A Day at Little Hands of Hope

It has been a busy week, but it's been a good one. Sometimes it feels like there's not even time to think, but there's always time for lots of laughter and hugs from the kids. A wonderful friend of mine suggested that I write a little about how the day goes here in Meanguera at Little Hands of Hope. So here goes!

My day starts at 5 (a lot of the women in Meanguera are already up and on their way to the mill) and the first thing I do is wash the corn. It is cooked the day before in lime and it soaks in its liquid until the next day. The lime and liquid and the bugs need to be washed away. :) I am very excited because we now have a hand mill so I don't have to wait in line at the mill in town! Once I have the corn washed, I take it outside to the hand mill to grind it. It probably takes about 15 minutes to grind the corn in the mill. I set the dough aside for Gloria to knead and pass over the stone to make tortillas when she comes later in the morning. Then it's time for me to eat, wash the dishes, shower, sweep, and set up the tables for the kids. The day for the children is set to start at 8am, but they almost always come earlier. Sometimes they are here before 7am. :)

Stone used to pass over the corn masa to prepare for  making tortillas. 

The hand mill!

The masa (dough) coming out of the mill. 

The corn cooked and soaking before it is washed and milled for tortillas.

The best part of the day is when the children start to arrive and I get to play with them, laugh with them, hug them, and love them. As the children trickle in, Gloria and Matia are close behind them. There is a lot of making things out of play doh, building things with blocks and duplos, and toy cars. Matia and I are always laughing at the silly antics or funny things the kids say at this time and Gloria likes to come out and catch some of the fun when she can. Rosme will usually get mad at someone for "fighting with him" and Olman will usually manage to fall over without anyone touching him. Anderson will start clamoring that he's hungry and Dayana and Lorena will usually get jealous over our attention. Ezequiel will usually try to take someone's toys several times and pretend like he doesn't hear when we tell him he has to share. Josue will work very quietly on whatever he is doing and randomly insert a comment about whatever is going on at the time. There is always something with a bunch of 3 year olds, but we have an awesome time and we get lots of hugs, smart comments and questions, and overall just have fun being together. When I get frustrated with the kids acting up, I start to think how God must feel about us adults when we act up. :) He shows us so much mercy and grace and sometimes we are worse than the 3 year olds!

Usually a little before 9, we all wash our hands and have a yummy snack that Gloria has prepared for us. The children are usually pretty hungry by this time. Some of them have been up since 6am and walked several miles just to be there! After snack, we practice English. It is hard with little kids because there is hardly any such thing as sitting still with 3 year olds. Josue is the most focused, but he is the oldest. They love to sing "If You're Happy and You Know It." "Head and Shoulders" is also very popular. They make me laugh because I always start out by asking them if they are ready to practice English and they all repeat back, "Are you ready?  Are you ready?" They are certainly good at repeating the words right now. :)

Attempting to practice English. The flash cards are very exciting. From left Josue, Ezequiel, Anderson and Lorena (on my lap), and the back of Rosme. :)

After English, we play ball, give piggy back rides, have races, or whatever kind of game we feel like that day. A little after 10 it's time to go inside and try to rest for a bit. Some of the very little ones are starting to get tired and just want to sit in our laps at this point. Sometimes resting is just a thought and the kids come in giggling and wrapping Matia and each other up in blankets, playing chase, or whatever comes to their mind. At this point, we try to settle them down and share a Bible story with them and try to teach them about God's love. They love the felt figures, but it is hard to tell right now how much they are understanding and there are some days when it's hard to tell if they even paid any attention. :) Olman usually roams around during this whole process and we have to keep him busy to keep him from running into another child or getting into something he shouldn't. :) Ezequiel is easily distracted and Josue answers all the questions from stories from days back. It is a little comical. God knows what He is working in their hearts. After our story, we practice our Bible verses. They are all very good about their Bible verses (a little piece of candy goes a long way!). 

Olman, Ezequiel, Josue, and Lorena (back) playing a game they made up all on their own. :)

After the Bible verses, it is time to color. They love to color and make up all kinds of things. Matia and I have to draw a lot of cars, houses, and flowers. Matia is famous among the children for drawing roses and buses and they usually squeal with excitement when he's finished and take their picture around to show everyone else. Olman is usually the first one finished coloring and he likes to eat and is ready to get right to it. Sometimes, we will sing or play a little game, but a lot of times lunch is more urgent to the children. :) They all wash their hands, pray, and eat. As we are coloring, some of the older children start to show up and wait outside the gate, calling at us to let them in. Sometimes they are out really early from class. Once we are ready to eat, they join us.

Some of the children eating lunch. 

After lunch, the little children start to leave and a few more older children come in. The play doh, blocks, cars, puzzles, and toys all come out again. There are usually quite a few more children in the afternoon and they are much louder than the younger ones. Matia and I spend a lot of time mediating fights between the girls and trying to teach them how to share. The boys have less of a problem with this. :) Kember, Gerson, and Ariel will usually stare quietly for a couple of minutes and then join in the fun. I don't think they get a lot of interaction from others outside of the center and they don't really always know what to do with themselves. William and Guillermo will usually start a building project with the blocks or play doh. Cesia, Delmy, and Rosmeri like to form their own group and create works of art with play doh admist a lot of disagreements. Keyla will play quietly with Verenisse who proudly displays everything that she makes. Johanna will very loudly pipe up with whatever comment she has at the moment. Iseyda likes to make herself jewelry out of the play doh and Erika will go back and forth between playing with Kember and Gerson and the girls. Erika plays very well with everyone for a little while, but she has to fight over a toy or play doh at least once before she goes home. :)

Ariel (left) and Kember coloring. Erika is in the background.

Once we have had a chance to play, we talk about a Bible story. The children are all pretty good at listening and asking questions and get very excited about a story that they can remember from before. After the story, we practice our Bible verses. They are a very smart group when it comes to their Bible verses. Then it's time to color. Matia is again in high demand for his artwork. They all have a wonderful imaginations and love to show off what they draw. It is hard to pull the kids away from drawing, but once we do, they are practicing English with all they have. They like to repeat everything like a bunch of little parrots - it's very comical sometimes! Some of the kids are shy, but most of them will say anything without any shame. We always laugh a lot when we practice English. After English, we sometimes have a few minutes to sing, but then it is time for the children to go home. 

Cesia (left), Delmy (Center), and Rosmer very seriously working on their play doh operations.

Gloria leaves after the children with her son, William. After all the constant activity, it suddenly feels very quiet. Matia and I clean up the mess and start working on the administrative side of Little Hands of Hope. Sometimes, I head to church for one of the services that they have during the week and sometimes there is too much to do. Sometimes, the neighbors pop in and out just to say hi or to visit for a little bit. Once we have things wrapped up, it's time for dinner. Then I start cooking the corn for the next day and start preparing the lessons for the next day. I like to think back on the day when it's quiet and think about the best ways to help each child. It is hard to keep up with all of them sometimes, but I pray that God will work in the hearts of each one of these children and their families. I'm usually more than ready for bed by the time I get in it! It is a joy to work with these children and I love every one of them. 

Keep us in your prayers! Thank you for always supporting us with your prayers, words, and finances. This would not be possible without you and these children need to be loved and fed and to hear about the hope they have in Jesus. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to Me." Matt. 25:35-36

I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about a typical day at Little Hands of Hope and I have not bored you with too long of a post! You all are a huge encouragement and blessing to me!

Settling Into a Routine

Some of the children eating lunch.

We are starting to settle into more of a routine here now. Gloria, Matia, and I are working well together and enjoying getting to know the children more. The children know what is going to happen and who we are and we know how to get ready for them now. :) The number of children that show up is what varies all the time. We had such a fun day today partly because the children are more comfortable with us now. It was just so much fun to be with them. Each one of them has something that just makes me laugh.

Hanging out with Rosme. He is the funniest little guy! He was  being grumpy, but he wanted to be held. 

Matia hanging out with Ezequiel. 

Gerson, Kember, and Ariel came back yesterday and it struck me again how eager they were to eat. Gerson's biggest concern was lunch and then he saw his brother outside and cried to go home. He did stay today though and enjoyed himself. Gerson, Kember, and Ariel have only recently started coming to the center and are still very shy, but they are starting to come out of their shells. Kember is a little more adjusted since he already knows me from before. Apparently he fights a lot at school, but he's been really good here so far. Kember is another one of the children that doesn't have a father in his life and his mother lived far away for the first 4 years or so of his life. He and his cousins really tug at my heart. I hope that we can help them.

I just like this picture of Olman. He's very serious about eating. :)

Gissel - she was very upset about something that I can't remember right now.

Gissel hasn't come the last couple of days. She went home crying very early the last two days that she was here. I think it's becuase her sister likes to hang around in sight after she drops her off. I am hoping that we will be able to try again and make sure her sister drops her off quickly and heads home. We will see. Please pray that Gissel will be able to come back happily if this is where God wants her to be. 

Matia and I both managed to pick up a cold from the children at the same time, so we were a little worn out today, but we always have fun with the children. It is fun to see their different personalities and how they interact with each other and with us. We miss our difficult children when they don't come. It's funny how we get attached to them. 

Keep us in your prayers and thank you so much for your support and encouragement!

I've Been Adopted :)

I think I was officially adopted by Olman today. He started to call me "mommy" today. I'm not sure where that came from, but it sure melted my heart. He had a good day with us today. I think that sometimes he comes hungry because today I fed him when he came in because he seemed hungry and he wasn't as fussy today. :) We still have to keep him very busy; he is nonstop! He helped me teach the colors in English today. He brought the blocks of each color to each kid and touched them with it. I guess he thought that would be the most effective way for them to learn. The other kids were not quite sure what to make of it. Olman also helped Matia and me clean up today after the rest of the kids left. He loves playing in water and he helped me wash the dishes and helped Matia mop the floor. He's a fun little kid. He was the last kid at the center today since his family forgot to stop by and pick him up. When we finished cleaning, I walked into another room for a few minutes and Olman looked at Matia and said, "Mommy? Mommy left!" Now what am I supposed to do with that? Maybe his family will let me keep him. :)

Olman helping me wash the dishes. 

Olman helping us mop the floor. :)

 There was some confusion with the schedule with the younger children Friday and today, so we had less children than usual, but it worked out well in the end. Gloria was not able to make it today and her replacement was sick this morning. We managed to make it work since I had some pupusa fixings and we had so few children. Matia took care of the kids while I made lunch. :) Olman came in the kitchen to ask for "tortillas" and then "helped" me wash the dishes. 

Kember (left) and Gerson. They are cousins. 

Josue (left) and Gerson. Gerson is also cousin to Ariel and Kember.

We have a lot of children in the afternoon. Matia and I are trying to decide our limit and I think we've reached it at 15 right now. I had a few new ones show up on Thursday that I didn't even know were interested. I couldn't turn them away because they come from very poor families and from what I hear from the people that know them, it is good for them to be with us. I had Kember (some of you may remember him from the last time I worked with the kids in Meanguera) and 2 of his cousins on Thursday afternoon - Gerson and Ariel. All three come from very poor families and it made me ache to see them eat. They ate every last drop and Gerson even finished someone else's plate that didn't want the rest. He waited until he thought I wasn't looking. Ariel seemed completely shocked by everything. He pretty much just sat there with his finger in his mouth the whole time. He must be about 6 years old and when we got the crayons out, he had no idea what to do with them. Once he figured it out, he thought it was great fun!

The children in the afternoon are always very interested in the Bible lessons and I am praying that God will touch there hearts. There are a lot of children with a lot of hurt and issues that we don't see on the outside. Kember is one that always seems to have a lot pent up inside. I hope that they will learn to know Christ's love and cling to Him in the difficulties. They are so little to have such hard times!

I still want to tell you all about each one of the children that come here and I will take some time to sit down and do that one day soon. Right now it's time to get ready for bed so I can get up and mill the corn tomorrow.  Please pass this information on if you know anyone who would like to sponsor a child or support Little Hands of Hope monthly. We have a lot of children like Kember, Ariel, and Gerson that I don't want to turn away, but we are working on a tight budget right now. Keep us in your prayers - the children, Gloria, Matia, and I all need prayer. I treasure your prayers more than anything else!

A Busy Day!

Well we had a busy day today. The school schedule is very different here and we had children showing up all day. We are going to have to figure out the best way to work the schedule or I'm going to have to learn how to go with the flow more like the Salvadorans. The children still haven't learned how to do that yet though and that is part of the problem. :) The Kindergarten is out at about 10:30 and a few of them show up while we are still working with the younger children. It's hard to keep the younger children on track this way. The children in first or second grade usually get out early and come at 11:30. I make them wait until I've fed the younger ones so they can eat in peace.

The afternoon group, hard at work on a craft.

One of the little girls bit me today. I guess that's part of working with 3 year olds. Gissel is quite a handful and some days she has an invisible switch that gets turned on and she can't seem to handle herself. I was glad she bit me today instead of one of the children (yes, she's done that before). Gissel is very spoiled which is part of her problem, but sometimes her older sister drops her off and likes to hand around for a while and that seems to put an end to Gissel's good behavior. We are going to try this without the older sister from now on. :)  When she's in a good mood, Gissel loves to share, talk, play, and help. She's very smart which can sometimes be her downfall. She really is fun despite her difficult temper. The church has an outing scheduled to the beach this Sunday and Gissel's family was invited. She is very excited that Matia and I will be going and can't wait to play. 

Gissel being angry today.  I showed her a video of herself so she would know what she looked like when she has a fit. :)

Olman has been doing better. There is still a lot of ground to cover, but I'm encouraged by what I see from him. He actually let me hold him for a little bit today and sought me out a couple of times to talk to me and to play. He even came over once for me to pick him up! Yesterday, he brought his table with his food over to me so that I could help him eat. :) He really is a sweet kid, but I think he has so much going on. He is very fussy and his skin is unhealthy. I'm a little concerned that something is making him uncomfortable - an allergy, malnutrition, or something - and that is why he is so fussy. He comes in a very good mood, but he fusses at the drop of a hat. I think he's starting to steal my heart though. He has such a funny way of playing and communicating! He loves playing with cars as always and always wants one in his hand no matter what. 

Olman, sitting in my lap!



Please keep us in your prayers and pray for wisdom in dealing with Olman and Gissel and all of these precious children. I think I had about 22 children today with the afternoon and morning children counted together.  I will sit down and tell you about each one of them soon. Right now I need to go finish cooking the beans and wash the dishes so I  can finish preparing the lesson for tomorrow. Oh yes, and figure out how to get the big red ants out of my kitchen - praise God that ants don't like peppermint! Thank you all for your support. You all are the tools God is using to make this happen and these children need it!

The People Who Help Me

Yesterday elections were held here for the mayor and the senators. It's very different from the US. A lot of people here don't know how to read and write, so they mark the picture of the candidates and the flags of their political parties. The poles closed at 5pm and then most of the town gathered outside the school here where the voting was held and waited for the news of who won. I had to prepare for the kids this morning and for getting up at 5am and so I didn't wait up with them. There were a lot of cars going back and forth - not normal for this small town. Their was a lot of shouting. Mirian (my neighbor) was very worried about me being outside in case a fight broke out. Thankfully, there were no fights, but it they did get to shouting excitedly a couple of times. I slept pretty soundly through most of it. :)

Rosme - he's such a funny little guy!

We had a quiet day with the kids today. School was cancelled because they were putting the classrooms back in order after the election. A lot of people were up late last night and so didn't bother to bring the children today, especially since the other children were home. :) We still had 6 children this morning and 1 lone child this afternoon. It was so much fun to hang out with a small group of kids though. They were very funny today. Anderson and Rosme were particularly enthusiastic about English and reciting the Bible verse today. They were so funny to watch. Rosme is the youngest I have - not yet 3 and he very excitedly shouted out English words today. We worked on colors and he loved saying "yellow!" I went on to blue and he kept shouting, "No, yellow!" They loved the Bible story today. Sometimes I wonder if they are even listening, but today when I asked them about what they remembered from last week, Anderson shouted out, "Adán y Eva!" which means "Adam and Eve!" :) I was encouraged. 

Anderson pouting because we won't let him fight over the balls. :)

The children are just full of all kinds of fun and keep us laughing all day! They definitely keep us on our toes as well, but we love every minute of it! I want to tell you all a little bit about the people working with me. Gloria cooks for the children. She prepares a snack in the morning and then lunch. She makes the tortillas with the masa that I bring back from the mill every morning. Gloria is married and has a girl who is 9 (I can't remember or even spell her name right now - it is very different) and a boy who is 7. The boy's name is William and he will be coming to the center for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The children are very sweet and Gloria's husband, Tonio, is a carpenter. He made the table that I have in my kitchen right now. Gloria is a good cook and she's really good with the kids. She's always making sure they fill those little tummies as full as she can get them. Gloria joins in the fun with the kids whenever she's not busy in the kitchen. :)

Gloria helping Rosme finish his snack. 

Matia is the one who helps me with the children. He also helps me with the finances, grocery shopping (I think I would get lost in Gotera without him :), setting up phones and internet, bringing in children, and cultural concerns among many other things. Ah yes, and he rescues me from scorpions. :) Matia speaks and reads and writes English very well. He helps teach the lessons to the children and is very good with them all and especially the difficult ones that are higher maintenance. He is on top of all of their tricks. ;) Matia also has experience in teaching, accounting, and knows practically everyone in Meanguera. He has been a huge help. It has been fun working with both Matia and Gloria because they both love the children so much. 

Matia with Olman, one of our more difficult cases. :)

Celso usually takes me to Gotera once a week to buy food for the children. Gotera is where the market is and where the biggest grocery stores are in Morazán. Pastor Roman has also been a huge help and is always available whenever we need him. Mirian, Sara, and Chila who live across the street always save me a spot in line at the mill and help me when it's my turn to mill. I could be here all day talking about people who help me! Everyone pitches in and keeps an eye on me. :)

We are working on getting an area set up outside the house with a fireplace, a mill, and a stone for making tortillas. Cooking corn takes up a lot of gas from the stove and cooking it over a fire is much quicker. I usually have to wait in line for a while at the mill in the morning, so we bought a hand mill. I think the tortillas taste better coming from th hand mill too. I'm starting to get finesse with my taste in tortillas, haha. They are not all made the same! I will take a picture for you all when it is set up so you can see the mill and the stone and how it works. It is a very neat process and each step has a distinct purpose. I'm still learning all the details to cooking the corn - there is always so much to learn! 

Keep us in your prayers!  Pray that God will work in the hearts of these little children. These children need to know Christ's love. There is a lack of love and affection in many of their homes. I'll tell you more about them later! Thank you all so much for your support and your encouragement! You all are a special gift from God to me. :)

They are Precious!

Mauricio - I love his little smile. :)

We have really been enjoying the children this week. I think Gloria, Matia, and I are all tired when the children head out after lunch - they keep us busy, but it's worth it! Some of these children have some really sad circumstances. Mauricio (in the picture above) lives with his aunt right now. His mother works far away and isn't home much. I don't think his father is around at all. Mauricio has such a sweet little smile though and he loves to be held. He has to show us every little thing that he does and his whole face lights up when he gets excited about something.

Some of these children are really walking a long way to come to the center. We do not have enough money to pick them up and drop them off back home yet. These little 3 and 4 year olds are walking about 30-45 minutes one way! Poor little Jonathan is probably about 40 minutes away and he walked all that way yesterday with a 101 fever! Jonathan's father is not around and his mother takes care of him all on her own. I think that she sometimes just really doesn't know what to do with him. It takes so much effort to get a smile out of Jonathan. I finally got a smile today when we played ball for a little bit. I think he is still a little overwhelmed by all the newness of what we are doing. When we feed him, he eats like there might not be any tomorrow. His family is very poor, so that's probably a reality for him.

Jonathan - he fell asleep in my arms. The poor little man was not feeling good that day.

I have a lot of things to tell you all, but I need to go finish cooking the corn and preparing the lesson for the kids tomorrow. Keep praying for us all. One of the new little boys that I have - Olman - is a particularly hard case. He also has no father in his life and his mother is very young and has another little one at home. He seems to have a hard time understanding us and doesn't speak very well yet. He's also very rough with pretty much everything. I'm not sure all that is going on there, but I would really appreciate prayer for the challenge that he brings us and for him to experience Christ's love through us. 

Olman - he's always wants to have a car!

The Fun Has Begun!

We've been having a fun week! As much as I feel at home here in Meanguera, there are still a lot of new things for me, but it's been fun to learn. I get up at 5am to go to the mill so we can make tortillas. I'm still not used to the disc that swirls in the middle of the mill and I'm not brave enough yet to stick my fingers in it like everyone else does. I haven't figured out whether or not I will lose my finger if I try it, but they don't seem to have any trouble.

I had a fun experience with a scorpion in my suitcase a couple of days ago. I wasn't quite ready to do battle with a scorpion by myself yet, and like any good girl, I called Matia to come and get it for me. :) 

We have a very fun group of children right now! They usually start showing up about 7:30 and are here until about 12pm. Right now, we have only started with the children who are 3-5 years old and are not going to school. Next week, we will have some children, 5-7years old, in the afternoon for a couple of hours. The group we have right now is a little shy. They are not ready to really sing yet. They just look at me and giggle, but I think they will start coming around soon. A few of them actually spoke some English words today! At first they were too shy to try. Anderson is particularly good at saying the Bible verse. :) 

Ezequiel, he's a very serious and shy little guy, but he's always enjoying himself..

The children have been very good so far. I think they will be more of a handful later on when they shyness goes away. Right now we have 8 who are really enjoying the center. One child never came and another little girl's mother didn't want to leave her daughter crying. :) Pray for these children - Anderson, Josue, Jonathan, Gissel, Dayana, Rosme, Ezequiel, and Lorena. I'm really enjoying all their different personalities and I will be telling you all more about them soon!

Dayana having snack with Matia. 

We are just a little unsure about singing here. 

Anderson - he never misses a beat!

In El Salvador

It's late and I'm pretty beat today, so this is going to be short. I'll write more later. I have been back and forth and everywhere since I got here to get things set up - furnishing the house, buying supplies, talking to children's families, finding employees. Matia has been wonderful and has gone with me everywhere and helped me do everything that needed to be done. We will start having children come on Monday. They are all very excited, parents included! I can't wait to get to know them and see how we can help them. I've added some pictures of some of them below. Pray that these children will know God's love and pray for wisdom for me and the staff. Good night for now!

Ezekiel. He's a little shy. 

Gerson (front) and Anderson (back). Anderson will be coming to the center and is very excited!