GUATEMALA: Days 5-6



Audrey and friend

      Our ministry week kicked off yesterday and what a day it was!  The Patlans are a "come and see" family, so we were invited to participate in the school and orphanage.  I led a devotional at the beginning of school. . . the first time I've ever spoken with a translator!  Afterwards our team fanned out.  Mark and the boys moved rocks, cleared the soccer field and prepped an area in the school to be painted.  Audrey spent the morning helping with the babies in the nursery (probably the BEST job!).  And Graciela and I helped in a classroom of 10 3-year-olds.  I was asked to read them a counting book and teach them how to say English numbers.  We labored through that book, counting to ten and including 20, 50 and 100.  I was totally humbled when the teacher spent the rest of the morning teaching them numero "5"!!  But it was truly wonderful to see how she taught and reinforced that number through so many activities!
     Eagle's Nest is also the site for a feeding program that feeds children from the community.  Three times a week, over 60 kids are served a hot and nourishing meal.  I did the same devotional there and then our team served them lunch.  Many of these kids would come to our camp, so we hung out with them and then walked them over.

Ymera

    But everything was building to camp!  We didn't know how many kids were coming, but we were prepared for about 100.  The camp was designed for ages 4-16, but Pedro suggested that many of the "mamas" from the orphanage might like to participate, so some of our team volunteered to watch the babies, so these women in their late teens and twenties could have some fun.  About 90 kids arrived and were divided into 3 age groups, which would rotate through volleyball, soccer and art.  It was a wonderful turnout albeit very chaotic!!  My team had the younger kids, which ended up including many 2 and 3-year olds, whose older siblings had brought them.  Trying to engage them in organized activites was like herding cats!  Probably the highlight for them was throwing a beach ball on the volleyball court.  There was one little deaf girl named Estella who was very unengaged. . . until we started throwing the beachball.  The best part of my day was seeing her face light up and hearing her giggle as she ran after that ball.  We also had 3 siblings that absolutely captured my heart:  Rudy (2), Ymera (3) and Marvin (8).  I learned



"Spiderman"



afterwards that they had recently been removed from their parents' home, because both parents were alcoholics.  Marvin had an impish smile and would hurl himself at me like a human torpedo!  But thanks to Josh and Caleb I understand this type of energy!  I kept calling him my friend and telling him how much I like him and how nice he was. . . and that he was "muy loco"!  Ymera has a very flat affect, but when she smiles you feel like you've won the lottery!  And Rudy is the energizer bunny until he sits still and the he can fall asleep sitting up. . . or sprawled on the concrete floor like yesterday.  We could tell you a bunch of stories, but suffice it to say these kids have captured our hearts.

     Today our team had a fun outing.  Half of us went ziplining (Mark, Audrey, Caleb and Josh included); and the other half took a boat ride across Lake Atitalan (Evan, Graciela and me).  We all had a great time, but those of us on the boatride were subjected to Guatemalan vendors at their worst!  They met us at the dock, thrust their items into our faces, begged us to buy.  When I said "mas tarde" (later), one woman said, "My name is Michelle.  Your remember me and buy from me."  Michelle proceeded to follow our group all the way up a street of vendors.  When I bought a trinket from a 3-year-old, she and a horde of other Guatemalans pounced on me.  They followed us into an ice cream store and they followed us all the way back to the boat, saying things like, "You said you would buy from me.  You lie.  It's not good to lie;"  "Please buy from me.  I need food."  "Give me money and I will leave you alone."  To say it was awful is an understatement!  We couldn't wait to get on the boat. . . and even then they were thrusting things in our faces, begging us to buy.  I hate pressure sales!  But it felt awful not to help needy people. 



Caleb and friend

On the upside, camp seemed like a walk in the park for me!  One of the blessings of today was watching some of the older girls on our team. . . older as in 8!  Here children start caring for their siblings at a young age and so a few of the girls on our team are watching their younger siblings or cousins.  They grow up fast and evidently their opportunities for fun are few.  Candi and Suceli are two of these responsible sisters and today they were having a blast!  I loved seeing them so animated and engaged!  Candi is Estella's older sister and together with their brother, Rolando, they live with their 83 year old grandmother.  They just began school at Eagle's Nest in January and are learning Spanish as their family speaks a Mayan dialect.  Their lives have been very hard and it was wonderful to see Candi enjoying herself so fully!