Wow! That one exclamation just about sums it up. As we have been dealing with an avalanche of tasks, opportunities and challenges I can only look back and say, “Wow!”
First, the licensing of our group home is moving at a break-neck speed and we are trying to keep up. Our social worker, Edy Tum, takes his job seriously and is plowing everything through quickly. Yesterday (Tuesday, May 8th) our Board of Directors met with him and officially signed our application for our association. (This causes Ministerios de Esperanza to be recognized as a non-profit ministry by the Guatemalan government.) Edy has set us up to be able to open multiple group homes, schools, health clinics and lead educational seminars. He asked us to dream big and then is helping us to be established as a ministry that can encompass those dreams within our organization. We are praising God for bringing Señor Tum into our lives and ministry.
At the same time, because he is moving so quickly, we have to move quickly to keep up. This process requires a mountain of information and paperwork including schedules for our group home, menus, house plans, sewage plans, a certificate of health for me as President and Director of the association, organizational flow charts, financial records, etc. (Which is why no matter how hard I work I can’t get to the bottom of the pile on my desk.) Of course, this process is somewhat complicated by the Guatemalan way of life. I contacted the owner of the home we rent to ask for blueprints of the house and sewage system. I was told that he no longer had those because he threw them away once the house was completed. (Go figure.) So, I have been in the process of making new household diagrams and talking with the owner to find where all of the sewage pipes run. It is not fun having to re-create the wheel.
But each day brings about the completion of more steps and we are making rapid progress. We are now being told that our home should be licensed by the end of this year! (From what we are told, this is record time.)
Meanwhile, the other parts of our life and ministry continue. A couple of weeks ago our family finally took the time to go to the beach. We have lived here for 15 months, with our house a mere hour-and-a-half from the shore, but we have never taken the time to go. So, at last, we packed up the van and headed out to San Jose.
It is a black sand beach and the temperature was around 93 degrees there, so tender feet hoped across the sand to the cool water. We played in the ocean and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch while our daughters fought off the advances of the teenage guys. Krishauna made an observation while we were there. She decided that it would be impossible for a gringa to drown on a Guatemala beach because she is constantly being watched by 15 guys who desperately want to come to her rescue.
On Monday Gerardo and I traveled up to Guastatoya to rent a new home for Carmen and her daughters, Manuela and Marsela. We were finally able to find a modest place for them up on a hillside with two rooms and a bathroom for Q.500 ($64). Carmen was thrilled! It is not much by American standards, but it is like a palace for them. A fenced yard where the girls can get air when their mom has to go away, a working toilet and shower, windows that open to let in a breeze and more.
For them to leave their old place we had to negotiate with their old landlord. She owed quite a bit of back rent, and we were concerned that she would demand it all. However, after much talking, she agreed to accept Q.1600 (just over $200) to wipe the slate clean and let her leave. So, that evening she and her girls slept in their new home. Thanks to everyone who is giving each month to make that happen!
While we were talking with her old landlord she mentioned a girl who lived just up the street who was “very skinny.” She agreed to take us up to meet her. When I stepped into their home I immediately teared-up as I saw beautiful 12 year-old Darolin lying on the bed. This little girl had wasted away to skin and bones. The family did not know what was wrong with her, only that she could not walk, talk or eat properly. We explained that she has cerebral palsy and that she has severe difficulty chewing and swallowing as a result. We went on to explain that she needs to be on a special high-calorie formula.
However, we realize this is not enough. She needs the attention of a malnutrition ward, so we are talking with the family and they are deciding whether they are willing to check her into the malnutrition ward at Hermano Pedro for several months. If so, we will drive up and bring them down for evaluation and admission. Once we can get her to a healthier weight, we will find a sponsor for her to provide the formula she needs so that she can return home.
Please pray for Darolin. Pray that her family will be willing to let her go to HP for treatment. Pray that she will be able to gain weight and get healthier. And pray for the financial sponsorship she is going to need after that happens.
I am so grateful to each of you for your prayers, support and encouragement that enables us to be here doing this work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to do what we do!
Blessings from Daryl, Wanda and the Crew!
