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| This is Angel. He lives with his mom and four siblings. They will be getting a new house this week. |
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| He got my attention by yelling, "Gringo," at me as I walked past his house. He got my heart with that precious smile. |
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| A precious little guy working the family food stand. |
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| These bicycle taxis are all over El Tejar. |
Today has been a great day. Everyone on the team is well. 6 houses are near completion and over 400 people were seen at the medical clinic today! Can you believe it? All in such a tiny little church. So many more came to be seen that a second clinic had to be scheduled for later on.
I promise I’ve been trying to get some other bloggers on here this week. They keep tiring out on me in the evenings! Tomorrow, I promise, you’ll hear some of their stories.
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| This is Eric. He works incredibly hard. I believe he could build anything. |
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| All of today's new houses were built on the side of a very steep hill. |
For me, today was a bit overwhelming. Bobby and I went with Samuel to look over the sites of some of the houses to be built across the highway. The living conditions we saw were just heartbreaking. The children we met were working hard and looked a bit worn down by it. Trash was everywhere and sewage often nearby. A small baby cried from a laundry basket set down on the dirt floor surrounded by mess. Sites had been cleaned up a bit by the time the teams arrived, but it will take some time for the image of that infant to get out of my mind.
The people are doing the best they can do with what little they have. They are so gracious and tremendously hard working. They are loving and smart. Capable of so much more than their few opportunities allow.
The houses today were built down the side of a mountain. Our first house was the farthest down. From there is dropped off into a ravine that we could not see to the bottom of, though you could hear water flowing below. It was a trick carrying toolboxes down the narrow path of ruts and stones and brick. Of course much of the time the locals grabbed them to carry for us.
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| Mary & Gary |
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| Wes & Alan |
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| Short cut to the neighbor's house - straight up! |
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| Such beautiful children. What will tomorrow bring for them? |
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| Samuel & Bobby |
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| Waiting for a ride. |
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| Satellite dish |
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| Our path to the house sites |
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| Small tiendas dot every street selling Pepsi, chips and other small items. These stores are the front room of their homes and are open whenever they are awake. |
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| A well earned rest at the end of the workday. |
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| Our new friend Clark |
We were concerned that we did not have an MD coming with us on this trip but, as always, God provided. John and Laurie, our missionaries, met a young couple at their church recently who were medical residents living in Chimaltenango doing research and working in the local hospital as a part of their medical training. They were excited to join our medical team this week and were tremendous at the clinic today!
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| Gail seeing patients |
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| Nurse Brenda - who is advocating for hot pink t-shirts for next year's mission team. Ron has vetoed that suggestion, saying that he refuses to wear pink. Come to find out he needed duct tape today to hold his tool belt together around his waist and, lo and behold, all Luisa had to give him was her hot pink duct tape! Who even has hot pink duct tape?? It's a God thing - never say never! |
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| Laurie, one of our missionaries, staffing the 'pharmacy' |
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| Jenny - our other wonderful medical resident |
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| La Farmacia |
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| Nurse Mary Margaret |
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| The two pastors of the church hosting the clinic. They also hosted the food distribution yesterday and identified the families that are receiving the houses. Five families made professions of faith in these past two days. |
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| Yielding the right of way to the cows |
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| This one is multi-tasking... |
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| A brick kiln. Chimaltenango is known for its brickmaking. |
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| The laundromat |
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| The washing machine |
It is a privilege to be here. Come with us next time. It will change you.
Grace,
Jayne
3 comments:
Awesome post. Seeing Samuel immediately took me back to previous trips.
Still praying for y'all and the folks you're ministering to.
Keep up the good work and good luck getting others to post.
Did you know that Samuel and his wife are expecting a baby? Christmas time I think. Wish you were here. your name comes up often. Almost seems like you are here. Only wes doesn't have to guard his lunch.
Excited to make a trip to the village where Christian and the August team led by Jim worked in building houses. We distributed 75 bags of food there this evening.
It is a beautiful village set in the shadow of a huge volcano. The beauty of the country side sits in sharp contrast to the poverty, but the beauty of the people outshine the lack of local resources.
Starting to miss Gary H. and Jeff T. here this year...but not too much.
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