Finally "home" & attempting to put my feet up. I barely sat down today so my feet & legs are killing me! Very busy day but I know I'll sleep well tonight, for sure!
The morning started out with breakfast at the Nazareno. We had scrambled eggs, toast, fruit (pineapple & papaya), & ham & cheese roll-ups.
After breakfast, we headed to the ministry center. On the way there, Jose told us as he was on his way back to the ministry last night a man was running across the street & someone shot him as he was running away. Jose stopped to call 911 (123 in Guatemala) & waited until the ambulance arrived. This happened in broad daylight in a very busy part of town. I can't imagine living in a place where I was afraid for my life on a daily basis. It reminded me again how truly blessed I am to have been born a US citizen. It is amazing how often I am reminded of this while in Guatemala.
When we made it to the ministry - we got to work. We started by helping set up the tables & chairs for serving lunch. After that, a few of the girls & I started peeling oranges. I don't think I've ever peeled an orange & I know none of the girls had! The resulting oranges were no longer round - we had lots of different shapes & sizes. The rind on the oranges was very hard so they were not easy to peel!
While we were peeling, a 10 year old little boy showed up with his 1 year old little brother. The 1 year old was dressed like it was December! He was so cute, all bundled up! I just couldn't help wondering if he was burning up because I would guess it was about 80 degrees today!
After peeling half the oranges, we started juicing the rest on an electric juicer. Soon afterwards, two little girls showed up. They came over immediately & started chatting with us in Spanish. We figured out most of what they were saying but I truly wish I had retained more of the Spanish I learned in high school & college. One of the girls was 13 years old & she was tiny! I thought she was 9 or 10!! The other girl (Cindy) really wanted to help us so I let her juice a few oranges before the juicer burned out! I felt sooo bad but Erin said it wasn't an industrial juicer so apparently it wasn't our fault. (I still felt bad, though!)
Erin told the kids who came to the first lunch to arrive early so they could play some games with us before lunch. After the juicer burned up, I went outside to take some pictures. They were playing some sort of dodge ball game. It was like dodge ball we play in the US but much more complicated than just hitting someone with a ball. The kids loved it & our teens enjoyed playing with them. Mind you, they play these games in the street in front of the Ministry. There are no yards in which to play so they had to move to the sidewalks whenever a car came down the street. Kind of breaks up the momentum of the game & made me long for green grass & an open field for them to play on.
After the first lunch was over, we wiped down the tables & chairs & swept the floors in preparation for the next lunch. After cleaning up, it was time for our lunch with the staff. And much to my pleasure - it was my favorite meal!! Black beans & rice! It was delicious!! I wanted seconds but didn't get them. I sort of feel like that is being greedy when some of the staff & the children that come to the Ministry only get one meal a day sometimes.
After lunch, I went to help paint. I think this is why I'm so tired tonight. We were painting cinder block & cement walls so it was pretty tough work. My legs, shoulders, arms, & feet hurt tonight but its actually a good feeling to be tired from working so hard! Especially when it is benefiting this wonderful organization & as a result, these children. Did I mention it was hot? Definitely hot!! There was no AC in the building we were painting & in one room I couldn't get the window open. So, not only was it burning up but the paint fumes were horrendous! Not complaining - just trying to share the experience.
When I was almost finished with that room, the 4 team members who went to the market arrived. If you remember from two years ago, on the of the things the Ministry does for Zone 18 is obtain donations of fruits, veggies, & herbs from the market to give away to the families. They gathered A LOT today! Its an amazing sight to see all of this food (given to the ministry for free!) being given out to the families for free! (The carrots are still enormous by the way!).
After giving out the food, we went upstairs to sort through all of the donations we brought for the children from the US. Some wonderful people blessed me with donations of school supplies & toiletries to in turn, bless the children in the Ministry. Some other members of our group were able to bring some donations as well & we were really impressed at the number of items there were once we had them organized. I'm hoping we will be able to share these items with kids in the ministry tomorrow. What a blessing that will be!
SOSOSOSOSOSOSO exhausted so I'm going to sleep. More to come!
Here's a slideshow of pics I took on Day 2.
(Promise it will not take me so long to post Day 3!)
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