We were getting ready to eat lunch today and were planning on going to get some copies made of some manuals and then head on over to CINAFE...but life interrupted. Felix was vomiting and had a fever. He was complaining about his kidneys hurting and that he had low stomach pain. Jim loaded up Felix’s bike and took him home. I gave Felix 100 cord for the microbus to go to the doctor in El Crucero which would leave him a little bit in case he needed to buy meds…assuming they’re not overly expensive. So…we didn’t get to go to the copy place this afternoon and Jim ran by and checked on things at CINAFE.
He also stopped by the grocery store to get a few things. And bless his heart, he brought home a little bag that had some mini York Peppermint Patties that he found at the store! In the States, we would have no choice but to buy a bag of these if we wanted the little candies…and I could probably eat the entire bag! But here, they tear open the bag and sell the little pieces of candy individually. They do it because it’s much more affordable to buy one piece of candy than a bag. But I see it as forced portion control. Whatever the reason, sometimes I think the Nicas are way ahead of us!
Immediate news on Yamuleith…she was running a high fever and then they got that under control. She was starting to improve a little but was then diagnosed with pneumonia and anemia. She then had to have 3 units of blood. She has been diagnosed with MS and possibly lupus…another doctor has said that he’s not sure of those diagnoses. She now has started running another fever and the two “crater” type bed sores are once again getting worse…and this is happening in the hospital. Thoughts of her and her situation fill my mind almost every waking moment…and many of my dreams on my restless nights. My heart aches to have a “good” answer for her care in the days ahead. That “good” answer seems to be as elusive as a good night’s sleep.
Kenneth is also not doing as well as we had hoped he would after his last round of chemo. He is to have tests done this week on his liver and kidneys to try to determine the amount of damage that they believe the chemo has done. They already know that his heart has been damaged. His color is not good and he has dark circles under his eyes. He does not want to eat and runs a fever off and on. He has been very lethargic lately.
The doctor said that he wanted to put him on a special juice diet and to discontinue the balanced in addition to his regular meals. He also said he wanted him to quit taking the Sustagen and go back to the PediaSure. He said he wanted Kenneth to begin a daily drink regimen of a juice made of strawberries, green grapes, green apples, cherries, celery and honey. Those fruits are high in anti-oxidants and I understand that they might very well be beneficial but there are a few problems with that directive. To begin with, all those fruits have to be imported in to the country…that translates to some pretty expensive fruit juice.
We could not find cherries anywhere in this entire city. We found cherry pie filling at $6 a can and maraschino cherries at $8.80 for an institutional sized jar and that’s it. We opted for the maraschino cherries and told Danelia to rinse them well and to understand they are already sweetened and have probably lost most of their beneficial properties in the process used to make them candied.
Purchasing the other fruits was also a bit of a challenge but that was more about getting past the sticker shock. We found really small Granny Smith apples at one of the grocery stores for about $1 a piece and thankfully, the price of the celery was more normal. But grapes and strawberries were another story. We found them at several places but the quality wasn’t the best. We opted to buy them at PriceSmart. I now understand why the store is called PriceSmart…paying those prices smarted!!! Strawberries were $5.46 per pound and the grapes were $6.79 for what appeared to be about a quart sized plastic container. The honey, a local, organic honey, was about $4 for a 16 oz bottle. What we bought would be less than a week’s worth of juice and yet we couldn’t buy a larger quantity as Danelia doesn’t have a refrigerator and we knew the berries and grapes would mold. So frustrating!
But, actually, I’m glad we weren’t able to buy a large quantity of those items. Danelia told us that Kenneth doesn’t like the juice and feels sick when he drinks it. So after two weeks of that regimen, the doctor has now said he can go back to just eating more fruits and veggies. We all think that is a better plan as we feel it is a much better balanced diet and we can definitely buy more of the local fruits and veggies for the same amount we were spending on those few imported items!
The other positive in that is PriceSmart once again has PediaSure in stock and although the signage indicates it’s about $5 higher for a can with less product in it than the Sustagen, when we bought it this time, the price rang up less than $2 more! We love how God surprises us with such things!
Yesterday was Kenneth’s 10th birthday!!! When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday this year, he became very quiet and shy and would not tell me. His folks only laughed and I saw Danelia shake her head slightly as though she were telling him “no”. I told him that I only had girls and that unless he told me what he wanted, he might just end up with a new doll! That brought a smile to his face and a firm head shake of his own. We went through this several times, each time, me saying some girly item, like a new dress or perfume or nail polish. And each time, he would grin and shake his head no.
Finally, I bent down and told him to whisper in my ear what he would really like to have…he looked at his mother. She looked at me and I told her it was okay. He whispered “un bicycleta”. I looked at Danelia again and she looked embarrassed. A bicycle was one of those things that would be way beyond their means.
The “grandma” in me wanted to buy the newest and the best bicycle we could find. Jim is that occasionally needed voice of reason in our family…and he exercised his voice. So, he took Felix with him to the market on Monday morning and they found a boys bike that was in pretty good shape overall. I struggled with giving a “used” bike as a gift but knowing the difference in prices, I overcame that and hoped that Kenneth would love it anyway.
We took the bike, a cake and some groceries to the family yesterday. Kenneth was thrilled with the bike. When we arrived, Danelia was in the middle of “school” with 13 small children. There was a small piñata hanging about the wooden table that sometimes doubles as Kenneth’s bed. The children were all seated around the table and as soon as we walked in to the door, they all stood and greeted us. We were so shocked at how well –behaved and well-mannered the children were. Then I realized it was Danelia’s school kids. I will explain that in a second.
Kenneth immediately came and gave us hugs. I saw that he stole a peek outside to see if we had anything
with us. The bike was in the car but he didn’t realize that. I thought I would see a look of disappointment on his face, but none appeared. He went back to sit down with the other kids. We told him to come outside with us for a minute and Jim got his bike out. It was so good to see that great smile of his. Of course, all the kids had to come see what he got. He obviously wanted to try it out but we had interrupted class time so the bike ride was going to have to wait.Now to explain all the children…Danelia has started a Christian teaching ministry in her home for some of the at-risk neighborhood children. These are children who could easily fall between the giant cracks that exist in the education system here. Many of them are from a single parent home or from less than desirable home situations…drugs, alcohol, abuse. Some cannot afford to go to school and others are from families who just don’t send them.
Danelia feels a real burden for these little ones. She was involved in a program through her church which currently has a similar daily after-school program for their church kids. They have a four-fold area approach to teaching the kids. Each day’s teaching covers the lesson from a spiritual aspect, a cognitive aspect, a social aspect and how to apply the lesson in a physical way. They also receive a light meal each day. It’s such a great program and it is funded by an international organization but the church opened the program only to church member’s kids and would not accept any of the neighborhood kids. Danelia really struggled having to turn children away because they weren’t “members” of the church.
She has been praying about this for some time. Kenneth’s recent health set-back with the finding of the three additional tumors has prevented him from going to school. This has added to his depression. Danelia said that she believed God was leading her to start a similar type “school” in her own home. She said that Kenneth could at least continue to have some type of teaching and that it would be such a benefit to the other children.
We have come alongside Danelia to help her with some of the costs of this endeavor. She began two weeks ago with 10 students. The kids come two afternoons a week and they all crowd in to Danelia’s small little living room. Thank goodness they’re small! A pastor from another church has loaned her some little plastic stools for the children to sit on. We have supplied the kids with notebooks, Bible “fun” booklets, pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, rulers, etc.
We also supplied enough empty Pringles cans (which I had been collecting over the last 1 ½ years…I knew I was saving those for a reason!) for each child to have one and we gave Danelia a packet of colored paper so that the children could cover their cans and then decorate them. These serve as their “pencil boxes” to keep all their supplies in. Mandy had given me three fun colorful collapsible totes which I adore. God thought it was a good idea to use one to store the kids cans in…He was right.
Of course, this endeavor costs the families nothing…only the effort it takes for the children to come. Naturally, Danelia was thrilled with the kids’ supplies. She had confided earlier to me that she was afraid that the children might not come because they couldn’t afford to buy their notebooks…an expense of about a $1 per book. But she was ecstatic when we brought her a whiteboard and markers for her to use with her class. She kept thanking God for answering her prayer and then thanked us repeatedly for bringing it to her. That kind of gratitude always humble me. We are used to hearing “thank you” when we give gifts…we heard that in the States. But there is something different between the well-mannered “thank you” and the utterances which overflow from a deeply grateful heart.
Danelia has already gained three more students…she said she couldn’t turn them away. She’s a good teacher and a good woman. It’s obvious she loves these children. The meal part has not yet happened. This family has such giving and generous hearts but they don’t have the resources. So, right now, the food will have to wait. But Danelia dreams and her enthusiasm is contagious. Her dreams are quickly becoming mine.
She shared with us that she dreams of building another room on to the house so that the children have a schoolroom with space but it would be separate from their own home. She wants to make it bright and cheery and welcoming...her house is small and dark. She and Arturo have talked about where they could build it and where the doors and windows would be. She wants it to have a nice floor that would be easy to keep clean. She dreams of having a new “bathroom” (an outhouse) for the children. The fun of dreaming is that you don’t have to be realistic in your dreams and Danelia dreams big. She wants a small refrigerator, a better cook stove (she cooks over an open fire) and enough dishes so that she could provide a good meal for the children and she dreams of someday having school five days a week.
I love this woman so much. They live in a 2 room house and all four of them sleep in the same small bedroom and often in the same bed, when Kenneth is sick. There are no closets in this house…there is no need for any. Clothes are washed, ironed, folded and stacked on a box. Their kitchen is outside. She doesn’t have a sink, she has a pila, a concrete sink, which serves as the area where dishes are washed, baths are taken and clothes are cleaned. Their toilet is out back by the fence and it is an outhouse. But it is always clean.
Most people I know, and sadly, I have to include myself in what I’m about to say, would want to build a new room on to their house for their own use. Most would want new furniture, new appliances or a remodel done because they were bored or dissatisfied with what they had. Few would have such unselfish dreams. I’m so glad we know one of the few.
While talking about the folks in Tipitapa, I want to let you know that Miguel and Elizabeth have separated. I can’t say I’m surprised but we are terribly disappointed. Right now, neither want to try to reconcile and sadly, both are rejecting what God’s Word says about that. In counseling with them, I was faced with the fact that they know it, they acknowledge it, but their own selfishness and pride seem to take priority over their desire to obey Him. I am both exasperated and broken-hearted with both of them but even so, we continue to pray for repentant hearts and restoration in their relationship with the Lord and with each other. I am anxious to see if Elizabeth comes to our English class next Saturday.
And speaking about the English class…we continue to have that class with the Bible study class following. For the last couple of weeks, the church has scheduled events which have conflicted with our time, so we have had to cut the classes short. We may have to either change our class time or look for another location in the future.
This Saturday, I will also start teaching a class to Danelia’s school kids while Jim is teaching the adult Bible class. She has asked me if I would be willing to do that as she wants the children have the opportunity to study English. These kids are younger kids…most are from 5-10 years of age so it will be a “fun” class, with worksheets and coloring pages. Los Cedros taught me how much they enjoy those kinds of things and I’m so glad I kept hard copies of all those things. That will make
it much easier for developing a curriculum for them.CINAFE, the children’s home, commands most of our time and attention these days. We are there almost every day, working in one capacity or another. I continue to teach the staff English two days a week…and they are an awesome class! It has actually turned out to be my favorite class yet as they really want to learn and they put out the necessary effort to do so. We have become comfortable enough with one another now t
hat we laugh a lot and the atmosphere is very relaxed.Jim often uses that time to take care of the endless small repair jobs that need to be done there. You can only imagine what kinds of things a facility with 15 kids needs to have fixed…ripped screens, leaky plumbing, broken hinges, broken toilet seats, broken curtain rods, etc….right up Jim’s alley!
I continue to work with the kids but because we have been asked to temporarily take on some added responsibilities there, we have had to rework our schedules there. The last few weeks, much of our time there has been taken up with more administrative duties. We have had several staff meetings this past week and we’re working alongside the administrator to help her with some budget concerns and personnel issues.
It would be so nice to think that Christians are somehow above all the human struggles that happen in this world, but that’s not the case, is it? Lack of good communication, whether intentional or unintentional, often causes hurt and anger and creates distance. And the healing process can be very painful. But thankfully, this is a terrific group of people and I think they all desire the same thing so now, we’re just working on teaching and implementing some better communication skills and we trust God to do what we can’t.
The temperatures here have been miserable lately. I think the heat is worse this year than it was last year. We are in the mid to upper 90s every day now with the heat index usually about 10 degrees higher…and out house is a good 10 degrees higher than that! The storm clouds build every day which makes the weather oppressive. I hate to see what our electric bill is going to be as w
e’ve had the fans going non-stop when we’re home.For the last couple of weeks, we have had three fans going in our bedroom…one on Jim, one on me and one on Xander. His panting was keeping us awake! We’ve even gone to bed and left the bedroom door open…this door opens up to our little back deck and usually at night, we close it, lock it, and put the Charlie bar up against it. That should give you some indication of how hot it is in our room. The picture was taken at night and we don't have very good lighting in our bedroom so I'm afraid it isn't very good but you get the idea of how much our pampered pooch loves his fan!
We actually bought two ceiling fans from some missionaries that were moving back to the States. We had planned on putting one in our bedroom and one in the living room…the two hottest rooms in the house. When Jim got ready to install them, he discovered that the light fixtures in the ceilings are held in place only by the electric wires and the sheetrock. So, we can’t even use the ceiling fans!
But there’s hope on the horizon…we had another rainstorm today! That’s the third one we’ve had here so maybe the daily rains will start sooner this year. The late afternoon storms really help to cool it off and if we could just have cooler nights, we could tolerate the hot days better.
Well, I think I’ve got you up to day with life in general. Jim and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary here tomorrow. Two years ago, we never dreamed we would be doing what we’re doing or seeing God work as we have. Every day is different. Someone asked if it was any easier now…the fact is, life is hard for all of us, regardless of where we live. The causes here may be different but the result is the same. People suffer. And some days, that includes us. But there are also mountain-top days where we can almost see the North Pole from here. And we continue to feel privileged and blessed to be on this adventurous journey God is taking us on. And we thank you for joining us as we go!
1 comment:
Wow-EE. You've got the good, the bad, and the ugly all in one fell swoop. Glad to hear your recognition of God being good shine through it all. Love you much.
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