LAST DAY !

Last day…..

Wow, I can’t believe were this week has gone.

Yesterday was spent mainly with the kids in the camp after running some errands in the city, taking back the 4x4 and checking for luggage at the airport. We were sad to see the kids go, but it was so great to be with them. Gaby and Alfredo will be leading their group in doing another week long camp in another community next week for 5 days, it is not as difficult trip as was to El Morro but it will mean they are away for the week. They do such a great job with the kids and each kid leaves excited about the hope that Jesus brings.

(vbs in a home in Lake Amatitlan)

I thought I’d blog a bit about the inner workings of things around here.

Sponsorship

If you have ever wondered how sponsorship works, well just ask me, not an expert yet but getting there. One thing I thought you should know is that the coordinators. Those that are in the individual communities, know the families and their needs and are the ones to reach out with the resources that are provided are not CH employees. Teen for example in El Morro is a full time overseer of the school there and at the same time spends time coordinating the sponsorship activities in the community. Teen and other coordinators in other communities receive a love gift once in a while for their service. They truly serve from a deep passion to see lives changed in their communities.

Travel to El Morro

I asked the overseer of the sponsorship program, Alfredo, how he gets to El Morro, did he have to rent a 4x4? No he doesn’t. When he goes to support the local sponsorship coordinator and community ( 3-4 times a year) he takes a series of busses from Guatemala to the place where the off roading starts. There at 1pm and only 1pm a 4x4 pick up truck comes by and for about 20Q (2 dollars usa) he takes whoever is there up the mountain with him. I’m told that this can be anywhere between 20 to 30 people, holding on to anything they can, and this would include everyone from the young to the elderly. Then, at around 6 am the next day is the only truck that is heading down the mountain in the same way. WoW!

Staff here at the CH Guatemala home

(Alfredo, getting ready to leave for our day in El Morro, and..... the van he is in was driven down by Rudy and his family from Elmira many years ago)

While in El Morro a small mud house was pointed out to me and I was told that it was the home of one of the CH staff at the house, Flores (sp?). Flores is 36 years old and has come to serve at the CH house. The house is a live in / live with model. Flores and others are here for 3 weeks then go home and visit for one week. So Flores takes that same trip home up the mountain as Alfredo does. But there is more going on here than a job. Flores gets paid a small amount, very small in compared to Canadian wages, but a significant help for her and her family, that see supports those back in El Morro with. And in addition she goes to school here in Guatemala on Saturdays (does her homework through the week) and is working hard on her education. So employment at this home is a kind of support as well.

(a house in El Morro, a very nice one! )

Water. Here at the CH home in Guatemala there is no hot water except for this contraption in the shower. It heats water at the source, if you only turn it on very slowly, too fast and the unit can’t keep up with heating the water. Now most of us in Canada would think that running electricity into the shower would be a bad idea, but apparently not here. My first experience with the thing, I reached up and tried to adjust a setting on it while in the shower and water running. YUP, you guessed it, I felt the strong tinkle of electricity run down my arm and into my body. Needless to say, I didn’t do that again.

(the hot water system in the shower)

This home is actually only supplied water by the city between 3 and 5 am. At that time the water store here fills up for use during the day.

Must go now! See you all back in Canada!