Day 5: Luz del Paraiso Wednesday

Today we started early by loading up into the bus and heading to Luz del Paraiso (Light of Paradise) which is located in Palencia. Light of Paradise is a place helping 60 children with food and tutoring classes who suffer malnutrition, poverty, and violence in their home life. The program is run by college students and we had the opportunity to go there and 1st take 3 meals to families in their homes and then we did a medical check. Palencia was different than the feeding center by the dump, Nueve Generacion, or Dorie's Promise. When we arrived it felt very more rural and remote. The drive was absolutely beautiful with rolling hills and patchwork of farms along the side of mountains, but this sign of nature also represents a lack of education and opportunity for the people of these rural communities. Light of Paradise works against a culture that is very trade and work oriented so children are poorly educated. There are many cycles of poverty that are obvious in the fact that entire families live and work together.

The drive to Light of Paradise

The drive to Light of Paradise.

The Light of Paradise building. The pools were empty and used for playing soccer.

The kitchen. Very primitive. The women in the community take turns making meals for the children.

A few kids from the morning group being tutored. They would have school in the afternoon.

Main street. Not much to it. The homes were on dirt paths off of this main road.

On our way to give 3 meals away and pray for 3 families.

The first home that we visited. The first house that we went to asked for prayer for her husband because he has been very ill recently but still goes to work to provide for his family. It was wonderful to pray with each family.

This little girl was sitting beside me at the first house. She was absolutely filthy. She was pretty overwhelmed by all of us being in their small home and invading her space. She was adorable!

This mother (far right) in particular was very strong and believed in educating her children as a priority. This is very unusual for their culture. Elaine was able to encourage her in Spanish and even became very emotional. Elaine's mother and grandmother sacrificed so that Elaine would have the opportunity to grow up in America and so that she could be educated. I can only imagine how inspirational Elaine must have been to the mother who wants her children to break the cycle of poverty by becoming educated. Elaine's family is a perfect example that it is more than possible!

Another home we went to in order to give them a meal. "God is love."

Cooking by fire.

This woman has experienced multiple strokes. She was nonverbal but expressed an abundance of emotion. It was very difficult to tell if she was expressing happiness for our presence or frustration and despair because of her condition. This struck a nerve with me because I take care of stroke patients frequently on the unit that I work on as a nurse.

Come back out from handing out meals. The orange and blue building is the Light of Paradise from the front.

As we went into the homes each family had their own prayer requests. Two out of three of the houses that we took food to prayed for their husbands/fathers because they were into drinking alcohol.  One of the mothers that we talked to said that she was very blessed by us coming to help them because the rich Guatemalans do not reach out and help the poor communities. I found that to be insightful. 

When we arrived back at Light of Paradise we had the opportunity to eat lunch with the kids which was a highlight of my day! I got to use some of my basic Spanish and they were practicing some of their English. We laughed at each other a lot! I still get very warm feelings inside when I think of these precious children and getting to make friends with them despite the language barrier. I also was grateful because I had the opportunity to tell them "Jesus es amor." I don't ever want to be too task oriented to look someone in the eye and tell them that Jesus is love and that Jesus loves them.

I'm not sure what the first little boy's name was. He jumped in the picture. But the girl beside him is Yojana Noemia (9 years old), the boy in the red is Jose Raul (11 years old), the girl beside him in the orange is Alexandya (she is 8 years old), and the girl beside me is Paola (she is 10 years old). I had them write down their names and ages in my Spanish book :)

"Photo loco!!!"

Between lunch and doing medical checks we got to play with the kids some. We were invited into the pool to play soccer. Its a very small area and I was pretty nervous taht I was going to get smacked in the face with the ball. Instead a little girl went to kick the ball with all of her might and missed and kicked my shin instead. That left a mark.

After lunch we set up to do medical checks like at Nueve Generacion and the feeding site. Elaine and I were the last to see any children who had a specific complaint.

Right before we were loading onto the bus to leave we looked over to see these girls brushing their teeth by the outside sink. No one told them to do that, they just put into action what they had just learned!

Mi amiga, Paola from lunch  using her toothbrush :)

After working at the light of Paradise we went back to Dorie's Promise. Mom, Karen, Elaine, Kelsey, and Peggy did a special devotion with a group of special moms again but with a different group of women.

After doing nails with the special mothers we went down into the play yard with the kids and played. I got my boys, Alex and Elvis to dance with me but they would only dance with me if we were holding them :) I danced with Alex and Elvis danced with Lexi. Talk about a workout! I loved every minute of it thought!

Day 4: Malnutrion Tuesday

Today we went to Pastor Mercedez's feeding center outside of the dump. There we set up similar stations as at Nueve Generacion to do medical checks. The difference between today and Monday was that we were going to see many more kids, they would have very little hygiene, and they would be more difficult to keep in order. We used the same note card system for Kelly to keep and measure for malnutrition and a group will follow up in 6 months.

Right across from the feeding site

people waiting to be seen

Fluoride station getting ready

The fluoride crew!

We saw a lot of children with sore throats, coughs, ear aches, and stomach aches. Elaine was absolutely indispensable because she was able to further assess symptoms in Spanish as well as educate people in Spanish. We had children's Tylenol, benadryl, and cold medicine to give the kids 1 does of if their symptoms indicated it.

Mom (purple) and me (pink) assessing 2 babies. As you can see in this picture the kids are very bundled up. I asked Elaine about that and she reminded me that this culture bases a lot of their medical treatments on "hot and cold" theories. We saw a lot of bundled up babies despite the heat because that is all that their mothers know to do. Educating against tradition can be really difficult and tricky to not offend.

Where the kids receive their meals. We were in a gymnasium adjacent to it.

Amy had a Polaroid camera that she used to take pictures of the kids while they waited.

Fluoride for everyone above the age of 3 or 4! :)

Our team with Pastor Mercedez in the center.

Toward the end of our time doing the stations I had a lady who was holding a baby come up to me with her note card. At the bottom of her note card it said "Malnutrition" I then looked up to compare the weight with the age. The baby before me weighed 8.1kg which is 17.82 pounds, and the age said 2. In shock I pointed to the baby and said "dos?" and she replied "si." My heart sunk. I hoped that there was a misunderstanding. I sent her to talk to Elaine because I couldn't not do any treatments for the baby but Elaine could get a better picture and educate her. Later Elaine informed me that the baby was 2 years old. The baby appeared to be less than a year old: he did not talk, he did not walk, and he was obviously very small. This baby was not a baby, he was a toddler. Elaine told me that this baby was neglected by his caretaker while his parents savaged in the dump. The caretaker did not feed the baby for so long that the baby started to eat his own feces. The parents ended up abandoning the child and left him with his aunt, which is the woman who brought him to us. The pastor knew this child and his aunt. She said that the problem is that when they give the aunt formula to feed the child they do not follow the instructions and they dilute the formula to make it go further. Elaine tried to educate the aunt but the aunt ended up becoming frustrated and defensive. The pastor will continue to do what she can but it is hard to know what will happen to the child and if he survives he will be delayed and at disadvantages for his entire life because of the developmental delay he is experiencing now.

After doing medical measurements at the feeding site we went back to Dori's Promise. Mom, Karen, Kelsey, Elaine and I had the privilege of treating the special mothers (the women who take care of the children at Dori's promise) by massaging their hands, painting their nails, giving them bracelets (from my trip to the Philippines in 2010), and sharing a devotion with them. 

Then we went down and joined the kids in the yard where they were doing Zumba and playing on the play set. I was reunited with my buddies Elvis and Alex.

Elvis and me playing on the playground. We were acting like ninjas and then I would act like I was karate chopping him and then I'd start tickling him. His giggles and Alex's giggles are music to my hears and a song in my heart. :)

They didn't want to smile at first so some tickling was necessary, which why I look like I'm talking :)
These 2 boys seriously melted my heart. I have never felt this kind of love before.

Once the kids were tucked into bed we went out to an authentic Guatemalan restaurant for dinner! It was delicious! 

Day 3: Nueva Generacion Monday

Monday August 3rd we went to Nueve Generacion in San Antonia Aguas Calientes. Soria was a 20-something year old woman who is passionate about Jesus. She works for her community to encourage education for all children. The organization that she works for is technically isn't a Christian organization but she is making a huge impact on her community for Christ by building relationships. At Nueve Generacion they also do micro-businesses for women such as weaving and gardening. They also teach the women how to cook healthy foods. We had the opportunity to buy goods from the lady's weaving.

Mom making friends.

When we arrived we did medical checks and applied fluoride to the kid's teeth. The kids would receive a note card with a number on it. They got a picture with the number on the note card for Kelly's records and then we filled in their information onto the card. (Sorry I don't have many action pictures, I was busy working with Elaine for the most part.

Becky got kidss names and
if they had any medical needs

2 of the Fluoride ladies

Alexis measured head sizes.

Notice the little girls' traditional outfits for their culture on the right. So cute!

Meg did fluoride.

Abel showed the kids how to brush their teeth with my Aunt and Uncle's horse puppet. That puppet has been all over the world with my aunt and uncle on missions trips to teach kids dental hygiene.

"No traga" ..."Do not spit"
this little cutie had fluoride on his teeth.

Once he was finished his fluoride. We learned that
instead of saying "cheese" they say "whiskey" to make kids smile.

The ladies who learn healthy cooking served us lunch. They were so excited to share their culture with us. It took them all morning and afternoon to prepare our traditional meal. Soria shared her testimony while we waited and she is absolutely inspirational.

The ladies were still working on our lunch. They have such servant hearts!

 

During the break between medical groups I watched this lady weave. Her art is beautiful!

Kelly's kids raised money to buy the kids paint supplies :)

 We had a second group of kids come through in the afternoon after lunch.

More fluoride

Wendy met a little girl named Wendy (white shirt).

 After the 2nd group of medical checks we had the opportunity to experience the local culture of that particular community. My favorite part was that you could see the women and children beaming with pride and joy as they shared their traditions.

A group of boys played 2 of these.
The Marimba is the national instrument. The concert was beautiful!

The ladies taught us how to make tortillas and grind roasted coffee.

This little boy played the drum and turtle shell (on the chair).

As part of us learning about their tradition, they dressed Morgan up in traditional wedding garb and they walked her through a marriage ceremony. We were having so much fun! It was hilarious!

Soria, our host.