Saving a Life

Today was a very interesting day.  The best part is at the end so you'll have to read all of it. Sorry =]  We woke up at 6:15 so that we could all shower and have time to walk down to breakfast.  I actually slept pretty well.  It was warm but not completely unbearable.  We have fan now so hopefully tonight will be a little cooler.  On our way down to breakfast, we saw a bunch of the kids from the orphanage walking to school. in their uniforms.  They are precious.  Also, where we're staying is on top of the mountain so our walk is the village hill times 10 just to give you an idea of what its like. Breakfast was a mix of Guatemalan and American--beans, eggs, bread with peanut butter, and cereal.  After we finished we had a meeting with Eunice, the volunteer coordinator, so that she could fill us in on what we were going to be doing that day.  Hugo, one of the translators, took us down to one of the warehouses with a group from Marist College so that we could put together furniture which will probably go in the hospital once its finished.  When we were done, we headed back to el Rancho for lunch and had grilled ham and cheese BLTs. They were delicious. 

One of the chairs we built

After lunch, we went to one of the feeding sites with the group from Louisiana.  It is at a dump about 30 minutes away.  HOL has built an area with a concrete floor and a roof where a few tables with food were set.  A lot of kids were already lined up by the time we got there.  Groups go three times a week to serve food.  They brought all sorts of containers and bottles to get their food, which was a sort of bean paste, rice, and a tortilla.  I was given the task of serving lemonade.  The children were so precious.  They just held up their bottles with these big smiles.  It was also extremely sad to see how they lived.  There was trash everywhere and their houses were made of whatever they could find.  Rafael told us that they collect plastic and cardboard to sell but they only get about $30 for 100 pounds which takes them about a month to collect.  Basically, they live on next to nothing.  Many times, the food they get at HOL is the only meal they get.

All the kiddos waiting for food

Kids nomming

While we were there, Kasey found a little girl holding a baby.  The baby was not looking very well.  She was bloated, had lice, and diarrhea.  They took pictures of her to take back and then we headed back to the compound.  Carlos Vargas, the director and creator of HOL was there so we walked up to him, prepared to show him pictures of this girl to convince him to let us go back and get her.  As soon as Kasey introduced herself and said that we had just come from the dump and found a baby, he asked why we didn't already bring her back.  He said he'd get us a vehicle and told Hugo to go with us to go get the baby.  So back in a truck to go back to the dump.  There weren't enough seats for all six of us so Connor and Hugo sat in the truck bed.

One of the houses

We were hoping the baby would still be at the feeding site but she wasn't so we showed her picture to one of the men there who told Hugo where we could find her.  We drove about a mile down the road through the village to her house where one of her sisters was holding her.  As soon as we pulled up, all the children ran inside with the baby.  It must of been rather intimidating seeing a truck rush up and stop right in front of your house.  We went around the side and Hugo talked to the mom, explaining who we were and if we could take the baby.  She said ok and we ended up bringing the mom and the sister back as well. They didnt bring anything with them which just shows that they really only have a little.   We drove them straight to the baby rescue center where the nurses took the baby and starting examining it.  She wasn't that sick but if we didn't get her back, it would get a lot worse.  She'll probably get some medicine and formula to get her healthy again.

The baby girl that we rescued and her sister

At the baby rescue center

There was nothing more we could do there so we headed back up to el Rancho where we just relaxed until Jill and Tanner asked us if we wanted to come down to the village to get cucos so we did.  Cucos is basically like an overfrozen frappucino in a bag that this lady makes in her house.  I got a chocolate one and it tasted like frozen hot chocolate.  It was so delicious.  I have a feeling this will become a daily occurance.  They also have water in bags and you just bite a hole out of it and drink it.

Cucos

After dinner, we played soccer with some of the kids in the village.  They are crazy good! And then more cucos. Coffee this time.  So good.  Tomorrow we're leaving the compound to go to the Mayan ruins!