Guatemala: Serving at the Dump

We served at the dump where the poor pick through the trash for food and make their homes out of whatever they can find.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday HOLI serves a warm meal to the people of this community.  HOLI made a good sized shelter which includes 4 toilets.  The teams that serve here each week clean the toilets and (after washing up) serve food.  Periodically, teams are asked to paint this structure and we were one of the teams asked to do that....

We were serving today with our friends from Ohio.  They are super proud of their state.... ;)

They came as 30 but the Ohio leaders this week have consistently spoken about their team of 36.  They really did adopt us.  I think it is wonderful that as they went into villages this week and talked about Jesus, they had 36 people make commitments to Jesus....one for each member of the team.  

I think it is safe to say that AJ is the most popular member of the team.  He is like a rock star as all the Guatemalan kids gravitate to him as it is very unusual for a little American boy like him to be on a trip like this.

"Rock Star" AJ exiting the bus ;)

No one else had a group of 'fans' watching them paint....

Group of kids looking up at AJ in his backpack.  I rested the camera on my shoulder to get the same view AJ had.  This was VERY common this week as there was much interest and curiosity about Mr. AJ.

Love this picture.  Look at the joy and the way the light surrounds what is going on.

At least 100 kids and women (and maybe 3 men) showed up for the feeding.  It got a little chaotic as a girl passed out from heat exhaustion taking a number of team members away (nurses) as well as our translator.  Fortunately, many on this team had done this before so they got the tables set up as well as the food ready to serve.  But the crowd at one point really started pushing toward the food tables and created an uncomfortable situation.  

The people bring as their plates and cups anything that they find in the dump.  One team member reported that an elderly lady brought an empty oil container as her drinking cup, and that really just broke this team member's heart.  He saw something similar with a little boy and felt compelling to take out his water bottle, drink what was in it, and fill it with their drink for the day & give that container to the child.

Of all the people serving, our little S was the happy one.  I got such a chuckle yesterday evening from her.  Many of the Ohio team were telling their stories on how what they had seen that day had really impacted them.  The story about the oil can was told.  Many mentioned feeling shame at having so much and complaining back in the States....and then to come here and literally see people picking through trash just to stay alive.  It understandably leaves an impression.

When it came S's turn to share she talked about how the team really performed well today and how she was really glad to be a part of the team.  She said "My parents say something all the time that applies to this situation, but I can't remember what it is they say."   And, of course, everyone starts cracking up.  I'm sitting behind her and mention 'Perhaps the phrase was....exceed expectations?' and she said YES!  (and everyone laugh again).

But what really brought me joy was how she talked about her day.  She said she had a lot of fun!  That it was really neat to be able to serve these people food.  And it was fun to paint and play with the little kids.  Its not lost on her that these little ones are extremely poor.  I just love that she loves to serve and finds joy in even the darkest of places.

Another funny S story was relayed to the Ohio group by their leader, Michael.  We painted this house inside and out in 1 hour as a part of our day....(finished project below)

It really is amazing how fast things can get done when 36 people are focused on a goal like this.  Anyway, the Ohio group had told a bunch of emotional stories as the evening progressed and Michael said "I thought it might be good to introduce a little bit of levity here, so let me tell you a story about S.  We were finishing up the inside of the house.  I was in the room to the left when I heard people calling from the other room for tall people or an extension roller (to get the high part of the wall near the ceiling)...."  And Michael relayed that as he walked into the room S was on the double bed jumping up and down with the roller on the wall to get high enough to get paint to the top of the wall.

I saw the same thing but we were in such a rush to finish the project that I got very few pictures at this place.  I will say that memory was absolutely hilarious....S jumping on a bed to finish a paint job in time....and Michael got the response he was looking for as everyone laughed at the story.

Rachel got this picture at the project site as there were these little kittens (3 of them) laying all over the worksite.  I moved them out of the way as they were certain to get stepped on with the number of people moving around this small home....

Other Memories / Favorite pictures

The girls continue to gravitate toward the babies and the orphans.  I think when the Ohio group leaves, they will be 100% focused on the little ones as that is clearly where they feel called to serve at this place.  We spent time as a family with the littlest ones the other day...

AJ at morning devotional the other day....cute.  All the world is a playground, every day, all the time.

The Ohio team gave AJ a gift of a bat and ball which he put to good use....

AJ also put the moves on his wrestling buddy Wes....

The following picture is from our last night in El Salvador.  AJ has these little finger puppets and Rachel showed him how he could take the girl's hair ties and tie the puppets to his toy cars.  He loved it.

 After a hard day of work and service, it is good to catch some sleep.....

Til next time, God bless.