The City Dump

Another day. Another life. Another situation that is so hard to comprehend. The city dump.

As Joel took us to the National Cemetary, we were ovewhelmed both to the size of this place and the stench. I will confess, I've never been to a cemetary where vendors are selling food. Really. Who would have thought...but really, I've been hungry at the cemetary. The place really is huge. At lease 2 miles long, full of...you know...death. For the wealthier families, they buy land at the cemetary and build a mausoleum. But for the poor families, they get a place in a wall. A rented space. These families must pay a yearly fee to have their loved one there, if they do not pay for three years, the tomb is opened, the casket removed and broken and the body is thrown over the cliff into the dump.


The dump. Twenty thousand people live around and work in the dump. They are workers there...they must have ID badges. This became a new rule a few years ago when eight children were killed in a garbage slide. Children are no longer allowed in the dump, but all adults must have proper ID, just in case something happens and a body needs to be identified. And that something does happen. As bulldozers and pushing the garbage to the edge of a cliff, the workers and scrambling to keep looking for items they will be able to sale.

It is a very organized place. No one steals from another. This is their job. When a truck comes in...I think 12 workers put their hand on it. And that is their garbage, no else jumps in. Their circle of garbage is respected. They find plastic, glass, paper, really whatever we throw away, and they find a use for it. They resale it and that is how they make their money.

I aksed Joel, "Are they happy?" And Joel said, "Are you happy?" "Yes." This is their life. This is all they have known. This is where they grew up. This is what they learned to do from their parents. Do they know thier is something better? Sure. But they are content with what they have and thank God every day for providing their daily bread. I would never say that this is a place that anyone should work or live...but what has to change?

These are uneducated people. The change has to come to their children. Their children need to be educated. And in comes the organization Safe Passage. This school is built just outside the dump. Five hundred children attend and more are on a waiting list. To be in the program, parents much not use drugs or alcohol. Children must attend classes and homework must be turned it, signed. They check up on families to make sure they are following the rules...if they are not...the children are out.

It is a huge difference, this school from the rest of this world. If you look to one side of the road it is brown and dirty and void of color. When you look to the other side of the road it is vibrant with color, it is clean and there is grass.
Children are fed nutritious meals and the day we visited, they were giving haircuts. This next generation, going through Safe Passage, has a chance to change.

Safe Passage has also started a program for parents. Nutrition, parenting classes health and education. They found when kids brought their homework back it wasn't signed...it just had a thumb print on it because the mother's didn't know how to read or write. Most have no more than a 2nd grade education. So, Safe Passage started educating the mothers and teaching them skills. Jewelry making was what we saw (and bought). It is beautiful and for the first time these women are proud of what they do. Their jewelry is being sold downtown and they are being taught how to work in stores and how to use credit card machines. They are so excited to be paying taxes for the first time (can you imagine?). To be part of the program, they get to set up their own schedule and they must attend 75% of time. Fathers are also being educated in the evenings, although not as many. But...some are coming. Safe Passage is an incredible organization.

We also ate a meal with a dump family. Joel, a while back, went door to door in a neighborhood and asked if they could bring people to visit and bring a meal. This was the only family that said yes. They know that every Thursday they will have a hot meal and some good conversation. Marlee and I didn't say hardly a word...we were overwhelmed by the trash, the animals and the day old kittens somewhere beind us crying. There were no words. (By the way, the nieghbors are a little jealous now, seeing what they could have been given.)

Over all, the day was good. Difficult, but good. What I tried to show Marlee was that one person can make a difference. The woman who started Safe Passage, Hanley(?), had a vision. She saw that nothing would change unless she educated the next generation. One person changed the lives of countless more. And I looked at Marlee and I told her, "Just think what you could do? Let God use you to change the world."

Friends...it just takes a spark to start a fire. Don't fear it, embrace it. See what God can do with just one.

The Zone 7 Ghetto

Yesterday we went to the ghetto. It was different than what I expected. Although, to be honest, I don't know what I expected. On the outside it is dirty and in shambles...but the people of the ghetto were wonderful. I honestly think that if I was in need of a place to stay I would be at home.

Our day started with me being sick (again!). This happened on Sunday when we were suppose to go the ghetto. Joel said we could cancel, but I said no, we needed to go. I fully beleive that it was a spiritual force that was trying to keep us away from that place. I say that because of what happened to Marlee.


We delivered food baskets to three families. The first was at the top of ghetto and the last was at the bottom. The ghetto has been built on the side of a canyon. It was a very steep walk down very steep and high stairs.

This ghetto was built after the 1976 earthquake. Most of these families homes were destroyed in that earthquake and so they moved to this canyon and began building. But in a place where it rains a lot, what happens to the canyon walls? Mudslides. So the first family that we gave the food basket to is living in one room...because the rest of her home has been destroyed. When asked what she would like prayer for, she answered that God would provide medicine for her son and food for her family. She then knelt down on the floor, we put our hands on her and Joel and I prayed.

The second family had a newer home...because again...it had been destroyed. She had three children and her husband. When asked what they needed prayer for...enough money for school for the children (about Q30 a month) and for her husband to stop drinking. She knelt on the floor, I prayed and then Marlee prayed. This was when the change happened...this was what I think was being fought against. Marlee's prayer. Now, we pray at home around our family table after dinner every night. Marlee's prayers usually are, "Dear God, thank you for this day, please let tomorrow be nice." Every once in a while she adds in a little more, but this time she began praying for this person, for this family. That her husband would come home tonight and not be drinking, that her family would know that God loves them and will take care of them. That God would provide for them. Her prayer changed in that moment...and I don't think she'll ever be the same.


The third family was a very young family. She was 25, her husband was at work and she stayed home with their 4 year old son. Although the floor of thier home was dirt, it was immaculate. She had a lovely home. Again, her prayer needs were that her husband would continue to work and that she would find a job...and again, Marlee prayed for this person. That they would know the love of God everyday, that God would continue to provide for their needs and that her son would could go to school.

This was a good day. The ghetto was hard to see, yes, but the people were happy. They are hard workers and they trust God. Many people may look at the conditions and say, "They are lazy! They don't work!" But this simply is not true. They are a working class, living in poverty, and believing God will take care of them. And, in reality, He does. From the American stand point, we don't see it. But you will never hear these people complain. That is a lesson we, in the United States, need to learn.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about the City Dump. Tonight, I have to process it. I probably won't sleep because I will be thinking of all that I saw.

By the way, with a new president coming into office soon, it will become a reality that each family will have to pay Q125 per month, per child for school. When the average income of a gheto family is Q200-800 per month, how will they every put a child through school...let alone three? This country has a 60% illiteracy rate, with this law it will increase.

Good night friends. Be thankful.

A Day At Dorie's Promise

Yesterday was a nice day to relax and process all that we had seen the day before. We were able to talk to Joel about somethings we had questions about with the National Orphanage, help organize room in the guest house and play, play, play with the kids.

It was so sweet in the afternoon to find Marlee curled up in bed with Nayeli Soto, trying to get her down for her nap. Marlee is so good with the kids. She just gets right in there and plays with the little ones. Last night she helped give baths and ended up getting in a water fight with one of the special mothers. Marlee was talking about that when she woke up this morning.

Later in the afternoon we painted faces and put colored streaks in the kids' hair. Everyone had a really good time.


I spent most of the day in the baby house. Oh the babies. I just love to hold them. I helped feed them, change them, play with them, put them down for naps and bed time. And I just have to kiss them all...all the time! How I love them. I wish I could bring them home with me.


Today, we head to the ghetto. We will be delivering food baskets and donations. We will also be having a pinata party with the children. Marlee is so excited about that.

Until then...

The National Orphanage

When I asked Marlee what she wanted to say about the National Orphanage she said, "It was terrible. It made me feel sad. It was very dirty." She has summed up what we saw. It was a difficult place to be. It is a large facility, it looks like a prison, which can hold 800 kids. They have more than 900 now.

When we arrived with our cake to share with the special needs older children and adults there was a lot of excited screaming from the kids and we were trampled (in a good way) with hugs and kisses. Marlee and I painted the national flag on their faces (there were approximately 30), then helped them do worksheets and dot-to-dots (moving their pencils for them) and then we handed out the cake. And, oh, the smiles. But what we could not get over was the overwhelming smell. It hits you in the face when you get there and you just cannot get use to it. Lots of hugs and an hour later they were sent back to their house and we cleaned up and got ready for the teen mothers.

Teen mothers. Some just a couple years older than Marlee carried in with them thier babies, although some of them were pregnant. We had them make a journal (thank you Mary Kroll, we will never be able to understand how important this craft was to them) and also a little project with post-it notes. When we brought out the bling (diamond stickers) it was done. They let Marlee and I hold their babies so they could decorate their journals. We then handed out the baby clothes and blankets. We were hugged and kissed and overwhelmed with gratitude. We then followed them to their house...this was part of our tour. It was nice and we told them how beautiful they had made thier space. A goodbye of more hugs and kisses...and blessings on the babies...and then we headed to the special needs house.

This house we did not go in or stay long. Although, many of the women rushed out to hug us...some with open sores and bleeding, the smell was too overwhelming and turned our stomachs.

We said goodbye..more hugs...and then headed out of the housing compound to have lunch. We were then taken to to the special needs children's house. This one broke about broke us.

Many children, stuck in cribs. Joel said that they are maybe taken out of their cribs for 1/2 hour a day...but just put on the floor. There are not enough workers to play with them and touch them the way they need to touched. When we walked in it was Alan who broke my heart. Crippled from spinal bifida, he came army crawling across the floor (FAST!) calling out, "Mama! Mama!" He had the biggest smile I have ever seen and he just wanted to be picked up. I could not pick him up, but I got down on the floor to move him to sitting position and just put my hands on his face and started to talking to him (I know! I speak english, but sometimes it just doesn't matter, you just need to be acknowledged). I stayed with him a few minutes and then got up to go to each crib or bed to touch the children and pray over them. And that is what I did. Each child got a touch on the face or head, Marlee was little more apprehensive, which is just fine, this was a lot to take in. We spoke to each child and then it was time to go. Not long, but long enough to make us cry this next morning.

This morning, while Marlee and I were eating breakfast together, I said, "It's kind of nice that we get to stay here all day, isn't it?" And she replied, "It's nice not to have to worry about getting sick or being sad."

This place, Dorie's Promise, is such a loving environment. For these 40 kids, it makes all the difference in the world.

Guatemala

We've been here since yesterday morning. We have played with the kids, eaten interesting food (jellied bananas!) and already cleaned out our digestive tracks. I guess there is no honeymoon period when you're only in a place for a week.

This orphanage, Dorie's Promise, is a true blessing to these children. It is a small orphanage, with only 40 kids at max. They are loved, well cared for, played with, educated and taught about Jesus. Dorie, the woman who opened this home, promised to keep these kids safe. This orphanage is in a very wealthy part of town. There is a gated entrance to the district itself, the orphanage is gated and police patrol this area non stop. When she was asked why pay so much rent in this area...why not go somewhere cheaper...she answered, these are my children and I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. What would you do for your children? So here we are. And what will we do?

This organization is very involved in community outreach. Tomorrow we will head out to the national orphanage and do a craft with teen mothers. The national orphanage houses over 800 children. It is huge and in need of help. Dorie's Promise has taken kids off their hands when needed. By the way, international adoption was banned in 2007. There are more Guatemalan families adopting, but it is a subject that is not talked about or well accepted. But it is getting better.

This week will be also heading to the dump and ghetto. I'll tell you about that later.

Our new friend and leader, Joel, did a devotion with us today. And one thing really stuck out to me. There are millions of Christians in the world...but only you two are here this week. God has called you, out of all those people, it must be something incredible that is going to happen.

Please, please keep praying!