Hola Familias y Amigos!
Nancy is your scribe tonight for amazing day three at El Hogar!
The WE Tribe woke, as usual, to the blaring horns of traffic and the happy shouts of the boys sweeping outside our doors at 6:10 a.m. Great guffaws from the Presidential Suite (the noisiest room) inhabited by Jenny and Betsy, our most staid members, ensure that the 15 of us are up for coffee, the first of at least 4 pots, by 6:30. Your lively crew headed to daily chapel at 7 a.m. with the 107 beautiful children we´re so honored to get to know this week.
The chapel service held every morning with brief sermonettes takes place in the plain wood chapel with a stone floor decorated with the children´s handprints. Led by Dona Claudia, director, today's sermonette focused on "responsabilidad"--the theme of the week. Claudia, whom we all agree is one of the most remarkable human beings we have had the grace to know, clearly is mom to many. Her fierce love for "her" children, dedication to their spiritual growth, and articulate demand for their respect and commitment to learn and grow is awe-inspiring. Today, her brown eyes snapping them to attention, she talked about taking responsibility for yourself'--fully and completely. She said to them (and us), because of the love of God for you and for your brothers and sisters, you have a responsibility to love yourself and each other. When you fight, do not blame the other personñ take responsibility for your body and your actions. If you treat a teacher with disrespect, you need to ask forgiveness. You, no one else, is responsible.
Claudia commands the room, her eyes sweeping their faces, her two fingers raised in ¨"dos," demanding silence. Who, she asks, has not taken responsibility? Who? Slowly, a hand goes up in the back, and a little boy, Carlos, marches to the front and confesses to all that he fought with Yelson. Yelson comes forward and they apologize to each other, and hug. Next, a teacher comes forward and tells them all how sorry he is for having been impatient with them yesterday and that he´ll try to do better today, and he asks for their forgiveness as the children applaud. More hands. More marches to the stage. More shy smiles as little ones as small as six and as old as twelve come forward and ask forgiveness and take "responsabilidad." A few confesses to having stolen something, or having not shared, or having been unkind.
The chapel service held every morning with brief sermonettes takes place in the plain wood chapel with a stone floor decorated with the children´s handprints. Led by Dona Claudia, director, today's sermonette focused on "responsabilidad"--the theme of the week. Claudia, whom we all agree is one of the most remarkable human beings we have had the grace to know, clearly is mom to many. Her fierce love for "her" children, dedication to their spiritual growth, and articulate demand for their respect and commitment to learn and grow is awe-inspiring. Today, her brown eyes snapping them to attention, she talked about taking responsibility for yourself'--fully and completely. She said to them (and us), because of the love of God for you and for your brothers and sisters, you have a responsibility to love yourself and each other. When you fight, do not blame the other personñ take responsibility for your body and your actions. If you treat a teacher with disrespect, you need to ask forgiveness. You, no one else, is responsible.
Claudia commands the room, her eyes sweeping their faces, her two fingers raised in ¨"dos," demanding silence. Who, she asks, has not taken responsibility? Who? Slowly, a hand goes up in the back, and a little boy, Carlos, marches to the front and confesses to all that he fought with Yelson. Yelson comes forward and they apologize to each other, and hug. Next, a teacher comes forward and tells them all how sorry he is for having been impatient with them yesterday and that he´ll try to do better today, and he asks for their forgiveness as the children applaud. More hands. More marches to the stage. More shy smiles as little ones as small as six and as old as twelve come forward and ask forgiveness and take "responsabilidad." A few confesses to having stolen something, or having not shared, or having been unkind.
The love in the room is palpable, and once again the moms from Epiphany are in tears, and it´s only 7:15. By 7:30 as the parade of penitents begins to thin, you could wipe us off the floor, we are so moved. Such direct connection to God and each other seems to be the heart of El Hogar. From afar such a scene seems improbable, but as a witness, it felt immediate, honest, and saturated with love: children being honest with each other and with themselves, adults modeling the humility of accepting responsibility for one´s choices. It was beautiful.
Back to the volunteer house, gulping rounds of coffee, grabbing hard biscuits and watermelon for breakfast, 15 minutes later we headed--back to church! Since the children do not leave El Hogar generally, church comes to them once a week. Today, we gathered again for a full service, complete with guitar and hymns and full sermon from the local priest, this time on the ten commandments. (Remember, dear ones, that all of what we are witnessing is in Spanish, so we stumble in our comprehension, but we have no trouble deciphering the beauty all around us.) The kids all participated, naming the commandments, politely raising their hands, and the warm, wide priest spread her large arms around us.
We had spread out throughout the congregation (to our delight) so we could sit next to the children (and enjoy being mauled by them). We were sternly warned, however, not to disrupt the service (now when had we done that?!) by playing with the kids. Nearby, the teachers sat on benches at the side, with children hanging all over them, brown arms and bodies pressing against these talented maestras and maestros with giant hearts. Dona Claudia had so many girls hugging her that at one point you could only see her head peering out of the body press of eight little girls with ponytails sticking out in all directions. When the peace was passed, the room exploded in hugs and a melee of little bodies and warm hearts and weepy Epiphany-ites!
Church over (it's amazing how you can be exhausted by 9 a.m.), we headed off for our first full day of serious work. Our day before had been hampered by a lack of supplies, as might be expected, so today we were raring to go with our gloves and masks and rakes and rollers, we tackled the walls and yard of the new dorm. The dorm, by the way, is palatial. The dorm the kids are currently in has bunks stacked three high in tight quarters with no space between. The new dorm sits on a hill, overlooking the campus, with white wrought iron balconies, white marble-style tiled floors, beautiful spacious rooms, new modern bathrooms and cubbys for each child. It's awesome.
And we were awesome, too. Forewoman Rappole ensured we adhered to a tight schedule and Walsh and Burns and co. carried huge water bottles up the hill to the dorm so we wouldn´t be tempted to take any siestas by leaving to refill ours. Stephanie and Barbara and Ginger had raked debris from the yard yesterday and smoothed the dusty earth so the outside walls could be painted. Raul showed up with gallons of paint and sandpaper and scrapers, and Team WE tackled the upstairs and downstairs and in-between. We don´t have drop cloths so as one group spattered paint up and down the huge walls, another group followed behind scraping the dried spatters off the beautiful white marblized floor. Betsy, Cecelia, and yours truly had spent hours the day before using oil paint on cubbies, and we finished those off.
Back to the volunteer house, gulping rounds of coffee, grabbing hard biscuits and watermelon for breakfast, 15 minutes later we headed--back to church! Since the children do not leave El Hogar generally, church comes to them once a week. Today, we gathered again for a full service, complete with guitar and hymns and full sermon from the local priest, this time on the ten commandments. (Remember, dear ones, that all of what we are witnessing is in Spanish, so we stumble in our comprehension, but we have no trouble deciphering the beauty all around us.) The kids all participated, naming the commandments, politely raising their hands, and the warm, wide priest spread her large arms around us.
We had spread out throughout the congregation (to our delight) so we could sit next to the children (and enjoy being mauled by them). We were sternly warned, however, not to disrupt the service (now when had we done that?!) by playing with the kids. Nearby, the teachers sat on benches at the side, with children hanging all over them, brown arms and bodies pressing against these talented maestras and maestros with giant hearts. Dona Claudia had so many girls hugging her that at one point you could only see her head peering out of the body press of eight little girls with ponytails sticking out in all directions. When the peace was passed, the room exploded in hugs and a melee of little bodies and warm hearts and weepy Epiphany-ites!
Church over (it's amazing how you can be exhausted by 9 a.m.), we headed off for our first full day of serious work. Our day before had been hampered by a lack of supplies, as might be expected, so today we were raring to go with our gloves and masks and rakes and rollers, we tackled the walls and yard of the new dorm. The dorm, by the way, is palatial. The dorm the kids are currently in has bunks stacked three high in tight quarters with no space between. The new dorm sits on a hill, overlooking the campus, with white wrought iron balconies, white marble-style tiled floors, beautiful spacious rooms, new modern bathrooms and cubbys for each child. It's awesome.
And we were awesome, too. Forewoman Rappole ensured we adhered to a tight schedule and Walsh and Burns and co. carried huge water bottles up the hill to the dorm so we wouldn´t be tempted to take any siestas by leaving to refill ours. Stephanie and Barbara and Ginger had raked debris from the yard yesterday and smoothed the dusty earth so the outside walls could be painted. Raul showed up with gallons of paint and sandpaper and scrapers, and Team WE tackled the upstairs and downstairs and in-between. We don´t have drop cloths so as one group spattered paint up and down the huge walls, another group followed behind scraping the dried spatters off the beautiful white marblized floor. Betsy, Cecelia, and yours truly had spent hours the day before using oil paint on cubbies, and we finished those off.
We were told, however, that no one has measured to see if the cubbies (very huge) will actually fit through the now installed doors of the dorm room (tomorrow should be interesting!). Carol and Barbara often did sweep patrol after the painters and spacklers, and Jenny Rappole did more showing off by climbing to the top of a very tall ladder with a giant roller on a long long pole to paint the stairwell (Pricilla and Carol made sure the ladder stayed still, so Jenny is still in one piece, thankfully. Molly manned the drips on the stairs while Kate and Celia and Jenny and Claudia painted their hearts out. Walls glowed, dirt disappeared, much paint spilled, much paint wiped up, much water drunk, much happiness and WooHoos all around.
Happily tired at 12, back for lunch outside--yes, folks, it's a glorious barely 70 with light breezes here--we even went to the little shop on the campus for Frescas and Fantas and some odd chips while we waited for a lunch of fresh cucumbers with carrots and tomatoes and flavorful rice and pulled beef with tortillas for lunch on benches around a giant tree. Back to work at 1:00, we painted all that hadn't been finished before and did drip and spatter patrol yet again. We spent a lot of time on our hands and knees returning the tiles to their pristine condition and worked until a team of 8 tackled the last room and did the whole thing in about 20 minutes! Muy rapido!
Time for showers, journals, Dove chocolates, plaintain chips, and trail mix. Dinner was al fresco as well, and we caught up with Ginger, Sandy, and Barbara McCune, Rick´s fiance, who had just returned from a day visiting a hospital. Ginger, like Barbara, is a physician and Sandy has worked in labs, and the three of them had sad stories to share over dinner about wards with no physicians, stroke victims with no PTs or OTs, and an emergency ward with 50 people in them with only one medical person writing notes in the room. Each time we learn more in this place, we are humbled by all that we take for granted.
After dinner ( chicken stew with rice and tortillas), we headed out to play with the boys. And a wild evening it was! Between the jump ropes, new coloring books, new games, and balloons--which we tied into perros, flores, sombreros and espadas (dogs, flowers, hats and swords!)--tonight was a circus of laughter, color, and excitement--as well as many full laps. I had a bag of balloons on my lap and when, two seconds later, I looked down, the entire bag was empty, and a crowd of children surrounded me each with a single balloon.
Happily tired at 12, back for lunch outside--yes, folks, it's a glorious barely 70 with light breezes here--we even went to the little shop on the campus for Frescas and Fantas and some odd chips while we waited for a lunch of fresh cucumbers with carrots and tomatoes and flavorful rice and pulled beef with tortillas for lunch on benches around a giant tree. Back to work at 1:00, we painted all that hadn't been finished before and did drip and spatter patrol yet again. We spent a lot of time on our hands and knees returning the tiles to their pristine condition and worked until a team of 8 tackled the last room and did the whole thing in about 20 minutes! Muy rapido!
Time for showers, journals, Dove chocolates, plaintain chips, and trail mix. Dinner was al fresco as well, and we caught up with Ginger, Sandy, and Barbara McCune, Rick´s fiance, who had just returned from a day visiting a hospital. Ginger, like Barbara, is a physician and Sandy has worked in labs, and the three of them had sad stories to share over dinner about wards with no physicians, stroke victims with no PTs or OTs, and an emergency ward with 50 people in them with only one medical person writing notes in the room. Each time we learn more in this place, we are humbled by all that we take for granted.
After dinner ( chicken stew with rice and tortillas), we headed out to play with the boys. And a wild evening it was! Between the jump ropes, new coloring books, new games, and balloons--which we tied into perros, flores, sombreros and espadas (dogs, flowers, hats and swords!)--tonight was a circus of laughter, color, and excitement--as well as many full laps. I had a bag of balloons on my lap and when, two seconds later, I looked down, the entire bag was empty, and a crowd of children surrounded me each with a single balloon.
One boy, Carlos, handed me his sister´s balloon, demanding a flower for her. He showed off by pumping it up with me with his strong arms. When her balloon popped, he promptly handed me his (which was to have been a sword) and said, Angelina can have mine, make her a flower, por favor. Carol played Memory four times with one child, Molly received a drawing from one little girl, Barbara and Ginger and Kate kept the jump ropes swirling all night long and others played Jenga or drew while Betsy handed out friendship bracelets from the Epiphany Sunday School kids to all who lined up. We stayed out late until Banana Time was called (each night before bed each child receives a snack, no hungry tummies) and the kids turned in.
Tonight Barbara McCune is speaking of her missionary work here as a physician in Honduras where she charges $6 a visit in a local clinic, and today we found Liz's devotions (finally) so we will share the New Zealand prayerbook instead of Compline.
Two final notes: Kate and Stephanie and Carol and others have done a shewoman´s job of putting together the 200 Nikes we have brought in our luggage to donate. Somehow, somewhere, the shoes got mixed up (thank you for the smart spouses who suggested tying the shoes together) so we ended up with many right feet only and mismatched sizes which had to be carefully sorted and recorded. The volunteer house looks like a shoe store!
The other note is for the Owaydas and all the sponsors (Pam, will you forward to Suzanne?). I brought down a photo album for them of the Owayda family for the little girl they sponsor, Reina ("queen"). Well, I gave the photos to her last night, and she was so touched to receive them that she couldn't decide whether to share them or to horde them and did both alternately, a response which Liz says is typical.
Tonight Barbara McCune is speaking of her missionary work here as a physician in Honduras where she charges $6 a visit in a local clinic, and today we found Liz's devotions (finally) so we will share the New Zealand prayerbook instead of Compline.
Two final notes: Kate and Stephanie and Carol and others have done a shewoman´s job of putting together the 200 Nikes we have brought in our luggage to donate. Somehow, somewhere, the shoes got mixed up (thank you for the smart spouses who suggested tying the shoes together) so we ended up with many right feet only and mismatched sizes which had to be carefully sorted and recorded. The volunteer house looks like a shoe store!
The other note is for the Owaydas and all the sponsors (Pam, will you forward to Suzanne?). I brought down a photo album for them of the Owayda family for the little girl they sponsor, Reina ("queen"). Well, I gave the photos to her last night, and she was so touched to receive them that she couldn't decide whether to share them or to horde them and did both alternately, a response which Liz says is typical.
At chapel this morning, I noticed that Reina had the album in her hand, was secretively showing it to her friends during the sermon, and when hands were called on, hers was always in the air, album held high. So, this is just to say to all you sponsors, you matter a whole lot, a whole whole lot. My brother sponsors a young boy here, Johan, and tonight, he and his buddy came and poked me until I understood to play hide and seek which we did all over campus while they laughed and corrected my (non)Spanish!
Hasta Manana, mis amigos! Dios te bendiga!
Nancy
Hasta Manana, mis amigos! Dios te bendiga!
Nancy
No comments:
Post a Comment