was touching because, while Fidel was the only resident with whom he had worked, Miguel invited our whole family.  It brought tears to my eyes to see the invitation addressed to Pat and familia (family).  I have so wanted us to be seen as a family, both by those who live here as well as by outsiders, and this was an indication to me that this is what is happening.  Miguel could easily have invited just Fidel and me, but chose to recognize us as a family and that meant a lot to me.

I had the honor, along with Dick, of being the two non-family members to be official witnesses and sign Miguel and Mirna's marriage certificate.  I was so very pleased to be asked to do this, and we have promised that we will do whatever we can to support them in their life together.  Miguel has built a small, one room house on the land rented by his parents, and the couple will be living there.  Mirna's family, though, lives only across the street, so they will have plenty of family support as they move forward.

Update on Roberto

Roberto with David Dean, a good friend of our ministry

Many people have been asking how Roberto is, so I thought it was time for an update.

He has adjusted well to living with us, and I am astonished at how well his bedsores are healing now that he is receiving proper care and nutrition.  The swelling in his legs is decreasing, and we can tell by lifting him he is gaining weight. His face is filling out nicely, and we have discovered that he has a delightful smile which we see more frequently each day.

Roberto the day he came to us

Roberto the other night at supper
What a difference a month can make

I know some thought he would be better off in a hospital or at Hermano Pedro, but we were strongly convicted that he should be here with us.  Our experience is demonstrating the wisdom of this decision.  We did take him to see a local doctor who I trust, and he checked him over, agreed with our course of treatment, and said to come back in two months if there weren't any new problems.  This was quite reassuring to me.




Roberto is increasingly becoming part of the family, though it's taken him some time to understand how we interact.  He was very concerned that when we would joke around we were either angry or disrespectful of each other, and not teasing each other out of friendship.

At times he would misunderstand conversations and think we were not all happy to have him here.  This has taken quite a bit of counseling on my part to help him interpret our interactions correctly.  I didn't realize how very wounded he has been by his experiences.  He has not lived in a normal family environment since long before his accident.  He was sent to work in the rubber plantations at the coast when he was only 8 years old, and lived with an uncle who it sounds was not too welcoming.

His recent experiences have only compounded his woundedness.  If he were at Hermano Pedro with 42 other young men in the same ward, I don't know what he would be thinking.

He is learning to make decisions, and take the consequences of them.  If he sits in his chair too long and begins to ache, he is realizing it was his choice to do so.  Some of the companion-caregivers have struggled with this, but I firmly believe he is a young adult and needs to learn to take responsibility for himself as much as he is able to.

Don't get me wrong.  We are not going to allow him to do things that will injure him or put him in danger.  I believe, though, that small uncomfortable consequences are the only way we learn to make better choices, and he is no exception.  It's hard, though, at times to know what really is best.  I am trying to concentrate on the majors, and relax on the minors.  The trouble is, the minors are things that would be so much easier to change.

He seems to be feeling more at home here.  It has taken him a while to get used to asking for things he needs, or, if he is able to, just getting them himself.  Fidel and Osmi had a long talk with him that it is okay just to take and eat the fruit or snacks we have on the counter.  He said he was uncomfortable doing that since they weren't his. They guys did a really good job of convincing him that he was welcome to all the food we have here, and he is beginning to believe them.

First taste of pizza

Thinking about it. . .

I think I like it

Yep, it's a winner!

He still does not go out of the house very much--the cobble stone streets and uneven sidewalks are very hard on him.  The only place he insists on going, though, is to church with us on Sunday.  While he doesn't have much Biblical or theological knowledge, he has a deep faith, which is what I think has sustained him these past four years.  He is so grateful to God for all he has, when he could be so very angry at him for all he has suffered.  I think this is where he is most inspiring and challenging to the rest of us here.

Pushing himself down the street to church

I have been surprised at how affectionate he is, especially with me.  If I am sitting next to him watching TV, he'll reach over and take my hand and hold it for as long as I am there.  He asks for a kiss on the cheek before I go to bed at night, and continues to call me "Mamita."  I am a bit concerned about how he will do when I go to the States, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Roberto enjoys drawing, coloring and puzzles, as well as games such as Connect 4. He also enjoys television and watching DVD's and listening to music.  It is very different, in that, since he can't read, the computer does not hold an attraction for him.  He has been a good influence on the other guys in this regard and draws them into more social interactions.

Claudia, one of the teachers from Hermano Pedro, has volunteered to come twice a week after her workday to teach Roberto to read and do basic math.  I love watching them work together.  She is so kind and gentle with him, and he just beams at the attention he receives.

The extensive care Roberto needs has placed extra demands on all our companion-caregivers, but especially Tony.  It's been tough for him at times; he's not a nurse and I know few young men his age who would be willing to change colostomy bags or help with bedsore treatments.  He has not complained even once, and I so appreciate him.

Juan Carlos with our guys in the part after church on Sunday

Rigoberto is now working four days a week to help out with the extra work load.  Juan Carlos has been coming in almost every afternoon to help with the treatment of Roberto's pressure sores and relieving me of the total responsibility for this.  I am grateful to them both.