Tag Archives: Guatemala

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Strength through Mourning

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Delmi and her mother, Adela, share with us a photo of Roberto, Delmi’s father, who died in an accident less than two years ago.

The devastating loss of a husband, a father of four beautiful daughters… it happened almost two years ago.

The date was Sept. 9, 2013, and it was the same day Compassion project GU-492 opened in San Martín Jilotepeque, Guatemala. It was a day that would change the lives of 9-year-old Delmi and her family members forever.

As our small group walked to visit Delmi’s home, project workers explained the family’s situation to us. They said Delmi’s mother, Adela, had a very difficult time after her husband’s death, including dealing with depression. They told us Adela continued to struggle, and that her daughter Delmi would receive more help when the project hired a new counselor.

So we walked up the steep path to the family’s hilltop home, and we didn’t know what we would find there.

The yellow-painted brick home sat on a hillside, overlooking the community. It felt fresh and clean on that hill, after walking the busy streets below. There were trees offering refreshing shade, a worn bench on a covered porch looking out over countless tin-roofed homes. Potted plants with flowers added color, while chickens wandered and pecked the ground beneath brightly colored clotheslines.

It seemed to be a peaceful refuge.

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Delmi shows us her basketball medals.

And there we met the family. Adela, the mother, introduced us to her daughters, Dulce, 15, Delmi and Fatima, 4. Her oldest daughter wasn’t home at the moment because she was studying for school, but we would meet her later in the visit. We also later met the girls’ abuela, Adela’s mother who lives nearby.

We visited with the family while enjoying a special orange drink Adela had prepared for us. During that time, I saw a strong and courageous woman in front of us, a woman hurting deeply, possibly shattered by her loss, but forging ahead for her children.

Adela supports her family by selling snacks at a nearby school. Her own mother does the same job.

She spoke glowingly of her mother, whom she said taught her the value of hard work, raising her own family without a husband. Adela said she prays every day that her mother will never leave her because she doesn’t know how she will go on without her.

She clearly receives a lot of support from this woman and loves her very much.

Adela shared with us that she reads out of Psalms from her Bible every night; that she can’t go to sleep without reading it. She said it is difficult when her youngest daughter is upset and cries for her daddy; that it hurts her because she feels helpless.

Delmi, who entered the Compassion program when it opened, showed us the medals she’s won playing basketball. She makes good grades in school and wants to earn a science degree. Adela’s hard-working example obviously is rubbing off on her daughters.

And much too soon, it was time to say goodbye to this special family. We prayed with them, loved them, took photos together and said our goodbyes. And while there doesn’t seem to be a tidy, happy ending to wrap up this family’s story, there is reliance on God, love of family, and Compassion’s support, which is more than many hurting families have.

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Adela with three of her daughters.

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The view from Adela’s home.

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Our group with the family.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child in Guatemala, or in any of the 27 countries around the world where Compassion works, please click here.

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Sylvia’s Hope

We made the 15-minute walk through the busy, dusty streets of Joyabaj, Guatemala, to visit Sylvia and her family in their home.

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The walk to Sylvia’s home.

The sidewalks were narrow, and the bumpy, brick-paved streets were noisy with traffic, the smell of car exhaust in the air. We often had to pause our conversation during the walk as the noise drowned out our words. It was the same walk that Sylvia makes each week when she attends her Compassion project, GU-892.

When we arrived, Sylvia and her younger sister and brothers were waiting for us. Giggling, they led us through a narrow passageway between gray brick walls, turning right down another narrow path before coming to their home at the end.

Sylvia’s stepmother welcomed us into their one-room, dirt-floor home, where we found seats on the two beds, where this family with five children lives.

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The narrow walkway to Sylvia’s home.

There in the dark room, we learned some of Sylvia’s story, while the shy 10-year-old stood in the doorway, listening, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, one piece constantly falling forward and needing to be tucked behind her ear, in the same manner as my own 10-year-old daughter.

We learned that Sylvia enjoys attending her Compassion project, that her favorite activity there is making crafts, and that although she is 10 years old, she is behind in school, only attending first grade.

We also learned that Sylvia’s mother is an alcoholic, who neglected Sylvia and her younger sister, Julessa, 7, often letting them roam the streets, dirty and hungry. Her father and stepmother gained custody of the children earlier this year, and her stepmother recounted how difficult it had been to tame the wild girl.

She said at first, Sylvia only wanted to run in the streets, but over time, she learned to stay closer to her new home, where she was being taught how to care for herself, to do chores, to be a little girl who is part of a family who loves her.

This love was evident in the eyes of Sylvia’s stepmother, who told us she used to see the girls on the streets when they still lived with their mother, and she would clean them up and feed them. We commended her for her obvious love for the girls, and she explained that she herself had been an orphan; that she loved children, and had always been drawn to the children in her village, who loved to hear her stories.

In front of us stood a woman, prepared by God through her own difficult childhood, for this time in Sylvia’s life. Who better to care for and love this motherless girl than this woman, who also had been motherless?

Sylvia’s stepmother’s name is Esperanza: hope.

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Sylvia with her stepmother, Esperanza, her sister and two brothers.

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Sylvia’s stepmother, Esperanza, shows us her kitchen, where she cooks to feed her own family with five children, as well as her husband’s mother.

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Syliva and her family say goodbye to us, along with her grandmother, who lives nearby.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child in Guatemala like Sylvia through Compassion, or in any of the 27 countries around the world in which Compassion works, please click here.

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Guatemala Prep

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Logan

In just 10 days, my son Logan and I will leave for a 7-day Compassion tour in Guatemala! Today, we spent some time packing the gifts we are bringing, and vacuum-sealed some backpacks, clothing and cloth bags to make more room in our suitcases.

I bought these bags last year in preparation for a Compassion tour to Nicaragua. I was able to find them at Costco in a package of six bags, two each of three different sizes. The bag in the photo is the largest size.

They work well for freeing up some extra room to pack even more goodies!

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Logan with vacuum-sealed bag

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Culture Smart: Guatemala

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Culture Smart’s Guatemala book

The “Culture Smart!” book series is a great way to gain insight into your sponsor child’s culture and country.

I recently read Culture Smart’s Guatemala book for the second time in preparation for my upcoming Compassion tour to that country.

The books are fairly short; the Guatemala book was only 136 pages, starting out with a chapter giving a brief history of the country, its geography, climate and even politics.

Other chapters cover topics like values, religion, customs and traditions, home life, travel, business customs and communicating. Often the book highlights differences in the cultures of Guatemala’s Latino population and its Maya population as well.

In this series, I’ve also read Culture Smart’s books on Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Ireland.

There are books available for many more countries, including these countries where Compassion works: India, Ecuador, Thailand, Colombia, Brazil, Uganda, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Peru, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Ghana and Mexico.

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Guest Post: Faraway Friends

Find out who my son Logan will be meeting this summer by checking out my guest post on Laura’s blog at MommyMaleta.com! And while you’re there, take some time to read some of the other great posts on Laura’s site.

You can read my post by clicking here.

By the way, if you aren’t already following me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, please check out these links:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/GtatefulGiving.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeamKEight.

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stewkaz/.

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Living on One Dollar

Living on one dollar a day in rural Guatemala isn’t without its challenges, but that’s exactly what four college-age men did in 2010.

These men faced obstacles including sickness and hunger as they lived for two months in solidarity with the 1 billion people in the world also living on just one dollar a day.

Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple, along with two photographers, traveled to Guatemala City, then rode for six hours on a crowded chicken bus to Peña Blanca, Guatemala, a rural Guatemalan village with a population of 300. Once there, they secured housing, obtained a loan for $125 to start a small radish farm for income, and began their 56-day journey.Living-On-One

They had devised a system involving drawing a number each day, between zero and nine, to indicate their income for the day. This would make their living situation more realistic as some days they would have no income, like other day laborers in the community. Altogether, though, the income totaled just $56 for each of the four men over their stay.

The group succeeded largely because of lessons learned from the locals and the resulting friendships. The film introduces several individuals, giving a more in-depth look into each of their situations.

There is Rosa, a young woman whose circumstances caused her to quit school as a child and work in the fields, which she continues to do while holding on to her dream of becoming a nurse. There is Chino, a 12-year-old boy who is eager to learn some English phrases and works in the fields now instead of attending school. And there is Anthony, a 24-year-old man who is one of the few in the village with a regular job, supporting his wife and three children, along with some older relatives.

Anthony befriends the group and quickly considers them as family, as his wife teaches Zach and Chris how to cook more substantive food by using tricks like adding lard to the beans for more calories.

At just under an hour, this film is a quick, easy view, the stories are engaging, and it offers a unique inside look at rural Guatemalan life. The film is available on Netflix and can be purchased at the Living on One website by clicking here.

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Giving Thankfully: Love in Letters

There isn’t much that delights me more as a sponsor than receiving a letter from one of my faraway sponsored children. Today, though, I think I found something that tops even that.

My 12-year-old son, Logan, became a sponsor earlier this year. I wrote about it here. Since February, Logan and the boy he sponsors, Osmar, have exchanged several letters.

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Osmar, 11, of Guatemala

Logan was excited to receive another letter from Osmar today. As usual, he opened the letter quickly to see what his friend in Guatemala had to say, then he handed the letter to me, so I could read it, too.

I am so touched by Osmar’s affection for Logan, that I have to share his letter here:

Dear sponsor Logan,

I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ hoping that you are in great health. The weather is rainy. I want to tell you that in my town, we harvest corn, potatoes and beans. We have a lot of things in my town. I love you. I ask you to pray for everyone in my town and for my family. We are going to finish the school year. I am going to pray for you. I thank you for the letter that you sent me. I love you. What is my favorite sport? Soccer. What’s the weather like over there? I say goodbye with love and hugs. I hope that God continues blessing you and your family, and that he gives you blessings because you are my sponsor. Thank you.

Osmar

Yes, this sweet 11-year-old boy in Guatemala just told my son “I love you” – twice.

And that is why, in this month of thanks, I am thankful for love in letters.

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Call of a Coward

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This adventure begins when a New Jersey mother finds herself driving through Mexico with her husband and daughter, leaving behind her middle-class life to live in a Mayan village in Guatemala.

And that is just the beginning for Marcia Moston, author of “Call of a Coward.” At only 142 pages, this book is a quick read, but it’s packed with action throughout, and it paints a vivid picture of life as a missionary in Guatemala.

Moston shares her fears and reservations about the move, spurred on by her husband, who had recently returned from a mission trip. She shares the difficulties encountered in their journey, and also the deep relationships forged with people she met along the way.

As if driving through the entire country of Mexico weren’t enough to test anyone’s faith, this mother must learn how to survive and care for her family in a world very different from her own.

After her first trip up the mountain to the village, on a road without guardrails that barely accommodates two vehicles, she swears she will never take the road again, and that is only one challenge she must overcome.

Without the help of a grocery store or refrigerator, Moston must learn to feed her family. She accompanies a fellow missionary to the village butcher, who kills a cow every Saturday and hangs it from the rafters. As customers choose the piece they want, the butcher chops it off for them. The author laments this is a far cry from the styrofoam packages to which she is accustomed.

Throughout the book, the author worries she is unworthy and incapable to answer God’s call in her life, and she often questions whether He has picked the right person. When her journey takes her from the Mayan village to a small church in Vermont, she is left wondering whether her time in Guatemala was useful.

But as often happens, it all makes sense in the end, and her faithfulness is rewarded.

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When One Door Closes

Last week, I received the phone call that no sponsor wants to receive. It was Compassion calling to tell me that my sweet Roxana from Guatemala has left the program.

This is the same child about whom I posted earlier on this blog after receiving a particularly sweet letter from her. She wrote that she dreams about playing ball with me, and she hopes to see me someday. She also let me know that she keeps the photos I’ve sent to her in a frame next to her bed.

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Roxana, 9, Guatemala

I’ve sponsored her since April 2011, when she had just turned 7.

The Compassion representative who called me said Roxana’s parents pulled her out of the program.

There could be any number of reasons for a parent to take their child out of Compassion. Moving to another area or some other change in the family’s situation could be the reason, though it’s best not to speculate because then my imagination will go wild and only cause me to worry. Instead, I must respect the parents’ choice and trust in God’s plan.

Of course, that’s not exactly easy to do.

Fortunately, my 8-year-old daughter Ryan was able to push things along. She, too, was sad to lose Roxana, but she was ready to start scouring the Compassion web site that same day to sponsor a new little girl.

I set Ryan up at the computer, and searched for girls in Guatemala around the same age as Roxana, and my daughter quickly narrowed it down to one little girl. I told her I wanted to think about it, but the next day, she was back to campaigning for her chosen girl.

She was fairly relentless. Ryan enjoys writing, drawing pictures and making cards for the girls we sponsor, and she wasn’t going to let me mope about Roxana much longer. And she did pick a very cute little girl, so I sponsored my daughter’s choice, Hania, 7, of Guatemala.

I emailed Compassion later that day to request an emailed digital copy of Hania’s photo on file, and found out I am her first sponsor. I also found out this little cutie had been waiting for a sponsor since she registered with Compassion back in September of 2012.

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Hania, 7, Guatemala

How can it be that almost a year has passed that no one decided to sponsor this little girl?

I immediately sent her an email with photos using Compassion’s online letter-writing tool, and my daughter got to work making cards and drawings for her new friend.

Later that night, Ryan came downstairs at bedtime to show me the photo of Roxana she keeps on her dresser. She leaned in my ear and whispered, “I prayed for Roxana.”

The door may have closed on that special relationship with Roxana, but I am comforted knowing that I’m not alone in continuing to pray for her.

And now we open the door to our newest sponsorship. Welcome to our family, Hania.

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Kids These Days

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Logan with the first letter from his sponsored child, Osmar.

Kids these days – have you ever noticed that they always seem to have their noses stuck into some kind of electronic gadget? Whether it’s a video game, a phone or sometimes both, it seems there is always something demanding their undivided attention.

I’m sure it’s always been the same. As my children grow older, it’s hard not to compare them to myself and my friends at their age, just as I’m sure my parents and grandparents did.

With so many things distracting today’s kids, it’s easy to worry about the future. It’s hard not to wonder who will see society’s problems and find some solutions. Who will look after tomorrow’s poor? Who will answer the call to look after “the least of these” in a generation that seems so self-absorbed?

It turns out, one answer to those questions is living in my house. Last month, my 11-year-old son Logan sponsored a child.

He pleaded with me and my husband for days, writing out lists of possible sources of income (chores, birthday and Christmas money), and explaining to us just how dedicated he will be. He promised to write to his child monthly. He even agreed to take on a few extra chores. So we finally agreed that he could do it.

Logan headed straight to the computer to search for his child. He pored over the thousands of children available for sponsorship on Compassion’s web site, then narrowed his search to Central and South America.

He was drawn to the boys, and soon had written five names on a list. The boys ranged in age from 4 to 12 years old, and a couple of them really were tugging at his heart because of their family circumstances. I told him it would be a good idea to go to bed, pray about his list, and make his final decision the next day.

After he finished school for the day, he looked back at each of the five boys he had been interested in sponsoring. One of the children was gone from the site, so he had been sponsored already.

Out of the four remaining boys, Logan chose an 11-year-old from Guatemala named Osmar. He decided it would be most fun to have someone close to his age to write to and hopefully to visit at some point in the future.

I can’t explain how it touched my heart to see Logan’s joy at sponsoring Osmar. He spent several days reading everything he could find about sponsorship on Compassion’s web site. He wrote a letter to Osmar right away, and has sent two more since then.

And today, after five weeks of checking the mailbox daily, Logan received his first letter from Osmar. Now their friendship has begun, and I look forward to seeing where it leads.

I’m sure the differences in their lives are many, but like boys everywhere, these two have started off sharing their likes and dislikes with each other. Osmar wrote that his favorite drink is Coca-Cola. Logan’s favorite is Dr. Pepper. Osmar’s favorite color is red, while Logan’s is blue.

He writes that he hopes Logan likes his handwriting and promises to try to improve it, already seeking his new friend’s approval. Likewise, Logan painstakingly chooses photos and soccer cards to send to Osmar, hoping to pick things his new friend will enjoy.

And with friendship and love growing across borders, it makes it hard to worry about kids these days.

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How I Decided to Sponsor

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Sometimes the most exciting and fulfilling journeys are those that simply appear in front of you, when you aren’t looking, and that is how my journey with Compassion began.

I had seen the late-night commercials showing children with bulging tummies swatting flies from their faces with the voice-over pleading for just a dollar a day to help these children. I always thought the images were sad, but never gave the pleas much consideration because it seemed like a scam – like some kind of cheesy made-for-TV, telethon and infomercial wrapped into one.

Imagine my surprise when I was reading a newly found favorite blog a few years ago, and suddenly the posts were about a trip to Guatemala. The writer was going to visit her sponsored child there, and she detailed her preparations for the visit. She described standing in a department store and picking out just the right clothing to take to her girl, even having her son of the same age try on the dress to be sure she was choosing the right size. She carefully selected other items to take to the girl’s family. The care and thoughtfulness that the writer and her family put into preparing for this visit sparked my interest.

She was traveling with a group of sponsors who also were bloggers. Veteran sponsors know this event as a Compassion Blogger Trip, and wait for the announcement of each year’s trip destinations with great anticipation. Compassion picks very talented writers to go on these trips, where they write each night, describing the day’s experiences and offering an intimate look into the lives of sponsored children and their families, and into the amazing work Compassion is doing in these areas.

But I was not a sponsor yet, so I read these “pre-trip” posts with curiosity, and planned to follow along reading posts throughout the trip. It turns out, I had no idea how my life was about to change.

Each day, as I read these stories of extreme poverty and viewed photos for which there are no adequate words, I was drawn in. Here I was, sitting in my comfortable home, maybe eating a warm breakfast, and reading about lives and situations that couldn’t be more different from my own.

I began to research Compassion and to read everything I could find about the organization. And I began to pray. I couldn’t get these stories out of my mind.

Just three days into the trip, I sponsored Anderson. One week after that, I sponsored Winston. Both boys were from Guatemala. They were 10 and 8 years old – close in age to two of my own sons.

As many sponsors have experienced, I was surprised by the immediate love I felt for these children. I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I wrote them letters, gathered items to send to them in packages and continued to gather any information I could find about Compassion and Guatemala.

Just that simple act of choosing to sponsor these two boys began to change my way of thinking. It began to put things into perspective, and the change seeped into many areas of my life.

I began to equate things like dinner at a restaurant or taking my kids to a movie with the funds to sponsor a child. I didn’t stop doing these things entirely, but realized that by cutting out one or two of these outings each month, I could add another child or two to our sponsor family.

Not only did this cause me to put more thought into how I spent money, it also gave me an even greater appreciation for what my husband and I were able to provide our own children.

I felt lucky; blessed to be born into this time in this country, when I could just as easily have been born a neighbor to Anderson or Winston.

As God worked on my heart, my Compassion family grew. I have sponsored several children now for more than two years, and they have helped me every bit as much as I have helped them.

And it is ironic that as I set out to bless these children, they also have blessed me.

Winston’s letter to me last month brought tears to my eyes when he wrote, “I am very happy because you always remember about me because you have supported me during two years, and I hope you don’t stop writing to me because I am very happy with you being my sponsor.”

My heart is full, and I am blessed.