Monday, June 09, 2008

Monday, June 09, 2008

Dear Friends,

As I write this I am very tired. I didn’t sleep well, having to share the twin sized bed with Francisco, he sprawled out everywhere and I got a little piece on the edge. It was worth it, because we were able to spend some quality time together, and I got to deliver a blessing from God to the family. I had some things that my mom had sent, for girls, that I couldn’t give to the foundation that consisted of all boys, so I dropped them off with Francisco. One of the items was a darker skinned doll, that I was able to give to Francisco’s sister. She loved it! They are a wonderful, kind family. Though I don’t know most of them very well, there is just something about them you know, something that draws you to them. A kindness and joy in their faces, and smiles that radiate for miles. A beautiful family for sure.

As for last night, it wasn’t Francisco, that was the problem with me sleeping, but Samuel the one year old that lives here. He is really sick. He has a high fever and cough with Phlegm and he has been vomiting, and not eating. He usually eats a lot. He has been really fussy and not sleeping, and it keeps us all awake. The doc says that it will be about three days of fever before he gets better, but I think today was the fourth day, so hopefully he is better soon. He is on some meds, children’s Tylenol from what I can tell.

Today at the foundation was a peculiar day. Most of the boys were home from school, I don’t know why, some teachers workshop or something. They have random days off here, where no one works or doesn’t much of anything. They seem to have a holiday for everything. Anyway, with all the boys there, it was harder to get things done. I help sort and mark clothes again, which is difficult, and it seems like we keep on doing the same thing. Trying to figure out who has what and how many etc. I also got to help a little in the kitchen. We made something that they call puuding (that’s how they say it anyway) it sounded like pudding to me but that isn’t what came out. They put some of what looked like powdered milk into a huge metal dish, then we took a heap of really hard dry bread and crumbled it up, added 6 or 8 boxes of liquid soy milk, which we had to blend to take out the lumps, and 8 or 10 eggs. After that was all mixed I left to eat and then help with homework and when I returned it was being fried like a pancake. That’s kinda what it smelled like too. It was odd, I had a headache, and I chose not to eat it.

There seemed to be a lot of boys who didn’t return after the weekend and I am not sure why. I didn’t know if it was because they didn’t have school, or because they had done something wrong, or their parents decided they shouldn’t come back or what had happened. Its hard to tell, but I didn’t want to ask hermana Anita, she seemed stressed today, for some reason. They said she was worried about something but I wasn’t sure what.

I was able to talk to a couple of the boys a little more in depth today. Lucho and Kevin. Lucho is at the foundation with a younger brother, and I found out today that he has a little sister, who is at another foundation for girls. He goes home on the weekends and he said that his mom and his dad are both there, but it isn’t his real dad. He said that he doesn’t know him. Lucho is a fighter. He seems to always be splitting someone’s lip open and he is very protective of his brother. He said that he was sent to the foundation because he would climb the walls and when his uncle came home he would jump down and attack him. It didn’t really make sense to me, but that is what he said. His sister comes home for the weekend sometimes, but sometimes she has to stay where she is.

Kevin is also there with a brother. I am not sure who his brother is, but I know he is there. In his family there are 5 children, the oldest of which sells drugs. Kevin is at the foundation because his mom died and he doesn’t know who his dad is. He said that when they go for the weekend, sometimes they go stay with his big brother, other times they go and see an aunt, or the pastor.

This is just a glimpse into the things that these kids have experienced. These two kids are 9 years old, but they have already faced so much in their short lives. That is just the beginning. Most of these boys lack a strong, positive, male role model. When Luis is there they all flock to him and he doesn’t even have to be firm with them, but they do what he says. They all crave his attention. Please pray for God to raise up positive male influences for these boys.

It seems that every day that I am at the foundation, I notice a new necessity. For example, after 3 or 4 boxes of milk, the blender died. Hna. Anita had just come to the kitchen and said thank God for that blender, its old but it works, and less than a minute later it wasn’t working. I was surprised it worked as long as it did, since every time we turned it on, it smelled like it was burning up. They also need an iron, the one they have, the hot part is busted up and rusty. They have very few pens and pencils. A lot of the boys write with just the ink refill for a pen, because someone broke their pen. The list goes on. But I have a very limited supply of funds, so I can’t do as much as I would like.

This foundation does so much for these boys, but there is a lack of funds and workers. Please pray for the Lord to bless the foundation and especially hermana Anita, that God would give her clarity, and wisdom.

Thanks for your time and prayers!