Back in Guate... Rock n Roll

Great first day back. Much to catch up and do. Kids are great. Susi holds her head up much better than I would have imagined 12 days ago. God is awesome.

The volunteer clowns came to visit and are always a huge blessing.

Fascinating Kids school - Part boarding school part assistance

Has a wonderful visit to ASOL with a group called "Unidos por Amor"

Very dynamic and interesting philanthropy-

Independenca Day Celebration September 15th

Lot's of activities...

First days Back Catching a body and Hed lice.

I arrived here yesterday and had a great visit with the kids. There are lots of Flu viruses and colds going around. They also had short haircuts because of an epidemic of head lice. Although it is a bit masculine, they really look better with the short hair.

On my morning walk, I crossed the street where a body was in a body bag. Apparently, the young man who helps the Bus Driver with the money and communicating with the riders had jumped off a slowing bus too early. He was run over and killed by both sets of
tires. Very sad. The bus is the 83 bus that comes through our neighborhood and likely that

we would have ridden with him sometime recently.

Fotos from CRPN

It's funny how something fairly simple can really help. We discovered three rolls of carpet in a closet and set up a temporary outdoor play area for the invalids that live in the infirmary. The small amount of extra free space is amazing. Anahi is really crawling. The other three are visually stimulated and enjoy the fresh air.

Potty Training...

Is it just me, or is a large number of children learning to use the potty a very funny thing?

Health care... Free Goverment clinic

We took Ingrid and Mingo for some new diagnostics. Lot's of waiting
lots of fairly sick people.

Pueblo near Volcano

Pasamos la tarde en un pueblo. Mucha gente indigina..

Very nice people

First Few days back!

Relative calm and progress. Some new photos of the kids...
The construction really is nearing completion... waiting for Godot...
We need the open space that will be freed up

The Wading pool

Even though the construction has continued, we were able to set up this wading pool. The response was phenomenal and the kids were clearly stimulated.

Special Olympics...

While I was away, we participated in the Olimpicos Especiales. Needless to say, we excelled in every event and came home with a ton of medals.

Teleton Guatemala 2009 cerca CRPN

Ninos especials ayuda con Teleton 2009. Pollo Campero da mucha apoya a Teleton. Es una compania muy generos con buena comida.

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June 20 Flight to Newark

Flying home today after three weeks here. I am settling into a routine with all the attendant benefits and liabilities. Most days, I spend the majority of working hours at CRPN working with the kids. Our two employees, Carmen and Rosario are there and working hard. Carment has broadened her work to stimulate the arms of Pascal and Mario. We also have wrist braces to help them with strengthening excercises.

Our new psychiatrist, Alexandra is wonderful. More precise diagnosis and medications have been a huge improvement in freedom and mobility for several residents. There were a few of the boys who had some "crabby" days during their change in meds. Also, vecause the new construction is nearing completion, we are cramped into even smaller quarters during the day.

The new girls dormitories and too common rooms are so close to opening. We also get a small yard and some avocado trees back as the construction finishes.

Wednesday we celebrated Father's Day. Very nice luncheon meal with small gifts and lots of laughter. Sonia gave me a great keychain holder and a male cardboard figure with a) Bowtie and b) two razors. I can only surmise that she channeled the bowtie thing and the razors is because I skip shaving many days. There are about eight males working at the center and I could not ask for a better group of guys. Yestrday, we hoisted the basketball backboard and rim into place. Not sure Bob Veila would approve of the approach or durability of our efforts.

Lot's of small benchmarks for progress. Ingrid can stuff a cooie in her mouth (eventually) and is drinking from a child's sippy cup. Anahi is almost starting to crawl. One day she had the sniffles and just wanted to be held. For ten minutes she clutched me and nuzzled my neck. That ten minutes she was not doing her autistic rock and endless monosylabic chant. Suzi is growing and putting on weight. She understand what we say to her. She is blossoming. Angelito has put on some weight and was actually laughing when we set up the wading pool. Just two months ago he was hospitalized for malnourishment and dehydration. The anti-depressants give him some appetite and that is huge.

Employee turnover has been disruptive, but long term beneficial. Some wonderful new folks have been hired and we are optimistic about the future.

En El Nombre de Jesus