July 24-30, 2011

OK, while I thought the week with the LB men was way busy, this week just ending has also been quite full tambien. But 1st I want to share some staff changes: Maria, the ninera, and Claudia, the nurse who had only been with Rosa for about 2 months, have both left. Thankfully, Rosa had just hired a young, happy, smiling teacher, Dorcas, and she had several other interviews scheduled, so early this week, we met Alba, the new ninera, and Dora, who works almost exclusively with Pablo.

Sunday, we had a team visit from Texas; they were brought by Mark Richard of Hope Haven. They brought 3 colours of soccer shorts for the kids, so a game ensued imediatamente.

But the best part for me was how they prayed with the kids and over them. The oh so delightful kids are often so loving,fun,and good,as in obedient,that it's easy to forget their "come from". And anyway, who doesn't need prayer?
So ever since Brett y Pete were here, we hadn't had ANY rain. This is what is lovingly called a canicula, and here in Guate, we have a week's worth of drytime in the middle of the rainy season, and conversely, a week's worth of rain in the middle of the dry season. So interesting climate patterns, si? So we've been able to dry all the clothes on the clothesline, and the grama(grass) slowed a bit so that it only took G 4 hours to cut AND edge all the lawns. This is what he did on Monday; I got in the middle of a drama with the 4 girls taking sewing. I want to help them be ready for each class, so on Monday, we planned to meet to go over their reading homework. Patsy was so very nice to make copies of the machine manual for each girl, even putting them in a nice notebook, but apparently there was some payback going on, and alas, one book couldn't be found. Along comes Elsa,, who says innocently that Ana Gabriela had had 2 notebooks in their room earlier in the day, so Ana quickly got the rap. Turns out 2 girls were trying to pin the notebook disappearance on another girl because she had been "mean" earlier, so they were gonna show her. So funny, although Rosa didn't think so, and of course, she's right. The little buggers...but here's a prayer request while I'm thinking of it: 2 of the girls in the sewing class, as well as Elsa, are learning to read for the 1st time. They could realy use a spiritual foot-up.Something I took for granted for a lotta years, being able to read; what would it be like to NOT be able to? Gracias!



OK, Tuesday we followed the "regular" schedule, taking Elsa to visit her wee Luis while Patsy came up to the Lily for class. Looks like some of the kinks have been eliminated in getting class started on time, so that's fabu. Yolanda, Marta, Ana Gabriela, and Sarita all got to try out the machine, and really had fun.
Late Tuesday afternoon, we got to meet a team from Michigan, visiting our friend Kathy Robbert. Knowing they would return on Thursday to really visit with the kids, they "used" our place to have their sack dinner in between visits to Hospicio San Jose, an AIDS/HIV hogar near here. And since Kathy is a special friend of ours, we asked if there was a way to add an extra blessing for her team, so I got to make apple crisp for 40 peeps! This the team enjoyed after their sack meal, sitting and getting to know the kids who got to have their dessert BEFORE their dinner!
Oh, and as rain returned this night too....yea!
On to Thursday: another sewing lesson ensued with the young ladies learning how to sew straight lines on notebook paper; each one had 2 or more sheets all filled out.
.

The Michigan team returned in the afternoon, bringing lots of great stuff to share. They sang several motion songs in espanol and even had a pretty cute puppet show on the Buen Samaritano in spanish too. But then the fun really began! They had flipflops for each kid, even the bebes, to be decorated with paint, sparkley thingys, flowers, etc. Carmen and Aura took this assignment very seriously and were rewarded by beautimus designs.


Then a few of the teens on the team broke out the face paints, and you can see by the results, they were really good at it. (p.s. the puppy at the bottom of the doggie foto doesn't have any facepaint on...she is THAT beautimus naturally!)

Friday, Ana Gabriela went to get her cast off, but alas, she "gets" to wear it for 2 more weeks...at least. Pray for her por favor: as you can imagine, she's quite limited in movement and activity, and it's causing some challenges especially with her bebe Rosita and with her chores. Also on Friday, I finally was able to spend a wee bit o' time with my sewing machine, a gift from Laura Hunter. It was fun to set it up and give it a whirl. My 1st project
will be to hem our new curtains, which will have to wait
til I can get down to the Antigua mercado to buy the
right colour thread...bother. I'm not at all familiar...
todavia...with the tiendas of San Lucas, and since the
rain has indeed returned, the thread will have to wait...
God once again teaching me patience :)

FAST FORWARDING TO 23 DE JULIO 2,011

Yes, indeed, it has been quite a while since I used this blog! Glad it's still here as it's my desire...always has been...to use it on a regular basis. And since we're at a new stage in our Guate adventure, this is a new place to begin again. So here goes:
Through many amazing events and blessings, we now live at the Lily in San Lucas, Sacatepequez, Guatemala...representing Asociacion Rosa de Saron and sharing this gorgeous place with hogar Rosa de Amor. We have 23 kids and 3 women for roommates; never a dull moment.
Last Sunday, our friends Brett Hunter and Pete Haugen flew in from SoCal to give us a hand getting settled in. They had been a part of a team who came last November from our California church,Long Beach Christian Fellowship. This team had bought and installed a playset in another casa for Rosa and the kids. But due to circumstances beyond her control, Rosa has had to move twice since then. Hopefully, this is a permanent home for them, and as such, we wanted to reinstall the playset for the kids. So here is a look at this past week:

Sunday, 17 de Julio

Pete and Brett landed at GUA about 0800 and away we went to eat and away we went to eat and shop..yes! Then they were excitedly greeted at the Lily by all the kids and a most handsome homemade sign. Elsa also made a sign for her room. Pete tried out our new 4" foam mattress and gave it a thumbs up!

Then Pete was ready for a pick-up game; these kids really love basketball!
Due to quite a long and intense downpour, the girls weren't able to make tortillas, a 3X/day staple, on the open-to-the-heavens bbq/tortilleria, so Brett walked to town with Maria to buy some; he even carried them home! And the skies stayed dry long enough for the men to scope out the place for the playset. Can you see the corner"stick"...not unlike a cornerstone...already in place?

A neat "perk", as it were, about friends coming down from the states is that most of the time, they agree to bring us goodies. Brett pulled a REAL coupe this time; look what he brought me! Can you believe me he got my rocking chair in a box, along with a sewing machine, a gift from his delightful wife Laura, got it checked in at LAX even though it was oversized and the plane was full, and he even had to go thru the "entrance x-ray"...only in Guate...here but didn't have to pay any tax on it...thank You, Jesus! This is an outrageous blessing to have it here, a dream come true, and as you can see, AFTER he reassembled it, I put it to good use for our 4 legged bebe, Pinky Lupita!(Brett also carried a delicioso loaf of Winter Wheat from friend Yudit for Guillermo, AND a box of Sees from hermana Juana; GRACIAS A TODOS!

And, yes, I did have a fabu new "do" in that last foto; here I am with my stylist, Elsa, on my right, along with her co-horts, Ana Gabriela, trying to hide behind me, and Marta on my left.

Pete y Brett decided to tackle the awning challenge first: how to cover the bbq/tortilleria, the brick structure standing all alone in upper left foto, so it can be used, especially in this, the rainy season. Rosa had saved a really nice patio cover a Canadian team had built for her for 2 houses ago, see top right foto, so they decided to use half of that to cover the tortilleria.

To work they went, on a most sunny day.

They worked all Monday morning and really accomplished a lot!

Then we all got to enjoy almuerzo with the kids, prepared by Rosa herself....with a leg up from Marta....get it? The pollo was a gift from the Hunters, along with several other types of carne, a most appreciated addition to their diet. GRACIAS otra vez!

Later that night, Brett enjoyed a wee bit o' quiet time...AND...learned that he had indeed had too much sol! Yikes!

Tuesdays we get to take 15 yr old Elsa to visit her almost 2 year old son, Luis, who is at Casa Jackson, a home-style hospital for malnourished kids. More on their story another time, but do please keep Luis in your prayers as he is gaining weight oh so slowly. But they had a good visit this day, and it ended well as Luis fell asleep in her arms, which meant he wouldn't cry at her departure; thank you, Jesus!

And when we returned to the Lily, as our delicious home and grounds are called, look what we saw; before the awning and after! Note too that Brett has covered up!

Also, while we were in Antigua, I think Yolanda and Rosita were plotting something!

We also had clothespin training, with instructor Aurita! Not only did she demonstrate a keen way to carry your gaunchos(pins), but she also provided a live example of how to use them with wet clothes! Cuts drying time way, way down when compared to the "tipico" Guate way of doubling the clothes over the line...and...you don't gotta lay them on the ground to dry either!

With the awning complete, Pete y Brett turned their attention to the playset...yea! And they had lots of help from Max, in particular. Those of you who know the Guatemalan school schedule might be wondering why the kids weren't in class; well, you probably also know that the powers that be also have many creative ideas for cancelling classes, and thus Rosa's kids got a 2 day "vacation" in the middle of the week.

Pinky got in the act too, helping Pedro carry the climbing rope. So after only half a day, the set is lacking only concreto!

Same day, simultaneous to the work outside, our friend Kathy Robbert, in the blue vest,came to visit with the kids, show them a movie with follow-up discussion and coloring reinforcement. The staff really enjoyed her sharing, witness Maria with HER coloring page, and some of the kids got in another round of roundball.

STILL the same day!! We had an unexpected yet welcome visit from Mark Richard of Hope Haven and 14 or so of his friends from South Dakota, Minnesota, and environs. Actually it was by now evening, but still they played basketball for a while, but then gave the kids chalk! Yippee! These kids love to draw and have a gift for it; here are but a few of their designs. Good thing the kids had no school the next day, eh???