Guatemala otra vez – el dia doce

We had an interesting twist this morning. Our bus driver was 30 minutes late picking us up for school. We were just about ready to take the chicken bus, but we decided to hold off and ride that on Friday. When we arrived at school, we had a group waiting for us to have prayer. We had another student from Michigan that joined us today. It is a great experience knowing that people are seeking opportunities to join others in prayer. We are hoping that we can share together in communion on Friday since that is our last day at the school. It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of our second week.
My teacher spent another day primarily in conversation with me. I appreciate her willingness to share so much with me about life in Guatemala. Today she shared many things with me about her faith and her family. It is providing me with a lot of sermon material. I especially appreciate all that she shared with concerning the reaction of her grandfather immediately following the big earthquake of 1976. His faith was definitely something that needs to be shared with others.
This afternoon we visited a project for children and their families – Proyecto Semillero Mi Angel Guardian. It is an after school program for children that also provides training for their mothers (there are no fathers in theses families) so that the mothers can provide for their children. In addition to providing care for the children after school, they raise chickens, sell the eggs, grow mushrooms to sell to local restaurants, and have a fish farm. We spent time with the children today as they worked on some crafts that they will sell and then enjoyed watching them have a fiesta with two piñatas. Their energy was fantastic. One boy, Luis, seemed to latch on to me very quickly. I sat down beside him while he was working on his craft and he acted as though we were best friends. He asked me if we came to Guatemala by airplane and after I said yes, he wanted to know if I was able to reach out and touch the clouds. I said that wasn’t possible and then we laughed about what would happen if you tried to walk on the clouds. After the piñata party, Luis insisted that have some of his candy. It’s hard to believe that a child can be so giving when he doesn’t have anything to begin with. This is a great project and the Directora General, Marta, seemed to enjoy our visit as much as the kids. I told Marta that John Benson sent his greetings and she beamed from ear to ear. She could not share enough about what a wonderful person John is and what a big heart he has. She was talking so fast that I knew I had brought some good news to her. She does great things with very little in the way of resources. I never cease to be amazed at the passion of others to accomplish great things for the sake of those that they care about.
Tonight I had a good discussion with Leonel about the aid efforts in Haiti. It is always interesting to hear the perspective of others that get their information from different news sources. We talked about immigration to the United States and the difficulties people have in navigating the system in the US. It is always challenging to have discussions that test my vocabulary and push me to the limit on my grammar. Shortly after I returned to my room and began writing, Michael returned from his Rotary meeting and asked to use my computer, so I guess I better sign off for the night. Hasta mañana mis amigos!