First of the Year Excuses...

This is where I take time to come up with all the excuses, I mean reasons as to why I have not made one post since December. I came back to Guatemala at the end of January after spending 6 weeks at home for the holidays, a family vacation and a little time to come up with more $$ to live down here. I returned the day before one of our biggests groups came in. A 60+ person OB/GYN and Bomberos (fireman) training group. I flew in at noon on a Thursday and that night I met 2 of my friends at the ariport. Kara, a new volunteer coming to spend 6 months of her time here in Guatemala whom I had met in October for the first time and John, whom I met in person for the first time that day, but had spoken with several times since December. We sat around that night at the hostel we stayed at catching up and getting to know each other better. The next morning we headed back to the airport to meet the group and head back to Zacapa. In my following posts, I will share more about this trip. Between Feb and March we had another 5 groups come out that we hosted and shared a bit of Guatemala with. My following posts will talk more of these trips as well! In essences, what I am trying to say is that it has been a very busy first part of the year and I appologize for those of you that have stayed tuned to my life, and I have not shared it with you. I hope you will check out my posts that follow so that you can catch up on the lovely life of Lauren in her final months in Guatemala!

Our work in action...

We held a clinic at a village in the mountains on our October trip. While there, we met a mother of 3 children, ages 3 mos, 2 yrs, and 3 yrs. The 2 youngest children were severely malnourished. Since the baby was still nursing, we didn't want to take her from the mother. After seeing this little girl, her hair falling out, terribly under weight, sores all over her body, we shared with the mother the severity of her daughters condition. The mother is 21 years old, and not very educated. She told us she would talk to the father and let us know. After discussing with not only the father, but also the grandparents, all parties decided it would be best for the little girl to come to the nutrition center. Our center wasn't quite up and running, so we took her to the nutrition center in Teculutan. She was there for 3 weeks, went home for 2 weeks and has been at our center all week. Look at the difference....

Our first encounter at the village at the end of October.

Aura this week at our center! First week of December.

She is the funniest little thing and absolutely loves to cuddle, which is my favorite.

She eats like a little piggy and feeds herself.

We are told that in many villages, due to the shear poverty, mothers will make beans and only give the youngest the broth, rather than any beans. They feed the older children and themselves the whole beans. This upon giving their babies coca cola in bottles, and watered down milk, then adding several scoops of sugar, will never make for a healthy child. The lack of educated individuals is almost uncomprehendible.

Feeding Program

On November 5, 2008 we started a feeding program for the local children that live near our nutrition center. We have a list of 50 of the poorest kids in the area and they come for lunch every Wednesday. They were all weighed at the beginning and will be weighed through time. It is a great day for our staff as well as for the kids!

Dan checking the names off prior to entering the feeding.

Lynda making sure all kids wash their hands.

Our gracious and hilarious cook, Yoli

Preparing lunch...

Me, Karen, Bert, Yoli and Lynda

Berto sneaking a quick snack... caught in the act!

Waiting for lunch to be served

These girls are so precious. Little twins!

This was probably taken just after we said prayer before the meal.

The little guy loading his tortilla.

Lunch time!

Each child cleans their own plates when they are finished.

Between Lynda and I, (both teachers) these kids have no choice but to have manners.

More cleaning

After lunch the children are allowed to play in "The Patterson Playroom"

This name is not just a coincidence...

My parents donated the money to build this section of the center.

Coloring

A little dramatic play in the house.

The kids love to stick their head through this hole and have their photos taken.

The boys putting a puzzle together.

This little girl... adorable.... precious... all of these things!

She is notorious for bringing a little black plastic bag to every lunch, eating half her plate, then putting everything in her bag. She was dragging it with her on her bike, you just aren't able to see it in this shot.

Need Your Support!

I just wanted to share of a friend I made tonight! I had heard of this guy that was going to hike the Appilanchian Trail in hopes of raising money for water. I had never met him and truly just met heard about him within the last 2 weeks. Tonight was my lucky night to chat with my new inspiration named John. He is an incredible guy with very much the same life goals that I have. His mission is inspiring and I just wanted to share his website with you! Please do your part and help us spread the word in order to help those less fortunate. His website is www.hike4water.org When you have the time, take just a minute to read about John's plans for the next 6 months and his plans to hike 2,200 miles, all to help get clean water for those that are not fortunate like us! Thank you!!

Thanksgiving Feast...

Being away from home for Thanksgiving is not always the most fun, however, when a girls second option is about as good as the first, life isn't that bad! We had such an incredible meal! Good company, lucky for me the company also filled the roll of good cooks! Everything was made from scratch and was just as good as home! We all shared the things we are thankful for... so many things in this life I am thankful for!!!

These pics will show a bit of our day. My camera lense was foggy so the pics are a bit foggy (imagine that... I amaze myself sometimes.;)) Our meal was followed by a good game of Uno and another game called Settelers, which I had never played.

I hope your Thanksgiving was just as good if not better then ours!

THANK YOU for you support, love and prayers while I have embarked on this journey!

Our gorgeous brand new kitchen at the nutrition center. A much better option for Thanksgiving dinner!

Dan is half brilliant sometimes!

This was a "last photo" just in case the oven blew up on it's first time being turned on.

Heaven!

A delicious cider we created!

The 4 of us with our warm cider!

2 of my favorite boys so excited!

Dan, caught eating early, with his friends from home, Clay & Kristi

So good!

The crew of us, minus Norma and Luis who joined us later!

Shoe Donations

My little Tatiana with her new shoes!

This was by far one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have had so far. We finally got around to delivering and fitting the children with the shoes that many of you from home donated. As you can see from the first picture, we laid the shoes out and let the children pick which pair they wanted. We tried them on, if they fit, they were theirs, if not they picked a new pair. They were so happy to get new shoes. Some kept them on, others put their old pairs on, or went barefoot and held their shoes in their arms. An absolutely priceless experience!

DeAnna picking her favoite pair. On the right is their teacher Maria and her daughter Gabby.

Checking the size!

Little Sonja with her new shiny shoes!

Dulce Maria with nothing but pink... her favorite!

This is Maria's nephew who was lucky enough to be at the house this day. He picked the Indredible Hulk shoes. Too Cute!

I love this little guy. Randy getting sized up by Julio. Check the smiles!

Guadalupe "Lupe" should be a model, look at that arm and smile!

Edison with his new spiderman sandals to match his outfit!

Another favorite... Estefanie with her new little mermaid sandals.

DeAnna posing with her shoes

My adorable girls away from home. I have 3 sisters at home that I adore and that are the same age as these 2 in the picture plus their little sister who is at home with mom. They have choosen to sponsor these girls which is awesome! So when I can't be with Sofia, Gianna and Angelina, I get a close runner up with their 'new' sisters, Dulce Maria, Tatiana and Jaqueline!

So HAPPY and SOOO Priceless!!!!

All the kids watching as Julio fits a little sister with new shoes.

The most precious thing was when they left school they carried their new shoes in their hands. Either wore their old shoes, or went barefoot. Heaven forbid they they get their new shoes dirty! I LOVE IT!!

Sponsorship Program

Though we have a lot of fun here, believe it or not, we work even more. The best part about it is that work is fun, therefore LIFE=FUN!

On the Ortho Trip we stopped by one of the daycares we are working with to sponsor children. While there the children sang for us, should us the english words they were learning, hugged us and smiled with us. We gave each child a special little gift... a stuffed animal. The smiles on their faces were contagious and did nothing but warm the heart!

The children singing for us

Nothing but smiles from Sonja!

Look how excited Tatiana is!

A hug for the cheetah

Dulce Maria with her stuffed animal.

I'm very excited to say that we are in the process of sending sponsorship packets out to individuals and families that are interested in sponsoring a child. If you are interested, please either contact me or the office to get more information. It's only $30 and month. Some of these familes live off of close to $30 a month.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."