Guatemala Update Day 9

I'm getting to the end of our trip recap. Just Day 9 and Day 10 to go... Day 9 Antigua and Guatemala City We started the day by visiting a Girls Home called Manchin. Red Dot and Buckner had spent several cumulative weeks at Manchin in the recent past, and completed quite a bit of upgrade work to the facitilities.

On the whole, I was very impressed with the Home. It was much larger than I imagined, and had a very large courtyard with classrooms surrounding it.

The dorm rooms were new, thanks to previous team trips. There were several teenage mothers in this home and they had their own dorm room, separate from the other girls. It was sobering to see, but a reality nonetheless. Each bed in the mother's dorm had a crib next to the bed. It made me ache for these girls who for whatever reason, were now saddled with the responsiblities of motherhood.

While touring the Home, we saw one of the active volcano's in the area spout a puff. My first real volcano siting!

After saying goodbye to the girls at Manchin, we headed back to Guatemala City. We visited a Baby's Home. This was an actual house, not an institutional building. There are house parents that live in the home, and a staff that assists with the babies/toddlers. We brought them a treat for lunch, as well as some new toys that were a hit.

I know there are a hundred different reasons the babies are in this Home, but holding this little one really affected me. Oh, I would have brought her home in a heartbeat! I think ALL of the women passing around this sweet baby thought the same thing.

Below is Estuardo playing with the Pizza toy we brought. He was quite the expert at serving pizza!

The Men worked on installing artificial turf in an outside play area (to replace the hard concrete.) As they unrolled the large, bulky roll of grass... gasp! Oh no. It was short. About 1/3 of the length short. The looks on the faces of them men told it all. What a sinking feeling! As it turns out, the rolls of grass that we used in Xela were mis-marked. That explained how we ended up with so much extra grass at Xela... The picture below is seconds before the end of the roll was reached.

What would have taken about 1 hour to install ended up taking several. Fortunately, Red Dot had stored some extra grass at the Buckner storage facility on an earlier trip. And the storeroom was nearby! So after a trip to storage they were able to add 3 seams and make the grass fit. The women said our goodbyes and left the men working on the grass. We went to town and purchased a DVD player and about 20 or so movies. With this, we headed over to the Boys Transitional Home. Red Dot (thanks to Melissa's dream) has been significant in creating this home, after getting to know some of the older boys at Xela on previous trips. Some of the older boys needed a smaller home to grow up in, with personal attention, tutoring, etc. It is a house, in a neighborhood, very close to the Baby Home we were at earlier. There are currently 4 boys living there with a mom and dad - House Parents. The home has room for a few more boys as well. These kids were awesome! They were so well behaved, sweet teenage boys. Here is a picture of Melissa with "her" boys!

Here are the boys excited about the movies we gave them.

We spent some time with them, and pretty soon the men finished installing the grass at the Baby's home and joined us. The boys were excited about the following day, when we would take them with us on a short plane ride (their first!) to see the ancient pyramid city of Tikal. So when we said good night to them, we were looking forward to the next day with them. Dinner on this night was a special event. It was our "thank you" dinner for our Buckner translator team. We went to a very cool steakhouse, at the top of a hill that overlooked the city. I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't. It was a real treat for us all! Following dinner, we officially "thanked" our translators for their hard work. Without their help, there is no way we could have been as effective as I think we were. They were always involved, working alongside us... helping us communicate with the children.

We went to bed that night looking forward to the next day... Seeing the ruins at Tikal, and then ziplining through the the jungle. (yikes!) I'll work on our last day and post it soon!

Day 8 - Guatemala Update

And here is my Day 8 update from the Guatemala trip. Day 8 - Antigua We left our week-long home in Xela this morning. It was Saturday, and we were exhausted from the week. As we drove out of the city, I pondered the memories from the past week. What a gift I had been given! As long as I live, this week with the children of Xela will be one of the highlights! The drive back towards Guatemala City took us to Antigua. There were lots of beautiful sites along the mountainous road.

I've always heard of the quaint city of Antigua, and there was no disappointment here! This was going to be our fun day of R&R!

Lunch first... it was a welcome stop. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was awesome! We all piled around the table and relaxed. The food kept coming and coming. And on this day, the difference was that we had gelled (is that a word?) as a team. We had built so many memories the past week together that we were a FAMILY. And we were relaxing together as family.

Following lunch, we enjoyed the outdoor shopping at the market, and walking around the square also. It was a very quaint city. I would love to go back and spend a few days exploring the area. And of course, I couldn't stay out of the bookstore...

And I can't help but share this photo of the "lactating fountain..."

Dinner on this evening was a REAL treat! We went to Santa Domingo, a 16th century monastery. Here are a few pictures.

We dined in what felt like a "cave." It was part of the original monastery, and believe me when I say... it felt old. It was very nice relaxing in the candlelight ambiance with history literally all around us. We celebrated Guili's birthday and the mariochi band did their stuff! We had time later on to explore some of the grounds, and were glad to learn that we could return in the morning for a few minutes to see it in the daylight. Back to our hotel after dinner. Rick and I fell into bed looking forward to the next day. We would visit a Girl's Home in Antigua (the very one that Tod first met Kati at - now Tod and Robyn's daughter!) I just have to post this picture that I just saw today. Tod & Robyn, Tyler & Lindsey are in Guatemala for their 8 week stay so that Kati can join our family officially!

Day 7 - Guatemala Update continued...

I left my previous Update blog with our making the assignments for the Carnival. The men were busy constructing a putt-putt golf game, the backboard for a wet-sponge throw, pie throw, tee-pee, etc. LOTS of fun games. They had some supplies that were left over from the playground and grass installation, so leftovers were used accordingly.

Grass Man even born... or hatched... or whatever.

Melissa and I paired up for the ring toss. We had frisbie/foam rings and taped water bottles together to receive the toss.

Rick was assigned to the bean bag toss. There was also a teepee with face-painting and a puffy dice throw.

Each child would be given a bag that had tickets in it. There were tickets for pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, drink and photo-booth, & bounce house. Once the Carnival began, they would be turned loose to scurry like ants around all of the games and booths. Every game would award them candy or little trinkets.

Below is the pizza vendor setting up shop.

During the setup, the atmosphere steadily grew until it felt electric . The dj had arrived and was playing loud festive music. The cotten candy was smelling good.

All of us on the team were dancing around, getting our faces painted, setting up our booths, and the kids were glued to the windows, watching us. One little escape artist actually climbed out and squeezed through the broken bars on his window, dropping down the side of the building to join in!

At last the time arrived. All of the kids were lined up at the door, practically beating it down wanting to come outside. With the all clear signal, they began to pour out. All 107 of them. It was so exciting, seeing their little faces light up at all that we had set up for them to do. I can't begin to explain how festive and electric the mood was.

We were celebrating:

• A successful week.
• Unconditional love.
• The safety that God provided to our group earlier that morning.
• Life.
• Above all, we were celebrating these precious, special children.

We were as hyper as the kids were, intoxicated by the infectious energy and giggles the children offered.

The photo-booth was a hit. There were dress-up clothes, boas, funny hats, props... We had a polaroid camera so that the children could have their picture taken. Little Sylvia wanted Rick to be in the picture with her. It was precious. And then... she brought the picture over to me. I could see immediately that her countenance had changed from festive to somber. Her tears were about to spill over. She handed the picture to me and motioned that she wanted me to keep it. I pulled her close and hugged her, as her little sobs poured out. My heart broke. She was sharing with me something so special to her... I tried to refuse the gift but she kept insisting. So I tucked the picture in my pocket and led her back to the games.

There was only one thing to do... we needed to get another polaroid picture, this time with all three of us in it so that she could keep one. And that's what we did. Sylvia was so excited - she meticulously chose our outfits and kept rearranging the stance. The snapshot captured a moment in time. It froze one second of our 10 day journey and recorded for eternity the emotions we all felt. It was a moment that was so pure and real, filled with love and acceptance. It was a glimpse into heaven.

The Carnival continued on for a couple of hours.

Here is my cousin getting a kiss after the pie in his face!

Eventually, as our energy was waning, we herded the kids into the center of the playground and sat them down.

Tod spoke to them, through the translator, and told them how much we love them, and how much more God loves them. He told them that God had a plan for each of them, just like in the story of Joseph they had learned during the week. We brought out a big "Tu Eres Especial" cake (You Are Special) for them. Then, each one of them waited for their name to be called. As it was called, they would walk up to the front and receive their gift. They each received the Max Lucado book "Tu Eres Especial," and a plush teddy bear. The girls received a necklace and the boys received a baseball cap. Each child got a special hug as they received the gift. It was beautiful. Of course, they started getting ancy, and it ended up mildly chaotic, BUT, it was perfect.

Here is Kelby giving the gifts to one of the boys.

The kids were all taken back inside. We stayed out back and began cleaning up the MESS that was left. It went pretty quick, with all hands on deck. And many of the children watched from the windows. We knew what was coming next. So did the children. The dreaded goodbyes. When it was time, we trudged up the stairs to the childrens dorm rooms. Immediately upon entering, Sylvia, Lupe and Kejla fought their way through the bottleneck to us. They were already sobbing. Sylvia jumped into Rick's arms and buried her little face in his chest. I felt a sob work it's way up my chest and catch in my throat. These little children know more about goodbye's than I ever will. They know abandonment. They know sadness. And they are still tender enough to attach and trust someone else.

The three girls led us over to a bunk bed and we sank down on it, pulling each of them close into our laps and arms. My tears spilled over as I held these little girls and prayed over them. "Lord, please protect them. Keep them tender and safe. Protect them and show them your great love."

The crying must have been viral, if you know what I mean. And like all emotions with little girls, it was dramatic. I think they fed off of each other's tears, each one crying harder than their friend. Pretty soon, the gifts started. It began with Sylvia going to her bed and fetching her prized Winnie the Pooh. And then they all followed. Each girl bringing not 1, not 2, but 3 or more stuffed animals to give to us. We tried to insist they keep them, but they would have none of it. They kept stuffing animals in our backpacks and arms. These little girls were giving us all they had. They didn't want us to forget them. To be forgotten... that is their fear. Here is a picture of the stuffed animals on our hotel bed that night.

Finally we tore ourselves away and walked out of the door. Little Sylvia followed us downstairs, only to be nudged back upstairs by a worker. It was heartbreaking. I looked around at my team-mates faces. Each of them had tear streaks and sadness written across their faces. Each one of them were touched by the lives of these children. We each tucked away in our hearts the private emotions and tried to smile at one another. "Chin-up," I thought. Just hold your chin up and smile. Don't lose it now. We did what we came to do. We built a playground. We installed grass inside the atrium. We threw a fabulous carnival. We opened our hearts. We loved, without holding anything back. That is what we came to do. As our team drove away from the orphanage for the last time, I knew our time there would be blessed. God would water the seeds of hope we planted in these little lives. Somehow, our work would not be forgotten. We were exhausted and it was time to close the shutters on this day. What had started with a robbery and then been lifted with the giggles of the toddlers on their new playground, had then turned joyful during the Carnival and then sad with the goodbyes. Rest was deep and healing for us that evening.

Another update coming soon...

I am half-way through writing my part 2 update to the Carnival Day. It's taking some time... I have so much to share about that day. So hang on, it's coming soon. Here's a teaser for you. In the picture below you can see the putt-putt game. At the back is a tee-pee with face painting and to the left of that is the pie throw. If you click on it, the picture will expand and you can see everything more clearly. Rick and I slept in this Saturday morning and are enjoying our Saturday morning coffee ritual. Last Saturday we were both so ill, the coffee had no taste. But we're back... and life is good! The weather outside is beautiful! The cold snap left us, and it almost feels like Spring out there! We are fixing to (some good ole fashioned Texas-speak) head out and walk around the grounds at Canton's First Monday. I'll finish the Carnival Day update later on...

If you are new to my blog...

If you are new to my blog - Welcome! My recap of the Guatemalan experience is half-way complete. You might find it helpful to scroll down a few pages and begin with Day 1.

Day 7 - Guatemala Update PART 1

I have ALOT to talk about for this particular day... so I think it's going to have to be broken into two days. Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1: This was the day we had built up to all week long. The "You are Special" Carnival was today! There was lots to do before that could happen though:

• Vendors for pizza, popcorn, bouncehouse, and a music dj had to set up.
• A trip to the bank was needed in order to pay the above vendors.
• Our men, having completed the playground and grass project, had a few hours to construct some booths for the carnival.
• The Toddler's had yet to be introduced to their special playground.
• Duties for the booths needed to be assigned.
• Left over supplies from Rotations needed to be organized so that we could leave them with the Director for future use.

And I'm sure there were lots of other things that needed to be done that I'm unaware of.

Breakfast, for a change, was next door at McDonalds. After that, a trip to the bank - it was next door to the hotel also. Some of the men headed on to the Orphanage to get started on the sets for the Carnival and to do a final cleanup sweep of the Toddler Playground. The rest of us enjoyed our last morning walk to the Orphanage, excited about the day. We didn't notice the uninvited visitors that followed us. Upon arriving, there were bags to unload from the vans and lots of general busy-ness. What happened next, I didn't personally witness. It all happened so fast. I walked from the inside of the orphanage out into the front gated area where the Toddler Playground was and stepped into a crisis of shock, sobs, and general confusion. The gate was being pushed into the closed position. "What's happened?" I asked. Jouleen was being protectively whisked inside, with tears running down her cheeks, by Jason. Several of our translators were in tears and visibly shaken. Silence. "A gun was pulled on Jouleen and she was robbed," someone finally said to me. A cacophony of confused voices then broke through the silence . Everyone had their own eye-witness account and we pieced together what happened, as we tried to calm down and process the emotions. Apparently, we were followed from the bank. Jouleen had a substantial amount of money in order to pay our Carnival Vendors for the day. The gunmen must have seen this exchange, or been tipped off by someone in the bank. This, I learned, was not entirely uncommon. What actually happened, I will not try to describe. It is too emotionally charged, too powerful. And since I was not there, I cannot accurately recreate it. But I know that it involved Tod trying to grab the bag away from the assailants (to which the guns were then revealed.) I also believe that our bus driver was on top of the bus unloading bags, and he layed down flat so as to be unnoticed during the altercation. When the gate was locked, he was shut out... must have been scary for him also! Along with the money, Jouleen's passport and some personal effects were in the bag. This created a 1-day delay in her return to the States. As you can imagine, the festive atmosphere quickly turned to one of shock and fear. I now understood the barbed wire and the locked gate. As we processed it all, we realized we may have gotten "sloppy" in our safety precautions. More than anything, we were grateful and could not thank God ENOUGH for his protection over a potentially deadly situation. After a little while, Jouleen was taken to make the police report and to change hotel rooms (her hotel key had also been in the bag.) We tried to get back on task knowing full well that the "show must go on!" We were all ready for the welcome distraction of introducing the Toddler's to their very own playground area! The weeklong project was finished, the men were excited, and the toddlers were going stircrazy! Below is a cute video of the kids coming out into the area for the first time. They mobbed the playground, happy voices shrieking and laughing. At one point, I cracked up because almost everyone of the adults had a camera out, trying to catch the moment. Below is a video of the "battle of the slide." Look closely at the picture below. One little boy is tumbling backwards off the slide. I was sitting on the bench next to his mother... She was visiting him for the afternoon and laughed really hard at this picture when I showed her. I wonder what the circumstances were... Why was he in temporary custody of the orphanage? His mother clearly loved him - I hope they are reunited permanently soon. I also wish there was a way I could get her a copy of this picture. We played hard with the kids for over an hour. The little red wagon, pictured below, was a personal gift from our team-mate David West. He was so kind and gentle with the children... and wanted the kids to have their very own red wagon. It was an instant hit!

This playtime was a welcome distraction from the stress of the morning! And this was the main project that we had come for. To see the hard work made complete with the giggles and excitement... I just can't express the fullness that I felt. The little girl below wanted to jump into Rick's arms: over, and over, and over! Our day could have ended here and now, with the excitement on the playground. I felt like we had already lived a full day already! We ordered pizza for lunch and ate on the playground while deciding who would take what tasks at the Carnival. And on that note, I'll have to leave the rest for tomorrow's update.

Day 6 - Guatemala Update (for Jan 15)

Thursday - One regular day left with rotations this morning before our "You Are Special" Carnival on Friday. Also, this was my 35th birthday! I woke up feeling pretty bad, but still excited about the day. Rick and I were assigned to crafts for the day - we got to create Snowman Art with the kids. Like normal, story time was first. Guili wrapped up her week long mini-series of Joseph. It was fun watching her act out the story, from beginning to end throughout the week. And although we couldn't understand the Spanish, we definitely knew what was going on by her dramatic gesturing motions. Below, you can see how entranced the kids were with her story. For the Snowman art, we had foamy cutouts of Snowmen for the kids. Through our translator, we learned that the kids DID know what a snowman was. I was mildly surprised. We passed out the snowmen, along with all sorts of stick-on decorations for the eyes, nose, buttons, fingernails (yes, many of our snowmen had colored fingernails!) The younger kids enjoyed this project more than the older ones... it took the older boys about 5 minutes to finish theirs. We then broke out the modeling clay and coloring books for them. Many of the kids bequeathed Rick and I with their snowmen. I think we brought back about 40 of them. Our fridge isn't big enough to display all the art, but their intention was very sweet.

Meanwhile, the outside playground was almost all ready for the toddlers. We were looking forward to taking the little ones out to play.

And the grass for the inside atrium was already getting the rubber pellets rubbed in by renegade kids who escaped rotations! I think the older kids liked helping out with that. In the picture below, there is only one child working, but believe me, many more participated. It looks like they are raking fake grass, and that's exactly what they were doing. Spreading the rubber pellets around before they get hand rubbed into the blades.

Ted also dazzled the boys with what I call, the "Globetrotter spin."

Lunchtime took us to the mall (yes, a mall!) We ate at Subway, and because the veggies were imported, we were able to have lettuce and tomato on our sandwich. I was so hungry for a big salad! We enjoyed lunch and walking around the mall for a few minutes while the guys stocked up on balls and supplies for the Carnival for tomorrow. Free time after lunch with the kids found Rick and me in the movie room watching Over the Hedge. The kids were congenial and allowed English Subtitles... So I really enjoyed watching the movie. We got smart and put out chairs this time, so we weren't stuck on the cold, hard concrete. During the previous movie, I abused my body with kids piled into my lap on the hard floor. (OK, I know that sounds wimpy... I guess I'm getting old!)

Rick sat at the back of the classroom with Sylvia in his lap. I think they looked at every photo on his iphone during the movie. He later said that it was the most special time he had with her. Dinner on this birthday evening was a treat - at an awesome fondue restaurant. They gave us the entire top floor for our group. Melissa stood up at the beginning of dinner and made an announcement. She said, and I'll try to remember her wording... "Today is a very special day - We're celebrating Kristen's birthday! And because of that, we've brought something very special from the States with us to help us celebrate!" And with that, she whipped out my very own Birthday Banner!

Now, to bring you up to speed: Beginning when we Craig & I were kids, the four Besses' (including Mom & Dad) had our own birthday banner that would hang in the house in the weeks preceding our birthday. I fondly remember picking out the fabric color, lettering, and iron-on decal for my banner from Discount City, in Jacksonville. It must have been around 1980. And to this day, our birthday banners make their way from mom's special hiding place to a prominent place on the wall each year.

When Melissa pulled out my banner, I was dumbfounded! And yet, why should I have been surprised? Mother thinks of everything. The group sang happy birthday to me while I was served my first ever birthday flan :) And the birthday banner was hung on top of a painting on the wall of the restaurant. I got to look at it during the entire dinner and feel very loved and very special! I don't care how old you get, when your momma remembers your birthday, it's always special!

The day wrapped up, all of us exhausted, and ready for the next day's Carnival. We would have time in the morning to set up for the Carnival and take the Toddlers out to play on their new playground.

Here is a picture of Sylvia and her sister Lupe. Sylvia, on the left is 9 and Lupe is 12.

Beep...Beep...Beep

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you an important news update. ***Due to certain time constraints, there will not be a Guatemala Update today.*** Please tune in tomorrow- same time, same channel - for the continuation of "Days of Our Lives... Guatemala style."

Day 5 - Guatemala Update

Day 5. Wednesday. Hump Day. Halfway through the week with our new best friends. I woke up sick. My throat had closed up so tight, it was that feeling where you are going to choke because you can't swallow. So it was with a huge headache and hurting throat that I ventured downstairs for breakfast. One thing about our group... there wasn't a lack of medicine amongst us. Prescription, non-prescription, alternative... if there was anything I needed, someone was bound to have packed it. So I was well taken care of. Rick and I were assigned Bingo for the morning rotation. He had covered Bingo the previous day, so I relied on him to carry the weight. Carte (not sure how she spells it) was our translator for the morning, and it was so wonderful getting to know her better. We passed out bingo cards and chips, and Rick or I would read the word in Spanish. "Dog, Cow, House, Spoon, Knife...." Bingo is a great way to learn Spanish vocabulary. AND a great way for little kids to snicker at your mis-pronunciations! Prizes were awarded for each hand, and of course, each child won a prize. M&M's and sweet tarts are universally loved. The older boys were helpful - they enjoyed "running" the game. The older girls laughed the most at our attempt at pronouncing the words. The group with the younger kids were pretty active and hyper, while the special needs group had to have quite a bit of assistance with the game. But each group that rotated through was so sweet and fun to be with. Bingo was probably my favorite rotation group because it was pretty organized and the kids all seemed to love it. For lunch, we brought in Happy Meals for all 107 of the kids. They loved it! Even the boys who had eaten happy meals yesterday at McD were excited to get them again. A special treat after lunch was making banana splits for everyone. We bought tubs of ice cream, bananas, and toppings in town, and created an assembly line in the kitchen. It worked out perfect, with enough for the orphanage staff to have one too. And I think they loved it just as much as the kids did. For free time in the afternoon, I wandered out to the playground where Melissa and I broke out the yarn and beads for bracelet/necklace making. The children are so creative and can braid beautiful strands - it was fun watching them work on their creation. Many of the boys got into this also, making necklaces with beads and colors. This was an inexpensive craft that the kids loved!

We were trying to keep most of the kids outside, because the men were installing some artificial grass in the inside atrium area. This improvement was very exciting, and the kids loved tumbling on the finished product! Rick got involved in laying the grass for this area, and he really enjoyed some hands-on physical labor. Later on in the afternoon, we all got involved rubbing in the rubber pellets into the artificial grass on the Toddler's playground. No one could really explain WHAT the pellets do... we each came up with our own explanation. But it did seem to make a world of difference, lifting the blades of grass up, making it fuller, softer, and more lush. This artificial grass was top of the line, and it showed.

I skipped dinner that night, opting for bed at 6pm. My symptoms seemed worse, and I was beginning to worry that I would miss the next day's activities. My teammates came to the rescue with plenty of drugs to get me through the night. High of the day: Treating the kids to banana splits Low of the day: Feeling rotten