Volunteer vacations: days 5 and 6 for the nursing team

Thanks again to Mysti for the blogging and for Katie's nursing team: 
Hello again! Breakfast consisted of pancakes, oatmeal, and bananas.Today was the day I traveled. Nine of us went to Ojo del Agua,  a local village. before leaving though a group of us went down the hill by the clinic to explore the gardens and country side. It was a beautiful view. Una Vista Bella!   I was assigned to triage this day with Emily. We were able to find some things and play with the kids while they waited. It was a slow start in the morning because some didn't know about it or they did not realize it was free. After a couple hours it did pick up and we were able to help 44 people throughout the day. Lunch was a stir fry vegetable beef mix on top of rice. Absolutely wonderful!!     On the way back to Casa de Sion we stopped in Godinez for some treats and to pick up Tyler's pinata. We had a few hours before dinner when we returned so we were all able to hang out and enjoy each other. Played cards as well as journaled. Tonight was when Samy arrived. He is the reason we had such great interpreters and also partly responsible for the trip in general. He was great to get acquainted with.  I again forgot to write down the meal for dinner... But I do know that most of us stayed up and learned how to do a couple dances. Adam and I spent most of the time talking about life in general. It was a fun evening!
   Day 6: Today a group woke up early and headed to Godinez for some fresh baked goods! It was fun seeing the fresh items and sharing with everyone the yummy goodness. We also bought Tyler's birthday present while there and enjoyed the local life. After heading back to Casa de Sion we ate breakfast. Eggs, watermelon, banana, and incaprina. Incaprina is a drink mix used to supplement their diets. It is a replacement for milk and has other added nutrients to help the children get everything they need to grow healthily. It is really good.   We were all staying at Casa de Sion today for the Mother's and babies day. Early on in the day we had a baby who was extreme FTT; she weighed 8 lbs and was 7 months old. She had a beautiful little smile and we did what we could for her. It was a hard experience for a lot of us. Lunch was another chicken soup with a red base. It had rice and green beans in it and was    We finished the clinic early enough that we were able to take another tuk tuk to Godinez for some more shopping. A tuk tuk is a motorized small wagon type transport. It was fun to ride in them. I did not write down dinner or evening activity again but I know that a couple times we had tostadas with a black bean puree and parmesan served with fried plaintains. And I remember having black beans and rice with sweet bread so just fill in where you would like! :) It was all great!




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The Miracle of Edison

 here is a picture of Edison and his mama. She brought him to Casa de Sion 2 years ago when he was 2.5 years old. He could not hear. But he had the sweetest look in his eyes. You could tell he was unsure of the world by the way he never smiled, clung to his Mother's skirt and never played. We had him checked out by Dr. Peter who said he definitely could not hear. then he recommended treatment at Fundibien in Panajachel. Casa de Sion  found a sponsor who has paid for the transportation. Then they started a school in Pana for special kids like Edison. Again their transport was paid for. we never could come up with the $1000.00 needed for the hearing aids tho. But the school found him some. I saw him for the first time with his new hearing aids a couple of days ago and he is a different child. Coming up to me and signing hello. Smiling and laughing and looking like the world is not such a scary place. Oh how he touched my heart. Then his mama gave me a basket full of hot homemade tamales. So poor, but so generous. How I love this Mayan family.


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Want To Decorate an Orphans Room??

 Hey folks, we need your help. These handy Eagle Scouts came all the way to Guatemala to build us some beds for our new orphanage. Four regular size bunks and 3 toddler bunks. We can't say enough about how much we appreciate them.
Now we need people to decorate the rooms. here's the deal: you pick a room you are dying to decorate. It can be our baby room, our toddler room, a boy room or a girl room. We have 6 we need decorated..You raise the funds to pay for the paint, the tile on the cement floor, the bedding, the curtains and the wall decorations. Then you either come down to our place in Guatemala and put them together yourself or you send us the funds and decorations and we will put them together for you. You will get a picture of your room with the kids in it. You will also get first dibs on being the loving sponsors/parents from a far for one or all of the kids in the room.
Check out your favorite organization or church and see if they are interested in helping you. Write me at 20.vicki

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HELPING MEDICALLY FRAGILE KIDS

LUCIAHERE ARE PICTURES OF TWO MEDICALLY FRAGILE MAYAN KIDS WE HELP. THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 30 PLUS THAT WE HELP. I HAVE A HEART FOR KIDS WHO ARE 'NOT PERFECT' AS I HAVE SUFFERED WITH PTSD MY WHOLE LIFE AND KNOW HOW HARD LIFE CAN BE IF YOU HAVE A PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY. WHEN I WAS A TEEN I WORKED AT TWO DIFFERENT PLACES FOR KIDS WITH ISSUES. ONE WAS THE LOCAL HOSPITAL WHERE KIDS WERE LEFT AFTER BIRTH. I WOULD GO IN ON SUNDAYS AND SIT IN A ROOM WITH 20 OR MORE INFANTS WHO SUFFERED FROM SPINA BIFIDA, DOWNS SYNDROME,ETC. I WOULD HOLD THEM AND FEED THEM. THEY WERE SPECIAL TO ME. ON SATURDAYS I WENT TO A INSTITUTIONAL HOME FOR 'SPECIAL' KIDS AND PLAYED WITH THEM. THAT WAS IN THE DAY WHEN THE SAME KIDS I KEPT AT THE HOSPITAL WERE SENT FROM THERE TO THE INSTITUTIONAL HOME..THEN AS AN ADULT I ADOPTED 'SPECIAL KIDS': A DOWNS SON, BLACK KIDS WHEN IT WASN'T POPULAR TO ADOPT BLACK KIDS, ETC. SPECIAL KIDS ARE SPECIAL TO ME.AT ONE POINT WHEN WE HAD THE OLD ORPHANAGE I WAS ASKED TO TAKE A 3 YEAR OLD 11 POUND, SEVERELY MALNOURISHED LITTLE GIRL WHO HAD SEVERE CEREBRAL PALSY. SHE WAS THE CHILD OF A PROSTITUTE AND HAD BEEN HOSPITALIZED HER WHOLE LIFE. SHE HAD LAIN IN A TINY CUBICLE AT THE HOSPITAL AND ONE OF THE NURSES ASKED ME TO TAKE HER. WE DID. SHE WAS FINALLY HELD AND LOVED AND GAINED 5 POUNDS IN 5 MONTHS.  WE FELT IMMENSE JOY WHEN WE HELD HER AND WHEN SHE WOULD GIVE A CROOKED, WEAK SMILE AT US. THE NURSE HAD TOLD ME SHE COULD DIE ANY DAY, BUT THAT WAS NOT ON OUR MINDS. ONE DAY WHILE I WAS IN THE USA, SHE ASPIRATED ON HER MILK AND WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE SHE DIED. WHAT A SAD DAY FOR ALL OF US. WE BURIED HER AS A BELOVED CHILD IN THE LOCAL CEMETARY. BECAUSE OF HER DEATH, MALICIOUS RUMORS SPREAD THRU TOWN AND NOT ONLY DID WE HAVE THE PAIN OF HER PASSING, WE HAD THE PAIN OF LIES BEING TOLD. FIVE YEARS LATER, I HEARD SOMEONE SAY ONE OF THESE MALICIOUS LIES AGAIN AND IT STILL HURTS. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH LIFE IS IF YOU STEP OUT OF THE BOX, YOU OPEN YOURSELF TO RIDICULE. I DO NOT REGRET TAKING THIS CHILD AS I KNOW HOW HAPPY SHE WAS WITH US AND I KNOW HER LIFE BEFORE THEN.SO NOW WE STILL HELP MEDICALLY FRAGILE KIDS. THE TWO ABOVE LIVE WITH THEIR FAMILIES. WE STILL STEP OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE TO HELP BECAUSE IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG, WE ARE ALWAYS BLAMED. BUT I LISTEN TO THE LORD

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Donate Your Car to Charity

Is your old car costing you more in upkeep than it's worth? You could try to sell it and have strangers come to your home, go for test drives, etc. This can be a great hassle for most people, and downright dangerous also. There is another option: donate the car to charity.
The Davis Memorial Foundation was started in 1978 as a way for charities to make money. You give you car to charity, they sell it for a profit, and you gain a good break on your taxes. A win-win situation for all.

A lot of charities are accepting car donations. The program has become more complicated since the reform of the program by the Internal Revenue Serivice in 2004, but it can still benefit both you and the charity.

The return for the charity has not been as successful as they hoped and a lot of the smaller charities have discontinued the program. There are expenses involved in selling the car that reduces the profit to be made. Some charities have decided that it is not worth it to continue. However, most of your larger charities like The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Council for the Blind, just to name a few, have the time and resources to handle car donations.
You can research the different charities that accept car donations on the Internet or call them by phone in your local area. The charity representative will come to your home and pick up the car and handle all of the paperwork for you. If the car is not drivable, they will arrange to have it towed.

The car will have to have a valid title clearly showing you as the owner. You will be required to sign it over to the charity. It's that simple.

Donating your car to charity will not only make you feel great for helping others, but will give you a tax advantage, too. Like I said, win-win!
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posted by Admin at 11:45 AM

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EXPANDING FOR THE ORPHANAGE IN GUAT

 TO BE ABLE TO PUT THE NEW ORPHAN KIDS ON THE 1ST AND 2ND FLOORS OF OUR EXISTING BUILDING, WE NEED TO ADD A THIRD FLOOR FOR OUR VOLUNTEER TEAMS TO STAY ON. HERE ARE PICTURES OF MY HUSBAND, JODY, MEETING WITH TWO OF OUR GREAT BOARD MEMBERS, ABINADY AND JOSE MIQUEL.  ABINADY IS A BUILDER IN GUATEMALA, MY HUSBAND BUILDS HOUSES IN THE USA AND JOSE MIQUEL JUST SEEMED TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT IT.

THEY ARE DISCUSSING ROOM DIVISIONS AND ALTHO IT IS NOT SET IN STONE YET, WE WILL PROBABLY HAVE 2 OR 3 DORM TYPE ROOMS WITH 2 OR 3 BATHROOMS, A SMALL SITTING AREA, A LAUNDRY ROOM AND A CLOSET FOR STORAGE OF ITEMS OF TEAM LEADERS.


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Donate Your Car to Charity

Is your old car costing you more in upkeep than it's worth? You could try to sell it and have strangers come to your home, go for test drives, etc. This can be a great hassle for most people, and downright dangerous also. There is another option: donate the car to charity.
The Davis Memorial Foundation was started in 1978 as a way for charities to make money. You give you car to charity, they sell it for a profit, and you gain a good break on your taxes. A win-win situation for all.

A lot of charities are accepting car donations. The program has become more complicated since the reform of the program by the Internal Revenue Serivice in 2004, but it can still benefit both you and the charity.

The return for the charity has not been as successful as they hoped and a lot of the smaller charities have discontinued the program. There are expenses involved in selling the car that reduces the profit to be made. Some charities have decided that it is not worth it to continue. However, most of your larger charities like The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Council for the Blind, just to name a few, have the time and resources to handle car donations.
You can research the different charities that accept car donations on the Internet or call them by phone in your local area. The charity representative will come to your home and pick up the car and handle all of the paperwork for you. If the car is not drivable, they will arrange to have it towed.

The car will have to have a valid title clearly showing you as the owner. You will be required to sign it over to the charity. It's that simple.

Donating your car to charity will not only make you feel great for helping others, but will give you a tax advantage, too. Like I said, win-win!
More...

posted by Admin at 11:45 AM

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Children changing the world

Addy, Katie and MarcusMany of you will remember my daughter, Katie, and her saving her change to bring bubbles and tattoo stickers to the kids in Guatemala when we went down 1 1/2 yrs ago.    Since we have been home she has had grander plans.  Every time I would put away clothing that no longer fit; she would say "let's put that in the yard sale pile".  Every time the baby outgrew a toy she would say; "that will be great for the yard sale".  Somehow she got it in her head that she was going to hold a yard sale to raise money for the kids in Guatemala.  I agreed with her but didn't make any real plans.  But as the summer was drawing to a close Katie really started pushing me to do the yard sale.  I realized that this was a good opportunity to teach my children about giving.  I finally committed, enlisted the whole family, set a date and reached out to friends to see if they had anything they wanted to donate.  The response was overwhelming!  We also decided to do a lemonade stand and bake sale.  I decided that the kids would be able to be more involved in selling food then manning the yard sale.


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