Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Day 5 - Wednesday, April 13

We were blessed with another beautiful morning in Guatemala.  It was cloudy and hazy and was unable to watch another amazing sunrise on our volcano.  Doug and Diane went for a walk behind the compound and were able to enter into some greenhouses.  The view was spectacular as there were so many different species of flowers including gerbera daisies and roses.  Doug and Diane then proceeded to the flower packaging area where they were being prepped to be exported.  Tim noticed this area and purchased 2 dozen roses for $4.72USD.  The first dozen was for his wife and the second for the other women he would encounter during the day.

Juli and Suzanne rode the short bus this morning through Parramos where they picked up all the students for the School of Hope.  We were surprised and thrilled to find a happy and healthy Marta board the bus who was a little girl from LaHermita that we met 3 years ago who was diagnosed with Leukemia and was very sick.  She is currently in remission and a very busy 5-year-old now!

Carmen prepared breakfast and served up scrambled eggs, watermelon and PB&J sandwiches, which has become a staple to our morning routine.  This was complimented with coffee and orange juice.

We then divided into 3 groups and remained local to the compound.

Build a Home - Doug, Tim, Dianne P & Cathy, Kelly and Brian
Sewing – Lauren, Suzanne, Diane J and Juli

The build a home started with 8 tasks ahead of us, which included 5 walls, 2 windows and a door.  Once again the dollar store nails bent on every mishit and we relied heavily on Angel to fix our mistakes.  In total the 4 of us messed up 34 nails of which we will be bringing home and will be using them for fishing hooks as they are shaped perfectly.  All of the walls are now completed and ready for assembly onto the cement paid that was laid earlier in the week.  We also did general clean up around the school and harvested a few more vegetables.

The women in the sewing co-op at the Center of Hope completed 12 pillow sham covers and 1 purse.  They were also educated on pricing their items and learning how to reinvest their money back into their business.  The women walked away really proud of themselves as did we.  We are also excited to show and share their creations with our friends back home.

The groups came together and enjoyed hamburgers for lunch.  After lunch the entire team headed back up to Parrojas for food distribution, a clothing and shoe drive.  Juli offered a Spiritual Teaching on Finding Peace and then the team made recycled craft necklaces with all the ladies.  Meanwhile the other half of the team, offered a Bible School with a God’s Eye Craft, along with some games and goodie bags.  Once the crafts were complete, Tim, Brian and Diane kept the kids occupied with silliness and pictures.  Tim handed out his roses to the local women as a gift of beauty and peace.  They loved the gesture and were flattered by his “ways”.  The rest of the team handed out food packages, and helped the ladies find shoes and clothing to suit their needs.  This is a really challenging task as we want to give them so much more than what we have.  Each woman was limited to one pair of shoes, and 2 items of clothing.  They had to choose by priority for their family.  It was heartbreaking to have families that are struggling so much and have so little who are really in need, only walk away with a few things.  Even so, they were so full of gratitude and blessings for us it was very rewarding.  Emotional, but we know our work was good work today.  We made smiles here.

Work day done, we spent an hour walking the local markets in Parramos, buying local fruits – Pina (pinapple) and Mango for 90cents each.  We also failed to find mousetraps…apparently they only trap rats here.  The evening entertainment continues…  We also found some beautiful fabrics and goodies made locally.

Carmen spoiled us again with a feast of lasagna!  Today is Faith’s birthday back home, so we celebrated here in the traditional Guatemalan way of lighting off Firecrackers.  When someone lights firecrackers it lets them know you love them.  Happy Birthday Faith!  We called it a night early…most were in bed and snoring by 7:30…we are working hard!

See you tomorrow!



3 comments:

  1. You're doing a fantastic job of sharing about the wonderful work you're all doing in Guatemala!!! I look forward to reading about your adventures every day :)

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  2. I totally love reading about your days, you are all so busy and the read how grateful the village people are is fantastic.

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