GUATEMALA - JAN 12

Today was the last clinic day with the dedication of the CALMS house this afternoon about 3 pm.

They managed to get 18 people in the back of this Toyota - Guatemalan carpool.

Nills adds the wiring for the house. Electricity will be connected next week.

Adults and children are interested in The Divine Plan. We shared the plan with approximately 400 people.

VIDEO OF ALEXANDER PUTTING JOHN 3:16 PUZZLE TOGETHER

Jean just loved this little man. He was friendly, gentle, and barefoot.

Helbert our bus driver shares the Scripture Neko, our main construction worker.

Why is it that the smiles of children are so captivating and warm?

This burro knew exactly where he was going. He headed down the street and entered a courtyard.

Pastor Gerardo leads the house blessing before Mirna and Dale cut the ribbon.

PASTOR GERARDO'S MESSAGE (with translation)

VIDEO OF THE HOUSE DEDICATION

Romero expressing gratitude to the mission team on behalf of CALMS. Romero is the lead contact/executive for the Central America Lutheran Mission Society.

CAROL RAVE SHARES ON BEHALF OF THE TEAM

The team poses in front of the completed house with the soon to be occupants:  Mirna, Biron, Rosy, and Aparicio. They will move in as soon as the water and electricity are connected.

Believe me, this couple couldn't be happier as this GIANT blessing.

Can't you just feel the warmth!

Members of the group had a chance to make tortillas!

TINA'S TREASURES (CHOICE PICS)

Tina Weege is making her first trip to Guatemala. I'm visiting her pictures and sharing the best.

Travel down was a challenge. A plane leaving at 2:05 am IS in the middle of the night.

Drivers here are not as crazy or as reckless as the Philippines or China. They seem to be orderly. It is interesting to note that respect for the value of life seems to be minimal in this country.

Mary Weller and Sabrina (one of our university student translators) share their smiles.

The team gathered the $4,500 needed to build this house as a gift for Mierna and her two children. By now, the windows are in, all the floors are finished, and the plumbing is set. Needed yet are the connections for electricity and water. The dedication will take place this afternoon.

The Roman Catholic church in San Pablo. It's located right near the community center where we did our VBS events.

One of the gentlemen who attended the health clinic.

Lots of great grill work in the homes. Making tortillas in the background.

This gentleman is a direct neighbor to the clinic. He had the neatest yard around in spite the fact that he walks slowly on a "stick" cane.

San  Pablo Lutheran Church. The interior now has about 20 plastic chairs and a new altar.

It is not that these cows need gas. This happens to be a wonderful shortcut to the pasture.

 THANKS, TINA.

GUATEMALA - JAN 11

 More “Things I’ve noticed along the way:”

• Here in San Pablo, the first decision was to use the toilet in the mayor’s home (directly across the street from the clinic. But when you entered the toilet, it was so dark that you couldn’t see (the toilet paper or the basket where you placed the used paper). And you had to leave the toilet to scoop the water from the cistern so that you could flush the toilet. Now, we use the new toilet by the church. Newly constructed, lots of daylight, and easy to use. Still, after using the toilet, I still look for the handle to flush the toilet. The tank is empty of water and the handle is non-existent.  It’s still a matter of scooping the water from a blue plastic barrel and dumping it in the basin.
• I am thoroughly impressed with the patience of the people. The first wait in line outside, and then when there is room inside, there is a waiting room with benches. Next they move to the registration room where there is a long cement bench. Once registered, each person is weighed in and the 1 children’s height is measured. The next station is temperature and blood pressure and a urine sample, if needed. Then it is to one of the doctors or nurse practitioner. The final step is to go to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled along with a toothbrush and toothpaste.
• Most of the people who come to the clinic seem to know each other so it’s a bit like old home week. Some have walked from one of the nearby villages. I suppose that I was most surprised by the very casual way that mothers nurse their children. Whether they are in the waiting room or in the registration line, nursing on demand seems to be the rule.
• The preferred means of transportation in San Pablo is either a motorcycle or a horse/donkey. There are some bicycles, but they don’t seem to be well suited to the rough roadways. Other vehicles like pickups or mini-vans seem to occasionally come to town, but they are business vehicles like the scrap metal buyer or the big coke truck. There may be only a few vehicles in this small village.
• Children are the same the world over. Inquisitive, light hearted,  pesky, and energetic, and they all love to see their picture. So kids will stand in line to have me take their picture; in groups, individually, or in terribly funny poses. Of course, they always want to see the pictures that take, and so they crowd around wanting to see. Opportunities arise to joke about language, no hair or fuzzy beard. Sometimes, the kids settle down enough to ask questions, play cards, or share the sounds of different animals. You would obviously expect me to take good pictures when kids simply hover around.
• What an idea! At VBS this afternoon, the story was “Jesus is the Greatest.” He who is the greatest calls us to be sisters and brothers with Him, even small children. Jesus welcomes little children – He gave His live for them also. So, we took thick paper and made crowns – each person with his/her own design. How exciting to see all the special designs representing each one’s gifts and abilities.
• It must be hard to stay clean here in San Pablo. Most streets are dirt/rock. There is no grass. The soccer field and basketball court are blacktop (with lots of dust and rocks). The rec center is quite dusty/dirty. But, children and adults are always in clean clothes (that is, until the children roll in the dirt) and appear neat and clean. Water is a scarce commodity. While the water from a neighboring reservoir is turned on every morning for one hour, it fills tanks from which water can later be can be used. They also do have a system to bring water to each home, but I don’t know if it is working.
• Greetings are shared freely. Walking down the street at any time will bring greetings of “Good morning” and “Good afternoon.” Smiles are frequent with both adults and children.

VIDEO OF THE COWS THAT BLOCKED OUR TRAVEL

He's probably on his way to work. Seems to me that a lot of the younger boys work in the woods or the field (no child labor laws). Young girls are regularly seen doing childcare or cleaning house.

A PIECE OF THE ROAD THAT WE TRAVEL EACH DAY

Karla and Pastor Gerardo have been important links in the mission. Carla has been effectively telling the stories and leading songs during VBS. Pastor Gerardo Vasquez has been sharing The Divine Plan as the people sat in the waiting room.

Karla Pena translates some plumbing verbiage for Dale Voss who has worked with the building of the new house.

Dr. Carol Rave with translator Kathleen on left listen to the concerns of a grandma and her granddaughter.

Dino and Dale Voss stand by the hugest tree we've seen down here. Ask Dale how we got to be on this long, long walk.

On the long walk, we spent part time following a stream. This woman had just finished washing her clothes.

Here's another woman who is still in the middle of her laundry day, both washing and drying.

VIDEO OF VBS

One of the games at VBS

Discussing the Christmas cards given by St. Paul, Point, kids.

Have you ever seen Elmo with glasses?  The children really enjoyed making the king hats!

Traveling the Guatemala way.

On the way home we met this pickup. Maybe it was a "taxi" from Zacapa to San Pablo.

GUATEMALA - JAN 10

Another beautiful day in San Pablo. Cement work is now finished on the house, about 100 patients were seen, and the VBS went very well with 60+ children.

Myra helps one of the smaller children with her coloring project.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE DAVID AND GOLIATH STORY

Since this is MY blog, I'm feeling that I need to make some observations about the trip. As follows.....

Things I’ve noticed along the way:

•  The water in the showers never seems to warm up no matter how long you run the water. It’s hard to take a cold shower, morning or evening. I didn’t understand until I noticed that there was no hot water pipe running to the sink. Believe me, even though it’s hard to stand under the shower head, showers are refreshing.

• The team is doing admirably well adjusting to a new culture. When leaving for a site or a meal, we count off to make sure we’re all present (in Spanish, of course).Today we even counted off backwards from 14. Team members exhibit varying degrees of fluency from beginner me to one of our translators, Sabrina, who is fluent. Food is not an issue, transportation is provided, and bottled water is always available. One of the worst things that you can do here is to drink the local tap water – contaminated. The bottles of water are indispensable for our health.
• The streets of San Pablo are made of field stone or small cement blocks or simply a gravelish dirt. Donkeys and kids ply the streets. Paper is frequent as you walk. People are extremely friendly. I finally got the scoop on the correct population – 767. If you add in the surrounding four villages, the number comes to 1,400.
• The acrid smell of smoke often permeates the air. Street garbage like wrappers, cigarette butts, leaves, left-over food, and donkey or horse manure are stacked together and fired.  Sometimes those fires smolder for a very long time and create a most unpleasant smell.
• According to Mary, intake coordinator who hears all of the ailments, common ailments are:  gastritis (especially after eating beans J), neck and back pain (probably from the heavy loads carried on the head), tumors and growths, diabetes, hernia, high blood pressure, heart murmur, epilepsy, skeletal/muscle issue, cancer or cancerous symptoms,  pregnancy testing, one child was kicked by a donkey (stitches which otherwise would have been sewed up homestyle),  lack of appetite and weight loss, infections, worms, snake bite, headache, chest pains, and more….
• VBS is good with about 60 or so students ages 2 to 13. It’s a wild bunch, but Carla, teacher at the Lutheran school in Zacapa, has a passion to work with children. The story yesterday was Moses, today was David and Golaith and tomorrow is Jesus. All based around the theme:  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  (Philippians 3:14)
• The dry air here belies the fact that it is also a bit humid. The rain begins to fall in March or April and lasts until June or July. Crops are planted then. Harvest is August to September. Winter starts in October. There’s lots of cactus here, but also thick leaved trees. Even now, though the floor of the forest is dry, there are green trees popping all over.

Three horses and two donkeys brought firewood to the family who makes and sells tortillas.

Neko works on smoothing cement in the great room of Merna's house.

Weighing in at the check in station.

Luis relaxes in a tipped-over wheelbarrow.

This little girl finally got used to me and allowed me to hold her.

The woman and her son were being seen by Diane Reetz, nurse practitioner.

Two of the older boys work at the "find the word" puzzle. They came to VBS but most of the kids were younger so they sat on the sidelines.

This girl was loving her coloring opportunity. At the San Pablo school, the children seldom receive copied sheets that they can color and then take home.