I’ve written a few blogs about this month, but I realized
that with 6 days to go I haven’t actually given any readers the run down of
what’s been going on here in Guatemala.
Our team of six girls is partnered with team God Before Us
this month. We are in Los Gozosos
Home for disabled children in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. “Los Gozosos� means “joy-filled�, and I
literally can’t think of a more joyful group of people. There are always smiles, laughter, and
pure joy throughout the day. Most
of the children are orphans, but some of them have families that just can’t
take care of them. There is only
one other home in Guatemala for disabled children, and the need is very
great. It is common to think that special needs children are not worth keeping and it is better to just let them die. Los Gozosos receives calls
on a weekly basis to take more children, but they just don’t have the resources
to do so.
The children here are treated extremely well. They have a schedule, a balanced diet,
and they live in a safe environment. The home and school and inside a locked compound with a guard every night. The children also receive a lot of love from the six nannies that work
here: I frequently hear them call little Andres “Principe� (Prince), give the kids hugs and kisses, and just joke around with them. Today one of the nannies even let
Andrea practice her mommy skills by feeding the nanny ice cream. It was pretty adorable.
Los Gozosos was founded nine years ago by an American woman
named Maureen Casey. Her first
child was Helen, the little girl that I talked about a couple of blogs
back. They have had a couple of
different locations and also have a school here on the same property as the
home. You can read more about the
home at their website:
http://losgozosos.org/LosGozosos/Welcome.html
On the average day I wake up just after six, and breakfast
is at 6:30. There is a
schedule on the fridge of what we have for breakfast each day- cornflakes,
pancakes, scrambled eggs, hardboiled eggs, or bread. After breakfast there are chores to be done- wash the
morning dishes from 26 people, sweep, mop, rinse the rags, help get the kids
changed, stack up the chairs and put away the extra tables. These chores have to be done after every meal.
School starts at 730.
There are six other kids that come just for school, and seven of the kids
in the home go to school. I help
in the school on Wednesdays and Fridays.
I stay in the same classroom with Rosemery, Candy, and Ms. RocÃo. RocÃo is actually her first name, and
she’s a 19 year old law student.
It’s been so good getting to know her during class. We talk about our families and our
lives, and she’s taught me a lot of children’s Bible songs in Spanish! During class she helps Rosemery and I
help Candy. Candy is learning to hold a pencil, so we do a LOT of coloring-
mostly her holding a crayon and me moving her hand. But I know she is improving, because she always puts her
hand in the correct position to receive a pencil when she sees me holding
one. It’s a trying exercise but I
have no desire to give up- Maureen said it took 7 months of screaming fits to
get Andrea to eat solid food by herself, and I’m really glad she didn’t give up
on her.
We have 45 minutes during the middle of school to have a snack
and play with the kids. Sometimes
we play on the swings, jump on the trampoline, or just ran around the
yard. It’s fun!
School ends at 1230.
We’ve been doing other projects, such as deep cleaning all the rooms one
at a time, cutting down the grass in the field with machetes, or moving dirt
and gravel from construction.
There are also plenty of vegetables to chop to feed almost 30 people per
meal! I’ve helped out with a couple of the kids’ physical therapy, and sometimes during down time we just play around and hang out.
We eat lunch at 1, which is the biggest meal of the day. Usually rice and vegetables with either
chicken or fish. Dinner is at 6,
which is usually beans and bread, sometimes eggs, and on Saturdays- tomales!
Saturday is our Sabbath day where we get to relax, explore Guatemala,
sleep in, skype a lot, or whatever.
On Sundays we go to church with the kids and nannies. Each Sunday has been a different
church. From what I gather so far,
Guatemalan churches services are longer than ours and have a lot of
worship! Two weeks ago we went to
a church that literally had a 30 minute dance party. Everyone was just shouting and singing and dancing and
jumping- just being genuinely happy and excited to be in the presence of the
Lord. It was fantastic.
All in all, I’ve really loved this month’s ministry. God has exposed some of my own heart to
me, and even taught me to joyfully wake up early!
Here’s a video of highlights from this month. I hope you enjoy it as much as I
enjoyed making it!
