San Pedro Clinic

Friday was my first visit to San Pedro. It was the first time that a clinic has been held here since our arrival in Guatemala. San Pedro is a mere 26 miles South of the Mexican border and several thousdand feet closer to sea level. The climate is much more tropical. On my visit, it was quite pleasant. I was assured that this is not the norm. The runway is cut from the jungle on the side of a mountain. To a Nebraskan, it looked much more like a taboggan run than a runway. There is a rather steep incline to it, but we made it in and out just fine. Upon our arrival, we were joyfully greeted by several adults and at least a dozen kids. They led us in a procession down a trail to the community building we used for the clinic. Here is a picture of several kids outside the clinic building.


Here are pictures of the clinic up and running. In the back of the building, the hanging black plastic is for the ultrasound room. As we stated before, San Pedro is very isolated. It was a little different medicine here. The two or three hour car ride pales in comparison to how long it would take to get these people to a hospital if they needed it. Also, since the clinics are not regularly scheduled, we can't just ask them to come back next week if they need to be seen again.





This young man just happed to be wearing a T-shirt from Omaha's very own Henry Doorly Zoo. It would be interesting to know how in the world this shirt ended up way down here.



Here are just a few more pictures of the kids of San Pedro. Everyone was so pleasant and grateful to have us there.



Here is a picture from the airplane on our way home. It was exciting to be able to share with the Fickers in their ministry here. Serving in San Pedro, it really felt like we were taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We pray that you all have a great Thanksgiving today. We are planning to eat turkey with the Fickers and have our own little celebration here. Normally, we would be going to the Home today but because of the holiday, we went yesterday. We had a great day with the kids. Don spent most of the day rotating the kids through time on the computers. They just love playing on them. Even the ones who have never touched a mouse before are getting the hang of it. The computers are such a blessing to the kids.

Leslie, Don and Katie will be flying with Duane to San Pedro in Zona Reina for a clinic on Friday. The people in San Pedro are very isolated. Duane will land the plane on a grass strip. The people have to walk for about 3 hours just to get to a road and then much further to get to any kind of a hospital. They also do not know Jesus. Please pray for safety on Friday as well as for soft hearts ready to hear about what Jesus has done for them.

We so appreciate your support and prayers. Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks to God for His protection and provision that hard winter so long ago. We pray that He would be the center of your holiday today. May He bless the time that you have with your families. We pray for blessing over our families in the States as well. We miss you!

Chilly Weather

The weather has been very chilly here lately. One of the Ficker's vehicles has a thermometer in it so we know that a couple of the mornings have been right around 40 degrees. If the sun doesn't come out, it seems to be a little chilly all day. We have found this website that has weather for Canilla. The forecast is showing 50's at night and 60's to 70's during the day which is better than it has been.

Last Saturday morning, I could not get warm. We wear skirts everyday here and some of my skirts are much warmer than others. I had a jean skirt on but it had slits on both sides of it and my legs were freezing. I took a blanket and wrapped it around me like a corte (pronounced "cor - tay"). A corte is the traditional skirt that the Indian women wear here. It helped considerably to keep my legs warm. I can't imagine wearing it when it is hot here, though. The kids had to take a picture of me and wanted me to put it on the blog. So here it is:



This is just a cute picture of Samuel and Venuncio cuddling in Sam's bed. We will have Venuncio for a couple more weeks and then he will be going back to the Home. We will all miss him when he is gone.

House Guests

We brought home to Canilla three of the older girls from the Children's Home on Thursday afternoon. We are helping the kids make a quilt for Oralia and Sebastian for Christmas. We had all of the kids make a square with their name and their handprints or footprints or just some decorations. On Thursday we were ready to sew all 36 of the squares together. Leslie had one of the extra rooms in the clinic set up with two sewing machines when we arrived. All three girls tried their hand at sewing.

Here is Lorena sewing with Hannah helping her. Lorena really took to the sewing and enjoyed it. When we couldn't find her on Friday morning, she was back at the sewing machine.


Here is Lucy sewing. She said that she really enjoyed it as well but when we couldn't find her, she was with Rachel Ficker. They are really good friends so part of Lucy being here was to give them time to spend together as well.


Juana did not enjoy the sewing as much so she did the job of ironing. She was much more comfortable with that job.


This picture is very blurry but we wanted to include it because it shows Leslie teaching Lucy how to use the machine. All three of these girls were in the Home when the Fickers lived there about 10 years ago. It was fun to watch them all interact while Leslie taught them how to sew.


The girls were able to get all of the sguares sewn together. Leslie will put the backing on as well as the batting in the inside. Then we will take the quilt back to the Home for the girls to finish embroidering the corners of each square. It has been a fun project to do with them. We are hoping to do some more sewing with them in the future.

It was also fun to give the girls a little break from all of the work they do in the Home. They are an integral part of the workings of the Home but Oralia wanted them to have this time to relax and get away. They watched a couple movies on Thursday night and we let them sleep a little in the morning. They finished up their sewing and then we took them back to San Andres. As soon as they got out of the car, they scattered to different parts of the Home to help with the work. Juana and Lorena went to make tortillas and Lucy started in with the laundry. When they turn 18, they will be given the choice of staying and working in the Home or moving out. We are praying for the Lord's plan and purposes for them. Lorena is very interested in medicine. Juana really likes music and has talked about being a secretary. Lucy is not sure what she wants to do yet but she has an artistic talent and enjoys music as well. We know that the Lord has a path for them and we pray that they seek Him in their decisions in the future. It was a blessing to have them here for a short time.

A Lesson Learned

More than a week ago, a Guatemalan social worker came to the Children's Home to talk to Oralia and Sebastian about Elias (the little boy that they found. See our October newsletter for more details). The social worker was going to recommend that Elias stay at the Home until he was 18 if Oralia and Sebastian would agree to that commitment. They did agree so the next step was waiting for the Judge's rule on the situation. The Judge is in Chimaltenango and is the judge over these type of children issues as well as adoption issues in Guatemala.

Last Thursday, when we arrived at the Home, Oralia and Sebastian were not there. The kids told us that they were taking Elias to live with an uncle. Apparently this uncle had gone to Chimaltenango to talk to the judge. The social worker had found that all of Elias's family, mother, father, aunts, uncles etc., had drinking problems except for this one uncle. He told the judge that he wanted Elias to live with him. The judge ruled in his favor.

There was a sadness over the Home all day. The kids would not admit that they were sad but they were picking at each other. One little boy hit one of the girls in the face. Two of the teenage girls got into a fight. It was a very somber day. It was a hard day for us as well. Don loved to play with Elias. He would tell him to come to him and then throw him up in the air causing him to giggle. The Sunday prior, Don had stopped at the Home before clinic and Elias changed the game a little. Instead of coming, he wanted Don to chase after him and then he would giggle. His absence was felt very strongly all day.

When Oralia and Sebastian returned, I asked Oralia if it was all ok. She said she didn't believe so. Elias cried when they dropped him off and was asking for "Mama" which was not his real mom but Oralia. We have never seen Oralia and Sebastian so sad.

We learned alot about the Home last Thursday. We learned how hard life is there. We learned why they don't trust people. Because everyone always leaves. Teams come from the United States bearing gifts and playing with them, but they always leave and most of them, they will never see again. We are praying for wisdom in our relationships with the kids at the Home. We pray that they learn to trust in the One who will never leave them. We pray that living with his uncle will be a good thing for Elias. The social worker will go and check on him in a couple months and if he is thin or things aren't good, he may come back to the Home.

This same judge in Chimaltenango also made a statement against Abi's adoption. The Fickers are flying to Quiche today to meet with the adoption committee so that they can be ruled as fit parents. Then the attitude of the judge won't have as much impact on Abi's adoption. Please pray that this all goes well and for the steps that the Lord has for them in continuing the process of the adoption.

Thursday was a very discouraging day. What can we do here Lord that will make a difference? The Lord led us to John Chapter 21 where Jesus is asking Peter if he loves him. Peter answers "Yes" three times and Jesus's responses to him are "Feed my lambs" or "Take care of my sheep" or "Feed my sheep". Our job here is not to fix all of these problems but to develop relationships that will point the people here to Jesus. Our job is to take care of the Lord's people by helping them to trust and by loving them with the compassion of the Lord. Please pray against discouragement and that the Lord would continue to lead us in what He has for us here.

A Real Date!

Yesterday, Duane had to fly to Quiche and asked Don and I if we would want to come along. We have not really had any time for just the two of us since before Don left for Mexico. We often leave Caleb in charge when we are in the States and Leslie said that she would be here as well so we decided to go. Duane was supposed to be in Quiche by 10 am and then we all thought that we would be back before lunch. It is a 10 minute flight vs. a two hour drive. We ended up leaving late and didn't arrive in Quiche until 10:30. Duane and Joe dropped us off at the market and we did a little shopping. Joe ended up picking us up and the three of us went to Martin's house. Martin is the Guatemalan who has a visa to haul trucks/vehicles from the US to Guatemala. He helped Don at the Guatemalan border with his truck registration etc. In true Guatemalan style, we ended up eating lunch with Martin and his family and the day stretched into a much longer time away than originally thought. We didn't leave Quiche until about 3:15 pm.

It was very awesome to see the area from the plane. Flying is not really my thing but Joe did a great job and it was such a blessing to get away for a while. We are trying to work on being more flexible and trying to roll with the "very loose" schedule concept. We are very thankful that Leslie was here so that we could get away. (She not only had our kids here but she also had Venuncio and her two little girls. It was a regular daycare!) We pray that we can return the blessing to her sometime. It is fun doing life with the Ficker family for such a time as this.

Sunday Clinic

On Sunday, clinic is held in San Andres. The drive from Canilla takes about 30-40 minutes. San Andres is a small pueblo of about 2,000 people. It has cobblestone streets and tightly stacked adobe houses. This last Sunday, we made a quick stop at Hogar de Vida, the children's home, to drop off Enrique for the day. Market day is also held on Sundays, so the streets are packed as we navigate our way through town to the clinic. This clinic is held in two small rooms of an apartment complex. As we pull into the walled courtyard, we see the patients lined up to be seen. About 80 numbers had been handed out when we arrived. By the end of the day, we had seen well over a hundred. Here is a picture I took when we arrived.


These young ladies serve as our Quiche translators during clinic. They all do an excellent job of translating and in helping to care for the patients.


Clinic starts off with the Leche(milk) patients first. Here is a picture of a young boy in line with his mother and younger sibling. Children are placed on the nutrition program when it is determined that a child is malnurished and underweight. Babies are given formula. Older kids are given powdered milk, protein drink, and vitamins.


Weights are monitored with every visit to track progress. Here is the same little boy up on the scale. There are currently about 100 kids in the nutrition program divided between the three clinics.


In addition to the Leche kids, the chronic hypertention and diabetic patients are seen prior to the other patients. Here is a picture of one of my favorite chronic patients. With the exception of missing a few fingers and his right eye, he looks pretty good at 77 years old. Between his thick salty accent, my limited Spanish, and his habit of changing around how he takes his hypertention medicine, our visits together have been entertaining to say the least.

Another patient this last week was an older woman with diabetes. She was feeling ill and after our medical consult, she asked me to pray for her. I asked her if it would be 'ok' if I prayed in English. She agreed and I took a few minutes out of our busy clinic day to pray with her.

The rest of clinic consisted mostly of ear infections and prenatal checks. A hundred patients made for a busy clinic day. After the last of the patients had been seen, we stopped to pick up Enrique. We drove home to again find the power was out. We got a bite to eat (by candle light), and had 'church' (using the generator to listen to the IHOP-KC church service with the Fickers via internet broadcast). A good end to a long day.

A Calf is Born!

We have had two busy days at the Children's Home and two busy days of clinic/school. We will post on those later! The more fun news is that a calf was born here yesterday. We didn't get to see the birth but when we went into the field, the calf was still laying down.


We watched her stand up for the first time on her wobbly legs.


We watched the mom clean the baby with her scratchy tongue.


We watched for a long time while the baby searched for her milk. She looked like she found it several times but she was only in the right location.


Even here she is close but is not suckling. We gave up and went back to finish school.


Later we found out that she did find the milk. The kids went out to pet her while they milked the mama in the early evening. They tied her legs together so that she would stand still. Once the milking was done and her legs were untied, she ran back to her baby. Our kids also ran, but away from the baby, as the mama was coming straight towards them!

November Newsletter

We went for a family walk this morning. On our walk, we took a picture for our November newsletter. Please visit our monthly newsletter blog to read our latest posting. Our walk today was again up the path of the canal. Our first picture is of the kids having a snack on a rock next to the canal. The second picture is of the spectacular views from our mountain walk.

Baby Update

Venuncio Enrique is still with us and doing great. We have been taking turns keeping him so that none of us gets overly tired. He is growing so much. The last time that we weighed him he was almost 10 pounds. We found out that he is only 3 months old so he is closer to the right size. He is very social and loves to be talked to and held. He is smiling and trying to laugh. The best news is that last night he slept 7 hours. We had decided to keep him until he sleeps through the night so that it will be easier for Oralia when he has to go back to the Home. Here are a couple pictures that we took of him.

He almost smiled for me in this one - I was trying really hard. This is the best I got.


Taking a little morning snooze!


We like to think that he is praying here - he very often has his hands together like this.


He is grabbing things and trying to get them into his mouth.


In other news, all four of our kids have ear infections and are on antibiotics. If you think of us, please pray for our health and for the antibiotics to start working. They have all had fevers and are just really worn out. We have not done school for over a week now.

The first night that we had a power outage (which we have not had any since we wrote about it in our blog!) we were outside when it went off and caught this picture of the sunset. The picture doesn't really do it justice but we thought we would share it anyway.

Sunday

The celebration for El Dia de los Muertos began at midnight in the cemetary. We woke up at 1 am to the sound of music and the sound of a loud motorcycle headed to the cemetary. When we woke up in the morning, they were lighting off the "bombas". They sound like what I imagine a cannon to sound like. We hear them often in San Andres when the brujos (witch doctors) are doing their sacrifices and ceremonies. They were lighting them off when we were at the Children's Home last Thursday in preparation of the weekend. There is an initial bang and then shortly after there is a much louder bang that you feel in your chest. The ones on Sunday morning in Canilla did not seem quite that loud but the dogs were not liking them at all.

We spent the morning packing up our picnic lunch and then at around 10 am or so we headed up to Chiminicijuan. It took us about an hour or so to drive up the mountain roads. Since the rains have stopped we were able to drive the entire way to the clinic building. The fire was started to get ready for lunch and also because it was very cold up there. (I know it is all relative - it is colder where most of you are than it was there!) Here is a picture of most of us huddled around the fireplace.


There is a swing hanging from the rafters so the kids kept warm by playing on that. This is Sylvia and Hannah.


After lunch we took a hike up the mountain. Once we reached the top - this was the view. You could see the entire valley where the ministry serves past the line of mountains. San Andres is to the left and Canilla is to the right.


After our hike, we returned to the clinic building and roasted marshmallows. We headed back down at around 5 pm and reached Canilla around dark. We met several truckloads of people headed back up the mountain - returning home after their day in Canilla for the celebration.

Power Outages

The last three nights the electricity has gone off at around 5 pm and then turned back on later (a couple nights at 10 pm and last night at around 8 pm). We have no idea why and are hoping it does not happen again tonight. The first time of cooking and eating and cleaning up by candlelight wasn't so bad. Here is a picture of us watching a movie on our tiny portable DVD player while we eat supper. The second picture is what it really looked like (without the camera flash!).





Today is "El Dia de los Muertos" or "Day of the Dead". The people of Canilla will actually "celebrate" in the cemetary tomorrow. We are planning a picnic in Chiminicijuan at the Ficker's clinic building/house for the day. It a tradition for the Ficker family and they have asked us to join them. Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures of the day!