Pastors Sergio Nixie y Carlos visita Centro

Dia Lindo

HELP HELP

LOOKING FOR GUIDANCE AND INSIGHT

Theories and practice behind small sums of money for this type of kids. One girl had her purse stolen with about 80 cents and the reaction was to crack down on all financial incentives. They take such pride in having a couple of pennies and buying a bag of chips or candy bar. Breaks my heart to see the complete closing of a door that can bring them pleasure and a feeling of independence. Sonia, the girl who had the money stolen, works outside the center a tiny bit and people give her 10 or 20 cents from time to time. I am probably most guilty of said activity. Another woman Flor frequently works in the kitchen. She is happy for the activity and to be out of the main fray. Does anybody know how people address these issues?? Remember... no potential support for infrastructure or an activity that would further burden the over burdened staff.

Also... do you have any knowledge on formatting in Blogger? I think the front page needs work.

Lizzie is here and spent the afternoon with me at CRPN

She did really well with the kids and plugged right in with Cecelia. Lizzie remembered that I call her The Jefe - or little Genral or .....

Lizzie loaned her the english spanish dictionary for the nigth so she could study up. Never mind that she is 43 and thinks she is 12.

Anyway - Big day ahead. Our friends Sergio and Nixie are flying in from Costa Rica.

Fotos de ayer

Jumping Rope

What a joy to see the kids playing and having fun. Of course these things are always rigged against the boys. I mean, do you really want to win the jump rope contest. ANyway, Katti always seems to win and she should. She is a great kid with terrific coordination- except when she rode the bike full speed down the hill into the metal security door. We drove her to the ambulance center because the open gash in her arm almost went down to the bone. I was squeamish...to say the least. Anyway- she is recovered and the best dancer and jump roper now!!

Another day in Paradise... well kind of

Beautiful sunrise here and a great day ahead. I am struck by the many challenges we face individually and collectively. As we start to develop routines and normalized schedules I am amazed by the hard work the employees of Cadanino. Long hours and sometimes difficult conditions are always present. A new woman Patti is really doing great. She seems to have broken through to Angelito! He was more animated in his interaction with her than I recall seeing him. He has been so very hard for me to reach.
I have been trying to jog in the mornings and then it is easier to stay at the center later in the day. Late afternoons are always interesting. The "off times" have always revealed what is really going on in anyplace. I always liked to work the Friday after Thanksgiving or the week between Christmas and New Years. People let their guard down and are more candid about the challenges they face (or avoid).

Lizzie comes to visit later this week. I can't wait. When she came last Easter, we were a work in progress and I was very distracted by a project. She went with my Mom to the Doctors yesterday in NY. Also, we will see our friends Sergio and Nixie on Saturday. They are Pastors from Costa Rica and like family to us.

Mama rockin' my cradle or 5.6 Earthquake?

Just another day...

Moderate 5.6 magnitude quake reported in Guatemala -USGS
23 Feb 2010 11:32:54 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A moderate 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Guatemala early on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at 4:52 a.m. local time (1052 GMT) at a depth of 4.5 miles (7 km), centred 51 miles (83 km) north northeast of Huehuetenago, and 106 miles (171 km) north northwest of Guatemala City.
A 5.6 magnitude quake is capable of considerable damage but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Great weekend! Nelson delivered 50 pounds of chicken

and bananas to our friends at Fundaninos and a ton of soccer and kickballs to CRPN.

It was great for me to have a buddy to explain what we are up to. What we can do and what we steer clear of.
Walking around the super store to buy toys for the kids, we got to brainstorm about what works and what doesn't.
He was intuitive and insightful quickly. The CRPN kids are really tough on everything and it has to be durable
and functional. He acquired a blow up punching(like) bag for small children and the kids loved it.
He had the opportunity to help feed kids at lunch. He had the assignment of helping Moises to eat and
he found it very rewarding and emotional. What more can we ask for?

Great news about my FR friends. They are coming down in April! One project will be some type of profiling and
story telling about each of the kids. Many of them have lost their personal stories and have no fotos of their earlier
years. We approximate birth dates for some and have invented names for some.

My daughter Lizzie is coming to visit this week and I head to NYC to see Ma in the beginning of March. No rented car for
me this week. Helps keep me focused on the kids. I have just enough of a life here that I can get distracted with the think of thin
things


I debate posting things like the article about the bud drivers assistant. I don't want to be alarmist, but danger is very real. I say this for visitors and not for myself. I am clever and keep a very low profile. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a big mouthed know it all and keeping quiet is not my strength. In this case, I take it very seriously. I do not cower in fear, but I do not stroll cavalierly around the neighborhood or city either.

Have a good week.... unless you have already made other plans

Not cool.. The bus 83 that serves our neighborhood is attacked

The 83 bus was attacked on Thursday and the young man who collects the money was murdered. He was the first cousin of our friend Celeste and know by folks in our neighborhood and those that travel by bus to and from work.
In less than two months there have been 16 bus drivers assesinated here in the capital.

This is sad and scary.

2.Otro ataque fue perpetrado en el transcurso de la tarde sobre la 20 avenida y 2a. calle zona 6. El hecho cobró la vida de un ayudante de la ruta 83 que provenía de la Colonia La Reinita con destino a la Colonia Santa Fe zona 13. Se trata de un menor de 17 años identificado como Juan Luis Morales, la víctima fue reconocida por su progenitora Maritza Morales, mientras que el piloto fue atendido por crisis

nerviosa.http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20100219/pais/138621/

2.Other attack was carried out during the afternoon on the 20th Avenue and 2nd. calle zona 6. El hecho cobró la vida de un ayudante de la ruta 83 que provenía de la Colonia La Reinita con destino a la Colonia Santa Fe zona 13. Street Zone 6. The fact killed an aide of Route 83 that came from the colony's Warbler bound for the Santa Fe area 13. Se trata de un menor de 17 años identificado como Juan Luis Morales, la víctima fue reconocida por su progenitora Maritza Morales, mientras que el piloto fue atendido por crisis nerviosa. This is a child under 17 years identified as Juan Luis Morales, the victim was recognized by her mother Maritza Morales, while the pilot was treated for nervous breakdown.

and from another paper...



Por Prensa Libre.com

17:29 | 18/02/2010

Juan Luis Pérez, de 17 años, ayudante de un piloto de autobús de la ruta 83, murió esta tarde al ser atacado a balazos en la 20 avenida y 2ª. calle de la zona 6. Este es el segundo ataque armado contra trabajadores del transporte colectivo.

El piloto del bus resultó ileso, pero sufrió crisis nerviosa.

El occiso fue identificado por un familiar, indicaron Bomberos Municipales.

Preliminarmente se indicó que el automotor se dirigía de la zona 6 hacia el centro de la capital, cuando un delincuente disparó contra el ayudante.

Por la mañana, dos hombres mataron a tiros al piloto de un autobús urbano en la colonia Maya, zona 18. La víctima fue identificada como David Giovany Mayén.

En repudio al ataque los compañeros del conductor asesinado paralizaron el servicio y bloquearon el paso hacia la colonia Maya.

Con este ataque, sube a 16 el número de pilotos que han muerto de forma violenta en lo que va del 2010.

Pilots and People

My new pal Nelson from Atlanta is here for a few days helping with the kids. He has a servant heart and love for children. In his free time from commercial airline pilot he pursues the neediest of the needy kids to help support and feed them. Since we have enough food at CRPN, he is helping in other ways and we are learning and evolving as we go. He visited the kids with me as we were winding down for the day and immediately bonded with Heidi and a couple of the others.

For me, it is a joy when someone plugs in and "Gets it." Though I am a verboose former english major, I have difficulty explaining what we are doing. My feeling is 2 or 3 fotos of us and you either get it or you don't. I am happy for you if you don't get it. This is not for everybody.

Teacher to coach at Puerto Rico Regional Special Olimpics Game

Teacher, Rocio Santizo, is supervising and coaching the Guatemala delegation to the Special Olimpics in Puerto Rico. They left today and will be actively competing for the next several days. Rocio is actually the head of educational initiatives at CRPN and a good friend. She is smart and hardworking.

And from Deguate Publication

Juramentaciòn Olimpiadas Especiales
18 Feb, 2010 - 11:44:35

Más
Con la firme convicción de representar su deporte y sobre todo a Guatemala, fueron juramentados el 15 de febrero los atletas que participarán en los II Juegos Latinoamericanos de Olimpiadas Especiales, que se realizarán en la ciudad de San Juan, Puerto Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, del 18 al 27 de febrero del año en curso.

La juramentación estuvo a cargo del General Sergio Camargo Muralles, quien instó a los atletas ha realizar su mejor papel, y a la vez los felicitó por los logros que han alcanzado hasta el momento. También felicito a los padres y a las personas que colaboran estrechamente con los atletas.

La delegación está integrada por los atletas Valentina Bolos, Laura Marroquín, Alfonso Romero y Oraldo González, quienes competirán en atletismo, en las pruebas de 25 y 50 metros.

Acompañan a esta delegación: Karla Sosa (Jefe de Delegación), Yaeko Cifuentes (Subjefe de la Delegación), Rocío Santizo (entrenador), y Héctor Ramos (Subentrenador).

Durante el acto de juramentación la entidad de Olimpiadas Especiales otorgó un pin representativo al Comité Olímpico Guatemalteco y a sus patrocinadores, por el apoyo que día con día brinda a esta noble institución.

Bring in the Clowns!!

A great day yesterday with our clown volunteers! This great group of folks volunteer every other week to come and entertain the kids. They are associated with a dental group and they are a true Blessing. We need 5 more groups just like them!!

Dia de Cenizas

I guess it was my Episcopalian roots. Today was a nice day at the center with a couple of very nice priests giving a service to the kids. A very thoughtful and appropriate homily. And then the ashes. Several kids were eager all morning for the service.

Very nice...

Prayer Partners on duty and looking for more....

We have prayer partners for our kids. Below is a prayer that was written by one of our prayer partners. What our kids need most is your love and prayers. Their material needs are principally addressed by the Guatemalan government. They need your love and someone who cares about them. We have shied away from the monetary adopt a child concept. Maybe someday we can have video cams operating to visit with kids. We really don't want money (at this point) but do want you to think about and love these kids. If you think you would be intersested in being a prayer partner pls let Ann Lane know at this email address...amml1221@gmail.com or me jamiewaller@gmail.com We hope to have the foto albums associated with the names. We have skad of fotos, but need to find the time to associate the names with the individuals.



The prayer one of our fearless and anonymous prayer warriors wrote -

"Lord, wrap your loving arms around these children and adults in Guatemala and let them feel safe and peaceful today.

Please Dear Father,Calm their fears, dry their tears, and heal their spirits and bodies. Let them know that help and hope is on the way.

In Jesus' name, I pray for your children -

Alter Moises Martínez Aguirre,
Alfonso Martín,
Evelia Martíz,
Oscar Mart,
Elfido Augusto Marroquin
Héctor Miguel,
Tomas F Muñoz,
Hugo Paìz



Thanks!

Productive day and prayer request

Went to visit Dennis McCutcheon at Vine International warehouse. Wow! What a tremendous facility and what a great ministry for the Lord. They gave us some generous donations of medical supplies which will come on very handy right now. Budgets are tight and there is always need.

The prayer request is that the pallets of materials they have ready to go to Haiti will be released by the government here. They have some critical supplies of antibiotics, latex gloves etc. that are in short supply in Haiti since the disaster. Please pray that the right buttons are pushed and the goods are released without onerous tariffs.

Also, please pray that the donations of medical supplies continue to be shipped from the USA. They have a unique and incredibly low cost process to ship missionary and medical materials to this needy country. They have been doing it for something like 20 years. Nearly usurious tariffs make it extremely difficult to get materials in and out of the country. You would think they would be more sensitive to the needs of the poor, but in a country of such rampant corruption, officials make bad decisions. Anyway, pls pray for Vine International and their ministry here in Guatemala.

The Week Ahead

Met with Blanki to discuss priorities. She is a ball of energy and enthusiasm. I am trying to evolve the management style of the upside down pyramid. In our case, the neneras who have the most face time with kids and the most unpleasant jobs of bathing them and changing poopy diapers are at the top of the pyramid and our goal is to help them do their jobs better and to bond with the children. Generally, management here is top-down and autocratic. Kind of an industrial era approach. Should be interesting to see how she is able to settle these quarrels and disputes. As for me, I have long grown weary of office politics.

Good sermon at Church yesterday. Kind of answering my current struggles. I become frustrated with the "battle" and I forget that the battle really belongs to Him. I need to suit up and show up, but he has the plan. Matthew 11 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.


Relationship: What my kids need more than anything is someone to love and care about them. One wish list idea would be to set up a mentoring/big brother/prayer partner program. I really am not crazy about the Foster international pay programs. My dream would be for relationship devoid of economics. The vague vision would be for each kid to have someone who loved them and prayed for them. Contacted them as possible; but was not in a funding relationship. Maybe I am too weird but I think that they need love more than anything and there just ain't enough of that to go around right now..... This is way early to work through, but directionally I would love to know what you think....

BTW: 13 more kids are coming this week. This will put us near 80!! When I started we were around 45. The physical plant can accommodate, but the government staff is stretched.. please pray for all...


I'm off to visit Vine International shortly. They do tremendous work importing wheelchairs and the like. Dennis and Cindy McCutcheon are the folks here who make amazing things happen: http://dennis51.wordpress.com/

Psalm 8287

Not really a Psalm, but maybe a confession - plea - lamentation - meditation.

Trying to find words and format to describe our challenges, joys, blessings and struggles. They are all so intertwined. This group of children are wonderfully perplexing and the challenges are truly multi-dimensional. Our lives together are as much an inner dialogue between me and God as well as the outward expression of improving their quality of life and relationship.

Covey calls it, "the thick of thin things." That is a huge part of my day to day struggle. When ministering to the needs of these kids; and importantly the needs of the people who work with them, what is a "thin thing?" I try to bring snacks and treats for the staff on weekends and evenings. Try to cheer them up and relate to them personally. Each individual is so very special in the eyes of God (and hopefully mine). Yet there is not time in the day or candies in the store, that can bring the joy of the Gospel.

I also frequently struggle with: micro - macro. My main focus is the clinica quatro (four invalids in the clinic). I try to spend as much face time with them as I can. I also try to spend what we USA parents call "quality time" with them. We could discuss the folly and complexity of quality time, but suffice to say, it means that we take time when not on the cell phone, making lists or planning to do something else. With Autistic kids, being in the now and having presence is brutally difficult. There are seldom major breakthroughs and each step forward is matched with one back, one to the side and one lying down...:)

Days here are full. Typically arise between 6:30 and 7:00. Morning prayers and organizing. Visiting with folks in the hostal and then off to work. Six days a week, I spend the day till 5:00 pm at the center with the kids. Cadanino has 4 employees and the government has 40 employees that I work with. Everybody is great and I love these folks. With a unique year end planning and restructuring, the government is doing an impressive job of trying to manage a process and improve the outcome and services. If you have a corporate background, you understand what I mean by that former sentence. If you don't know the ultra secret double entendre codes of corporate double speak; the organizational and budgeting process is brutal. Especially if there is too little money and too much turnover. Though I am not a part of the process of change for the staff, I certainly feel their pain. Many of these folks have become close personal friends.


If you have read this far, you are still wondering why I named it Psalm 8287. Clearly this is not a psalm nor a prayer. Not even really a meditation. The number 8287 is the number of days since I was last separated from alcohol. Not very interesting to most folks, but certainly relevant to me. The challenges of this ministry need to be maintained within the context of recovering people. My grandiosity really wants me to fix all these kids and right now! I am massively frustrated with how slow progress is and how limited the improvement in physical and educational milestones are.

Thanks for reading...

Not the most esthetically pleasing venue

Some shots of the yard at CRPN. Some kind folks are talking about helping us renovate or improve our dangerous yard. There had been jungle gyms and the like in another era, but appropriate equipment for this wide range of mobility may be difficult to determine, yet alone acquire and assemble...

Anyway.... Overview vid:






The yard....






The Yard and Orchard




Th th th... thats all folks

My Susi gets a Reprieve!

We took Susi this morning at 5:00 am to be evaluated for a possible placement in a specialized Children's Hospital in Antigua called Hermano Pedro. Looks like she and Elfido will be moving there at the end of the month. Realistically, they can much better serve her needs. We all love her: since she has no communication skills, she expresses everything through her face. She has a smile that could warm any heart. She is really quite capitivating. We ran out of formula so I had the pleasure of helping her devour mashed potatoes and then she did me the favor of also devouring my Flan - which kept those 300 calories going straight to my waist. We were also able to place Joannah at the Hogar known as Manchen. She is a sweet teenager and has fairly normal intelligence so her needs will be much better met there. All in all a few wild days. I won't post anything about Rudy's funeral because it was so sad, complicated and raw. It was a beautiful ceremeny and the long procession to the cemetery was unbelievably moving.

Place holder for accident video

Very sad news today

The 20 year old son of my friends Hilda and Obdulio died this morning of Dengue hemorrhagic fever. He was in a hospital, but may have been misdiagnosed initially or had a secondary infection.

I work with Hilda and got to know her family when I first arrived here a year ago. My first project was to acquire t-shirt fabric for her at the center because she is the seamstress and she constructs all the children's pajamas. We drove around the "Garment District" looking for quality and good prices for big bolts of fabric. The garmento experience of my youth was of little help as the fabric was already fairly cheap and there was little room to negotiate.

I know their other children better than the boy who died. Their youngest son, Williams has a learning disability and is nearly blind. I went with them to several appointments with specialists and neurologists. He is in school now and doing fairly well. Unfortunately, their house was robbed last week when the Dad stepped out the a nearby store. They locked Williams in a bedroom and ransacked the place. And now they lose their oldest child who also has an 18 month old kid. So very sad...

Getting in Shape for the Special Olympics

Olimpicos Especiales

I understand that Rahm Emanuel will be more supportive of the Special Olympics and I would like to personally invite him to spend some quality time here with us.

That being said, the season of excercising is starting we went to the Park on Friday and made some progress. The group we took are less experienced athletes and we somewhat reluctant to take instructions. That means.... it was a lot of fun and they had a good time in the sun!!

Visit CRPN....

Come Visit

A few people have visited us here in the capital of Guatemala and a few more have expressed interest in helping out in person. It would be great to have you here and it is fairly easy to get to. Lot's of major airlines fly directly to the capital city and I am literally an 8 minute walk from the airport. A normal US Passport is all you need from a legal point of view and no special shots or medicines are necessary. My apartment is inside a small hotel and they have rooms from cheap dormitory style to less cheap private rooms. Lots of housing options.
We are right accross the street from the center so I have no excuse for arriving to work late. Other volunteers can come and go as you please.
Now for the tough stuff. These kids have profound disabilities and substantial physical and mental challenges. They are not for the faint of heart. Most where adult diapers and all kinds of smelly germy events occur continuously. Runny noses and coughs in your face as you move a kid from a wheelchair to the play area are common. Prior to my time here I had little or no experience with this type of kid. Frankly, I was uncomfortable with the sounds and smells. Have I scared you away yet??

At any rate: come for an afternoon or come for a week. We can put you to work whatever your skillset or area of interest is. Most of these kids are just starved for individual attention. The weather this time of year is pretty good so we put down pieces of carpet outside and generally spend several hours a day in the sunshine and fresh air. You won't have to change diapers!! I am ashamed to admit that I don't.... But the smiles and hugs you get will last a lifetime.

They get it!!

We played with Photo Booth application in my MacBook. Pascual and Pancho had a ton of fun messing around with the images. Pancho is unable to use any words, but he really understood the fun of being in the amusement park photobooth distortions. Pascual was loving it too and he is very verbal. In fact because of a speech impediment he is almost slaways shouting at the top of his lungs.

Groundhog Day (+1) in Guatemala

Just flew in from Dallas with 200 lbs of clothing donations. Thanks to First Rate and all our friends there, we had more clothing donations than we could carry. One of the old duffel bags bit the dust with the zipper busting open and TSA taping it back together,,,, kind of..

Special shout out thanks to Kat, Bonnie and Jud....

And now another typical sunset....