Orphan’s Hope Project Blog

October 1, 2008 – Some of the Kids and Staff from Hogar Miguel Magone

Hello,

I’m sorry for the delay. Yes, I haven’t kept you up to date recently and I am sorry for that. Where does the time go? I was in Latin America until a few days ago but unfortunately, I was not in Guatemala this time. But, every trip to Latin America expands my ability to understand and speak Spanish and that’s a good thing.

OK… what’s been happening at the orphanage? Quite a bit. Let’s see if I can touch on a variety of topics.

Girls……many of you are concerned about the girls. As of today, there are 25 girls living at the orphanage. By the end of the week, a decision will be made by another orphanage as to whether they will take all 25 girls. It would be nice to keep the girls together since they have established relationships and friendships. If this orphanage does take all the girls, it won’t be until after Christmas. So, I will be able to see the girls before they leave for their new home.

Windows……the contractor/window designer & maker is coming to the orphanage this week to measure the capilla window openings and he will start on the new windows pretty soon. I don’t know how long it will take to get them made and installed but we really are making progress.

Numbers……You read that there are 25 girls. As of today, there are also 65 boys. That is a total of 90 children. The home is at capacity and we are not serving any of the externos at this time. Externos are the children who come from very poor families in the local village and need food, school supplies, supervision, etc. Since we have 90 kids living in the hogar, we have suspended the assistance to the externos at this time.

School…. School is almost out for the summer ie. the end of the school year. The kids have one more week of school and then they are out until mid-January. In early January, we’ll start the craziness of buying the school supplies, buying uniforms and shoes, sewing the uniforms to the correct sizes, enrolling students in colegio and public school, covering their books, folders and notebooks and stuffing their new backpacks with all the goodies.

Volunteers…. we still have one long term volunteer at the orphanage. We’re not sure exactly when she is leaving but it might be as early as mid November or as late as mid January. She has been invaluable to us for the past few months. We are certainly grateful for her work and her long stay at the orphanage. We have others coming in November but so far, no volunteers are scheduled to live at the orphanage in December…unless I can sneak in a quick trip in early December. Then I’d be back to help get ready for school in January.

Kevin and Gustavo…… the adoption for Kevin and Gustavo has hit a snag. We’re not sure how that’s going to work out. They have moved to Fundaninos (another orphanage) and are waiting to hear from the Guatemalan court system. I hope it all works out for them. They have had their hearts set on moving to the US (for the past year) and we really need everyone to pray and think positive thoughts for them. We do want this to happen for them.

Monica…. Monica is still very happy in her veterinarian position. She does come back to work at the orphanage at least one day a week. She is also at the orphanage for visitation Sunday, the one day a month that family members can come and visit the children. That’s a tough, emotional day for many of the children and staffing needs are greater on visitation days.

So, the orphanage is still thriving and change is ever constant. Keep us in your thoughts and hope for good things for the children….always.

Thanks.