Randy

One of my favorite things last time was when the kids would come to me when they got hurt or sick. So far 6 year- old Randy, who is new since I've been here last and extremely accident prone, has come to get scraped knees and elbows and heads bandaged more in the last two weeks than some of the kids in the whole 4 months I was here. His tears always change quickly into the cutest smile you've ever seen. Today, after he tripped while running, he was asking me what the different things I was doing were and then started to take charge, instructing me on how to clean and bandage his knee (the water is too cold, put the band aid in this direction, etc.). When I told him about the anti-bacterial cream, he said, I don't think we'll use that. When I told him that it was important, he looked up at me with huge eyes and with his little voice said, but will it hurt?


Maybe that's what happens with our heavenly Father. When we get a little more confident, we start directing, because we think we know best and we want to avoid pain. When God asks us to do something difficult, we look up and say, but will it hurt? The reality though is that God is looking out for our best interest in the long run, which sometimes means facing things that are uncomfortable for us. Thankfully our Lord is patient!




words of the day:

Curita (coo- ree- tah)- band aid

Curito (coo- ree- toe)- Hymn

densitometría ósea (den-see-toe-mae-tree-ah O-say-ah)- bone density test

hígado (E-gah-doe)- liver

Sports Day and the Beach

Friday was sports day for the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Each group was led by two parents of the kids, and some of the interns and staff acted as parents for ours from the Home. I was a little nervous as I knew that I would be spending 3 hours listening for commands being yelled at me rapidly in Spanish and trying to execute them as quickly and accurately as possible. This did not, however, turn out to be the hard part. Throughout this time, I yelled, clapped, cheered some unknown chant about how proud I was to be an águila (the next day I found out this meant eagle), dug in the dirt, ate dirt (unintentionally), made pyramids, crawled through different types of obstacle courses, slid down poles, climbed rope ladders, chugged water from the same cup as hundreds of people, was blindfolded, threw water balloons, had water balloons thrown at me, threw balls, had balls thrown at me, had balls thrown at me while blind folded, did aerobics, danced, sang words that I had no clue of the meaning, popped balloons, ran, jumped, jumped rope, jumped in a potato sack, cartwheeled, stood on a tiny platform with 15 other people without moving for 5 minutes, answered trivia questions, and swung on swings. Being the ever clumsy person that I am, of course I fell trying to run through the tires (which several older kids who were watching nicely reminded me of throughout the day).

I literally have bruises all over my body, along with scrapes and stiffness, but it was worth it. My team came in second out of ten and, more importantly, I was glad to be able to represent some kids from the Home.

That night at dinner, 16 year- old Esdras sat next to me and spent dinner asking me about my day and telling me about his. He is one of the kids that craves attention, but holds back his emotions and never makes the first move. He and I were starting to get close when I left in December and between what I know of his past and his facial expression when he is spacing off, my heart hurts for him, so I was excited and surprised that he was making an effort. I found out the real reason for this when at the end of the meal he asked me if I was going to help him do the dishes (I guess he heard that I had helped the boys who did them a few nights before). O well, I'll take what I can get. Please pray for him and his three sisters, as they are having an especially hard time this year.

Yesterday, we spent a day at the coast, just us gringos (and Michelle), because one of the interns, who has been here the last 5 months, is leaving next week. We spent the majority of the time in a hotel swimming pool area, which sells day passes. This was because of a dangerous rip tide, but we got to walk on the beach and jump some waves. The sand is black, because it is composed of volcanic ash, which was a little disorienting at first, but incredibly beautiful. Michelle stole the show as usual, splashing around and laughing. It's hard to believe that she is one year-old and still has trouble fitting in pre-me clothes. I think that it was a hard day for some as this was the first time returning to the coast after the tragic death of 17 yr- old Chepe in September.

Words of the Day: bola (bowl- la) and pelota (pay- low- taa) both mean ball. The first is used for things like a bouncy ball or ball of paper. The second is used for a sports ball (like a soccer or football).

Paraguas (par- aww- gu- wahs (soft g)) and sombrilla (sahm- bree- yah) both mean umbrella, however, the first is used if a man is holding it and the second if a women is. This is true even if it's the same exact umbrella.

abeja (aww- bay- haaa)- bee

enjambre (N- hahm- bra)- more than one bee

No clavados (clah- vah- d O s)- no diving

Last night, I had the unique experience of going to see the same movie twice in one day at two different theaters, in two different languages, with two different groups of kids. The first was in Spanish and with the little kids. I love doing things with the little kids, because they get so excited. I ended up missing pieces, because I had to take about 8 kids to the bathroom (2 of them twice), but I love the times that I can spend one-on-one with the kids, even if it's only for 10 minutes. The second time was with some of the oldest kids (some of them are older than me). I love hanging out with this group. By about half way through my time in the Fall, I had begun to feel like they were truly my peers and my friends. They were nice enough to go to a viewing that was in English with Spanish subtitles. This was a great time of fellowship and it was so nice not to be in charge and worrying about losing a kid!

Monday night, we taught some of the kids how to play Dutch Blitz (a card game that is like solitaire with multiple people). Instead of saying blitz! when he ran out of cards, Franki would always say BBAAAA (think horn on a barge). The next day, Franki asked one of the other interns what the word blitz meant.



Words of the day: if a kid tells you to da vueltas (daaa boo well taaas) he wants you to spin him in a circle.
jubilarse (hu- bill- lar- say)- to retire (from a job)
Estafa (ees- staaa- faaa) means trick, not to be confused with estufa (ees- stoo- faaa) which means stove (the kids definitely make fun of you for that one).

Michelle

After I left in December, 5 new kids were placed in the Home. Michelle was 9 months old and 6 lbs. when she arrived (aka I could have eaten her when I was born). She has vastly improved health wise in the past 3 months, but is still only 7 lbs. 4 oz. She recently has started receiving growth hormone injections and Kendon and Wendy hope to bring her with them to the US in June to visit a geneticist. She is possibly the smallest person that I have ever met and one of the cutest. Please pray that the judge will award her the visa that she needs to be able to visit the US and that the doctors there are able to prescribe the most effective treatment. Also pray that she continues to gain weight and develop mentally.

Pictures don't begin to do justice in showing how small she is, but here is one of her about a week after her first birthday.

First Days

The first few days here have been great! I have really enjoyed seeing the kids, meeting the new interns, and catching up with the staff. My friend Carrie from Eastern was able to travel down with me and will be staying for a week. When we arrived, there was a large team from Texas here, so I have just helped out with whatever activities they had planned, giving me time to catch up with people. They left this morning and I am now ready to jump into things. I've already had about 20 requests to make cookies! In a lot of ways it's almost like I never left (except for the stumbling over my verb conjugations and lack of remember vocab). I have been able to spend a lot of time with Rony, the 14 year-old boy that I sponsor, which has been great.

Here is a little story about getting to church yesterday that is very typical of life in Guatemala. After sitting in three different cars for an hour due to lost keys and other problems we finally left. Half way there, we had to turn around because of a large accident and travel 40 minutes longer than usual in the opposite direction through the city all the while with our gas needle on empty. Part way there we found out that the school bus with all the kids had broken down and that they were walking the rest of the way to church. We all made it safely and were able to laugh about, but I think it was then that it hit me that I was really back.

Today is unpacking day now that the team has left, so as soon as I find my camera, I'll post some pictures. Hope all is well with you guys in the US. Thanks for reading!

--Danelle

As inspired by Pastor Steve and others who are studying Spanish, here are my words of the day: bulla (boo -ya) is for noise that people make and ruido (roo- ee- doe) is for noise that objects, animals, etc. make. so, you would say hay mucha bulla for there is a lot of noise in, for example, the dining room at dinner, but you would say hay mucho ruido if cars were beeping the city.

So it Begins

Hey all!
Thanks for taking the time to read about my time here in Villa Nueva, Guatemala! I'm so excited to be back and am looking forward to seeing the ways that the Lord is going to use me this time.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with New Life Children's Home, let me tell you a little about it. There are 52 kids here currently (that's 5 more than when I left in December) and their ages range from 1-25 years old. These kids are unable to be adopted, because they all have at least one parent or grandparent still living. The kids have been brought or placed here to escape poverty, abuse, gangs, living on the streets, and many other things that kids should never have to deal with. The staff here is committed to raising them in a way where they will be safe, healthy, educated, happy and, most importantly, to become men and women of God.
While I'm here, I will be helping in the clinic in the mornings and with the kids in the afternoons and evenings. In the clinic, I help the doctor by taking blood pressures, measuring weights and heights, handing the doctor instruments, giving shots, keeping billing records, filling out medical testing forms, and a variety of other things. I learned so much last time and vastly improved my Spanish comprehension, and am really looking forward to spending time with Dr. Eliet again. She is incredibly nice and patient and an awesome teacher. I also help Wendy, one of the directors of the Home and a nurse, with taking the kids to doctors appointments and passing out medicine. The rest of the time, I hang out with the kids making cookies, reading, playing soccer (badly) and other sports, helping with homework, hosting movie nights, playing cards and board games, as well as behind the scene things like planning events, helping with mailings to the US, food shopping, translating cards to and from the kids' sponsors, and generally wherever needs to be done. One of my favorite things to do is spend time talking one-on-one with the kids. During these times away from their peers is when they are more likely to open up. These kids have experienced so much pain and crave love and acceptance.
I really appreciate your prayers! Please pray that the Lord will clearly show me how I should be spending my time. With 52 kids it's hard to reach each kid. Last time, the Lord really laid two kids on my heart, one who I became close with, one who I didn't but continue to pray for. Also, please pray for safety and good health for myself and the other interns that are here.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child, taking a trip to Guatemala, or in learning more, I would love to talk further with you! My email address is dbertozz@eastern.edu. Thanks again for your prayers. Without them my time here would be in vain.


"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."
Psalms 10:14, 17-18