Floricita

Yesterday morning I took little Floricita to get blood work done for her upcoming cleft pallet surgery. Poor thing! I’m not a big fan of needles and blood, and worse I had to hold that little girl still while they did it to her! I don’t know which is worse. I think I would’ve given my own blood to have not seen her shake like that! She was so scared! But she drank her bottle and went to sleep on the way home. At least she won’t remember it. This whole surgery process will be taken out of her mind once it’s over.

therapy and surgery

Well, I was going to post this ton of pictures that I have from my last few days at Monjas, but my hosting site is down or something, so maybe tomorrow or Thursday.

I had this list of things I needed to do today and I have managed to get a few of them done. But a cool thing happened as the Osborns went last Friday to Fundabiem, a physical therapy center, and two of the girls were accepted for therapy. I had agreed months ago that I would take the ones who were able to go. So I went with Shyrel today for their first treatment. Catarin and Eunice were the ones accepted. Catarin can't walk on her own at all. Her legs are basically limp. Eunice is autistic and suffers from seizures. They thought at first that I would be able to take both of them on the same day, but we quickly discovered today that it would be basically impossible, at best it would be completely exhausting. So, I will now be taking Eunice Monday and Wednesday, and Catarin will be Tuesday and Thursday, both girls in the morning. Catarin is easy because she is very calm and very sweet. Eunice likes to wonder and doesn't take well to being told what to do. At the home she was at before they apparently just tied her to a chair and left her because she was too hard to deal with!! It makes a lot of sense now to why she doesn't want to trust and obey. It was very interesting today and I think both girls will benefit tremendously with these efforts. I can't to look back in a few years, months even maybe, and see how far they've come!!

We also took Flor this afternoon to a plastic surgeon to see about getting her cleft pallet fixed. This doctor is a friend of a nurse who used to work at Casa Aleluya and is doing this surgery for free!! What a blessing!! He said Flor's was the worst he'd seen in years, very deep, or high, whatever is the correct term. It's bad, is all. He said it would take two surgeries just to correct the pallet, first the soft, then the hard, if he could even fix it completely then. Then another to correct the gums. Her teeth will have to be removed. Thn finally her lip, and another for her nose. He said the lip is usually done first, but with her being 1 1/2 years old already, it would affect her speech too much to wait any longer. He's starting next week!! There is blood work to be done as well. Please pray for Floricita, and those who are caring for her.

Flor

We took Flor this afternoon to a plastic surgeon to see about getting her cleft pallet fixed. This doctor is a friend of a nurse who used to work at Casa Aleluya and is doing this surgery for free!! What a blessing!! He said Flor's was the worst he'd seen in years, very deep, or high, whatever is the correct term. It's bad, is all. He said it would take two surgeries just to correct the pallet, first the soft, then the hard, if he could even fix it completely then. Then another to correct the gums. Her teeth will have to be removed. Thn finally her lip, and another for her nose. He said the lip is usually done first, but with her being 1 1/2 years old already, it would affect her speech too much to wait any longer. He's starting next week!! There is blood work to be done as well. Please pray for Floricita, and those who are caring for her.

New Arrivals!!!

Amor Del Niño received 8 children from the home in Antigua that shut down. I got to meet them all last week and they are so precious!! They are now up to 12 children, not including their own son and granddaughter. 5 babies, and all of the children have special needs.
Adriana, is about 9 months old and was born without one leg, as you can see in the next picture. But she is all baby, and sweet baby at that!! I love her smile!! She will need surgery for a prosthetic leg when she's a little older.

...and don't worry, I changed that diaper right after I took this picture!!
I love this picture!! This is Floricita, who needs cleft pallet surgery. She smiles with her eyes, doesn't she?!?
Lety is 6 years old and she's all little girl, except she's held back a bit by her legs which are disfigured, to descibe it best, I'll say they're "moon shaped", if you can imagine that. But she walks and even runs, so she's learned to get by, but will hopefully have correcting surgery soon.
I guess Martin is the only one that doesn't have any serious dissabilities. He seemed to cry a lot when I was there, but maybe he just didn't feel good.
Sindy's a healthy little girl as well. She didn't smile a lot while I was there, but then again, maybe she was just in a bad mood.
Tanya doesn't talk, and has some apparent mental dissabilities. She is a quiet little girl and stays mostly to herself.
Aw, Selvin. I met THE Selvin as soon I got there!! Imagine any little 6 year old boy, hyper, always talking, always has something to say, needs a lot of attention, etc, that's Selvin!! But as you can see, he needs corrective surgery on his eyes. He likes to sit in your lap, but his little boney-bottom hurts!! He doesn't seem to mind it though!!
Of course, you all know Jose. See his little cast? He's getting around pretty good now, considering that he uses his arms a lot to push himself around on the floor, it was hard for awhile!
And Monica, sweet as ever! She's such a good girl!
You might remember Danny from back at Christmas, when he was rushed to the hospital in Chimal for emergency treatment. He's God's little miracle as much as anyone at Amor Del Niño, and he is such a CHUNK!!!
Gabby, the Osborn's granddaughter.
Waiting for their spaghetti!
So, there are most of them. I don't have a picture of one of the new girls. She wouldn't let me take her picture, and she kept trying to eat the crayons!! Also, Helen and Hannah were at school.

New Arrivals

Last night, a children's home in Antigua was raided and accused of some illegal activity. Amor del Nino received 10 children, among them was this precious little girl:

I love this picture!! This is Floricita, who needs cleft pallet surgery. She smiles with her eyes, doesn't she?!?

Today has been such a relaxing day off.




I woke up around 8, and put a load of clothes in, washed my dishes from last night and made my bed.



I really wanted to cut the grass. Gib has a push mower, one of those that is just a metal mower, not gas powered or nada. Just a metal mower. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I bet he took it to Monjas. So, I decided to clean the garage where Babe, the dog, lives. It was so gross, but now it's sparkling clean! Well, not exactly sparkling, but I did Ajax it.



I had some keys made for the two new interns, so I brought them by and decided to check my e-mail too.



This afternoon I am going to Antigua to look for me an apartment for October. I'll have dinner there too.



I need to get home and fix lunch now. I'm making hot ham and cheese sandwiches.


It's such a beautiful day today!

Since Melvin and Zaidy are gone, the responsibility of market shopping has fallen to Rebeca, Elena, Vivian, and I. Today was our first day.




We went into Mixco. Market day is crazy. Wednesdays are the days that all of the fresh fruits and vegetables are brought in, so there were tons of people! It was so crowded and Rebeca and I made I don't know how many trips back and forth to the car carrying all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Oh, and by the way, it was up hill all the way to the car. I carried bags of watermelons, cantelopes, plantains, oranges, brocoli, carrots, cabbage, strawberries, blackberries... oh, and a box of bananas..., um... a box of chicken... on numerous trips up that hill. It was so hard. My hands, shoulder, arms, feet, legs... everything is hurting. From head to toe. I'm sure tomorrow I won't be able to move my arms.



One good thing is that it will be a good work out every week.



We didn't let Elena carry anything because she has high blood pressure. She works so hard. She was our "buyer". She did all the bargaining.



OH! I finally bought some jocotes! My favorite fruit here in Guate!
Next week I want to buy some of the tiny bananas that they call "fingers". They're sweeter than normal bananas. So good!

another trip to the psycologist

I took Seliy to the psycologist this morning... in vane, because he didn't show up, but that's beside the point. In the car, at a redlight, Seily, who by the way, spoke 90 to nothing, nonstop, all the way there and back, in the car she began to talk about her family. She said she really missed them and was very happy with her mother. Although, she confided in me some of the things her father did to her when he was "drunk". I couldn't believe that this little 6 year old girl has to have those kinds of memories in her little mind that can just come and go as they please, without warning, and break her heart all over again. It angers me to no end! I look at her sweet little face and delicate, tiny body and wonder how the man who is supposed to be her protector here on this earth could do such a thing to his daughter. Seliy changed the subject just as quick as it came about, and soon we were singing about God's "Grandes Maravillas", which was the song we sang yesterday at church. Neither one of us could remember more than three lines, so we sang them over and over in the car. I found an English radio station and started singing, "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins to her at the top of my lungs. She just looked at me in the rearview with the strangest look on her face. When I asked her if she liked my singing, she quickly said, "NO!"... HAHA!!! Children are painfully honest!

great weekend!

It has been amazing for me to see the older girls helping out with the younger girls.




Saturday, Caty wet herself and her bed during the day. Astrid cleaned her and her bed without anyone asking her. It was her first reaction. Later, Caty proudly displayed her polished finger and toenails as we watched Guatemala's game against Trinidad y Topago. She had her arms crossed, but with her "jazz hands" out so everyone could see! Astrid made her pigtails and Caty was smiling from ear to ear!



Yesterday morning, Caty had wet her bed again overnight. Sandy jumped right in and helped Caty shower off while I washed her bed sheets. Then with Astrid, they fixed her hair and got her ready for church. (remember Caty is the one who was found in a hotel room, dressed in men's clothing, and has the actions of only a 3 year old, maybe. She is soon to be 15 years old)



Last night, Irma had all of the girls ironing their uniforms and she was right there helping them. She made a schedule for it and everyone had their turn.



Andrea helped her little sister put all of her clothes away.



Lily fixed Seily's hair for church.



Maria, Lily, and Sindy cleaned their entire room and bathroom, without instruction to do so.



It made for a great weekend!





Oh, and Alabama won 26 to 7 against MTSU!! ROLL TIDE!!





Now I'm off to do errands that Melvin usually does. Bank, post office, etc. I hope I don't get lost. I've only been to this particualr post office once. I'm sure I'll be fine!

changes

It's had to have been a week or something since I've updated last. This week has been just a little different than other weeks.




First of all, I took a shift watching the older girls downstairs in the evenings because they didn't have a house mom. All of the adults are taking turns.



Second, the house parents upstairs left. They put in a notice about three weeks ago, and Thursday was their last day. It was really upsetting for all of the girls upstairs. But they have really been great in these circumstances. Please continue to pray for them.



Because of that, we had two older girls downstairs move up to the big house with the other 12 girls. So, we now have 19 girls in one house. It makes for a crazier weekend for me. I'm still staying all weekend, but now with 19 of all ages, instead of 7 teenagers... it is a bit more... stressful. It has been fun this weekend though.



Thank you for your prayers.



Pray this week, as I'll be doing the shopping in the market too. Zaidy and Melvin did that weekly, but now Elena, Vivian, and I will go to Mixco to do it. It can be dangerous, so I won't be carrying my cell phone, jewelry, extra money, etc. I trust that God will protect us, but I know your prayers will help. I will now do shopping at the Super markets on Tuesday and we will go to the fresh food market on Wednesday (in Mixco)



I'll be looking in Antigua, hopefully, this week for somewhere to rent the month of October. Also, the car I was waiting for hasn't come through, so I'm going to look elsewhere in the meantime.



There are so many little stories I want to write about, but I just don't have time right now. I will this week. I also want to post random pictures.



Oh, Guatemala lost 3-2 to Trinidad y Topago yesterday. They play the U.S. on Wednesday night!!