Friday morning started pretty much the same way Thursday had. I got up, read my Bible, wrote out a brief description of what I'd done the previous day, then waited around for everyone else to get up.
Ben and Hugh eventually got up and I spent some time talking with each of them. It was my first real conversation with Ben and it was a good one. Next was that Stacy came out and I asked if I could help with breakfast, but she said Hugh had it all under control, so I stayed put. Anyway, after breakfast, we loaded everything and everyone into the cars and set off for our first stop of the day.
The first place we went was a school that was about 20 minutes away from where Brandi and Daniel live. The name of the school was Escula Official Rural Mixta Veguitas San Juan Ermita. It was a primary school so the students there ranged in age from Kindergarten (I think) to 6th grade. Also, it had both boys and girls at the school (not all of the schools do).
After we got to the school, we carried all of our stuff up to it, then set up the small sound system and got things organized for the drama we were going to perform for the students. Before we could start laying out our props, we had to wait for the class in the room we were going to use to finish. While they did, I took a few pictures of their classroom, as well as some of the kids who'd already come out to see us.
Once class was over, we pulled our prop trunk (a suitcase) into the classroom and started getting everything out. The drama is about 20 minutes long, so we had a lot of props to get out and organize. I checked with Will and he decided he wanted to paint his face like it was in the video we'd watched to learn the drama. So he sat down and I painted his face for him. I felt bad for him later because the paint wound up running since he sweated so much and it got in his eyes. Still, he thought it was worth it.
After everything was ready, we started the drama. Without going into too much detail about what everyone's parts were, the drama was basically about a kid who tried out a lot of different things before realizing that the only thing that would satisfy his soul was a relationship with God through Christ. There are certain members of our group that were less than thrilled with performing it, so we didn't take any pictures. Plus, all of us were in the drama, so it wasn't really possible for us to take pictures. That being said, I do know that Brandi and Nancy got a few pictures, so you can go find those if you're just dieing for a look at our performance.
When we finished the drama, Alex got up and spoke to the kids for a few minutes. I don't know exactly what he said, but I do know there was an illustration using paper that wound up as a cross. At the end of his message, he called for people who wanted to accept Christ to come forward. 14 kids came forward, which was really cool.
After praying with the kids, we gave out candy to everyone. Once we'd given out all the candy, we spent a little time talking to different people and taking pictures of various things. At one point, Stacy presented donated school supplies to one of the school administrators.
Finally, it was time to gather everything up and head back to Brandi and Daniel's house.
Back at the house, we had lunch of some kind. I honestly don't remember what we had for lunch or most of what we did between getting back to the house and leaving again. I do know that we spent some time with Nancy getting things ready to take to the hospital. But beyond that, I've got nothing.
After we got our stuff together, those of us going to the hospital loaded into Daniel's truck and he drove us to the Hospital. Not everyone went this time. On Friday, it was just Brandi, Nancy, Heather, Stacy, Jillian, Hugh, and me. Will, Ben, Alex, and John stayed with Daniel and the kids.
The hospital was difficult on an emotional level. The hospital there isn't like the hospitals here in the States. The way Hugh described it to me before I'd had a chance to see it for the first time was kind of like the hospitals you'd see in an old '50s or '60s film. There are wards instead of separate rooms, everyone's together, and there's pretty much no privacy.
On top of all of that, there’s also the fact that it’s just not as clean as our hospitals. It’s hot and there is no air conditioning in most places. So people are sweaty and flies buzz around everywhere. Also, they can’t throw out used things like hoses, so they have to wash them and use them again. In general things are a bit dirty, which really doesn’t contribute to people getting well. That’s why most people only go to the hospital if they are going to die. That or if they are too poor to afford medicine, so they go there to get it for free.
When we got to the hospital, we first went to the NICU. Basically it was just a moderate-sized rooms with a number of young babies on beds arranged around the perimeter. At first, we thought only two of us were going to be able to go in at a time, but it turned out that the doctor okayed all of us coming in at once. Once inside, we split up into a couple of groups and started praying for different babies. I prayed for one baby that was all by himself, although I didn’t know his name at the time. A little while later, Brandi had me come with her and I prayed for a young girl named Santa Lucila. She had a fever and diarrhea and we think she also probably had some sort of respiratory issue since she was on a breather. We prayed for her and her mother, Brandi translating for me.
After we prayed for the children, we got out some of the donations we had brought. We gave them each some diapers and wet wipes, as well as a blanket and burp cloth and some literature.
Once we had finished praying for all of the babies in the room, we packed up our bags and headed over to the children’s ward. There, we split into two groups again so we could pray for more people. I went with Brandi and Jillian while Stacy, Nancy, Hugh, and Heather went to the other side.
On our side, there were a lot of kids. So many that we didn’t get the chance to pray for all of them. Instead, we slowly worked our way down one wall, praying for each child and their family individually.
As we walked into the room and started talking to the first family, a mother and daughter, we were approached by another woman. She spoke rapid Spanish with Brandi, and though I didn’t really understand her it was clear she was asking for something. Brandi told her something (which I guessed amounted to “We'll be with you in a bit.”) and then we got back to praying for the child we were with. Brandi told us later that the woman had come up and asked for money. Later, when Brandi confronted her about it, the woman denied ever doing that. Even later than that, she’d come up to Jillian and I, asking for more stuff after we’d prayed for her child and given her some toys and clothes. She finally stopped when we just told her we didn’t speak Spanish.
We spent the next hour or so making our way down the line of children and praying for them. There were a lot, so I don’t remember most of their names. I do remember that pretty much all of them had some sort of upper respiratory infection, probably pneumonia. Later, I mentioned it to Hugh and he said that wasn’t uncommon at all. Which makes sense consider how most people there live with all the dust and what not.
When we finished praying for as many children as we could, it was time to head out. We just had one more stop in the hospital before we did. We made our way over to the office area and Stacy and Nancy went in to give them the last of the donations that we had brought. These were specifically for the staff and included hand cleaning sponges and medical wipes.
After that, it was time to go home. To get home, we were going to have to take a bus. Brandi asked if this was okay and all of us said it was. Who wasn’t up for a little adventure?
To get to the bus, we had to take a “short” walk up a hill from the hospital to get to a particular corner where the correct bus would come by. Once we got there, it wasn’t too long of a wait. So we piled into the bus (which was actually just a van without a side door), said bye to Nancy, and sped off on our way back to the mission house.
Back at the mission house, we had some down time before we had to leave for our next destination. Heather decided we should make up some of the Salvation bracelets that she’d brought supplies for so we could give them out at the village the next day. She pulled out the beads and the twine and we got to work.
While we worked with the twine she’d already cut, Jillian took the rest of the spool and went inside to cut more. Once she was gone, we kind of forgot about her. We spent a while making bracelets and wound up getting 20 or so done (I think) before it was almost time to leave. About then, I went inside for something and saw Jillian sitting on the couch with a massive pile of twine strings cut and most of the spool gone. All I could say was, “Uh, Jillian, I think you can stop now.”
That evening, we drove over to Zacapa for dinner at Rapadilo’s with a ministry friend of Stacy, Alex, and John. The restaurant is a place that Stacy and Alex went all the time when they lived in Zacapa. In fact, they went enough that when we showed up that night, one of the waitresses actually remembered them. Stacy was pretty excited about that.
We started the evening by eating dinner. Stacy suggested the Tortillas de Harina, which Rapadilo’s is apparently known for. I went with that, getting a chicken one. It consisted of a giant tortilla wrapped around grilled chicken (or pork or beef), cebollitas (baby onions), black beans, cole slaw, and mayonnaise. I got mine without the mayonnaise, but kept everything else. It was very good, but I could only eat half of it and the chicken from the other half.
After dinner, it was time for the baby shower we were throwing for the two missionaries we were eating dinner with. Their names were Alyssa and Josue and they were having a son. We all stood up and watched as the opened all the different gifts people had sent them. I took lots and lots and lots of pictures. They really liked all of the gifts.
Once all the gifts had been opened and all the pictures had been taken, Stacy convinced everyone that we should go for dessert at her favorite coffee place that was about a 10 minute drive away.
Since it was nighttime, I decided to ride in the back of the truck with the guys and the kids. I wound up holding onto to CeeCee while she, Dominic, and Levi played a game of I Spy with Will. It was a beautiful night so it was a nice ride.
We arrived at a lovely little coffee shop and all piled out of the cars again. Heading inside, we got tables and all sat down. Not too much later, everyone was enjoying the various desserts and beverages. We sat around talking for a while, getting to know Alyssa and hearing about how she wound up being a missionary in Guatemala and marrying Josue.
When everyone was finished, it was time to head home. We said goodbye to Alyssa and Josue and then piled back into the cars and headed back to the mission house to go to bed.
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