Bridging the Gap

 This past week I called upon past experience to build a bridge over the small creek that runs through our property. When I was in my early twenties I worked on a crew that built and maintained bridges. So, along with that and all the concrete work I have done in Canada, we (myself and crew of 5 hardworking Guatemalans) formed and poured concrete to create a small bridge...all by hand!

 There is something fulfilling about working alongside other men to see a task completed.  I know, it’s a guy thing but hey I am a guy so I guess that is just part of being a guy.

 I thought of how the Lord has given Karren and me the chance to work beside these Quekchi people in Guatemala to help bridge the gap between those that have and those that do not. We have been given a heart that compels us to do what we can; to be of help to those less fortunate and to be an expression of God’s love here. Strange as it sounds, that is what motivates us to get up in the morning and listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit that God has placed in our hearts. Every day we are aware of our dependency on Him to speak to us and those in North America to help ease the burden and bring a message of freedom and hope to those who are unaware of the grace and love of the One who gave His life for them. We press on with the work here knowing that our brothers and sisters in Canada and the US will listen and heed the voice of the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:16  From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its [share].

We all have an opportunity to share in whatever way we can. Here in Guatemala we are blessed to be in a place where we can bridge the gap between the Church here and the Church in North America. Those of you who are able to share in our work here can know that we consider it an honour to extend your hands here to help the less fortunate.

As many of you know we are entering a building phase and we hope that you will join us both financially and in prayer.  With the completion of the bridge we now have access to our building site. We will start by building a shop area with an apartment above where we can live in. After that, we will move on to the training center and children’s home. Help us bridge the gap!

Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for your generous support! 

God Orders Our Steps

 Alta Verapaz, where we live and work, has some staggering statistics.  The average daily wage is about $6 to $7, if they have work at all.  Over 60% of the population live below the poverty line which is set at $2.50 per day.  Only 15% of the population finish elementary school and the majority of the population is illiterate. 

If that isn’t overwhelming enough, over 50% of the indigenous children under the age of 5 are malnourished and amongst children, the main causes of death are diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition. 

This past week the problem of malnutrition has been front and center.  Within a span of a few days I encountered 3 babies who are severely malnourished.  I don’t mean underweight…I mean skin and bones. 

The first was in the Health Clinic.  I blogged about her already – the nameless one – but sadly the saga continues.  The family brought her into the clinic, but the clinic has very little they can offer this baby.  At 4 months of age, she weighed only 4 pounds.  The nurses gave the baby some antibiotics for an infection and 1 can of formula.  The care of the baby is up to the parents.  The child has not been weighed nor has her food been monitored since arriving.  She is not doing well.  I have been visiting every day and thanks to some of you and your generous donations, have been able to supplement the formula, buy diapers, clothes, blankets and purified water so they can use clean water to mix up the formula.  The sad reality in this situation is that the mother of this tiny little one doesn’t want her child.  The clinic will be sending the baby to a hospital in San Cristobal for severely malnourished children and the mom will not be going with the baby.  I don’t understand this situation, and honestly I don’t know how to process it all, but my heart breaks for this little baby who is unwanted and in really rough shape.

The third day I was in visiting this little one, another mother from the same community had arrived with her baby, also malnourished.  Her little boy is 5 months old, 8 pounds and has a cleft palate and lip.  He is struggling to feed.  The mom started out nursing but the baby couldn’t latch on well and so the family started giving him a bottle.  They would sometimes have enough money to buy formula and when they didn’t have formula they gave him warm water with corn mush mixed in.  She came to the clinic to ask for help.  I left her a can of formula and told her I’d be back the following afternoon to see how they were doing.    

The next morning we were in Coban, and ran into friends of ours – John and Donna Reynolds – missionaries in San Cristobal.  I mentioned to them about the babies, specifically the little guy with the cleft palate.  They” just happened” to know a man who organizes medical teams to do cleft palate surgeries in Alta Verapaz and had his phone number.  I called him right away and he “just happened to be in our area” and got baby Edy on the list for surgery in May.  Now we need to fatten him up so he is strong enough to survive the operation and recovery time.  Again, thanks to the responses that I received from a Facebook post, I have enough funds to buy formula for Edy, too, while he recovers his weight and prepares for the operation.  When I told the mom that her little boy was going to get the help he needed, she was overwhelmed! 

When we were in Coban, I also picked up some medicine that can help nursing moms increase their milk.  I wanted to try it with the mother of the first malnourished baby, but she isn’t interested in trying anything, so I had the medicine in my purse.  I actually forgot it was in there, until this afternoon.  We were out at a birthday party for the 8 year old daughter of one of the guys who has been working out on our property. 

While we were there, a young mom came in with a tiny baby.  I asked how old the baby was and they said 2 months, but she wasn’t growing.  I started talking to the mom and found out that she doesn’t have much milk and the baby was already showing signs of serious malnutrition.  I remembered about the medicine in my bag.  I talked about some of the basics with respect to breast feeding and then specifically about the medication and I am hopeful this will help. 

I love how God orders our steps.  With each one of the above situations we were in the right place at the right time in order to help.  I am thankful that He is ordering your steps, too, and nudges hearts to give so that we can help these little ones who have no voice.              

Four Months Old and Only Four Pounds!

Not too many days pass without someone coming to the door asking for help.  Sometimes they are looking for work; sometimes medicine; sometimes food.  But today they were looking for help.
A man from an aldea (small village) where Rocky has shown the Jesus film came asking for our help.  He told us about a couple from his community who brought their baby into the Centro de Salud (Health Center) yesterday.  He didn't seem to know what the problem was nor did he think the couple knew, but the health workers were not letting them take the baby home.  He thought maybe the baby needed an operation and would have to go to San Cristobal.
Whenever I hear of a sick child, my heart aches.  I cannot think of a time when it is not right to help a child...so off we went to the Centro de Salud to see if we could figure out what was going on.  
When we arrived, I went to the office where I know a few of the ladies and asked if they knew anything about the baby who was admitted yesterday.  Right away they knew who I was referring to.  One of the women said to follow her and she took us in to see the baby and her dad.  I was shocked.  I don't think you ever get used to seeing severe malnutrition.
Laying on the bed was a tiny skeletal baby.  The health care worker proceeded to explain that the parents brought the baby in yesterday and she was despondent.  At four months of age, she weighed only 4 pounds.  She had pneumonia and was severely malnourished and dehydrated.  They put her on fluids and antibiotics and started giving her formula.  Apparently the mom hardly had any milk and so the child was slowly starving to death.
Now, the problem was how to continue providing formula for the baby (she is four months old and has not been given a name).  The clinic can provide one can of formula, but the family has to provide the next can.  They can alternate like this, but cannot provide all the formula for a family because they simply don't have enough. And...the baby can only stay in the clinic until it shows signs of recovery.  Then she has to return home with the parents who then are on their own to buy the formula.  

Now I have to rant a little...To buy a can of formula is completely out of reach for the average person here.  One can that lasts 3 days costs Q65 - more than a man earns in a full day of work.  3 days of work would provide milk for a week.  The average man in the aldeas around Chisec doesn't have regular work, so how is he supposed to buy this milk and provide for the rest of his family? Ugh!   

The health care workers shared that there is a program in San Cristobal where they take severely malnourished babies/children and nurse them back to health. The baby has to first get rid of her pneumonia before she can go to San Cristobal, but once there, the family doesn't have to pay for anything.  The challenge, although, is to convince the parents that it is the best thing for their child to go.  That is tough because what parents want to be separated from the child, even if it is only for a short time?
So, what do we do?  How can we help?  We can pray...which we did...and we can buy formula.  And, we can return and continue to monitor the progress of this nameless little one and trust the Lord to work out the details.      

The Real Work Begins!

This week, Rocky, along with 11 guys, started building the entrance and road onto our property in Canruja (just outside of Chisec).  It is super exciting to see this work begin in earnest!

Building a road would go a lot quicker if we used big machinery, but Rocky and I talked a lot about our purpose here, and we agreed that if it was possible to do the work by hand and provide jobs for local men, that was what we were going to do.  Hence, the crew of 11 guys!

Although it will take more time, the cost will probably be less and, more importantly, we will have the opportunity to build relationships with those who are working and give them an opportunity to provide for their families.  As far as we are concerned, it is a "win win" situation.

We are blessed to have German working as the "foreman" of the job.  He is the man who works on the projects for teams, but because there are no projects at the moment that need his attention, we are able to provide work for him here and benefit from his talent and expertise.  He is a wonderful help to Rocky and I know Rocky appreciates being able to discuss ideas and options with him.

The work started with the construction of a storage shed and outhouse.  You need to have somewhere to store the shovels and wheelbarrows and somewhere to...well, you know!  Right now, the guys are removing fill from the area where we will, in the future, build the classroom for the training center, and using it to fill in the area between the asphalt road and the creek, bringing the level up to meet the road.

Yesterday, two loads of rock were delivered to spread out on top of the dirt and begin to create the base for the road. On top of that they will put a  layer of crushed rock.  This should provide us with a stable, solid road.

Rocky is going to build a small bridge to cross the creek, and then continue the road on the other side.

There is a lot of work to do here, but we are so excited to begin.  God has given us a big vision for the future, and we are taking another step towards it!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!  We know we are not in this adventure alone, but have a small army behind us and for that we are so thankful.

Thank you, also, to those who have supported this work, financially.  You make it all possible!

If you would like to contribute, go to www.ctenc.ca/karrenchupa/ and follow the instructions.

Blessings!

Using the Library - What Fun!

For the past month I have been spending time at Colegio Galilea teaching the teachers and students about the library.  Right now the library is super tiny, but it is a beginning and some books are better than no books at all.  

As an educator, it was difficult to understand how the students could receive a full and complete education without a library.  I know they can do research on the internet (that is if they have access to a computer and then the internet)…but to hold a book; turn its pages; read its words; look at its pictures; choose what to read and what to pass by…this is a vital part of an education. 

So, today I got to spend an hour with the grade 2 class, teaching them about books in general and then how to use an encyclopedia.  What a joy!  Our task was to “hunt” for an animal in our encyclopaedias.  We had great fun discovering all of the wonderful things that each volume of the encyclopedia contains.  They were so fascinated with all that they saw, it was difficult for them to choose just one thing to focus on. 

By the end of the hour, all the students had completed their assignment, but more importantly, they had discovered how much fun looking through a book can be. 

I hope to have many more opportunities to teach staff and students alike and pray that as the year passes, the library will grow and become a vital part of every student’s education at Colegio Galilea. 

If you share my love for books and reading and would like to contribute to the library, you can do so by either sending books (Spanish) with a group who is coming our way or by giving a financial donation to purchase books here.  Message me and I can give you the details on how to help grow the library.