Orphan’s Hope Project Blog

I heard from Luke again. Luke is our college student volunteer who is at the orphanage now. Tomorrow will be the halfway point of his stay. He’s going to be there a total of 4 weeks and tomorrow, two weeks will have already gone by.

He’s happy, he’s busy and he doesn’t want to spend too much time e-mailing me because he wants to get back to the boys! Now that’s what I like to hear.

A new volunteer arrived and Luke says Katie has a real ‘let’s get it done’ spirit. He sounded so enthused and that’s great to hear. Luke, we’re looking forward to more stories from you.

Many of you know that adoptions from Guatemala to the US are no longer possible…unless the paperwork was started prior to January 1, 2008. We still have two boys waiting to hear on their adoptions. We’re hoping that we’ll hear good news very soon.

But there is a way to sometimes get kids to the US. Carlos is one example. A family from the US got interested in sponsoring Carlos and it might be possible for him to come to the US to study on a student visa. The family is moving right along in getting all the papers filed and it seems to be working. I heard that Carlos will get his Guatemalan passport this week. That means he’s one step closer to being able to move to the US to study which will give him opportunities that he won’t have at the orphanage.

The plan is for him to move to California where he will continue with high school. Carlos is one of our older boys and he loves music. He listens to music quite a bit and he also plays the drums. He’s a quiet boy and doesn’t get into trouble. He’s been going to colegio (private school) and he’s working on learning English. And he’s a good kid!

Let’s keep our fingers and toes crossed for Carlos. I want him to have a better life and I want him to get a great education. If he gets to come to the US, all things are possible.

We’re pulling for you Carlos!

In this case, the chicken crossed the road because it was being carried across the road. Probably in a sack on the back of the chicken thieves.

Don’t the chickens look peaceful in their little yard? Now who would want to come and steal chickens from our kids? Thieves, that’s who!

Here are the chickens in the yard. On the far wall, you can see some red paint. Just below the paint is the spot where the thieves dug out under the wall, to get on the orphanage grounds.

Here’s a better picture of the corner of the wall and the new drain that was just installed. With the new drain and concrete, we certainly hope that the thieves will not return to steal more chickens.

This was the 2nd time in a year that thieves had come to take chickens. This time, they dug a hole for themselves, crept up to the chickens and carted off about half of the hens. We had gotten these hens in early February. Our chicken coop sat empty from July 2008 to February 2009, in the hopes that whoever was stealing the chickens would stay away, especially since we didn’t have any chickens for them to steal. Maybe they came one night and saw that the coop was empty, maybe not. But…we didn’t have chickens for many months and that meant we didn’t have eggs for the kids for many months.

Finally, we get more chickens, they start growing and maturing and then start producing eggs. And what happens? They get taken again. The thieves didn’t come over the wall because it is now electrified and has razor wire on top of the wall. Boy, to dig out and tunnel under a block wall takes some dedicated thieves. We have so much land and ground and it’s impossible to know when and where the chiecken thieves might dig next. But I do hope they stay away. I want our kids to have eggs to eat.

Let’s hope that none of our chickens will be crossing the road anytime soon!

You may have read that we had girls in the orphanage last year. We did, for about a year. The girls have all been placed elsewhere. We discovered that it’s difficult to mix boys and girls, especially when they are teenagers. Our orphanage has minimal staff and the adults can’t be everywhere all the time. We have over two acres of property, the buildings are built up the hill and there are lots of places to go if you don’t want to be seen. Rather than have any problems, we decided that the teenage hormones needed to be separated at the orphanage. So, now we don’t have girls any more.

Plans are now underway to build a girl’s orphanage on our property. This orphanage will be a large house. We have the land and the location for the new house will be outside our gates and tall wall. The plans are to build a 4 bedroom house and we can have 6 girls in each bedroom. Their house will be separate and fully self-contained.

Here’s a picture of the land. We had just started clearning the brush when this picture was taken.

The area is to the right of our main gate. Yes, it’s hilly and drops downhill rather quickly. We will have to make use of the area as best as we can.

There’s quite a bit of brush on the property and that is now being cleared. Some of the older boys are working for a couple of hours each morning, with axes and machetes, to clear off the brush. When a pile of leaves and pine needles gets large enough, they have a controlled, supervised burn and burn it away.
Due to the size and number of trees, some of the trees will have to be removed. But, we can’t do that until we get permission from the government to remove them. That might take time.

This picture shows Canelo, our orphanage dog, checking out the property. In the left of the picture, you’ll see the edge of the current orphanage.

And this is a picture of the cinderblock wall that surrounds the current orphanage. It is a tall, tall wall, with razor wire on top and the razor wire is electrified at night, for security. You can see the path that kids have worn outside the wall. And the path is used by others also. Most recently, it was used by the thieves who came onto our property. I’ll tell you more about that the next time.

Thanks again for helping me line this up. I’m having an incredible time (and I’ve been eating plenty of fresh fruit).

That’s the e-mail that I received from Luke today. Yes, he’s in Guatemala and is living at the orphanage for 4 weeks, helping us in many different ways. He is a college student from Colorado and absolutely jumped at the opportunity to spend 4 weeks at the orphanage. He arrived in Guatemala early on Saturday morning, the 16th. When I called the orphanage on Saturday morning, to make sure he had arrived safely, he was sleeping. Overnight flights can be tough, right Luke? I did speak to John (a volunteer from England) and he was going to show Luke around on Saturday and tell him the things he needed to know. I did get an e-mail from Luke on Monday, August 18, and with his permission, here’s part of his e-mail to me.

I’m spending a month here living at an orphanage with about 40 young boys. (He miscounted…it’s 60 boys). I wanted to spend a month in a spanish speaking country this summer to improve my spanish, and my original plan was to attend a language school. However, last December Dad forwarded me an e-mail (from Diane) describing her involvement with an orphanage in Guatemala. I got inspired, and here I am. My stomach and I are still getting situated (it´s nearly impossible to avoid drinking a bit of the unpurified water – as all the dishes are rinsed with it). I know for sure that my spanish and soccer are going to improve – I´ve already spent at least five hours playing soccer. Because no one at the orphanage knows much english, I’m forced to use spanish, which is good. At a language school I’d probably wind up hanging out with the other students and speaking english with them… so I’m really happy in that regard. Life is very simple here. We are up in the hills, and though we can see the sprawling metropolis of Guatemala City below, the local town consists of the most basic of facilities- it is not a tropical paradise with fruit growing everywhere – instead coco-cola bottles litter the ground and the majority of the food sold is highly processed. The people though are extremely friendly, and the boys at the orphanage have welcomed me into their world with hugs (from the younger ones), handshakes (the older ones), and soccer balls in the face.

Anyways, I’m happy to be here – life goes at a much slower pace. In college there is always more to see and do than is possible, and I tend to find myself scurrying from one activity to another, hardly ever stopping to catch my breath and reflect. I’m going to be doing a lot of reflecting here.

So… that’s how Luke feels about being at the orphanage with the boys. Yes, it will change his life.

Another child who was operated on last Tuesday was Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos has been in hospitals many, many times. He and his sister have both been burned & scarred….quite horribly. His sister lived at the orphanage last year but now she has been moved to another orphanage. Juan Carlos continues to stay with us.

This is Juan Carlos. This picture was taken while he was eating flan, just a couple of weeks ago. The majority of his burns and scarring are on the right side of his body. Some are visible in this picture. A couple of fingers are fused and contorted, his face is burned, along with his arm, legs, torso and body. His feet are burned and they are distorted.

The recent operation was one of many. Doctors are relieving the pressure as he grows and matures. The burned skin doesn’t stretch well and as he grows, his pain grows. This time, the operation was on his leg. He will continue to get more operations as time passes.

He is a sweet affectionate child. He is fairly quiet and has a great smile. He is especially affectionate with Karen, our director. You can’t help but love these children, especially when they have faced and survived so much in their short lives.

Juan Carlos gets the Trooper of the Year award from me! As he recovers from his surgery, he’s in a lot of pain. But he will get better.

Two of our boys had operations last Tuesday.
One is Christian Josue, fondly known as ‘Colocho’ because he has short, curly hair. I usually call him Josue. He’s always helpful, he’s always smiling and he likes to come in the kitchen to help. And he’s learning English.

Josue is 13 years old and from what I understand, he plays the violin really well. I haven’t heard him play yet because we don’t have any violins at the hogar. We’re working on getting a few violins donated to the orphanage. We’d like him to develop his talent plus we could teach other children and have violin classes if we had a few violins. Music can be calming for some children.

Here’s a picture of Josue, taken after his hand operation. He wouldn’t be able to play very well this week, would he?

He’s not in pain and the operation went well. I know he’s glad that’s over with.

The other child that had an operation was Juan Carlos. And it wasn’t Juan Carloso’s first operation….he’s had a series of them. But more on that later.

Thank goodness we are able to get medical care for our children. For that, I am thankful.

Two events were held in the San Francisco Bay Area yesterday, on behalf of the orphanage. Well, yes, there were other things going on in the Bay Area but the two important ones (in my mind) were benefits for Hogar Miguel Magone Orphanage.

One event was held in Pinole. The Youth Commission of Pinole held a day in the park with games, booths, vendors, activities….all geared to children. Orphan’s Hope Project had a booth at the festival. Here’s our booth.

The aim of the booth was to raise awareness of the children in Guatemala who are not able to live with their families. You can see the story board on the right hand side of the picture. Behind that, at the back of the booth, is a large Guatemalan flag. You can only see one blue corner of the flag. We had Orphan’s Hope Project T-shirts, pulseras to sell and boxes of crayons to sell. Of course I had brochures and talked to everyone that stopped by. Yes, we sold lots of pulseras and some crayons. The spanish speaking visitors were especially glad to see me and many thanked me for our presence in Guatemala and for helping the children.

It was a chance to raise awareness, connect with people, be outside with the community and possibly find new volunteers who want to come to the orphanage. Yes, I hope some of the people that expressed interest will come volunteer at the home.

See… there is a Guatemalan flag hanging in the booth!

It was a good day.

The second event will be reported on later…when I get an update from the organizers of that event. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be two places at once!

Have a great Sunday.

We do have an excellent cook at the orphanage. Alba has been there for about 4 months, as the prior cook left to have surgery and didn’t come back. And her food is pretty good. The kids enjoy the variety, the flavors and the colors of the foods that she prepares. What a job to cook for 70 people at each meal! I wouldn’t want to do it every day, week after week…would you?

Here’s Alba in the kitchen. She made hamburgers for the kids this day.

I enjoy making different things for the kids at the orphanage. On this trip, the very first morning I was there, the kids were asking for avena mosh con pasas…..oatmeal with raisins. Well, they didn’t get oatmeal and raisins on the first morning, they got beans and bread with cream cheese.

But on Saturday morning, my 2nd morning there, I did make oatmeal with raisins. I make a huge pot because the kids love it and many come back for 2nds. And I enjoy making it for them. It takes a long time for a big pot of water to boil at the orphanage. That’s the hardest part about oatmeal….waiting. It probably takes about 20-25 minutes for the pot of water to boil. We’re at high altitude and that’s another reason why it takes so long. I light the gas burner on that big stove, move the pot onto it, fill it up with water, pitcher by pitcher, cover the pot and then wait. Kids will come into the kitchen to see what I’m making and some of them ask if they can help. And….when I’m cooking oatmeal, they know there’s a big bag of raisins waiting to go in the pot. If they’re lucky, I’ll give them a couple of raisins as a little treat.

I usually ship the raisins…because I want to make sure I have them at the beginning of my trip. I never know when I’ll be able to go to Guatemala City and go to the Pricemart (like our Costco) for other food items. And I do the same thing with pancake mix. I’ll buy the huge bags of pancake mix here and on the Sundays that I’m at the orphanage, I’ve already got the mix and I’ll make pancakes. Now that’s a job.

Have you ever made 225 pancakes all at once, kept them hot and had them ready at the already determined breakfast hour? It’s not so bad… but I do smell like pancakes after I make that many pancakes. Pancakes and butter. Again, waiting for the griddle to warm up takes the longest time. And the griddle on the stove isn’t working correctly…. only one side is working. So…I am shuffling back and forth between the main stove and a smaller stove. Now that takes timing. I line a big pot with clean bath towels and place the pancakes on the folded up towel. The sides of the pot are lined with a towel also and each time pancakes are cooked and placed in the pot, a towel goes on top of the stack. It works…it really does. Those pancakes stay warm.

The kids come in and when they start eating their food, whether it’s oatmeal or pancakes, the dining room is quiet. They’re all eating food that they don’t normally get for breakfast…unless I’m there. And that gives me a warm feeling.

Diane

Are you trying to pronounce Satelite like the satelites that are up in the sky? Well, that’s not correct. The proper pronunciation is sah-tell-ah-tay. I used to pronounce it as sah-tell-ah-tee and the boys would laugh and tease me about it. Now I know better.

When it’s time for the kids to walk to school (normally around 6:45 am) I whistle to call them to the gate for our departure. It sure beats yelling. Some of the kids are in awe of the volume of my whistle. I was a tomboy and I know how to stick my fingers under my tongue and whistle. Sometimes, it even hurts my ears. But I’m digressing.

Satelite is a fairly large town and it’s spread out. It’s also hilly and you can see homes winding up and down the landscape. It’s not large like Guatemala City….not at all. Some taxi drivers aren’t quite sure where it is so it’s always a good idea to have directions written down in Spanish, which I do have and which I give to volunteers coming to the orphanage.

There are police in Satelite but the one police station that I see when I walk into town has been abandoned for the past few months. I don’t know why. Their office was a mobile building, parked on the side of the road near the beginning of the tiendas and buildings. Now I mainly see the guards (with guns) on the tops of the gas trucks, the pepsi trucks, the water bottle trucks and other large vehicles with commercial goods on them. I don’t see police on the street. If there’s a drunk wandering around, it’s normal. No one does anything. Sometimes the drunks fall to the ground and sleep it off for hours, right on the edge of the street. Sometimes they yell at you and talk to themselves but hey, we see that here in the US too.

This is a woman on the street… with a basket of fresh bread on her head.

If you want to get $ from an ATM in Satelite, you’re out of luck. There are no ATM machines and there are no banks. Hmmmm… a large spread out city like that with no ATM machines or banks. How inconvenient is that? I imagine that women are carrying what little money they have in their aprons and the men have theirs in their pockets or perhaps hidden somewhere in their homes.

Homes….many of the homes in Satelite are shacks. Many have plastic or metal corrugated roofs, some of the structures are concrete blocks and some are made of wood. Electricity….yes, many have electricity but don’t count on everyone to have running water. Some do but many people still have to go to a faucet in a designated area and carry water to their homes. Hot water heaters! Ha! Not in this town and not in Aguacate or the orphanage. Nicer homes in Guatemala City do have hot water heaters. And security in your home…. virtually non existent in many homes. Some have doors and locks but I’ve seen homes with a cloth covering for a door. Windows are often broken and covered with paper or cloth. These homes would be easy to get into, that’s for sure.

Here’s a typical water station… where townspeople fill up their jerry cans to carry water to their homes.

The main street going into town has a few little shops carrying miscellaneous items for sale. There are a few panaderias (bakeries), there’s an internet cafe, various other small businesses, and vendors on the street. Oh… how I love those vendors on the street. I like being on the street because everyone is usually very friendly and they always say hello to me – in Spanish of course. They are curious people but they are friendly. And they’re getting used to seeing me in town all the time.

You can buy music on the street. The vendor is not there every day…usually only on weekends, but the reggaeton music is blasting and you can go buy a CD for 10Q – about $1.25 US. And yes, I have bought a few CDs. I love the music and often there are great songs blasting from the huge speakers and I’m out there dancing near his booth. Villagers laugh and watch… I don’t care. I’m having fun and feeling the music. Thank heavens I don’t look like a total klutz when I dance.

This is Rosie, squeezing orange juice at her little stand on the street in Satelite.

Rosie has become a friend. She sells fresh squeezed orange juice for 4 Q – 50 cents. And I usually buy a plastic bag of oj after I drop the kids off at school. Rosie gave me a beautiful hand embroidered black purse that her sister made for me. It’s nice.

Preparing my orange juice for me!

There’s always lots to see and look at in Satelite. I buy my fresh fruits and vegetables from the vendors on the street. It is a good feeling to buy inexpensive food that is going to be tasty.

But… after you leave the town, there’s a long, long hill to walk up. Then it levels for a bit but when you get back into the area of Aguacate, there are more long hills. It’s good exercise and I enjoy every minute of it.

Till next time……
Diane