Alina & I are part of a Mommy-Daughter devotional group called Secret Keeper Girl (SKG). This group began about a year ago and is a way for moms of 'tweens (8-12 year olds) to connect with their daughters while daughter still look to their moms for guidance...before they hit those potentially rebellious teen years! For more information, feel free to visit Dannah Gresh's (founder) website for Secret Keeper Girls at http://secretkeepergirl.com/ . We are going through Dannah's two books, each of which contain 8 great mommy-daughter dates. We are currently on Date #7 of the friendship book which involves a date with God and shows girls how to have that quality time with Him. Although I accidentally left the SKG guide and daughter diary at home (hoping Bob will bring it on Monday when he comes down here), I did show Alina how to spend time in God's Word. There are a few good websites for devotions for kids that I had found (until the SKG devotions come down)...they are:
1. Truth For Kids - This site has a daily devotion for kids, or you can search by topic. http://www.truthforkids.com/kids-devotions-online/#.UgN8fNK1GE2
2. Kids 4 Truth - This site has 2 daily devotions that kids can choose from. http://kids4truth.com/Devos/Home.aspx
3. Heaven's Inspirations - Also a devotion that changes daily with topics to choose from on their main page. http://www.heavensinspirations.com/childrens-devotionals.html
After our devotions this morning, the day was a pretty normal day...going to circle and breakfast. I brought Alina along with me to school today. The classes are small pull-out classes of Spanish reading, I think I might have mentioned that before. Alina helped me to set up the small rugs on the floor and get the books out prior to each class starting. In one of the classes, she actually took a turn and read a page out loud in Spanish...the kids commended her for her bravery in trying!
After classes, we took the little girls back to the house to each lunch and then walked them back to school. We chatted with Elizabeth about helping out in the afternoons with the special needs classes, and then went and chatted with Katja about Bob & Pastor Jeff coming on Monday...to ensure they'd have a ride with Norman from the airport to here. Then it was time to get the girls from school, take them home for their ensenanza (Bible study), get them supper and showered up for the night. Since tonight was Wednesday, there was church this evening where 2 female volunteers shared their testimony. By the time we got home it was dark out. We had heard about the big storms in New London and prayed for those who have been devastated by the storms.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Honduras Critters
Today is going to be my "critter day". A lot of what I did today - devotions in the morning, circle & breakfast with the little girls, classes at school, lunch with the little girls, playing with them on the playground, supper and bath time with the little girls - didn't change...so I will take you through my day in terms of the critters around me, since today was an extra special day for that!
We have a mouse in the house! As she was making coffee this morning, Kimberly found that a mouse had gotten into her oatmeal, and had traveled all along the cupboard of our kitchen. I guess we'll have to be more careful about what's left out on the cupboards and what gets put away into the refrigerator.
I'm not too terribly worried about mice (since Alina & I normally eat with the kids, so we don't have much food here in the house), but ants just disgust me! So I'm very thankful that nothing sweet has been left out for ants to find their way into the house. We have all sizes of ants down here, tiny ones that I 'tweek' off of the kitchen table each morning...only about 3-5 of them each day); then we have the slightly larger ants that if I didn't know better, I'd say they have razor sharp teeth. They make these enormous ant hills in the grass and if you're not careful and stand on one, they swarm up your leg and bit like crazy. It hurts and it takes a while to get them all swatted off. Then there are these super-sized black ants. Think about our big black ants back in Wisconsin and then multiply that size by at least 5! I don't think these ants are harmful, but they just look disgusting. They are currently crawling all around the outside of our apartment.
So on the way to the little girls' house this morning, Alina was in front of me and jumped and let out a half-sigh, half-scream. I asked her what was up and she asked if the "thing" in front of her was a tarantula. It was!...but it was dead. It was still all in tact, not sure why it died. It was fun to see her reaction, although she got over it fairly quickly. I let her know that now she won't be too terribly shocked when she sees a live one.
Bees - they're all over the place, trying furiously to build nest after nest which get taken down by the girls and boys of the houses. Earlier this week, one of the big girls (Daniela) put some paper on the end of a stick and set it on fire to burn a bees nest down in the little girls' house. We had quite a big nest going outside Kimberly's bedroom window, but I believe it was taken down by either Julieth or Veronica this past weekend because it's no longer there. Yet there are still a few bees clinging to the spot on the patio ceiling where the nest once was.
Termites - Alina & I found a termite nest started between the slats of our bedroom window. We're not too worried (for ourselves) since it's on the outside and termites go after wood, not humans. But every once in a while some bug comes to the termite nest, looking for some delicious termites and gets pretty loud as its wings flap against the window.
Grasshoppers - These are also much bigger than what you'd see in the states. Generally they're 6-8 inches long 3-4 inches tall (and keep in mind that I'm a mathematics teacher, so these measurements are fairly accurate!) and either green or a reddish color. The first one we saw was out at the farm. Alina jumped and just wanted to keep on walking. We later saw a dead one outside our apartment - again, it grossed her out. The neighbors across from us had a grasshopper get INTO their apartment, so they kept it as a pet until they moved out...then moved it outside into the hallway areas. I think we've seen 2 since, and she's getting more & more desensitized to them.
The first night we moved into this apartment we saw a BIG cockroach hiding in the upper corner of our living room, close to the ceiling. We haven't seen it since, but today a smaller sized cockroach crawled out from under the chair I was sitting in at school while we were reading through a Magic Tree-house book in Spanish. One of the kids killed it right away, and we all laughed.
Last night Kimberly found a moth in her bedroom that was white with all of these colorful designs on it. I have never seen a moth like it! She took a picture and we're hoping that the camera was able to zoom in on it closely without too many problems. Most moths here are huge, like the size of bats. They just cling to walls like most moths do back at home...just much bigger and when they're flying they make you think of bats.
A few days ago, Alina found a praying mantis at the little girls' house. Also there are these TINY snails that crawl around on the vegetation, very cute in a snail-sort of way. One of them was just "booking it" and reminded me of the snail in the movie Monsters University that I had taken Max & Noah to see.
So, there's a glimpse into the critter life here in Honduras! Hope you've enjoyed & will get back to a regular blog tomorrow.
We have a mouse in the house! As she was making coffee this morning, Kimberly found that a mouse had gotten into her oatmeal, and had traveled all along the cupboard of our kitchen. I guess we'll have to be more careful about what's left out on the cupboards and what gets put away into the refrigerator.
I'm not too terribly worried about mice (since Alina & I normally eat with the kids, so we don't have much food here in the house), but ants just disgust me! So I'm very thankful that nothing sweet has been left out for ants to find their way into the house. We have all sizes of ants down here, tiny ones that I 'tweek' off of the kitchen table each morning...only about 3-5 of them each day); then we have the slightly larger ants that if I didn't know better, I'd say they have razor sharp teeth. They make these enormous ant hills in the grass and if you're not careful and stand on one, they swarm up your leg and bit like crazy. It hurts and it takes a while to get them all swatted off. Then there are these super-sized black ants. Think about our big black ants back in Wisconsin and then multiply that size by at least 5! I don't think these ants are harmful, but they just look disgusting. They are currently crawling all around the outside of our apartment.
So on the way to the little girls' house this morning, Alina was in front of me and jumped and let out a half-sigh, half-scream. I asked her what was up and she asked if the "thing" in front of her was a tarantula. It was!...but it was dead. It was still all in tact, not sure why it died. It was fun to see her reaction, although she got over it fairly quickly. I let her know that now she won't be too terribly shocked when she sees a live one.
Bees - they're all over the place, trying furiously to build nest after nest which get taken down by the girls and boys of the houses. Earlier this week, one of the big girls (Daniela) put some paper on the end of a stick and set it on fire to burn a bees nest down in the little girls' house. We had quite a big nest going outside Kimberly's bedroom window, but I believe it was taken down by either Julieth or Veronica this past weekend because it's no longer there. Yet there are still a few bees clinging to the spot on the patio ceiling where the nest once was.
Termites - Alina & I found a termite nest started between the slats of our bedroom window. We're not too worried (for ourselves) since it's on the outside and termites go after wood, not humans. But every once in a while some bug comes to the termite nest, looking for some delicious termites and gets pretty loud as its wings flap against the window.
Grasshoppers - These are also much bigger than what you'd see in the states. Generally they're 6-8 inches long 3-4 inches tall (and keep in mind that I'm a mathematics teacher, so these measurements are fairly accurate!) and either green or a reddish color. The first one we saw was out at the farm. Alina jumped and just wanted to keep on walking. We later saw a dead one outside our apartment - again, it grossed her out. The neighbors across from us had a grasshopper get INTO their apartment, so they kept it as a pet until they moved out...then moved it outside into the hallway areas. I think we've seen 2 since, and she's getting more & more desensitized to them.
The first night we moved into this apartment we saw a BIG cockroach hiding in the upper corner of our living room, close to the ceiling. We haven't seen it since, but today a smaller sized cockroach crawled out from under the chair I was sitting in at school while we were reading through a Magic Tree-house book in Spanish. One of the kids killed it right away, and we all laughed.
Last night Kimberly found a moth in her bedroom that was white with all of these colorful designs on it. I have never seen a moth like it! She took a picture and we're hoping that the camera was able to zoom in on it closely without too many problems. Most moths here are huge, like the size of bats. They just cling to walls like most moths do back at home...just much bigger and when they're flying they make you think of bats.
A few days ago, Alina found a praying mantis at the little girls' house. Also there are these TINY snails that crawl around on the vegetation, very cute in a snail-sort of way. One of them was just "booking it" and reminded me of the snail in the movie Monsters University that I had taken Max & Noah to see.
So, there's a glimpse into the critter life here in Honduras! Hope you've enjoyed & will get back to a regular blog tomorrow.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Invisible
Each morning I wake up around 3:30am here in Honduras (which would be 4:30am Wisconsin time). Just like back in the States, I reserve that time for me & God. I sit down and go through my devotion for the day before writing this blog to update all of you on the previous day's events. I will share the notes from yesterday's message that I entered into my daily journal with you here:
God's Word:
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ~ Isaiah 30:21
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes His steps. ~ Proverbs 16:9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things. ~ Philippians 4:8
Notes I took from the devotion:
According to recent statistics, we make 5000 decisions each day...decisions like what time to get out of bed, whether to exercise, what kind of cereal to eat, which bills to pay, whether to water the plants today or wait until tomorrow, which vehicle to put gas into, whether to react in anger or respond with understanding, whether or not to create drama, whether to set time aside for God, how to speak to our child, etc. In the 5000 decisions you make today, take a moment to pause before deciding. Ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance & counsel. And choose to FOLLOW as He leads the way.
Like David said on Sunday...everything we do is a choice!...We can choose to follow our own voice or the voice of our Lord. Which path will you choose today?
So as we were getting ready to head out for the morning, Kimberly found a millipede in her room. She freaked out quite a bit, which made me smile since she is a veterinary technician, and should love animals, right? I had already taken 2 millipedes out of our house since our stay here, so I took this one outside as well. Perhaps it's the same millipede, just wants to live in our house???
Anyway, Alina & I went to the little girls' house. It was still very wet/damp outside (it had been raining practically all weekend), so the girls' circle was held in the sala (living room). The girls behaved fairly well this morning. After circle came breakfast and then heading to school. It was nice to see the new doorknob on the elementary school library. Since the first 1/2 hour of school I wasn't scheduled to have a class, I borrowed a broom from the main office to sweep out the library. The dirt buildup on the ceramic tile floors had gotten to be a bit much since I hadn't swept last week (I had went looking for a broom multiple times, but never found one). This morning I had 4 classes - all 5th graders.
I took the little girls back to their house for lunch. Finally the sun had come out! When the sun is out down here, it is HOT, so after taking the girls back to school, I headed to the apartment to quickly change out of my jeans to capris. Alina & I headed to the store. She had wanted ice cream but since the power was out all day yesterday, there wasn't any. I'm guessing that all of the ice cream had melted and they will not get more until just before the next team comes this Thursday (to not risk losing it due to another power outage). We bought some M&Ms instead and some juice. When we finished, Alina bought 10 little jello cups (about the size of a sewing thimble) for 5 cents each to give to the girls in the yards playing as we passed by on our way to school. We picked up the little girls from school and brought them back to the house. I stayed with the little girls to do afternoon devotions while Alina went with the medium girls.
When Alina met me back at the little girls' house, she had a drawing for me from an older girl named Pamela. Pamela is a rather special girl to me. Here's the story: I am TERRIBLE with names! So the year I had first met her, I also met numerous other children. The very next year that I came down, she asked me if I remembered her. I do have a gift for remembering faces, however not names. So I was honest with her & let her know that I remembered her face but not her name, so I asked her for her name. She replied with "I guess I'm invisible then," to which I kindly laughed and replied, "Well it's nice to meet you Invisible!"...and that's how I've called her ever since. We share a pretty special relationship now. I've known her for most of the years I've been coming down here and she is a rare girl here at Emmanuel who has the same large size feet that I have, so I tend to leave her with some shoes every time I leave. It's very common for children here to draw you pictures, color you pictures or write you notes before you leave to show their appreciation for you having come to serve them. I am showered with them each time I come. Alina is still waiting for her first drawing but I've reassured her that she will get them as the kids come to know her better.
After devotions was supper-time and then bath-time. When I began combing the girls' hair, all of a sudden my stomach didn't feel so well. I needed to have Alina finish up combing the girls' hair so that I could go home, just in case I needed to be sick. The feeling subsided after an hour or two and I was able to head to bed without much problem.
God's Word:
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ~ Isaiah 30:21
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes His steps. ~ Proverbs 16:9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things. ~ Philippians 4:8
Notes I took from the devotion:
According to recent statistics, we make 5000 decisions each day...decisions like what time to get out of bed, whether to exercise, what kind of cereal to eat, which bills to pay, whether to water the plants today or wait until tomorrow, which vehicle to put gas into, whether to react in anger or respond with understanding, whether or not to create drama, whether to set time aside for God, how to speak to our child, etc. In the 5000 decisions you make today, take a moment to pause before deciding. Ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance & counsel. And choose to FOLLOW as He leads the way.
Like David said on Sunday...everything we do is a choice!...We can choose to follow our own voice or the voice of our Lord. Which path will you choose today?
So as we were getting ready to head out for the morning, Kimberly found a millipede in her room. She freaked out quite a bit, which made me smile since she is a veterinary technician, and should love animals, right? I had already taken 2 millipedes out of our house since our stay here, so I took this one outside as well. Perhaps it's the same millipede, just wants to live in our house???
Anyway, Alina & I went to the little girls' house. It was still very wet/damp outside (it had been raining practically all weekend), so the girls' circle was held in the sala (living room). The girls behaved fairly well this morning. After circle came breakfast and then heading to school. It was nice to see the new doorknob on the elementary school library. Since the first 1/2 hour of school I wasn't scheduled to have a class, I borrowed a broom from the main office to sweep out the library. The dirt buildup on the ceramic tile floors had gotten to be a bit much since I hadn't swept last week (I had went looking for a broom multiple times, but never found one). This morning I had 4 classes - all 5th graders.
I took the little girls back to their house for lunch. Finally the sun had come out! When the sun is out down here, it is HOT, so after taking the girls back to school, I headed to the apartment to quickly change out of my jeans to capris. Alina & I headed to the store. She had wanted ice cream but since the power was out all day yesterday, there wasn't any. I'm guessing that all of the ice cream had melted and they will not get more until just before the next team comes this Thursday (to not risk losing it due to another power outage). We bought some M&Ms instead and some juice. When we finished, Alina bought 10 little jello cups (about the size of a sewing thimble) for 5 cents each to give to the girls in the yards playing as we passed by on our way to school. We picked up the little girls from school and brought them back to the house. I stayed with the little girls to do afternoon devotions while Alina went with the medium girls.
When Alina met me back at the little girls' house, she had a drawing for me from an older girl named Pamela. Pamela is a rather special girl to me. Here's the story: I am TERRIBLE with names! So the year I had first met her, I also met numerous other children. The very next year that I came down, she asked me if I remembered her. I do have a gift for remembering faces, however not names. So I was honest with her & let her know that I remembered her face but not her name, so I asked her for her name. She replied with "I guess I'm invisible then," to which I kindly laughed and replied, "Well it's nice to meet you Invisible!"...and that's how I've called her ever since. We share a pretty special relationship now. I've known her for most of the years I've been coming down here and she is a rare girl here at Emmanuel who has the same large size feet that I have, so I tend to leave her with some shoes every time I leave. It's very common for children here to draw you pictures, color you pictures or write you notes before you leave to show their appreciation for you having come to serve them. I am showered with them each time I come. Alina is still waiting for her first drawing but I've reassured her that she will get them as the kids come to know her better.
After devotions was supper-time and then bath-time. When I began combing the girls' hair, all of a sudden my stomach didn't feel so well. I needed to have Alina finish up combing the girls' hair so that I could go home, just in case I needed to be sick. The feeling subsided after an hour or two and I was able to head to bed without much problem.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
A Day Without Electricity
I was excited for today...Sunday's finally here! A day to go to church and possibly have the chance to hear David preach (since there isn't a group here right now...the Maryland team left yesterday morning). As we were getting ready for the morning, POOF!...the power went out. We were told later that they had shut the power down in town to work on some "fixes" and it would most likely be out until about 4pm. Our bathroom has no windows, so gets pitch black when you need to use it and prefer to shut the door. No power means the fridge went out, so you need to make sure that you're not opening the doors to just "look inside" to see if you're even hungry, like we do back in the States. You see, in these 3rd world countries, sometimes the power can be out for days (even when they tell you it'll only be for a few hours).
We headed to church and although last night you could hear the music group practicing and rehearsing, today it sounded completely different since there was no electricity - acoustic only! This also meant that there were no words to songs showing up on the big screen in front (like we have at New Hope), so you either knew the song by heart or you didn't. David did preach today and it was powerful...about being careful not to choose the paths that lead to darkness, about being able to decipher God's voice and not go against it to follow your own. I've heard David speak a handful of times through the years and he has a way to his approach that is so powerful! I'm also in awe how he can speak what would probably be the equivalent of 2 typed pages in Spanish before reverting back to English to translate it verbatim...with none of his sermon written down! I've heard this year that when he dedicated his life to God, he begged God not to make him preach. More often than not, there are pastors here from groups or pastors from town that come in to preach so that David doesn't have to...but it's interesting how God can take what we see as our weakness and the things that we SO don't want to do and use them for His Glory.
After church, Alina & I asked permission to take Yency, Coco, and Michell to the tienda (store) to buy them some lunch. Tuesday is Yency & Coco's birthday. They're twins, although you'd NEVER guess it by looking at them. They are the most non-look-alike fraternal twins I have ever seen! Again, I wish I had a working camera to take a picture each day and post it with this blog so that you'd have a visual to the things I'm mentioning along the way. Lunch for the day at the tienda consisted of rice, a tortilla, fried chicken and potato salad...yep, you heard that right - potato salad. Alina & Coco didn't really care for the potato salad, so the rest of us finished it off for them. The girls at the chicken right down to just the bone, which is something you don't typically see in the States. I think the thing that struck Alina the most was that when they were done eating, they packed up ALL the scraps that were left into the saran wrap that had covered their plate, so that they could either save it for later to eat or take it back to their friends in the yard to share with them. They threw NOTHING in terms of food away! This is very typical for the people here (and I'm talking about in the entire country, not just this orphanage). They do not waste food like many of us Americans tend to do. They know SOMEBODY will eat it. They KNOW what it is to FEEL HUNGER, rather than just be hungry at the moment and run to the fridge to grab a snack like we do.
After lunch we first walked Michell & Coco back to the medium girls' house (the girls were in the dining hall eating), then we walked Yency back to the big girls' house. Along the way, Yency pointed out an enormous toad to Alina. It was dead, but enormous nonetheless. I had completely overeaten & my stomach wasn't feeling well. I headed back to the house to rest a bit. The power was still out and Julieth (one of the staff here who lives in one of the 4 apartments in this quadraplex) said something about music. I got my computer and MP3 player and connected them so she could listen to Christian music as she passed the time without electricity. She brought it back a couple of hours later saying she was SO SORRY that the battery went out. I just smiled at her & reassured her that it was okay, because it really didn't matter to me that much when we don't have electricity anyway.
Kimberly & I had a really good chat about her post-Honduras plans. She's preparing to head back to the States for a bit on August 15th - the same day Pastor Jeff will return to the States from his short visit here. Please pray for her and for strength in her journey, both while she is travelling to the U.S. and also during her time here.
In the late afternoon or early evening, Alina & I went for a walk back past the toddler house. We chatted quite a bit and on our return, stopped at the toddler and baby house to chat with Brandy. I'm excited for her to get a chance to go back home this coming weekend. It'll be the first time she's been back home in the States since May of 2012! I've known Brandy for 3 years now and what a sweet person! She always has a smile on her face and is always very intent on listening to what's going on.
Alina & I climbed up to the water tower, so that I could show her what it looks like to look at the entire orphanage at once. It wasn't yet sun-down, which I hear is a really beautiful time to be up there...but it was pretty nonetheless. On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at the medium girls' house to chat (Alina played a bunch of games inside). When we finally got back to the apartment, the electricity STILL was not on. Julieth said that with all of the rain we had today, a pole fell down in town and now the prediction was that it would be on by 8pm. By 7:00, the apartment was completely dark. I sent Alina to bed. We had one of those crank flashlights that only work as you are cranking it. I also discovered there was a miniature flashlight on the end of my Honduran cell phone...but that my battery was close to dying. Julieth brought a candle and some matches over to us, and after quite a while of trying to figure out what exactly to put the candle in (and coming up with an "odd concoction" of a canning jar, the top of an air freshener and tissue paper) we finally made it work and had some light in the apartment. Kimberly & I had a good chat at the kitchen table before turning in for the night.
We headed to church and although last night you could hear the music group practicing and rehearsing, today it sounded completely different since there was no electricity - acoustic only! This also meant that there were no words to songs showing up on the big screen in front (like we have at New Hope), so you either knew the song by heart or you didn't. David did preach today and it was powerful...about being careful not to choose the paths that lead to darkness, about being able to decipher God's voice and not go against it to follow your own. I've heard David speak a handful of times through the years and he has a way to his approach that is so powerful! I'm also in awe how he can speak what would probably be the equivalent of 2 typed pages in Spanish before reverting back to English to translate it verbatim...with none of his sermon written down! I've heard this year that when he dedicated his life to God, he begged God not to make him preach. More often than not, there are pastors here from groups or pastors from town that come in to preach so that David doesn't have to...but it's interesting how God can take what we see as our weakness and the things that we SO don't want to do and use them for His Glory.
After church, Alina & I asked permission to take Yency, Coco, and Michell to the tienda (store) to buy them some lunch. Tuesday is Yency & Coco's birthday. They're twins, although you'd NEVER guess it by looking at them. They are the most non-look-alike fraternal twins I have ever seen! Again, I wish I had a working camera to take a picture each day and post it with this blog so that you'd have a visual to the things I'm mentioning along the way. Lunch for the day at the tienda consisted of rice, a tortilla, fried chicken and potato salad...yep, you heard that right - potato salad. Alina & Coco didn't really care for the potato salad, so the rest of us finished it off for them. The girls at the chicken right down to just the bone, which is something you don't typically see in the States. I think the thing that struck Alina the most was that when they were done eating, they packed up ALL the scraps that were left into the saran wrap that had covered their plate, so that they could either save it for later to eat or take it back to their friends in the yard to share with them. They threw NOTHING in terms of food away! This is very typical for the people here (and I'm talking about in the entire country, not just this orphanage). They do not waste food like many of us Americans tend to do. They know SOMEBODY will eat it. They KNOW what it is to FEEL HUNGER, rather than just be hungry at the moment and run to the fridge to grab a snack like we do.
After lunch we first walked Michell & Coco back to the medium girls' house (the girls were in the dining hall eating), then we walked Yency back to the big girls' house. Along the way, Yency pointed out an enormous toad to Alina. It was dead, but enormous nonetheless. I had completely overeaten & my stomach wasn't feeling well. I headed back to the house to rest a bit. The power was still out and Julieth (one of the staff here who lives in one of the 4 apartments in this quadraplex) said something about music. I got my computer and MP3 player and connected them so she could listen to Christian music as she passed the time without electricity. She brought it back a couple of hours later saying she was SO SORRY that the battery went out. I just smiled at her & reassured her that it was okay, because it really didn't matter to me that much when we don't have electricity anyway.
Kimberly & I had a really good chat about her post-Honduras plans. She's preparing to head back to the States for a bit on August 15th - the same day Pastor Jeff will return to the States from his short visit here. Please pray for her and for strength in her journey, both while she is travelling to the U.S. and also during her time here.
In the late afternoon or early evening, Alina & I went for a walk back past the toddler house. We chatted quite a bit and on our return, stopped at the toddler and baby house to chat with Brandy. I'm excited for her to get a chance to go back home this coming weekend. It'll be the first time she's been back home in the States since May of 2012! I've known Brandy for 3 years now and what a sweet person! She always has a smile on her face and is always very intent on listening to what's going on.
Alina & I climbed up to the water tower, so that I could show her what it looks like to look at the entire orphanage at once. It wasn't yet sun-down, which I hear is a really beautiful time to be up there...but it was pretty nonetheless. On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at the medium girls' house to chat (Alina played a bunch of games inside). When we finally got back to the apartment, the electricity STILL was not on. Julieth said that with all of the rain we had today, a pole fell down in town and now the prediction was that it would be on by 8pm. By 7:00, the apartment was completely dark. I sent Alina to bed. We had one of those crank flashlights that only work as you are cranking it. I also discovered there was a miniature flashlight on the end of my Honduran cell phone...but that my battery was close to dying. Julieth brought a candle and some matches over to us, and after quite a while of trying to figure out what exactly to put the candle in (and coming up with an "odd concoction" of a canning jar, the top of an air freshener and tissue paper) we finally made it work and had some light in the apartment. Kimberly & I had a good chat at the kitchen table before turning in for the night.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
The Shipment Arrives
On Saturdays there is no circle devotions, but we still go over to the little girls' house at 6am. So after making sure all the girls were dressed and had their shoes on, Alina went with them into the sala (like a living room) to watch Toy Story 3 with them while I chatted with the 2 staff members: Karelia & Elizabeth as well as the 2 other volunteers assigned to this house: Maggie & Samantha. Maggie is actually leaving back for the States on Tuesday. She's been here a month. Samantha just got here this week and will be staying for 3 weeks. We had a brief conversation about her beginning to worry about going to the airport herself (since no teams are going back on that day)...she asked a LOT of questions about the bus to get to Tegucigalpa and travelling there alone, or if she should just ask Norman to take her. I advised her not to think about it until the week of departure, saying that there might be another volunteer leaving that same day or perhaps a staff member that realizes they need to use their day off to run in to Tegucigalpa for some much-needed items. All would happen in due time.
We had breakfast (granola once again) and Alina tried her first strawberry moon pie. She didn't really care for it so I suggested that when she saw the medium girls in their yard, she share it with them rather than throw it away. We are so eager to throw away food in the States, but never truly realize how privileged we are to have food in excess until we actually see, with our own eyes, those who are not in that situation. After breakfast we headed to the school playground so the girls could play. It began raining and rained most of the day. Today was actually the first day EVER in ALL of my times down here in Honduras that I wore pants all day! They kept the girls at the park for about 2 hours, but since it just got more & more damp, giving the little girls more & more chills, the older girls finally decided to bring them back to the sala at their house to watch more movies inside or to color in the dining hall or do other activities. Alina entertained the girls by doing some cartwheels, jumping rope, and using the hula hoop. Because we were indoors, the volume was VERY loud, so at one point I had to take a break and run to the apartment because I felt a headache coming on.
The girls had spaghetti for lunch today. Alina helped to serve up the plates and also helped with dishes after lunch! In the afternoon, Alina & I headed down to the yard to visit with the medium girls. Alina played a bit of soccer with Coco and Michell and I chatted with Doris' younger sister, Elena. Two years ago Elena would barely talk to me. She was SO shy! Today she wouldn't settle down and kept talking & talking. She had just gotten done with visiting her mom and was full of energy! When things settled down a bit and Alina looked like she was getting a little tired of soccer, I invited her to go with me to the snack shop and get an ice cream cone. She quickly said, "Yes!"
As we were walking to the ice cream shop, I saw the semi-truck! They had received a container and I never heard it. They were just beginning to unload it. I kept my word and purchased cones for me & Alina and said, "Why don't we go over and watch them unload the truck while we're eating our cones?" We did and they were still unloading when I had finished my cone, so I began to help. Alina helped too when her cone was finished. It's amazing at how fast a container can get unloaded, and how much Dr. Reynolds can actually PACK in a container! Boxes and boxes of unending moon pies!!! There were clothes and so many packages of diapers! A team who's planning on coming in September had sent down some supplies for possible activities that they'll be doing with the kids. A huge commercial kitchen sink was sent down (the kind there would be in restaurants or a cafeteria). A walk-in freezer was sent down in pieces! And everything went so smoothly, efficiently and quickly! I'm thankful for the cool raining day, because we definitely could've gotten a LOT more sweaty than we did. I had never gotten the chance to help unload a container on prior visits. It was a very exciting experience for Alina & me both!
Right after unloading the container it was time to go back up to the little girls' house for supper and bath time. Yanira gave me a bracelet and Doris gave Alina a shirt. I still have a difficult time comprehending how gracious these children are with their things. They remind me constantly of the widow who gave her last money to God, knowing and having true faith that he would provide for her.
Alina stayed with Doris and the big girls watching to watch movies for a while before coming home to bed. While she was gone, I read a couple more chapters in my book: The Language of Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. For more information on this book, see http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Love-Respect-Communication/dp/084994807X
We had breakfast (granola once again) and Alina tried her first strawberry moon pie. She didn't really care for it so I suggested that when she saw the medium girls in their yard, she share it with them rather than throw it away. We are so eager to throw away food in the States, but never truly realize how privileged we are to have food in excess until we actually see, with our own eyes, those who are not in that situation. After breakfast we headed to the school playground so the girls could play. It began raining and rained most of the day. Today was actually the first day EVER in ALL of my times down here in Honduras that I wore pants all day! They kept the girls at the park for about 2 hours, but since it just got more & more damp, giving the little girls more & more chills, the older girls finally decided to bring them back to the sala at their house to watch more movies inside or to color in the dining hall or do other activities. Alina entertained the girls by doing some cartwheels, jumping rope, and using the hula hoop. Because we were indoors, the volume was VERY loud, so at one point I had to take a break and run to the apartment because I felt a headache coming on.
The girls had spaghetti for lunch today. Alina helped to serve up the plates and also helped with dishes after lunch! In the afternoon, Alina & I headed down to the yard to visit with the medium girls. Alina played a bit of soccer with Coco and Michell and I chatted with Doris' younger sister, Elena. Two years ago Elena would barely talk to me. She was SO shy! Today she wouldn't settle down and kept talking & talking. She had just gotten done with visiting her mom and was full of energy! When things settled down a bit and Alina looked like she was getting a little tired of soccer, I invited her to go with me to the snack shop and get an ice cream cone. She quickly said, "Yes!"
As we were walking to the ice cream shop, I saw the semi-truck! They had received a container and I never heard it. They were just beginning to unload it. I kept my word and purchased cones for me & Alina and said, "Why don't we go over and watch them unload the truck while we're eating our cones?" We did and they were still unloading when I had finished my cone, so I began to help. Alina helped too when her cone was finished. It's amazing at how fast a container can get unloaded, and how much Dr. Reynolds can actually PACK in a container! Boxes and boxes of unending moon pies!!! There were clothes and so many packages of diapers! A team who's planning on coming in September had sent down some supplies for possible activities that they'll be doing with the kids. A huge commercial kitchen sink was sent down (the kind there would be in restaurants or a cafeteria). A walk-in freezer was sent down in pieces! And everything went so smoothly, efficiently and quickly! I'm thankful for the cool raining day, because we definitely could've gotten a LOT more sweaty than we did. I had never gotten the chance to help unload a container on prior visits. It was a very exciting experience for Alina & me both!
Right after unloading the container it was time to go back up to the little girls' house for supper and bath time. Yanira gave me a bracelet and Doris gave Alina a shirt. I still have a difficult time comprehending how gracious these children are with their things. They remind me constantly of the widow who gave her last money to God, knowing and having true faith that he would provide for her.
Alina stayed with Doris and the big girls watching to watch movies for a while before coming home to bed. While she was gone, I read a couple more chapters in my book: The Language of Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. For more information on this book, see http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Love-Respect-Communication/dp/084994807X
Friday, August 2, 2013
Locked out of the Library
Because it's Friday, this morning began with Big Circle. If I had not mentioned it last week, this is where ALL of the children of Emmanuel, staff and volunteers (and teams if there are any) come together in the special needs yard to sing praises to God, recite their memory passages that they had learned throughout the week, and then hear from His Word. This morning our small girls got to recite their verse, actually verses...as the children generally memorize an entire chapter of the Bible to recite! They did well. One of the members of the Maryland team who had actually come 3 weeks early to teach the children how to play musical instruments led devotions this morning, talking about how vast the universe is...and how much MORE God is.
After circle, we headed to breakfast and then made a quick stop home so that Alina could change to shorts and get some water, before she headed off for her last day to spend volunteering with the Maryland group. I headed back to the little girls' house to walk the girls to school and then begin classes. When I got to the school, the library was locked. I figured this wasn't much of a problem, since it had been locked on Monday as well; so I just waited a bit while interacting with a bunch of the medium girls who were waiting in the courtyard to be called into their classrooms. As it got closer to class time, I asked Felipe where the key was to the library. He hunted down Elvia and she tried to open the door with the key. It wouldn't open. She gave the key to Felipe, it still wouldn't open. He gave it to a teacher who uses the library as a resource center most often, it wouldn't open. They turned it over to Veronica (the elementary school principal), it wouldn't open. She gave it to the boy who serves as custodian, it wouldn't open. We were locked out!
If you know much about this orphanage, it's that it's constructed out of bricks. There were only 2 ways into this library, through this door or through a window. Windows are much different down here than they are in the States. They consist of MANY small horizontal window panels, so it would require removing quite a few of them so that a small child could crawl through into the library and then hopefully be able to successfully unlock the door. Veronica decided to call Wilson, one of the handymen from Emmanuel to come over to the school and work on getting it open. Wilson took the entire doorknob off of the door so that we could get in and start class, and then while we were having classes, he proceeded to put a new doorknob on.
Also during our classes in the library, Mateo #2 (a volunteer from the Maryland group who calls himself this because his brother-in-law is also a Matthew and wanted to be #1) hung two paintings int he library that the group had done during the week. One was a huge painting that just about went from floor to ceiling of a tree and all of the leaves of the tree were outlines of the students' hands who used the library most often. As students came in today to our class, they took quite a bit of time to look at the tree to try to find their hand.
After morning classes, I walked with the little girls to their dining hall to eat lunch. Each day the meal seems to be the same - vegetables in a ramen noodle soup. Today as we were cleaning up after lunch, an older girl brought down a dish from the medium girls' house - spaghetti...all of our older girls just gobbled it up talking about how delicious it was! They offered me a little bit, and I had a few noodles, but to me it was "just spaghetti"...but I guess after you eat the same thing for lunch day in & day out, it's amazing to them when they try something different.
On Fridays there are no afternoon classes, so the little girls went to the park (on the Emmanuel grounds) to play. I took a walk around and just socialized with a bunch of the medium girls, like Yency, Coco, Leticia, etc. It was a nice break from the regular routine. When the little girls got back to the house, there were many Maryland volunteers waiting for them to say their goodbyes, since they leave tomorrow. After the sweet goodbyes, it was time for supper and then baths.
When all of the girls were squeaky clean, I had a chance to sit down & have a nice, long chat with Doris. She's been wanting this for the past week. We sat together and she shared something that had been weighing on her heart over the past bunch of months. We discussed the proper way to handle the situation and prayed over it. When Karelia came to take the girls on a walk around the orphanage (to try to tire them out before bed), I headed back to the house since Alina wasn't feeling so well once again. Thanks be to God that by the time I had gotten home, Alina's stomach ache had went away. The talk with Doris had truly wiped me out, so I headed to bed very early tonight, but will be getting up at about 3am again tomorrow so a good night's rest will much be needed!
After circle, we headed to breakfast and then made a quick stop home so that Alina could change to shorts and get some water, before she headed off for her last day to spend volunteering with the Maryland group. I headed back to the little girls' house to walk the girls to school and then begin classes. When I got to the school, the library was locked. I figured this wasn't much of a problem, since it had been locked on Monday as well; so I just waited a bit while interacting with a bunch of the medium girls who were waiting in the courtyard to be called into their classrooms. As it got closer to class time, I asked Felipe where the key was to the library. He hunted down Elvia and she tried to open the door with the key. It wouldn't open. She gave the key to Felipe, it still wouldn't open. He gave it to a teacher who uses the library as a resource center most often, it wouldn't open. They turned it over to Veronica (the elementary school principal), it wouldn't open. She gave it to the boy who serves as custodian, it wouldn't open. We were locked out!
If you know much about this orphanage, it's that it's constructed out of bricks. There were only 2 ways into this library, through this door or through a window. Windows are much different down here than they are in the States. They consist of MANY small horizontal window panels, so it would require removing quite a few of them so that a small child could crawl through into the library and then hopefully be able to successfully unlock the door. Veronica decided to call Wilson, one of the handymen from Emmanuel to come over to the school and work on getting it open. Wilson took the entire doorknob off of the door so that we could get in and start class, and then while we were having classes, he proceeded to put a new doorknob on.
Also during our classes in the library, Mateo #2 (a volunteer from the Maryland group who calls himself this because his brother-in-law is also a Matthew and wanted to be #1) hung two paintings int he library that the group had done during the week. One was a huge painting that just about went from floor to ceiling of a tree and all of the leaves of the tree were outlines of the students' hands who used the library most often. As students came in today to our class, they took quite a bit of time to look at the tree to try to find their hand.
After morning classes, I walked with the little girls to their dining hall to eat lunch. Each day the meal seems to be the same - vegetables in a ramen noodle soup. Today as we were cleaning up after lunch, an older girl brought down a dish from the medium girls' house - spaghetti...all of our older girls just gobbled it up talking about how delicious it was! They offered me a little bit, and I had a few noodles, but to me it was "just spaghetti"...but I guess after you eat the same thing for lunch day in & day out, it's amazing to them when they try something different.
On Fridays there are no afternoon classes, so the little girls went to the park (on the Emmanuel grounds) to play. I took a walk around and just socialized with a bunch of the medium girls, like Yency, Coco, Leticia, etc. It was a nice break from the regular routine. When the little girls got back to the house, there were many Maryland volunteers waiting for them to say their goodbyes, since they leave tomorrow. After the sweet goodbyes, it was time for supper and then baths.
When all of the girls were squeaky clean, I had a chance to sit down & have a nice, long chat with Doris. She's been wanting this for the past week. We sat together and she shared something that had been weighing on her heart over the past bunch of months. We discussed the proper way to handle the situation and prayed over it. When Karelia came to take the girls on a walk around the orphanage (to try to tire them out before bed), I headed back to the house since Alina wasn't feeling so well once again. Thanks be to God that by the time I had gotten home, Alina's stomach ache had went away. The talk with Doris had truly wiped me out, so I headed to bed very early tonight, but will be getting up at about 3am again tomorrow so a good night's rest will much be needed!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Hawaii in Honduras
Alina made it through the entire night without vomiting, which was encouraging. When I woke this morning, I felt her forehead and it seemed to be a LOT less hot than it had been yesterday, however it still felt warm. I let her know that she should still sleep during the morning, but that we'd check in and see how she was doing at lunch time...I did check on her a couple of times throughout the morning too.
I headed to the little girls' house once again to do breakfast. Maggie and Samantha (a new volunteer from Pennsylvania) handled circle, so I went into the dining hall to get the tables set up and the granola out and ready to be eaten. Between breakfast and school, Alina seemed to be doing better but was still pretty tired out. Then came lunch (bringing the little girls home to eat, eating, cleaning up, and returning them to school), and after lunch I decided to get Alina out into the nice sun to help bring a little life back into her body. She said her knees were really weak as we walked to the store to get something a little more nutritious. She ate a little bit of plain white rice and a tortilla, and then drank a strawberry-banana smoothie. She wasn't able to eat much more, but that was okay since she hadn't eaten the entire day yesterday nor breakfast this morning.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped by the quadraplex where Katja lives. She had left a propane tank out for me to carry back to our apartment (thank GOODNESS we live so close because they're HEAVY!). The tank was probably just over 1/2-full, but still weighed quite a bit, and especially carrying it uphill to our apartment.
I noticed that the Maryland group was gathering in front of the medium girls' house. Joanne was there, so I went over to say "hi". She asked about Alina, and then we all gathered around holding hands while she prayed for Alina to completely recover, as well as strength on my part to get through this trying time. We headed to the shelter in front of my apartment as the medium girls approached so that they could do an activity with making butterflies with them out of coffee filters and clothespins. I am so amazed by and in awe of those who are good at art and the ideas they come up with, because that is so not a gift I have been blessed with. When I saw my small girls approaching their house for their activity, I headed up that way. They did a short devotion and each received a coloring book. They were SO excited!
After the activity, it was once again shower time and bath time...but after bath time today would be an all-together new thing!
When I got to the house, Alina mentioned that Kimberly would not be coming home...that she would meet us up at the team house for the staff & volunteer dinner that the Maryland group was providing. Since Alina was feeling quite a bit better (still not 100% yet though), I had her come along because I knew that the food would be good for her. The Maryland team had chosen a Hawaiian theme this year for their dinner. We were greeted with 3 girls in grass skirts doing a dance, a boy who was handing out leis, and finally another girl who was handing out a flowered hair clip to the women. There were 5 tables of staff & volunteers (how AMAZING it is that this big of an orphanage can run so well with so few people leading...that can only be a "God thing"!!!). Each table had its own waiter (or pair of waiters). Before sitting down, we were offered a cheese appetizer on a stick and a small cup of fruit punch. Children of the staff & volunteers were led to a separate room where they ate and participated in various kids activities so that the dinner could be for adults only. Alina went with the kids, but did more helping out than being served.
Before eating, I saw Brandy and we hugged. She asked me when I'd gotten here and I let her know that I'd been here for about a week so far. She gave me a "look" and asked why I didn't head down to the toddler house to say "hi" to her all that time, to which I replied that I was put to work right away by Katja and have been super-busy ever since. I heard through another family that volunteers here that she's looking for a certain bed/crib on ebay that's located in Wisconsin and is a "pick-up only". If that's truly the case, perhaps I can help her out & arrange to get that item on the container which will get shipped down to Honduras! We were told that every item on the menu had pineapple in it. The meal started with iced tea and a salad, followed by a main plate of chicken and a rice that had pineapple and a few other things...not sure what...in it. Then the cake was last and had a pineapple frosting, served with coffee if you liked. It was ALL so delicious! On top of that, there were 5 people chosen to participate in a limbo contest and a hula-dance contest.
One of my highlights of the night was when David & Lydia got up to leave. He spotted me on the way out & came over to give me a hug. He said he had thought he'd seen my face around this orphanage this past week, but wasn't really sure until now, and then asked where Andres was (EVERYONE has been asking me where Andres is!!!). I let him know that Andres needed to stay at home this summer to work towards paying for college, but that I had brought my 10-year-old to start helping through the next bunch of years. Since Alina was away with the children, he'll most likely meet her at church on Sunday. :-)
On our walk home, the sky was so clear that Alina & I spent most of our time looking up. What you can see in the night sky down here is completely different than what you'd see from Wisconsin. We were in awe of how serene this place is. As we walked back to the apartment, it was the perfect temperature, the clearest night, and with just the slightest bit of a refreshing breeze. What a way to end the night!
I headed to the little girls' house once again to do breakfast. Maggie and Samantha (a new volunteer from Pennsylvania) handled circle, so I went into the dining hall to get the tables set up and the granola out and ready to be eaten. Between breakfast and school, Alina seemed to be doing better but was still pretty tired out. Then came lunch (bringing the little girls home to eat, eating, cleaning up, and returning them to school), and after lunch I decided to get Alina out into the nice sun to help bring a little life back into her body. She said her knees were really weak as we walked to the store to get something a little more nutritious. She ate a little bit of plain white rice and a tortilla, and then drank a strawberry-banana smoothie. She wasn't able to eat much more, but that was okay since she hadn't eaten the entire day yesterday nor breakfast this morning.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped by the quadraplex where Katja lives. She had left a propane tank out for me to carry back to our apartment (thank GOODNESS we live so close because they're HEAVY!). The tank was probably just over 1/2-full, but still weighed quite a bit, and especially carrying it uphill to our apartment.
I noticed that the Maryland group was gathering in front of the medium girls' house. Joanne was there, so I went over to say "hi". She asked about Alina, and then we all gathered around holding hands while she prayed for Alina to completely recover, as well as strength on my part to get through this trying time. We headed to the shelter in front of my apartment as the medium girls approached so that they could do an activity with making butterflies with them out of coffee filters and clothespins. I am so amazed by and in awe of those who are good at art and the ideas they come up with, because that is so not a gift I have been blessed with. When I saw my small girls approaching their house for their activity, I headed up that way. They did a short devotion and each received a coloring book. They were SO excited!
After the activity, it was once again shower time and bath time...but after bath time today would be an all-together new thing!
When I got to the house, Alina mentioned that Kimberly would not be coming home...that she would meet us up at the team house for the staff & volunteer dinner that the Maryland group was providing. Since Alina was feeling quite a bit better (still not 100% yet though), I had her come along because I knew that the food would be good for her. The Maryland team had chosen a Hawaiian theme this year for their dinner. We were greeted with 3 girls in grass skirts doing a dance, a boy who was handing out leis, and finally another girl who was handing out a flowered hair clip to the women. There were 5 tables of staff & volunteers (how AMAZING it is that this big of an orphanage can run so well with so few people leading...that can only be a "God thing"!!!). Each table had its own waiter (or pair of waiters). Before sitting down, we were offered a cheese appetizer on a stick and a small cup of fruit punch. Children of the staff & volunteers were led to a separate room where they ate and participated in various kids activities so that the dinner could be for adults only. Alina went with the kids, but did more helping out than being served.
Before eating, I saw Brandy and we hugged. She asked me when I'd gotten here and I let her know that I'd been here for about a week so far. She gave me a "look" and asked why I didn't head down to the toddler house to say "hi" to her all that time, to which I replied that I was put to work right away by Katja and have been super-busy ever since. I heard through another family that volunteers here that she's looking for a certain bed/crib on ebay that's located in Wisconsin and is a "pick-up only". If that's truly the case, perhaps I can help her out & arrange to get that item on the container which will get shipped down to Honduras! We were told that every item on the menu had pineapple in it. The meal started with iced tea and a salad, followed by a main plate of chicken and a rice that had pineapple and a few other things...not sure what...in it. Then the cake was last and had a pineapple frosting, served with coffee if you liked. It was ALL so delicious! On top of that, there were 5 people chosen to participate in a limbo contest and a hula-dance contest.
One of my highlights of the night was when David & Lydia got up to leave. He spotted me on the way out & came over to give me a hug. He said he had thought he'd seen my face around this orphanage this past week, but wasn't really sure until now, and then asked where Andres was (EVERYONE has been asking me where Andres is!!!). I let him know that Andres needed to stay at home this summer to work towards paying for college, but that I had brought my 10-year-old to start helping through the next bunch of years. Since Alina was away with the children, he'll most likely meet her at church on Sunday. :-)
On our walk home, the sky was so clear that Alina & I spent most of our time looking up. What you can see in the night sky down here is completely different than what you'd see from Wisconsin. We were in awe of how serene this place is. As we walked back to the apartment, it was the perfect temperature, the clearest night, and with just the slightest bit of a refreshing breeze. What a way to end the night!
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