A new member of the family

A quick update! On Wednesday we took in a 2 year old girl named Yadira. She has a bit of catching up to do developmentally, but that doesn't stop her from always having a big smile. I'll try to get a picture before too long.

Also while I'm thinking of it please ask around (or ask yourselves) if you know anyone who would be willing and able to donate scrapbooks and scrap-booking supplies. I am wanting to do a therapy project with each of the kids that will help tell their life stories.

God Bless,

Kit

Full Circle

I now find myself on the receiving end of a program I was once volunteering with in the states. This morning I was eating breakfast when one of the other missionaries showed me the latest food donation we had received. In my hands I held an air tight bag filled with rice, soy, vegetables and flavoring labeled “Manna Pack” from the group “Feed My Starving Children”. While I have not been super involved with their organization I have had the opportunity to assist with packaging the meals at least a handful of times. I was blessed to have a representative on our morning show once as well, and I know my church back home is still regularly involved with volunteering. I’ve always walked away feeling that I’d helped improve someone’s life a little knowing that they’d have at least one more meal guaranteed. It was a bit strange, but exciting at the same time to see the work of volunteers from my own backyard now appear in front of me here in Honduras. I have a bit of a hard time accepting that we, especially the missionaries but even the kids, are on the receiving end of this donation. I imagine there are many more places around the world in an even greater need than us. We are very blessed to have many wonderful donors of food and money. I am always impressed when our kids during prayer offer up intentions for the poor. That said though I am incredibly grateful for every volunteer who put in each scoop with love back home in Minnesota. I hope every volunteer there will know of my appreciation.

Christmas, Quincinero and a look ahead to the New Year.

Written on 12/27/13

Tonight we have a quincinero (15th brithday) celebration for Cesar (one of the boys in House 5). For quicineros we have a budget of about 150 dollars and that goes surprisingly far. I went shopping with him the other day here in town for a new outfit for the party. We got a few decorations (balloons, a banner, and some tissue paper). His younger sister helped me decorate yesterday. We took the few strands of Christmas lights that were in the Missionary house and wrapped the tissue paper around them to make it more decorative. We have another 15th birthday celebration in January for one of the girls, and it is a bigger deal for the girls so I´m hoping to be able to use some of the left over budget for her party.

The weather has been pretty great this month. It is technically the rainy season, but it´s super dry now compared to October and November when it would rain basically every day. The temp. is just about perfect now, but I am not looking forward to the summer since there are already times when it feels too hot.

Over Christmas our foundress (Zulena Pescatore) and her children (they´re all in their early 20s or late teens) came back to visit. Their Dad (who is American) founded The Finca but then died in a plane crash a few years later. Zulena continued growing the mission and her kids grew up here. They moved back to Guatemala where her family is after a decade or so and just in the last couple years they moved to New York so the kids could go to better schools.

For Christmas they brought about a dozen suitcases full of donated backpacks, new outfits for each of the kids, new bed sheets and tons of other gifts. Most of them were all very happy especially the littler ones. Cati was so adorable. After ¨Santa¨gave her her backpack of gifts she pulled out a bar of soap with the biggest smile on her face and said to one of the other girls, ¨Look what I got!¨ It´s funny because that makes it sound like she´s never had soap before, but I guess she could call this her own.

The littlest girls (they all live in one house together) also received a brand new bike (to share) with training wheels, a doll carriage, and a play kitchen set. I wish I could have seen their faces when they got back to their house to see those gifts for the first time. The next day though I saw them all excitedly playing with it all.

A few of our ¨Tias¨(translates as Aunt... they are Hondurans who live in the homes and take care of the kids) left yesterday because their contracts came to an end. The girls in House 1 (the littlest ones ages 7-10) had a hard time saying goodbye to Tia Estella. Luz who is 8 years old came running across the field to say goodbye pushing her new doll carriage at full speed. Then forgetting about the carriage ran full speed into Estella giving her the biggest bear hug her lanky arms could. It was so sweet I started to tear up.

Over the next couple of weeks there are a lot of transitions for the kids as some of the Tias leave and new ones arrive plus other tias and house parents will be on vacations. This means we as missionaries are filling in and living in the houses full time taking care of the kids. Wish me luck and definitely say some extra prayers. I will be covering House 2 (girls ages 11 to 13) from the 1st to the 4th.

The following Monday it is back to ¨teaching¨winter school which is basically 3 hours of keeping the younger kids entertained, trying to keep the boys from fighting and maybe teaching something along the way. Then in February the school year starts. I´ll be teaching 1st and 2nd grade English. I´m not sure when I´ll get a chance to do my lesson plans... actually I´m not even sure how to write a lesson plan.

After today´s quiciunero I will be planning our New Year´s party. A few guys from the U.S. army who are stationed here have said they will come back to visit and bring some fireworks with. They came for Christmas as well and brought ice cream and cookies for the kids. 

Anyways, I should get going to catch my ride back from town. I was buying more tissue paper. Harry (one of the other missionaries) is trying to make a mini hot air balloon for New years.

Love,
Kit

p.s. I should be home from mid July to mid August!