Journal October 18-24

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Saturday, October 18, 2009

Today Calin and I met at Hermano Pedro with most of the rotary group from California that worked with us on this week’s wheelchair distributions. Only a few of them had ever been in Hermano Pedro before so I gave them a bit of a tour. Even though they had seen kids that had medical problems during the past several days of wheelchair distributions, seeing the kids at the orphanage and being told some of their stories still brought plenty of tears.


I think that the one that got to them the most was nine year old Alex. Alex seems to be fading away. He has lost another pound this week and is now down to 18 pounds. I have been trying for years to see if they will move him up to the malnutrition ward but for some unexplained reason they refuse to. Monday is a holiday here but on Tuesday morning I am going to go in and see if anything can be done to get him moved up there. I try to pick my battles carefully but unless something more can be done for him I fear that he will not survive much longer.





At noon we took 7 of the kids out to Camperos for lunch then we went to the open house that Hope Haven was having at their new wheelchair factory in Antigua. When things get really rolling they are hoping to be able to supply many countries with the children’s wheelchairs that they have started manufacturing.

Tonight I had a meeting to go to and actually got back late enough that there were no kids left at my gate when I got home.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, October 19, 2008, 10:51 PM
Eight kids came along with me to church this morning. Six of them were from my neighborhood and two of them were from the orphanage. After church we had lunch and then the entire crew came over to my house. More kids soon joined us and my house resembled Hermano Pedro orphanage. Moises and Byron, the two from the orphanage were not all that eager to go back to the orphanage this evening but I promised that I would let them come over again. All of the kids that hang out here are great with the kids from the orphanage and make them feel right at home. I think that since most of my kids have gone through a lot they have a special place in their harts for the orphanage kids.

When I got back home tonight I was ready for some piece and quiet. I may have been ready but I certainly did not get it. My house quickly filled back up with kids. I guess that is what I get for being away from home so much lately. At least some of them have gone home now but that still leaves 5 of them that decided that this is not just a place to hang out and have supper but that it is also a bed and breakfast.

Well I am going to head off to bed before it gets taken.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Monday, October 20, 2008, 8:47 PM

Today I had planned on going to Esquentla to do some visiting but one of the people that wanted to come along with me had other commitments, plus I remembered that it was a holiday and that the clinic that I had planned on stopping at would not be open. After a large breakfast that was made entirely by the 5 kids that spent the night, I told the kids that I needed the house to myself so that I could get caught up on some bookwork. You would have thought that I was going into hibernation for the entire winter and not just for a few hours but they finally shuffled out of the gate. All but Fernando did quite well at allowing me to have some time to myself. He kept ringing the bell and making me go to the gate every few minutes, each time claiming that he left or lost something in my house that he absolutely needed. I finally told him that what I was about to lose was something that he did not need. He got the hint and I actually got a chance to do some work without any interruptions. The only time that I left home was at around 4 PM when I went grocery shopping and stopped off at the wheelchair shop for some supplies that I will need tomorrow.

Whatever lack of company I had today was quickly made up for when I got back from grocery shopping. In fact now that supper is over I once again have to go grocery shopping. I have often wondered if the kids that eat here get enough to eat when I am not at home. From what I am seeing and being told by some of my regulars, many of them do not get more than one or two meals a day and often times the entire meal is nothing more than a few corn tortillas. Miguel and Caser, two brothers who are starting to be some of my regulars, live with their parents and four other siblings. Father brings home the equivalent of $130 per month. After paying rent on their small dirt floor house there is little money left for food and clothing. Thankfully we now have a sponsor for Miguel who is also now working part time in our wheelchair shop. Thankfully he no longer has to work each day for $6.25 per week just so that he can go to night school.


Some of the kids are still outside playing soccer and others are playing games on the computers. Usually the computers are used for schoolwork but school is now out for the season.

Calin is rummaging through my cupboards looking for something to eat, so I think that I well send the rest of the crew home before they decide that they need a second supper as well.


Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick





Tuesday, October 21 2008

This morning Calin, Abner, Marcos, and I stopped off in Antigua and picked up Mary Margaret then the 5 of us headed down towards the coast to visit with some of the people that we are working with. Our first visit was with the people that work at a clinic that we have been working with. Not only are they helping us locate kids like Milton and Julio who were starving to death before we got them into the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro but now that these kids are back with their families the workers at the clinic are delivering food and medicine to them for us and monitoring there progress.


After leaving the clinic we went to see Milton. He is a 4 year old boy that we borought in to Hermano Pedro about 6 months ago. After a few months of doing all that they could for Milton it was decided that he would be just as well off at his home as in the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro because he was running fevers and continuing to loose weight. Basically we all felt that this 4 year old was going home to die. Before stopping in at his home today I had prepared myself for the worst. When we arrived at his home I saw only his mother and one of his brothers standing out side. After saying hello to them I asked mom about Milton. She told us that he still runs some fevers but over all he was doing a lot better. About that time his sister and another little girl came into the yard carrying Milton. Although he must still weigh less than 20 pounds he looks much healthier and was much more alert than he had been when I had last seen him. We were told that Milton had received some food and medicine from the clinic and it had helped him a lot. Mom told us that it had been a one time gift though because this clinic has a very limited budget. We gave Milton’s mom some more food and contacted the clinic telling them that we would give them whatever was necessary to keep Milton supplied with what ever he needed in the way of more food and medicine. They told us that it had been costing them around $25 per month. (Milton needs a sponsor)


Next we drove out through the sugar plantations to Julio’s home. Julio who we do have a sponsor for is doing well. He was lying in a hammock in front to the home that we put up for him while he was in the malnutrition ward a few months ago. His grandmother told us that the food and medicine that the workers of the clinic are bringing in on a monthly bases are a real blessing. I also saw a contentment in both of these kids that tells me that even though their environments are harsh ones they are much better off with their families than being in any hospital or orphanage.




From there we headed cross-country on a maze of dirt roads that led us to Ronny’s house. The entire family was waiting for us because I had told them that we were coming. Ronny had been having some problems with his wheelchair so they had contacted me earlier in the week to see when I could come out and fix it. Ronny has muscular dystrophy and has lost some weight and his health is slowly going down hill. He was happy to get back into his power wheelchair though. The rest of the family is doing well but when I asked about school Ronny’s father told me that he has only registered Ronny and his younger brother for next year.

....................


When I asked why the 3 girls that had been in school this year were not going he reluctantly told me that the family simply did not have the money for their books or uniforms. I asked him why he had not told me this before and he said that since we had helped his family out so much already he was not going to burden us with this. After asking the girls if they wanted to be in school I handed him some money so that he could keep them in school and told him that we would pray for a sponsor. Our visit with this beautiful family that I have known for several years ended all to soon so we set down the children that we were holding and said good-bye.


Our last stop of the day was at the home of Carlos. This is a 10 year old boy that was having daily seizures until we found a sponsor that is helping us provide medicine for him. I had accidentally gone a week to long between visits and his mother had run out of medicine for him. His mother told us that he had started having seizures again. I felt terrible but she reminded me that up until a few months ago when we found a sponsor for him this was a daily occurrence. This time we made sure that he was given a 2 month supply.

There were still more people that I wanted to visit but it had been a long day and we were all tired. Besides that we still had an hour and a half drive home. On our way back home we stopped off a Seriates and had some supper. Seriates is a bit more expensive than where I generally take a crew of this size but the boys had done an awesome job of interpreting so I wanted to buy them a good meal.

Just before reaching my place I told the kids that I was not going to open my house up tonight because it was getting late and I was tiered. When we got to my house and saw how many kids were waiting at my gate I quickly changed my mind though. We had full stomachs but the kids at my gate were hungry. They have now all been fed and I am still tired so I am going to say “Goodnight”.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, October 22, 2008, 7:57 PM
After stopping off at the shop and picking up 2 new wheelchairs and some other supplies Fernando, Esbin, Cesar, and I headed for Hermano Pedro. Today we didn’t take anyone to lunch because I had told my crew that it was going to be a workday. Or at least as much of a work day as I can make of it considering that I had the 3 kids with me and knowing that there would be another half dozen of the orphanage kids that would insist on helping out as well. Actually the kids all stayed quite focused and we managed to get a lot of repair work done and also got two new kids fitted into their new wheelchairs.

I had intended on going to the home of Cesar, the man who’s leg I have been working on. This visit was not going to be to work on his leg but he had found a man with a similar condition that he wanted me to see. Just before heading out to his home we got a down pour that left rivers running down the streets of Antigua so I had Fernando call him and say that we would have to try again on another day

This evening we have simply been hanging out around home. The meal of the evening has been a choice of corn flakes or Coco Crispies but no one has complained. They know that whoever does will be appointed tomorrow night’s chef. Some of the kids have already left but most of them are playing games on the computers. I have not yet asked them how many are staying but by the looks of it most of them look like they are settling in for the night. I think that I will go and get in line for the shower because we still only have water for two and a half hours a day and as much dirt as there has been in the lines that has not been enough to completely fill the new storage tank that I put on top of my house.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Thursday, October 23, 2008, 9:59 PM

Today was one of those never get out of town days. Work to get done around the house and bills to pay. I thought that I would perhaps get a chance to get into Hermano Pedro this afternoon but by the time I got everything done it was past 3 PM. The neighborhood kids loved it though because this meant that I was home earlier than usual so they had more time at my house. Other than tracking a lot of mud into the house they did quite well and once again all of them pitched in and made supper. They even washed the dishes and cleaned up after themselves kid stile. Fortunately that runs neck and neck with bachelor stile so we were all happy with the results. I have always believed that a little dirt helps you build up resistances, and that if you keep things to sanitized you are more than likely to pick up the first germ that comes along. Having a little food stuck to the edges of yesterday’s pots and pans also helps me remember what we had for supper last night.

Well I think that I will take a shower and then head off to bed. I guess if I really wanted to save water and also make sure that the dishes got clean I could take them into the shower with me. The only problem is my bathroom is quite small and all of those dishes would leave less room for an audience. I’m still paging through my Spanish Dictionary when I find the time, but so far I have not found a Guatemalan word for modesty. On second thought, since there are still a lot of people in my house perhaps I will just go to bed dirty and take my shower in the morning.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, October 24, 2008, 10:20 PM


Well I managed to get that shower in with only one or two spectators so that is an improvement from the standing room only audiences that I used to get when I first moved here.

(My future bathroom)...

This morning Abner and Marcos accompanied me to Hermano Pedro. It has now been over a week that Abner has been happy and helpful. I am beginning to think that is might last. Today he helped interpret for me, played with the orphanage kids and even helped work on a number of wheelchairs.






Cathy Mullhaland and a friend are here for a few days. Cathy is a physical therapist and seating specialist who has a hart for the people here in Guatemala. Even though she is unable to visit as often as she used to she still manages to show up once or twice a year and work with us.






The first part of the day we mostly just played with the kids. We even took 5 of them out to lunch. This afternoon we got a bit more serious and went over to Hope Haven’s new wheelchair factory and helped seat six kids that had come in for a mini distribution. Actually it turned out to be another one of those Godincidence days because this morning the staff of Hermano Pedro informed me that a little boy that was in malnutrition was unexpectedly going back to his home with his father. I had not yet brought in a wheelchair for him so his father was delighted when he was told that he and his son could come along with us to the other side of town and receive a wheelchair. Everyone an the orphanage has been in love with this little boy ever since he came into the orphanage a few months ago. He loved to be held by anyone who was willing to hold him. Today though I really saw the importance of as many of these kids as possible being with their families. There was such a bond of love between this boy and his father that there was no way that he would be held by anyone else. Fact is he put up quite a fuss when I placed him in his new wheelchair.
When we asked one little girl that was there today how she like school we were told by her mother that she did not go to school. Mom who lives right in Antigua told us that since her daughter could not walk she just figured that there was no way that she would be excepted in a school. I told her about Nanette the teacher that works for us at Hermano Pedro. I also told this mother about Sonia and how through a lot of prayer and persistence Nanette helped get Sonia into a school right in Antigua. Both mother and Daughter were delighted when I promised that I would talk to Nanette so that we could set up a time when they can go and talk with her.

It looks like it is going to be another busy day tomorrow so I think that I will close for now and see if I can possibly get this journal out tonight.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal October 11-17 2008

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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Since I have been on the go all week I decided that spending time with the kids was more important than writing in my Journal. I will try to get back to writing on Monday.

Yours in Christ: Dick





Sunday, October 12, 2008

It is still the weekend so I will make this one short. Kids, food, church, more kids, more food and then off to Xela for 3 days of wheelchair distributions.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Monday, October 13, 2008

As you can see I kept my weekend journal entries shorter than short. I needed a few days off from writing. Besides that I was on the computer most of Saturday morning getting last weeks journal out. Saturday afternoon I took the kids back to the new restaurant that is located on an old plantation less than 15 minutes from where I live. We actually had baloney sandwiches at home before going there because it would have cost too much to buy lunch there for all of the kids. However the kids seemed delighted when I told them that they could each have a piece of cake at the restaurant and the price of the cake was no worse than the entry fee to a park that I sometime take them to. After the cake we played soccer, Frisbee and hiked around the plantation. The entire time that we were there we only saw 2 other customers come into the restaurant. I don’t know how long they are going to stay in business but while they do it is like having our own private park. On our way home the kids talked me into stopping off and buying street food for supper. We did OK on the street food this time. As usual it tasted good and so far none of us have gotten sick from it. I think that this is a new record because we have now made it 3 times in a row on street food without any of us getting sick.


Sunday I took 6 of the kids to Church but only after having a little talk with them about a few small items that have been disappearing from my house lately. Mostly it has been food and I think that is partially due to the fact that I have not been around to feed the kids as much as normal, but I let them know that they can not take even the smallest item from my house or they will have to be punished by not being allowed in my house for several days.

After church I fed them well by stopping off at Martha’s and letting them load up on food. All 7 of us left the place absolutely stuffed for under $20. I had wanted to go to the orphanage but we are having 3 days of wheelchair distributions up around the Xela area and I had to leave by 2 PM.

Now on to today. (Monday)


We spent the night in a motel in Xela and this morning had to drive less than a mile to the place where we were having today’s wheelchair distribution. We have now done several yearly wheelchair distributions here in Xela with a Rotary club out of California. Many of the 15 people that are here with the rotary club have been either to Guatemala or other countries on wheelchair distributions in the past, so along with about 10 of us from Guatemala many hands made for light work. Even though we gave out 67 wheelchairs, about a third of which were specialty chairs we still finished up before 2 PM. This had to be some kind of a record especially considering that some one who knew what they were doing properly fit each and every one who received a wheelchair.

One of our more difficult cases today was a 22 year old lady that appears to be dying. Looking at her I assumed that she had been disabled from birth but after talking with her mother we discovered that she was fine until 10 months ago when she suffered something that in some ways resembled a stroke. She is now in very bad shape and cannot even be put into a full upright position without nearly passing out. Kathy, a therapist from Iowa and I worked on her chair for several hours.

Now that we all have one day of working together under our belts we will see if we can face an even bigger challenge because tomorrow we have over 90 people scheduled to come In for wheelchairs in the town of Ratolaio. We plan on driving there in the morning and have to head out at 5:30, so I think I will call it a night.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 9:22 PM

I wish that I could share the individual stories about those that received wheelchairs today, but that is not possible because today 98 people received wheelchairs. I will tell you about a few people that I personally had the opportunity to work with though.
One of these individuals was a man that caught my eye the minute that we walked into the building where we were conducting today’s wheelchair distribution. This gentleman who appeared to be in his mid thirties was sitting in a homemade wheelchair that had been constructed out of pieces of rebar that had been welded together. Even though his face and body were quite twisted and deformed he had a look in his eyes that told me that his mind was as sharp as a tack. I walked over and visited with him and his elderly parents. (I never thought that I would some day find myself calling some one my own age elderly.) Both he and his parents were extremely excited about the prospect of him receiving a wheelchair today. I was told that the homemade wheelchair that he was in was the only wheelchair that he had ever owned, and it was apparent from looking at it that even in it’s better days it left a lot to be desired. It was obvious that this man no longer had good enough hand use to propel himself but I could not help but wonder if he could have propelled himself in his younger days, had he owned a decent wheelchair.
For the next 5 hours everyone on our team was extremely busy. The weather here near see level was much hotter than it had been yesterday when we were working in Xela which is over 7000 feet above sea level, but no one complained about the heat. We were all to busy with what we were doing to think about the heat. Each of us met people that were in need and we were doing our best to at least give them the comfort and dignity of a wheelchair. One boy named Walter, reminded me so much of Onias, that I found my self accidentally calling him Onias a time or two. I first met Onias nearly 9 years ago when he came into Hermano Pedro Orphanage. He was an 8 year old that was determined not to let a little thing like cerebral palsy slow him down. Even though he could not walk with out the aid of a walker and had to spend the majority of his time in a wheelchair Onias had enough determination to make up for any handicap that he had. It was this desire that he had to live life as much like any other 8 year old that prompted Chris, Donna, and myself to find a teacher who was willing to come into Hermano Pedro and teach some of he kids. Since that time Onias has returned to his home, which is located 11 hours from Chimaltenango but his schooling has not stopped. Thanks to some sponsors he and two other special needs children that live in the same village are receiving an education from a lady that we have hired to work one on one with tem several days each week. I asked Walter if he went to school and his smile nearly turned into tears. His family explained to me that their 10 year old son has always wanted to go to school but where they live he is not allowed to because he is handicapped. A few weeks ago I stuck my big foot in my mouth by telling a young man named Rolando that we would find a teacher to come into his home and teach him even though we did not have a sponsor for him at that time. Actually I am learning that sticking my foot in my mouth and stepping out in faith are not all that different. I guess the big difference is that with stepping out on faith you are trusting God to come through when you do something that you know you are suppose to do, even though it may seem a insane to those around you. Funny thing is today it did not seem all that insane to those around me. When I shared my thoughts with Chris and Donna they were 100% behind me. We could tell that Walter and his family were 100% for this idea as well. They promised that they would start looking for a teacher as soon as they got home and it looks like Walter will soon be getting an education. Oh by the way God provided a sponsor for Rolando but we still have none for Walter or several others that we have made promises to.

By about 2 PM we had finished fitting all but a few of the 98 people into their wheelchairs. That is when the man in the homemade wheelchair that I had met this morning was brought into the room where we were working. Kathy, the therapist who is here with the group, and I quickly found a nice wheelchair for him that only needed a few modifications but I could not help but think how wonderful it would be if he could some how control it himself. Kathy must have been reading my mind because she looked at me and said, “If only he had a little better use of his hands.” “What about a power wheelchair?” Kathy asked. I did not want to get this families hopes up because I was not sure that even if the conditions where he lived were right, that he had enough hand use to control a joy stick. With out mentioning a power wheelchair we inquired about the type of terrain where he lived and weather or not this family had electricity. All of the answers were favorable, but what about hand movement. Next I held out a screwdriver so that it resembled a joy stick to see if he could hold on to it and then asked him to try to push it forward and backward, then to the right and to the left. His hand control proved to be very limited. Next I tested to see if there was a possibility that he could drive a head controlled wheelchair. Success! I then told this man and his family that it would not happen over night but hopefully with in the next six months he would have a head controlled power wheelchair. I already have 3 people that need head controlled wheelchairs on a waiting list but now there are 4. I guess it is that old foot in the mouth thing again. We have the power chairs now we just have to pray that we can find some head controllers so that I can adapt to them.

Tomorrow’s distribution in San Marcos is suppose to be a bit smaller than today’s distribution was but we are still planning on giving out and fitting around 65 wheelchairs so I think that I will get some rest.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 8:36 PM




Another great day today and another 67 happy wheelchair recipients. I would love to share more stories but it has been a busy 3 days, so tonight I will let the pictures do the talking.



Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick






Thursday, October 16, 2008, 8:20 PM

It rained all night so I decided not to take the normal rout back home from Xela, because there are usually problems with landslides along this rout whenever it rains a lot. The rout that we took back home was about an hour longer but today it paid off because my suspicions about the other rout having landslides were later confirmed.

Today it was Calin who had the built in radar because I was no sooner in the gate than my phone rang. Within 20 minutes the word was out that I was back and my house quickly filled up with hungry kids. I spent the first few hours dealing with their hunger to have some one to listen to them and then we went to work on filling up their stomachs. Tonight’s supper of pancakes and eggs was not prepared in a frying pan on my gas camp stove like it usually is but instead we used a large electric grill that we some times take along to wheelchair distributions so that we can feed the people. This evening the kids thought it was really neat to be able to cook our dinner on the table as we ate. Everyone took their turn at flipping pancakes and even though my floor, walls, and ceiling will never be quite the same we all had a fun time. Perhaps I should have let the 4 kids that did the dishes wash them inside the house as well because the amount of water that they splashed around would have cleaned at least some of the pancake batter off from the walls and ceiling.

Things have now calmed down a bit but all of the kids that are not spending the night have already promised that they will be back first thing in the morning. I am sure that I will be seeing even more of them now that the school season is over. It is good to be back home though and good to see all of the kids.


Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Friday, October 17, 2008, 6:05 PM
I have seen a lot of things happen here in Guatemala that can not be explained any other way than being a Godincidence or you could use the word miracle if you prefer, but some times I think things that do not seem all that unordinary are to easily accepted as just happening and God is given little credit. Tonight I am thanking God for the changes that I have seen in Abner since I got back home yesterday. Ever since I returned home yesterday afternoon he has been nothing but pleasant and goes out of his way to help out in any way that he can. I know that this has been only a little over 24 hours but for Abner to stay pleasant this long it has to be nothing short of a miracle. I have always loved that kid but much like with Etiline it has taken some extra time on my knees to do so. This morning he and Cesar even made breakfast for the entire crew without being asked. Doing something like that is nothing out of the ordinary for Cesar but for Abner it is a milestone.


I was worried that I was pushing my luck when I let Abner and three others come along with me to Hermano Pedro today but all went well and the four boys spent there entire time there playing with the orphanage kids. It was really good to get back there after not being there for over a week and a half and I spent my time just visiting with the kids as well. Not that there were not a lot of wheelchairs that needed fixing but accidentally forgetting to take my tools along helped ease my consciences when I did nothing but play. Who says getting forgetful when you get older does not have it’s benefits?





We did not take any of the kids out to lunch today because it was raining but still had a good time visiting with them. After spending some time with the kids down stares I snuck off to the malnutrition ward to see how Lionel was doing. When I walked up to his crib he immediately recognized me and gave me a smile that melted my hart. The nurses told me that he has had no more seizures and that he continues to gain weight. Twenty four pounds is still no record for a nine year old but that is 50% heavier than he was when we brought him in a little over a month ago.




I wish that I could say the same for Alex though. Even though he is on a feeding tube he just seems to be fading away. A good friend of mine wrote me while I was in Xela this week and said that she no longer knew weather to pray that he would stay alive or that God would take him home. After holding him today I felt the same way. He still managed to give me a grin when I said his name though. Funny thing how just having some one recognize you as a human being can light up your day no matter how miserable you are feeling. Alex is a lot more than just recognized though. I think that out of all the kids that are at Hermano Pedro I get more letters asking about Alex than any of the others. Sam Sam runs a close second and I am going to do my best to go and visit him as soon as possible, if the orphanage that he is now in allows visitors.

Before Leaving the orphanage I went up to Father Bernardo’s room. With in minutes Father Bernardo was in the car with the 4 boys and myself and we were on our way to see Cesar, the man who’s leg I have been treating. Father Bernardo had not seen me in over a week so most of the stories that he told me were repeats but for the most part he remembered that I spoke English and he did not use to much Italian, Chinese, or Spanish when talking to me. Once we got to Cesar’s house, Abner asked me if he could do the interpreting. After I picked myself up off from the floor I looked over at Father Bernardo and he nodded that it was fine with him. Cesar’s leg is looking so much better that I am going to stop using the Unaboot and just monitor things. Now this one really is a miracle because only a few months ago he was told that his leg needed to be amputated. Next week Cesar wants to take me to meet a man who has the same condition. Our visit with Cesar and his family was much to short. He and his family have become such good friends that it is always hard to say goodbye.


As we drove Father Bernardo back to Hermano Pedro we discussed how sad it is that so many churches and mission organizations are splitting up over small little things. This dear old Catholic priest has become a good friend. Even though he is nearly thirty years older than me and we are worlds apart on theology, we are thankful that we are able to work well together. God has given both of us a burden for those that are suffering here in Guatemala. Perhaps when we both get old and can find nothing better to do we will sit down and argue about theology.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal September 4-10 2008

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Saturday, October 4, 2008

This morning two of the boys and myself went over and visited with the Mooney family for a while. They are great people to visit with but I have to admit this time I had an ulterior motive to my visit, it is rainy season and they have a close dryer. While we were there I took a look at Donna's Macintosh Computer. It is having some problems. It is slowing down to the point that you would think that she was using a Windows computer instead of a Mac. I will probably get some feed back about that remark from those of you who are using Windows’ operating systems. That is if they are working well enough to receive this journal. Anyway we had a good visit and I think that we narrowed down the problem with the computer.

This afternoon I swapped off the two kids that came along with me this morning for six new ones. I had planned on taking only three kids along with me but I hate seeing kids cry. There is a new restaurant just a short distant from town that is located on an old plantation that is being converted into a camp grounds and conference center. It is a beautiful place but I don’t think that they are going to get much business unless they can do something about the dirt road that leads to it. My main reason for taking the kids there was that they have all kinds of room to play there. There is even a soccer field and my kids made good use of it. The kids all had something to eat but I didn’t order much to eat because I had already had lunch with group # 1. After lunch I let the kids play until dark. They had a great time and I found that a lot less of my things get broken when the kids have an actual soccer field to play in.

Tonight I have the house to myself. I have once again picked up a head cold so I told the kids that I needed some quiet time. I guess that I will go out and remind whoever it is that is ringing the doorbell that I am not opening up the house tonight. You would think that the other 12 that have already showed up at my gate, one at a time, would have gotten the word out by now. I think that they are working at letting me know that I would get a lot more rest by letting them in than by having to go out to the gate every 5 minutes.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick




Sunday, October 5, 2008

Woke up feeling lousy so I spent the day at home.
Yours in Christ: Dick


Monday, October 6, 2008
I think that my head cold is getting better but then again I have not had much time to think about it. I got up at 5 AM and shortly after 6 Howard, Juan, Juan Luis and myself were on our way to Mazatenango with two pickup trucks loaded to the brim with tools and a prefabricated house. This one was going to a family that live in a small town about 20 minutes drive from Mazatenango. You may remember me telling you about them when Donya Marya took us to their home a few months ago. That day only Carlos, a 12 year old boy was at home. His mom was cleaning house for someone in town and the other 4 kids were either in school or working. Carlos was not in school because he had been kicked out for fighting. The entire family lived in a one room house that was made from black plastic and rusted out pieces of tin. They had one bed for the entire family to sleep in and the river that was less than 50 feet from their home served as bathtub and toilet. Even though we had other houses scheduled to build we felt that this one was a priority.

Today tearing down the old house only took us about a half hour. I have little doubt that had we waited until a good wind came through Mother Nature would have done the job for us. Once we got the old house out of the way we could see that the ground had a lot more slope to it than we had first thought. Fortunately we were able to hire five of the High school class mates of the oldest boy in the family and they helped us carry in rock and dirt to level up the ground that the new house was going to be built on. The mayor of the town also came over. He and some of the men from the town offered to supply some of the sand, gravel, and cement blocks that would be needed to level up the ground and put a cement floor in the house. He even supplied 2 more men to help us for at least one day. These 2 men were paid by the city but we had to come up with the $10 to pay the high school boys for a half days work. I know that they took a little advantage of us since Howard and I were gringos but we figured that giving the 5 of them $2 each was worth it even if they were only working a half-day. I mentioned that 2 of us were gringos but the other 2 were not neither were any of the 5 high school boys that we hired, or the 2 men that the mayor supplied. I guess that is why a lot of what got done today got done the Guatemalan way. I have gotten accustom to everyone and everything being at least a few hours late however when you are waiting for truck loads of sand, gravel, or cement block to arrive so that you and your crew can go to work it gets a bit annoying when all 3 truck arrive at least 2 hours late. This especially bothered Howard who is very punctual. What bothered me more than that was that even though Howard and myself agreed that once the sand which had been hand shoveled off from the trucks was shoveled into wheelbarrows and feed sack it would be best to carry them directly to the job site which was located down a Maze of narrow paths that zigzagged between sporadically placed one and two room dwellings. However we were quickly outvoted and it was decided that the dirt and rock would be unloaded at a half way point and then reloaded and piled a short distance from where we were building the house. From there it could once again be reloaded and used as needed. Funny thing is we already needed it two hours before the trucks arrived. Howard and I looked at each other and agreed that we were the foreigners and that we had to remember, when in Guatemala do as the Guatemalan’s do. I could not help but notice that Howard kept looking at his watch though.

We got the old house torn down and the sand and gravel moved to at least one of our many transfer sites we also got the edges of the place where the new house is to be built shored up with rocks that are the same size and five times the weight of bowling balls. Then our workday was cut short by a thunderstorm. Now let me tell you, all of us had agreed that we were not going to let a little bit of rain keep us from working but this was more than a little bit of rain. Fact is as we were driving out I ran the pick up truck right into the side of a small cement bridge that I did not see. Fortunately since the road was bumpy ant the visibility was bad I was moving very slowly so more damage was done to my pride than to the pickup truck.

Tonight we are once again at our home away from home, the Bamboo hotel. I don’t know if it is my imagination or what, but after hauling rock and sand, and carrying boulders all afternoon these cement beds feel even harder than usual.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, October 7, 2008
After breakfast we headed out to the job site. We had been promised that the cement block would be delivered by 8 AM. For the next two hours Howard spent a lot of time looking at his watch. Once the block finally arrived we convinced our helpers that it would be beneficial to them if they carried the block the full distance to the job site rather than unload it at various check points. I am not sure that they fully agreed but money talks. Today the workers seemed to understand my English “No listen, No pay.” They told us that they could only work until noon though because they had school in the afternoon and even though we were paying them good money they could not miss a second day of school. We were glad to see that these young men were conscientious about there schooling because this was the slum area of this town and undoubtedly many of the young people from here were gang members and not going to school.

Howard and I had a talk with 12 year old Carlos because the last time that I was there he told me that he had gotten kicked out of school for fighting. His older brother told us that he had also been trying to convince Carlos that he needed to get back into school but so far Carlos had refused. I told Carlos who had also been helping us that I could see that he was a good worker and knew by talking with him that he was very intelligent. I asked him to at least think it over and that if he decided that he wanted to resume his schooling that we would help him get back into school.

Today the afternoon rain held off for a bit longer than usual and we were able to get the outside foundation of the house put in. Tomorrow morning we plan on having our helpers carry in fill dirt to level up the floor while we start construction of the house.

I made several attempts at taking a picture of the polluted river that runs near the house but every time I went down there some one was using it as a toilet or a bathtub. They did not seem to be embarrassed that I was standing there with a camera in my hand, but I was, so I refrained from taking any pictures of the river.

"I don't know about you Pedro but I am not sure that I can hold out for much longer. In fact I'm starting to wonder if these Gringos are even going to put a bathroom in this house."

Goodnight:
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Today we managed to get most of the wall of the house up before a heavy rainstorm came in. We were instantly soaked to the skin but kept working in it until we got the siding up on one of the outside walls that had insulation exposed to the rain but then we went under a neighbors porch where we were out of the rain. Even though it was only 2:30 we nearly called it quits for the day because it was raining so hard that there was no way that we could work in it. However contrary to most Guatemalan afternoons during the rainy season this storm let up after a while and we were able to get in another few hours of work. One thing that we keep trying to remind ourselves though is that our main reason for being here is not to get a house built or a wheelchair handed out, and some times it takes a rain storm us focus on that. Here we were sitting on the front porch of the home of some one that we had not met until 2 days ago visiting with at least 20 people that knew that we were there to share Christ’s love with them by helping a widow and her children have a better life. Pastor Juan who is one of the 4 of us that came to build this house could have preached a sermon to these people while we waited out the rainstorm. He certainly had a captive audience. He didn’t though. Instead much like the rest of us he just visited. Yes there was talk about how God had led us to this family and how it was because of the love of Jesus that we were there, but there were no sermons, just Christian friendship. I think that these people had already gotten their sermon watching pastor Juan and the rest of us while we were on our knees in the mud constructing this house.

Tonight we are all tired and a bit stiff and aching a bit more than usual, but are any of us sorry that we came. Not on your life. We love what we are doing and we love the One who we are doing it for, and He has given us a love for these people.

Goodnight:
Yours in Christ: Dick


Thursday, October 10, 2008


This morning Pastor Juan and I put on the roof while Howard, and Juan Luis built a porch. If we had to do this project with the 4 of us we would likely be here several weeks. We are not alone on this building project though. The longer that I stay here the more in love I become with these people. Even though we are in what you would consider the slum area of a small town the people here seem to have a camaraderie that I do not see in many other places. I have seen some jealousy in some of the places where we have built homes but here it seems that all of the neighbors are very excited and happy for this widow and her 6 children. Granted we are paying some of the older boys a few dollars each day to help but today they even came back after school and offered to do more work for free. Even the women and younger children pitch in and help in whatever way they can. Today most of them spent a good part of the day bringing water up from the river or carrying in sand and rocks so that we could pour a cement floor. Every day since we have been here some of the women prepare lunch for us.

This afternoon we had enough help that I took some time to simply enjoy the kids. As you all know by now that is a hard job for me but I managed to enjoy myself. They seemed to enjoy the attention as well. Even one little guy who cut his foot when we were roughhousing a bit to much became my best buddy when I took the time to clean and bandage the cut on his foot. The kids took great delight in trying to teach me some Spanish as I tough them some English. I guess that I am a better teacher than a student because they must have learned 10 words to my 1. Fact is I can’t even remember what that word was now. Since the rest of the crew stuck to their work a lot did get accomplished today and the house is nearly complete. Tomorrow morning we plan on doing just a few odds and ends that should not take more than an hour or two. We hope to be on our way home by 10 but have heard that they are going to have a dedication of the home in the morning as well. Here in Guatemala no Christian family ever considers moving into a new home until they give thanks to God and have a Christian dedication. We are all wanting to gat back to our homes but we would not miss this for the world.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, October 10, 2008

We had planned on heading for home early this morning but there were a few finishing touches that we wanted to put on the house that we had built before leaving. So the four of us headed back there and worked for a few hours before heading for home. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised to see that last night some of the boys from the neighborhood had finished up on some cement work that was needed around a corner post of the porch. When we arrived several of them quickly showed us what they had done so that we could admire their work.

Along with the money that a gracious family had given us to build this house they had also sent some money to buy some thing special for this family. Considering that mom who is a widow has to share a bed with her 5 children some of whom are adults, the decision on what to use the money for was a fairly easy one, so about an hour before the others finished up Donya Marie and I went into Mazatenango and bought two double beds. Since our shopping trip took a bit longer than expected and the house dedication was not going to be this morning as I had first thought, I never did get back to where we built the house to say goodbye, but Donya Marie will see to it that the beds are delivered this afternoon. Perhaps it was best that I did not get a chance to say goodbye because it would have been hard. Besides that this gives me a good excuse to go back and visit with these wonderful new friends as soon as possible.

As hard as it was to leave it was sure good to get back and see the kids. I had thought about sneaking of to the shop to work on this journal when I got home but there was no way. Fernando, who was standing guard quickly notified the other kids that I was home, and soon my yard was full of kids. Suddenly the kids were more far more important than any journal. They wanted to spend time with me and I wanted to spend time with them. Perhaps I will get this sent out tomorrow but right now I have to go pay the man who is waiting at my gate with the 4 large pizzas.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Tuesday was children's day in Guatemala.