Orphan’s Hope Project Blog

June is a woman who read the newspaper article on Monday, went to the store and then purchased 500 boxes of crayons, 24 to a box. Then she called me. We had a fun little chat and then we discussed how to get the boxes and boxes of crayons to me. As you can see from the picture, we did meet and now the crayons are in my possession.

Here’s June. I got to meet her and her husband… such a lovely couple. They are very interested in the children and we had quite a lively discussion about the orphanage, the kids, the country and other related topics.

This is what makes my day. A great donation, willingness to help and genuine interest in the kids and their welfare. It’s so easy… and for this couple, they took the time to do something without being asked.

June and Desmond…. Thank you so much.

Winifred is not anyone that I had previously met, until yesterday. She read the article in the newspaper and decided to help. Yesterday, she showed up at my office with a trunk full of goodies. Winifred donated 30 afghans that she crocheted. 30 of them. There’s a variety of colors and they are beautiful. They will easily fit in the next shipment that’s going to the orphanage.

Isn’t she cute? Thanks to this thoughtful lady, I now have more goodies to take to the boys and girls. And the children will certainly enjoy these.

Thank you Winifred! Thanks for your spirit of giving and for wanting to help the children.

from the Girl Scout web site:
Girl Scout Gold Award®
Highest Award for Girls Ages 14-18
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout 14-18 may earn. Someone once described the Girl Scout Gold Award as being “what you really want to be remembered for” in Girl Scouting. For many, the leadership skills, organizational skills, and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.

Why do I mention this? As a result of the recent publicity in our Bay Area papers, many helpers, donors and well wishers have been calling and e-mailing me with offers to help Orphan’s Hope Project and the children in the orphanage. One such call was from the mom of a 15 year old Girl Scout that is looking for a Gold Award project to undertake in the next 3-6 months. And that’s where these lovely girls come in.

Ellen and Casey are friends and they drove in with their mom today to see me. We talked for about 90 minutes, shared stories, looked at pictures, etc. They had questions and we brainstormed about how they could help the orphanage. We came up with a few ideas and I think they have a pretty good idea of how they can help.

So, girls, this is your opportunity to undertake a wonderful project and an experience that will help shape your life. And the girls are already talking about working at the orphanage next summer. These are our future leaders of tomorrow and they plan to make a difference in the children’s lives. Ellen and Casey, Thank You. Thanks for being interested and I’m looking forward to collaborating with you on your upcoming projects.
Diane

Where do I even begin? I just returned from Guatemala and there are so many changes at the orphanage. The first one that I’ll tell you about is the capilla, the chapel.

This chapel is beautiful. A year ago, the ground above our transition house was just a big hill, full of scrub brush and trees. In August, we bought the tile for the floor of the new chapel, lugged it up the hill and stored it in the transition house. Meanwhile, the plans for the chapel were being drawn up and a budget was being drafted, revised and reworked. Next, the trees and plants were removed and the foundation was dug out of the hill. Don Lorenzo and his crew started working on it and little by little, it started taking shape. In August, I was there to see it get a new roof. In December 2007, we used the dirt floor of the building and the large open space to help us cut and paint the fence materials for the new fences that got put up in early December. Finally, the concrete floor got poured. Then the new tile got laid on the floor. And bit by bit, it took shape. The last major construction was to put up a retaining wall around the back of the building, to keep the chapel from washing down the hill in the torrential rains that we get at the hogar.

The new chapel is a cinder block building with a metal roof. The interior walls were recently plastered and then painted white. The outside of the chapel was covered with a brick veneer and it does make it look ever so lovely. We have many window openings in the new chapel… but we don’t have the actual windows yet. Right now they are big arched openings and they let in lots of light and air. And we don’t have a door either. But that doesn’t matter. We have a chapel.

The dedication of the new capilla, the chapel, was held on June 22, 2008. Many priests, priests in training and locals were there. It was standing room only. And the noise. It was quite a joyous event. There was lots of singing and celebrating. One of our volunteer workers got his church (in Massachusetts) to donate the priest’s new vestments and they were used for that opening day celebration. We do have an step up altar and the final touches were added to make it look like a church. The electricity needs to be finished as well. (Now we’re getting the electricity from the nearby transition house). Those improvements will come.

This picture was taken in July 2008, during a celebration service that was lead by Shawn Smith. Shawn brings volunteers who do amazing things for us. We have a transition house due to Shawn and his efforts. Shawn is singing and playing the guitar.

This is another photo that was taken during the July celebration service. Shawn really knows how to get the kids singing. Just look at those smiles.

Fundraising is going on and we are raising money to get the windows made. Some of the windows may even be stained glass if we can raise the $. Some of the windows will be regular glass. But we need the door and the windows to secure the building and to keep the rain and wind out of the structure.

It is a beautiful building. Don’t you think so? Thank you to the many, many people who made it possible to build such a lovely building at our orphanage.

Yes, I got back last Saturday night from Guatemala. There are so many improvements at the orphanage. I’ve got lots to tell you.

I promise, I will be posting some blogs in the next few days.

Please come back soon.

The Oakland Raiders did it again. They pulled another fantastic win out of their bag of tricks. And what did they do? They came through for us again… Big Time!

Yesterday, I received a UPS shipment. No…it wasn’t a little shipment. It was a BIG shipment. The poor UPS driver had to bring in 6 boxes…..6 big boxes. I knew something was arriving this week but I didn’t know exactly what it would be.

Five of the boxes had brand new Oakland Raider backpacks in them… 20 backpacks per box x 5 boxes = 100 backpacks. Wow. Talk about generous. They are taking care of the boys needs for school next year. The Guatemala school term finishes in early October. (The kids have their summer vacation from October to mid January). And, in January, all of them will receive their new backpacks. Luckily, this will be the third consecutive year that we are able to supply all the kids with new backpacks. And they are needed. The kids use their backpacks to carry all their school books to and from school… about 3.5 miles roundtrip each day. And since they are walking to and from school, the backpacks get extra wear and tear. They just wear out by the end of the school year. Thanks to the Raiders, the next shipment to the orphanage will have their new backpacks in it.

What else was in the box? Well, we have keys, keys and more keys at the hogar. We wear them around our necks and there is a different key for every door. And there are lots and lots of doors. I requested a few lanyards to help us keep the keys organized. These are Oakland Raider lanyards. The straps and long and wide and there’s a clip off portion at the bottom. That’s the important part. We can release the keys, give them to someone who runs off to open a door and when they come back, we just clip the balance of the keys onto the lanyard. These are soooooo nice.

What else? Soccer balls! We discovered that American football is just too difficult for the kids to grasp and learn. We bring them footballs on each trip but it’s the soccer balls that the kids relish. They play soccer every day. In the boxes, there were 10 Oakland Raider soccer balls. And these are beautiful soccer balls. I’ll take 4 of them on this trip and save the rest for a future trip.

Shirts! Oh yes. There are shirts in the boxes. 100 beautiful, clean, handsome Oakland Raider shirts. There are many sizes, styles and designs. I’ve oohed and aahed over them and now they are counted and sorted into bags by size. Our children are going to be so excited to receive these beautiful new shirts. Of course I’ll take pictures of all of our kids with their new shirts.

OK Everyone… let’s all shout at once. Oakland Raiders……THANK YOU ! We do appreciated your continued support and involvement with the children in the orphanage. You are so generous. We are honored by your spirit of sharing.

Thank You. I just can’t say it enough.