Over these last few weeks my team has been adding to our cornucopia of tasks that we have done since being in Guatemala. We would get up in the mornings and start the day at the hospital, one of my favorite ministry sights of the month. The needs there varied from day to day. We started off wandering through the halls, stopping in and seeing individuals or families that we had built relationships with. My favorite people to visit were Caterina, the most beautiful 1 1/2 year old in the world and her mother. Every time we saw the two girls, their faces would light up, knowing that we had come to distract them from the boring nothingness that normally consumed their days. We couldn't communicate much, but that didn't seem to matter. It was obvious that we loved them, and that seemed to be enough to gain a spot in their hearts.
One day I was walking around the hospital, showing it to a past racer who speaks Spanish and wanted to see the facility. We went into the infant room where tiny sick babies occupy the beds and found ourselves gazing at the two smallest babies in the room, both laying inside of incubators. The girl I was with was able to ask around and learn that the tinier of the two babies was one day shy of a month old, weighed three pounds, and still did not have a name. We were given permission to take pictures, here is a picture of the tiniest baby that will hopefully have a name soon:
Later in the week my team joined with another and we were able to do some much needed painting at the hospital. The hallway that we painted was where women in labor were wheeled as they traveled from the waiting room to the birth room. When I say that these women were wheeled through the hallway while in labor, what I mean is that as soon as a baby starts to crown, the mother is deemed "far enough along" to be taken to the birth room. Needless to say, the paint fumes that were making our heads spin as we painted were probably not the best for the incredibly pregnant mothers in adjoining rooms. At one point we had to move our equipment out of the way as a woman was pushed by. We later learned that this woman had officially birthed her child in that hallway, surrounded by strange gringos and an overpowering stench of paint.
In the afternoons, after we spent our mornings at the hospital, the seven of us would load up in the bed of our contact's truck and ride to a beautiful, rural Kiche church to teach English and VBS. I hesitate to tell you that we taught children, because the parents and church members were more involved in the lessons than any of the children were. That may partially be because my team of all girls was so thrilled to finally be with children that we had a hard time not constantly doting on them and essentially encouraging them to be distracted.
We would teach English words that the adults requested and somehow tie that into a mini bible lesson. Some days we did short skits that the children LOVED and would cause them to giggle long after we were done. Each day we taught a song that had corresponding actions. We all openly laughed as the youngest children could never locate the correct body parts during "head shoulders knees and toes". Its the simple things in life that bring the most joy. After all of the serious educational aspects of the day were over we would take the kids out to the hill behind the church and play any number of games. Mostly, despite how they began, the games ended in a tackling-tickling combination. Their tiny dagger like fingers never actually felt like something that would make me want to smile, but the love and joy that the kids got from the games was enough to allow them to continue.
Saying goodbye to all of our new friends will not go down in history as one of my favorite things. We will be saying goodbye to Guatemala tomorrow at 4am, and while I am not happy to be leaving, I am very excited about what is in store for my squad and I over the next month. My team will be going to El Salvador to work with Mi Casa Kids, an orphanage that AIM has paired with before. We don't know many of the details at this point, but we are excited for everything that is going to happen!
