At the time of writing this we are doing very well except for one of our new nannies. Her brother was kidnapped and held for ransom. She is taking some time off to help her Father sell a piece of land to pay off the extortionists. We hope that she is able to return to work shortly and that her brother is returned to his family. Please pray for Nancy and her family.
We have four teams and are highlighting two of them in this week's post. We have taken the approach to divide and conquer Though we are not conquering smaller groups make a big difference in the way the kids behave and act. To the naked eye, the progress is minimal and difficult to quantify. To the person spending time closely with the kids, it clearly evidence of God's handiwork performing small miracles daily.
The Lions! The Blue Shirts.
Ninera: Jessica
The Team: Jaimito, Sandra, Maria Isabel, Rolando and Manuel de Jesus.
This is the new team that was recently commissioned thanks to some friend in the States. The profile of the children chosen for this team was a group of the forgotten and quiet children. We chose smaller, withdrawn and somewhat neglected kids. We had been referring to them as "The Forgotten Ones" or Los Olvidados. We are now referring to them as the "Chosen Ones" or simply The Lions. This has really been very and almost surprisingly successful in the early weeks. Perhaps it is like picking low hanging fruit, but this group really seems to have made significant progress quickly. It motivates us to continue looking for ways to individualize the attention of even more of the kids in the center. The ninera is the woman Jessica that we featured in the article below. She has a child of her own and has an education. More importantly, she is able to focus on the needs of this group.
Jaimito: He is the most active of this group. We were not sure if he would be too overwhelming for Nancy to manage. What can happen with active demanding children is that they pull all the attention away from the other children. In this case, Nancy is managing well. He is more content to wear and walk around with his socks and shoes on. He cries less and is learning to use a spoon to eat.
Sandra: Sandrita has schizophrenia and is very fearful. When uncomfortable she plugs her ears and screams continuously. Since Nancy started she is 200% more calm. She had also been starting with the eating disorder we refer to as, "reflujo," but has stopped doing it since Nancy started. Reflujo is a sad and disgusting disorder that can be stopped, but requires significant staffing.
Sandra's hair is growing in and she really is a cute kid.
Manuel de Jesus: He has come a long way. He is the boy with massive scar tissue and a hand that is adhered to his arm with scar tissue. His Mother allegedly rented him to people to use for begging. They allowed him to be filthy and covered with sores. When he arrived he was terrified of everybody and everything. He cried nearly continuously. Today he smiles occasionally and is less timid (thought still relatively shy and timid). He walks around a bit and is starting to show signs of curiosity. He is very quiet and you can imagine how easily he was forgotten in the day to day fray.
The Tigers! The Yellow Shirts!
Nineras: Griselda and Telma
The team: Anahi, Jose Blanco, Hector, Oscar and Susie
As has been the case for quite some time, Hector is the star pupil here. Walking better every day and attending classes with Senora Jeimey (pronounced Jamie just to add to my confusion). When he sees me coming he has a huge smile and starts crawling and reaching out to me to help him to his feet so that he can walk and explore with me. He is a bit spoiled and sometimes pulls hard to go in a different direction. He is learning to use a spoon to feed himself (with lots of guidance). Unfortunately, after he finishes drinking something he throws the plastic cup in any which direction. Whenever he hears the loud noise of a plane of truck he thrashes about with excitement. He's a great kid and frequently the darling of the group.
Susie is a bit better. She is eating and retaining more food. She is better able to eat papilla (liquified normal food from food processor). She also receives bottles of Ensure. The physical therapist claim to have her standing up with lots of assistance and the commentary is how tall she is. We continue to hope that she is transferred to Hermano San Pedro in Antigua where she might receive more appropriate care. She is a darling child and is very expressive with her facial features.
Jose Blanco is evolving. He is called Blanco because there are so many Jose's that it is easier and more immediately accurate to call him Blanco. He is really getting tall. He has handsome swarthy features: kind of a Guatemalan Heathcliff if photographed at the right angle. His low intelligence and other neurological disorders makes him extraordinarily anxious and fearful. That fear is turned into aggression for those immediately around him. When a ninera or PT is working with him in a calm and quiet environment he is usually fine and not aggressive. Silvia Lopez is quite fond of him and claims he responds well to her.
Oscar appears to be shrinking before our eyes. He has the hunched back physique. His circulation appears to be decreasing and his feet appear at times to not be circulating blood as well as they should.
He does not like to stand up or work with PT's. He really likes to sleep, but out nineras valiantly battle with him to keep him moving. He loves to eat and let's everyone know it when he is hungry.
Anahi is making progress with standing for longer periods of time. She had her ankle tendons operated on a few years ago in order that she be able to stand and eventually walk. She is so very withdrawn in her autism that she does not exhibit behavior that indicates that she will walk. She whine and cries when she is standing and generally makes it known that she is unhappy about standing. Yet she can stand for 15 or 20 minutes at a time. She is incredibly susceptible to sinus infections. It seems that she has had a seriously runny mucous nose for at least 4 months. We have purchased some Children's Claritin, but it is used up quickly. There is so much need for that product with many of the kids at the center.
The Bears! The Red Shirts!
Nineras: Noemi and Silvia A
The Team: Beberle, Elfido, Ingrid, Julio Caesar and Moses
The Toros! - Blue Shirts !
Ninera Nancy
The Team Griselda Karlita Wendy Samuel
Anna -
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