Day 5 – Part 1 Despite being Guatemala’s rainy season, it did not rain at all for the first four days we were here. Last night as we were finishing another fantastic dinner, the wind picked up. We have seen heat lightening over the mountains every night, but nothing to indicate a real storm nearby. Three of us storm lovers ran up to the (covered) roof of the medical clinic just before the rain started coming down in sheets. The wind was probably 40mph and despite having a roof over our heads, we got soaked. It was awesome to stand and feel that force of nature in a place that is nearly free of buildings. Yesterday Susan joined us, and Tim, Lisa, Bob, and the under-20 crew whisked her off to the water park five minutes after she arrived. It seems crazy that Teculutan has a water park in town. It was small but had some terrifying/awesome (depending on who you ask) slides and a wave pool. (I obviously couldn’t go down any of those insane slides because somebody had to stay on the ground and take pictures…) We had about an hour and a half of play time before returning to the house to cook dinner and get organized. This morning we assembled for breakfast at 6:30, followed by devotional time, and were ready to go at 8:00 as instructed. We had our early breakfast by candlelight – electricity is expensive here, and we conserve as much as possible. We have been told repeatedly not to get too attached to any plans in Guatemala. Last night’s rain made the roads up to the mountain villages impassible, so instead we went across the valley and over the river to the town of Cabañas, to a school called La Puenta. On the way we saw several huge ruts in roads carved out by the sudden rush of water off the mountain from that one short downpour. The school had two out of four classes meeting today. The teacher, Karen, spoke some English and told us that four of her students are now in the hospital due to malnutrition, and many others come to school but their parents can’t provide paper or pencils for them. The kids only attend school for half a day. We came prepared with a bible lesson on Isaiah 40 and a paper “eagle” (airplane) craft for the kids to make. The kids loved flying the planes outside and then playing with the jump ropes and soccer ball we brought for them. At one point I noticed that most of the kids were missing, but quickly found them around a corner enjoying Ben’s slight-of-hand coin tricks. He connects with them better than any of us, providing musical entertainment with cups, rhythms and singing, and lots of fun hand games and tricks. He is successfully using the Spanish he knows. Like the other school we visited, this one had small cinder-block classrooms with no electricity, lit only by the sunlight that comes in through openings cut into one wall. A chalk board and desks were set up outside. There was a construction team there, building another two classrooms. In one existing room I saw a bare mattress and some clothes, and Noé said the masons are sleeping there during the project. While we were playing, Tim went to check out the fish merchant next door. He picked out 16 live tilapia for our dinner tonight, and when he placed such a large order, the shop keeper looked to the sky and said “May God bless you every day of your life!” We are equally blessed by having a dinner of the freshest fish most of us have ever eaten, cooked by Sarah the Incredible. When the kids went back inside to finish their lessons, we needed our cooler for the fish so decided to empty it by eating our lunch in the school courtyard. After a few minutes a small 10-year-old boy appeared and asked for permission to play with the soccer ball the other kids had returned to us. He was the right age for this school but obviously didn’t attend; his clothes were filthy and too small on him. It turns out he lives across the street with his grandfather. We asked why he’s not in school, and Noé said “something is wrong with his mind.” There is no education for special-needs kids in the third world. Taylor asked Chepé his name and offered to share our lunch with him. He was delighted by the food and wanted us to photograph him holding the soccer ball. He was friendly and chatty, and hung out with us until the school kids came out again and he was forced to share the soccer ball. He seemed an outcast among the other kids and his mood quickly turned. When they went home a few minutes later, he was happier, but kept asking for the soccer ball, which had been put away by the teacher before she left. Sarah asked about giving him the rest of the food we were carrying to take home, and Tim arranged for that to happen after we were gone. Tim’s ministry gives anonymously most of the time, as much as he can. Noé arranges for needed things to arrive as gifts after the missionaries go, often through the local church. He explained that he doesn’t want people to see Americans just as a source of money, and he doesn’t want to create dependency, because when there is a need that is not met, the people become angry at the source. None of us will forget Chepé, nor will we forget that we weren’t supposed to be there today. God brought the rain and changed our plans. A couple of team members had some tears back at the house this afternoon as the head knowledge of what we are doing here migrated down to the heart, but they will tell their own stories.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 21:26:30 +0000
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