A Catch-Up

March 27, 2010

So I begin to write my long overdue blog entry. I am writing from a bus as I pass through the southern mountains of Honduras. Even now I find myself distracted from completely focusing on writing because of movie that is playing having to do with a coach reforming a basketball team – their record and character.

Much has happened in the last week and a half. We have had many people passing through La casa de Mi Padre in the last few weeks helping in so many different ways. Last week I was a part of translating for the medical team. For me the neatest experience was when we offered a clinic for the community around the farm where La Casa de Mi Padre will eventually be built. The last woman of the day who we helped had many different ailments but what caught our attention most was her sadness. The storm that I had so enjoyed hearing just two nights before ended up soaking she and her son and all of their belongings because they are living in a temporary home covered by plastic laminates. That on top of a robbery and having to move from her previous home had taken its toll on her. We talked and prayed with her afterwards and shared the message of Christ and the cross. In past medical brigades we had worked with a local church so that there could be follow-up but in this case we were not connected to a church and so it follow up is more difficult. I have her number to call and check in but I hope to be able to connect her with someone in her community. A random event from one of the clinics was that a man sat down for treatment in front of me and he was wearing a black t-shirt with gold lettering that said, “SCS.” Those are the colors and initials of my elementary school in Florida. I had to wonder if it was a Sarasota Christian t-shirt that had found its way into his hands – probably through a donation at some point. If so, the world continues to be a small place.

This week a family from Texas brought probably a dozen instruments to share with the children. Many of the teens were especially excited about the guitars and for the rest of the week they could be heard practicing at various moments throughout the afternoon and evening. There was also couple of young ladies from Pittsburgh who shared on the topic of alcohol and drug addiction with the children and did some training with the staff.

I spent two nights at La Casa with the pre-teen girls and because of the early morning wake-up to get ready for school, I find myself very short on sleep. It has been fun getting to know them more. I cannot say that the discipline is fun, but it is important. One of the girls, Gaby, and I made Play-dough for the babies and they had fun touching it. Well, the one did. The other has some sensory issues and so he did not exactly like the texture.

Friday, the day before leaving for Honduras, I found myself both packing for my trip and unpacking from my move to a new apartment. Four medical students will arrive while I am gone to share the apartment with me for a month. It is in an area of the city that is a little safer for walking around and I am looking forward to running at the park just up the road. And because the apartment is on the fifth floor, it has a pretty awesome view of the city. I recognize that it might not be the best place to be during an earthquake, but I will not worry about that till it happens.
(I will have to add photos later because I still have not downloaded them to the computer)

The Quick Review

March 19, 2010

For lack of time, I am going to only make a few comments on this week and save the stories and more in depth thoughts for later. It has been a very different week for me because of my involvement with translating for a medical missions team that is here in El Salvador working in the communities that the children from La Casa de Mi Padre come from. I was a tia for four of the girls on Monday and will be again tonight. Thank goodness that tomorrow is the weekend and they do not have to get up at 3:30AM because I do not think I could handle it. Tomorrow is another Family Visit day so there will be activities until mid-day with the children and families. In a little bit we head to a park to have pizza with the children and the missions team.

This week has been a battle for me as far as sickness but it seems like I might be finally getting better which is exciting. Many of the details for the medical team were a struggle this week because of things getting hung up in the government bureaucracy but in the end we were able to do all that was planned. I am glad to have met a bunch of new people this week from Virginia and PA and to see how God is working here in El Salvador through many hands and hearts. And that is is for the moment as I go get ready for the park.

The Culmination

March 12, 2010

As Friday comes to a close here in El Salvador, it is a week of culmination. We ended the week by taking the children out to the farm (the future site of the Children's Home)and letting them climb on a treehouse that a work team built. The children loved it and seeing them scampering around in the tree, scaling the wall, and running around in the open air was invigorating for me. I love to see children out in God's creation.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to help the team in construction of the tree house. Basically I used a drill to put in screws for holding down the floorboard and a few other small jobs. I have never seen a treehouse with such a gorgeous view. The farm itself is beautify and I am glad to know about it because I can forsee it being a place for me to retreat and spend time with God. I need moments out in His creation which I cannot find in the city.

The drive to the farm was interesting to say the least. We were one a major six lane highway when all of a sudden our driver pulled to the far right lane, stopped, and began backing up. I was reminded of a car chase I was a part of in Honduras when the drive also went in reverse on a major highway and I was pretty sure we would get hit. This time I was not so concerned because I had already served a trip in reverse back in Honduras. The driver told me that the sigsnthat had just been put on the van had fallen off and he wanted to go back and get it, for fear that he would be reprimanded for losing it. I was the only one who understood Spanish and knew what was going on. I tried to tell him that it would be better to just stop and someone could run back and pick up the sign but he did not seem to understand or think that was the best option. So we kept going in reverse and the guys in the back of the van began to get very concerned, especially as we began to go back around a blind curve and they had visions of us getting bashed from behind. One of the guys, a professional photographer, was quick enough to pull out his camera and begin video taping everything. Finally, out of panic, the guys in the back started yelling to "Go, Go!!" and the driver got the message and we went forward again. I explained that we were more concerned about our lives than the sign and someone saw the sign already in pieces since at least one car had run over it. But the driver, who is knew to the job, was understandably concerned by the sign because where he had previously worked he would have had to pay for the sign, which he probably could not have afforded. We made it safely to the farm but it was an adventure.

Yesterday I had a glimpse into an interesting cultural difference here in El Salvador. I was in a group session with the pre-adolescent girls and the one girl was asking why they needed to shower in the morning because several of her classmates showered at night and not in the morning. The house dad said that it is not good for you and that you will smell all day. I have wondered why some of the girls do not take showers at night so that they do not have to get up at 4:00AM before school. I now know why. I knew that culturally it is looked down upon to leave your house in the morning without first dressing up. To me sleep would be a valid reason to have half of the girls showering at night and half in the morning, but not here. And that is okay, it is just a cultural difference that I need to get use to, especially as I will be staying with those girls for a few nights over the next two weeks. I am not looking forward to 4:00AM mornings though.

The culmination of the week actually means the arrival of a medical missions team and more busyness in the coming week. I was going to move this weekend but I am not sure that the other apartment will be quite ready. Hopefully I can find time in the next week to pack up and move across town. I look forward to having more options in where I can run. This week there have been two teams here at the mission house where I currently am and though it has been fun to be able to play some basketball with people again, I will enjoy a little quiet again. My mind is blank as far as what else I wanted to write about so this is all for now.

March as it Flies By

March 9, 2010

This month seems to be flying by. And it will continue to fly by as a whirlwind of work teams and extra activities outside of the normal daily schedule. This past weekend I stayed overnight at La Casa de Mi Padre once again, this time with the youngest of the girls. I brought the ingredients for making chocolate chip cookies and we had fun in that activity. It was a little crazy at moments trying to give 8 girls the opportunity to all play an active role in the cookie making process. The end product looked good though I sadly could not eat them since I am still trying to go without eating gluten to see if my health improves.

When I returned to my house on Sunday morning after being at La Casa, there were 18 people there -- two different teams. One is from Pittsburgh and the other from State College so I am surrounded by fellow Pennsylvanians. It makes cooking and such a little crazy but it has been okay. I have loved the fact that I had opportunity to play basketball with some of them the last two evenings. Sunday evening we played against a group of El Salvadorians that must play in the park frequently. We lost but it was fun.

Tomorrow I will get to go up to the farm where the children's home will eventually move and help with the construction project of building a tree house. That will be a fun change of pace too. Today there are lots of group therapy sessions and helping with homework. I am planning to make play dough soon as a tool for the two youngest boys to help with their stimulation. One thing that I have discovered is that they seem to lack toys that encourage stimulation and the use of skills or senses.

Sometime I will need to think about packing and moving to a different apartment this coming weekend, but that will probably not happen until Saturday. If I leave work early enough this evening I hope to get to the small group again with the one church and see about building more relationships with the people here.