Friday, July 11, 2008

brief update

Wll I haven`t mentioned yet anything about the Goodwood team. They arrived late in the night (around 1am by my understanding) on Tuesday night. We met some Wednesday morning down at the school. One being Bobby who is a pediatric Occupational therapist. He asked about the `orphanage' and if there was any work for him to do there....ha ha! he´s been swamped with work ever since. I called the missionary at the hogar (FYI not an orphanage any more...used to me years ago, but now is a preschool and a social services type agency that works in the homes of special needs children...a much needed ministry in this area) and he was thrilled, and immediately lined up a time for Bobby to come that afternoon to meet some of the kids they work with.
Thad went along to help him get there and introduce him. They had an extremely productive afternoon. There is one little boy with cerebal palsy whose Mom dug a hole for him to stand in. He has no muscle mass and so he can not support himself. his Mother dug a hole that when he is placed inside, comes to his chest with his arms able to come out on the sides. It is just wide enough for him with no give. If you see it (I will try to get a picture) you would probably think it was horrid, however it is evidence of a loving Mother trying to help her son in the only way she knows how. Soon this little boy will have a wheelchair and bobby has Thad and I working sewing some tubes to fill with sand so that he can be positioned when laying down or sitting.
They also worked with a little girl who has one leg that is shorter than the other. They way she walked attempting to comensate will mean that she will do severe damage to her ankles, etc before long. Bobby worked with she and her Mother teaching them some changes they can make, one being no more flip flops ever....something that concerned her Mother greatly as they are the most afforable shoe here. But thanks to the donation of a generous friend this little girl will get the high tops that she so desparately needs and will have a few sizes to grow into as well!
The Lord is good....there are more stories from Bobby's incredible work, but I will save those for another day. But let me say, if his church family or wife is reading this....these children and the workers and missionaries that work with these children every day are SO appreciative of Bobby´s use of his talents here in Trujillo!!!

The Goodwood team today is going into the classrooms and performing Bible skits and doing crafts, etc....their goal is to do two days worth of their material today and one day of material on Monday. I have not been able to see their skits and such yet, but my own children just ran to me to show off the swords that they made!! yesterday they worked HARD....mixing and pouring concrete, knocking down a wall in between the multipurpose room and the kitchen. That will become a concrete wall instead of the thick cardboard type stuff that has been there. There is now a sidewalk to the cancha (game court area) from the kindergarten classroom and looks as if there will be another from the cancha to the entrance to the gate in front of the office...it´s looking great and this group is working very hard!! All of you in Tupelo, Baton Rouge, etc would be so proud of your family members. It has been so nice for us to put faces with names we hear so often! today I will get some more details from JD about the work they will be doing and how their `VBS' goes so I can share.

2 comments:

Patty said...

Rachel, I passed this onto my daughter, Elisa, who is a special ed teacher. She has expressed before that she would like to work with your school on programs for special ed. If she can help, I am sure she would like to help. She also has experience in writing for grants. This year is probably too late for her to participate, but I am sure she would try something whenever she is in True-Hee-yo.

Patty in Ft Lauderdale

Pablo y Raquel said...

THANKS Patty!! Wish you were in Trujillo too...next year, hopefully, right?!