Wednesday, October 24, 2007

My Roommate


This is a photo of my roommate at the casa. I call him Tony in honor of Tony Nicely, the CEO of GEICO. I have gone from working for the gecko to living with him. He has been living in my bathroom since before I arrived and likes to sleep in between the sliding doors on the shower during the day. I put up with his poops on the walls because he is eating the mosquitoes that are trying to eat me.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Back to NPH





I went back to NPH to visit for the weekend and had another nice visit. They put me to work on Saturday chopping the 3' tall grass with a machete. It was a lot of work, but fun working along with all the boys. After working, the boys and girls all got to play soccer in the afternoon. Sunday they had their family lunch in the large covered play area. They do this once a month so all the kids who are related but live in different casas due to age differences can eat together as families. This was followed by the obligatory piñata which goes with every celebration here in Honduras. The last photo is of the twins, José and Tomas, who I finally am able to tell apart. It is easier when they are side by side but more difficult when one comes up to you alone in the morning as asks "What is my name?"
They tell me that most of the kids get visits from family members, older siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. but in the 3 years Maynor has been there I have been his only visitor so they really like me going there. Thank you to all my supporters who are helping me to stay here and be able to go and visit him and all the other kids. I am just the front line part of the big team involved in this trip and helping all these kids.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Isaac the little angel

An update on Isaac and a cute story about him. Isaac arrived at the casa 2 weeks after I got here in June. He was very thin, malnourished, never smiled nor talked, was very weak and walked very slowly. He threw up after every meal for several weeks until the medicine began to take effect and his body became used to having nourishment he had not received in the past. After his grandmother and brother visited the first time he really changed for the positive and began to talk and play with the other kids. Once he could keep his food down he began eating like a horse and gained weight. He also gained strength and started playing soccer and other physical activities with the kids. Now he is about the happiest child in the casa, always smiling and he has such a wonderful personality. I do not think he has ever been disciplined because he always obeys the rules and never hits the other kids, which is a daily problem with all of them. The other kids call him the blow fish because he has big round cheeks now where you used to be able to see his jaw bones. He learned to ride the bicycle very rapidly and this photo was taken the day after he rode it without the training wheels for the first time.
Isaac went to church with me two weeks ago as a reward for always being so good and he really enjoyed it so I took him again this weekend. His grandmother had come for a visit last weekend and gave him 10 Lempiras (about 50 cents) to buy little bags of chips that cost 2 Lempiras at the various stores in our neighborhood. When he bought the chips he would usually share them with the other kids. While getting dressed for church on Saturday night, he took out 1 Lempira and gave it to me to hold for him and he said this is for the offering at the church. When they came by with the bag for the collection he was so happy to put his 1 Lempira into it and I was so proud to see this wonderful little boy doing this. It immediately reminded me of the parable of the poor widow, Mark 12:41-44: Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on." That is just what I was so fortunate to witness Isaac do on Saturday. Little acts like this really help keep me motivated to keep working with the kids.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

October 8th

This was a special day at Amor y Vida. They celebrated the 18th birthday of Darwin, the oldest of the kids living there (top photo). In addition, everyone also remembers this day for another reason. Today was the 4th anniversary of the death of Jorge Gomez. Darwin said that every year on his birthday they always say it is also the day Jorge died so it is a bitter-sweet day for him. It was sad for me to hear this also, because many know, Jorge was my first Godson at Amor y Vida and I was here when he died. The photo of him was taken in the hospital when I visited him the day before he died. It does not seem like four years ago, but time flies by. Jorge would have been 16 now and everyone remembers him as the most mild mannered, nicest boy. The really nice thing about today also is that it has been four years and no children at Amor y Vida have died since then. I think Darwin managed to enjoy the day despite the sad reminder forever associated with his birthday.

Monday, October 8, 2007

New Boys

I am a little slow with some of the photos, but here are two of the new boys to the two different casas here in San Pedro Sula.



The first boy is Miguel Angel who is 12 and now lives at Amor y Vida. They call him Miguel-Angel because there already is a Miguel and also an Angel so to avoid confusion the use both names for him. He was very healthy when he arrived and is a very good soccer player. He arrived at Amor y Vida a month ago, but I don't take my camera there much so this is the first photo I have of him. He has adjusted faster than any of the other new arrivals I have seen over the years and really likes living there.









The next boy is new to Casa Corazón and arrived this week. His name is Juan Fernando and he is 2 1/2. His Mother came with him and dropped him off. She has several other kids and no husband to help her out so she needs to go and work during the day. She had been leaving him in various places and finally decided to permanently bring him to a place where he will be cared for. He did not cry and was not very upset when she left, an indication that he is pretty used to being left by her, but he does seem sad, does not smile or interact with the other kids yet. In addition to HIV, he also has TB so he has multiple problems he is being treated for in addition to the emotional problem he must have from being abandoned.