We spent four weeks over Christmas 2006 at the Home of Life in San Andres Sajcabaja, Guatemala. Our first week we worked on our Spanish as we had no English speaker to translate for us. Then the Stromstad family arrived and our headaches slowly went away. We brought 12 very heavy (but not over 50 lbs.) suitcases with us filled with Christmas presents for the kids. Here are some of our photo highlights:
We did many activities with the kids. One included a trip to Agua Caliente, a local natural hot spring. You can see Oralia and Sebastian in the background. They, and their four boys, live at the home. They are taking over as "Jefes" in December 2007. If you look closely, you may be able to pick out Samuel, the little white gringo boy, from the other children. We took the kids in groups. This picture is from the 'little children' group. The picture below is Rosa (Tochi).
Hannah and Bethany's ballet teacher choreographed two dances to Christmas songs in Spanish. We spent much of our time before Christmas teaching the kids the steps. It was their Christmas present to the Stromstads. We surprised them on Christmas Eve and Day with our performances! One dance was for the girls only and we dressed them in Angel costumes (see picture below). The other dance included all the kids and had a special performance by just the boys! It was a great way to build our relationships with the kids and spend time with them while improving our limited Spanish vocabulary!
To the right is a picture of Lucy helping kids from the aldea with their Nativity picture. Below is a picture of Domingo Daniel eating his newly decorated Christmas cookie. 
While we were in Guatemala, Don helped with a medical clinic every Sunday in San Andres. The medical clinics are put on by the Fickers. A North American family that moved to Guatemala about 9 years or so ago. Their ministry is called Adonai International Ministries. We were also invited to their home for "lunch" that lasted until past supper (very Guatemalan!) Here are some pictures of their daughter Rachel and her horse with some of our kids.
The next picture is of their son Ryan teaching Caleb how to lasso.
We did many activities with the kids. One included a trip to Agua Caliente, a local natural hot spring. You can see Oralia and Sebastian in the background. They, and their four boys, live at the home. They are taking over as "Jefes" in December 2007. If you look closely, you may be able to pick out Samuel, the little white gringo boy, from the other children. We took the kids in groups. This picture is from the 'little children' group. The picture below is Rosa (Tochi).
Hannah and Bethany's ballet teacher choreographed two dances to Christmas songs in Spanish. We spent much of our time before Christmas teaching the kids the steps. It was their Christmas present to the Stromstads. We surprised them on Christmas Eve and Day with our performances! One dance was for the girls only and we dressed them in Angel costumes (see picture below). The other dance included all the kids and had a special performance by just the boys! It was a great way to build our relationships with the kids and spend time with them while improving our limited Spanish vocabulary! 
We also had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party with the kids on Christmas Day. This included three pinatas, birthday cake and decorating Christmas cookies (see picture below). We were so excited to take many of the children on an outreach to an Aldea (village) called Xoja. The kids performed their dances and then helped us tell the children from the village about the Christmas story (see picture below). It was so much fun to take the kids from the Home on an outreach to their own people.
To the right is a picture of Lucy helping kids from the aldea with their Nativity picture. Below is a picture of Domingo Daniel eating his newly decorated Christmas cookie. Our family loved to eat Oralia's black beans (frijoles). We joked with her that Don would not let Lori on the plane unless she knew how to make frijoles. Below is a picture in the kitchen during the "frijole lesson".
While we were in Guatemala, Don helped with a medical clinic every Sunday in San Andres. The medical clinics are put on by the Fickers. A North American family that moved to Guatemala about 9 years or so ago. Their ministry is called Adonai International Ministries. We were also invited to their home for "lunch" that lasted until past supper (very Guatemalan!) Here are some pictures of their daughter Rachel and her horse with some of our kids.
The next picture is of their son Ryan teaching Caleb how to lasso.
