Familia es Lo Mejor!!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Saturday morning
This is Ingrid working with Kelli. She is just getting over a cold.So many flus and coughs.
The larger group is our morning class. Complex mix of needs and personalities.
This kids in yellow is Rolando. Fairly normal appearing child. Very low energy and everything else...
Saturday at the Center!!
A fairly typical Saturday morning with sunshine.Beatrice listening to the radio. She is partially deaf and enjoys the earphones.
She is 34 ish... She can be difficult, but we love her
.The expanded group of iniciales.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Great to be back!! Busy Morning.
In order to plug back in, I arrived at the center early and went right to work with the kids. Anahi has a cold and cough, so she is a bit restless and whiney. Ingrid seemed warm as well, but was happy to see me and go play on the swingset. Angel was a bit perkier than usual and I even overheard him giggling to himself a could of times. Susi is her normal adorable self: working on rolling her over and continued rolling. She over relies on her legs for movement and needs to learn to use her hands more. So many kids and so much need. Thank you Lord.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Can't wait to get back home to Cadanino
Great few days in Orange County with my children and some friends. Lovely place and the Pacific is beautiful.
I fly home tomorrow and can't wait to learn more about the State Department experiments in Guatemala during the 1940's. Also, the adoption information is expanding and the meeting at the Government Adoption Agency is meeting shortly with new guidelines.
Do I think Adoption process will effect my kids at CRPN & CDNN ? Not really. We have some cute kids that are adoptable in terms of paperwork eligibility and desirableness of their disabilities, but we don't have the more mainstream children that most parents are looking for. My hope is that aid agencies makes more resources generally available for the Orphan Populations.
I fly home tomorrow and can't wait to learn more about the State Department experiments in Guatemala during the 1940's. Also, the adoption information is expanding and the meeting at the Government Adoption Agency is meeting shortly with new guidelines.
Do I think Adoption process will effect my kids at CRPN & CDNN ? Not really. We have some cute kids that are adoptable in terms of paperwork eligibility and desirableness of their disabilities, but we don't have the more mainstream children that most parents are looking for. My hope is that aid agencies makes more resources generally available for the Orphan Populations.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Off to Orange County
To spend time with family and friends. My son Jamie Jr. is coming and will soon be deployed to Afghanistan. Great to see him and my daughter Lizzie.
Seeing old and new friends at the conference and are prayerfully discussing important issues. Many friends are strongly encouraging our ministry and excited to hear an update.
I have not heard how "Kids Day" went today at the center. There were rumors of senior politicians coming for a foto op. Hope it is successful.
Paz
Seeing old and new friends at the conference and are prayerfully discussing important issues. Many friends are strongly encouraging our ministry and excited to hear an update.
I have not heard how "Kids Day" went today at the center. There were rumors of senior politicians coming for a foto op. Hope it is successful.
Paz
Monday, September 27, 2010
A nice piece on Fundaninos by some recent missionaries
Fundaninos and the Forbes Family
""SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
16 goodbyes coming up
After being here a few weeks, Enrique told me how difficult it would be to have to say goodbye to kids at Fundaninos. Most kids have only been here for about a year, and so you can imagine that there must be a frequent round of goodbyes and hellos. After being here two months, I can specifically give three reasons why these goodbyes are so sad.
1. We love these kids. We love spending time with them, laughing with them, and seeing them grow. As language barriers slowly come down, we love the conversations we have about the gospel as we labor and long to see the Lord call many of these cute, sinful kids out of darkness and into fellowship with the Son.
2. We pray for them and really do desire to see them walk with Jesus. We get excited about building relationships, because we know that quality time affords opportunities for these kids to see our joy in Christ and for us to share the good news about our Savior. We've looked ahead with excitement as we think about growing with these kids and sharing our lives with them. Unless the Lord wills differently, 16 of these dreams are about to become quiet prayer requests. It's so hard to let Him be in control when we forget that if he wasn't in control we would all get our way of continuing in bondage to sin.
3. God glorifies himself through wonderful families that point to the family of God. It's so beautiful to see glimpses of families operating the way that God intends with Mom's helping Dad's lead the family and children encouraging one another while submitting to parents. God created the family to be a beautiful, God-honoring institution. Unfortunately, the kids at Fundaninos are here because of abandonment or abuse. It's hard to see these kids fearfully preparing to return home. One of the six year old boys was recently at his court trial with his siblings. He spoke to the unmoved judge about his father who was present at the trial, "Mr. Judge, he used to beat me every day. I don't want to go be with him. I want to stay at Fundaninos." He's leaving Fundaninos for this scary home in about two weeks.
For those of you who know and love the kids at Fundaninos...here's a list of those that should be leaving in the next month.
-Isabella (already gone)
-Heidi
-Yadira
-Isaac
-Daniel
-Edgar
-Jorge
-Victor
-Jasmine
-Ivan
-Andrea
-Vanessa
-Evelyn
-Joselyn
-Leticia
-Kimberly
Of these kids there are physical scars and burns, memories of sexual abuse, and even a doctor who claimed that he had never seen someone beaten so severely. For a lot of these kids/moms, the dad or boyfriend is out of the picture or has mellowed h............."
1. We love these kids. We love spending time with them, laughing with them, and seeing them grow. As language barriers slowly come down, we love the conversations we have about the gospel as we labor and long to see the Lord call many of these cute, sinful kids out of darkness and into fellowship with the Son.
2. We pray for them and really do desire to see them walk with Jesus. We get excited about building relationships, because we know that quality time affords opportunities for these kids to see our joy in Christ and for us to share the good news about our Savior. We've looked ahead with excitement as we think about growing with these kids and sharing our lives with them. Unless the Lord wills differently, 16 of these dreams are about to become quiet prayer requests. It's so hard to let Him be in control when we forget that if he wasn't in control we would all get our way of continuing in bondage to sin.
3. God glorifies himself through wonderful families that point to the family of God. It's so beautiful to see glimpses of families operating the way that God intends with Mom's helping Dad's lead the family and children encouraging one another while submitting to parents. God created the family to be a beautiful, God-honoring institution. Unfortunately, the kids at Fundaninos are here because of abandonment or abuse. It's hard to see these kids fearfully preparing to return home. One of the six year old boys was recently at his court trial with his siblings. He spoke to the unmoved judge about his father who was present at the trial, "Mr. Judge, he used to beat me every day. I don't want to go be with him. I want to stay at Fundaninos." He's leaving Fundaninos for this scary home in about two weeks.
For those of you who know and love the kids at Fundaninos...here's a list of those that should be leaving in the next month.
-Isabella (already gone)
-Heidi
-Yadira
-Isaac
-Daniel
-Edgar
-Jorge
-Victor
-Jasmine
-Ivan
-Andrea
-Vanessa
-Evelyn
-Joselyn
-Leticia
-Kimberly
Of these kids there are physical scars and burns, memories of sexual abuse, and even a doctor who claimed that he had never seen someone beaten so severely. For a lot of these kids/moms, the dad or boyfriend is out of the picture or has mellowed h............."
Found this fairly interesting article on Adoptions down here..
Article on Adoption
Many Americans and other hopeful parents are following the situation in Guatemala.Currently, there are no International Adoption options available in Guatemala.
Many Americans and other hopeful parents are following the situation in Guatemala.Currently, there are no International Adoption options available in Guatemala.
Nonetheless, many people are hopeful that Guatemala will institute procedures and a legal infrastructure that will allow for measured international adoption in compliance with the Hague Treaty on International Adoption. Within Guatemala, international adoption remains a hotly debated topic. It is an emotional issue for many because of the past abuses of some organizations as well as the immediate humanitarian need to adequately provide for orphans.
On October 7th, 2010, The organization charged with mending and administering to all aspects of adoption plans to hold an informational meeting. This will be the first in a series of Three meetings on the topic. It is unclear at this point if the topic will be local (National within Guatemala) or the broader topic of International Adoption. In addition to the October 7th meeting, they are scheduling two additional meetings: November 4th and December 2nd of 2010. We will continue to look for the agenda, but it appears to be a fairly preliminary and broad agenda. Please send us an email if you have access to more specific information.
Mariana`s World
Mariana’s World
One of my favorite new kids is Mariana. She is about 12 and very thin, but not gaunt. She is extremely shy and timid. She plugs her ears almost all the time. Perhaps a self protective move or as the psychiatrist suggests she may be trying to block out auditory hallucinations. She does not like to walk and often the older children carry her. I certainly do.
Video Therapies. I have been trying to get inside of her world. I often take her to my office and seat her in a big comfy chair. I keep music and noise to a minimum. She smiles at me. Look you... look me? Is there an other? A cookie stimulates her to move. She smiles. Then she goes back to face caste down and ears plugged. She groans a bit when nervous. Continuously when scared. She sits quietly in the office with the video camera reflecting her image back to her.
I poked around just now and found out a bit more about her. Her parents are both drunks. The Dad died and the Mom remarried (another Drunk of course). The neglect and abuse caused the municipality to intervene on her behalf and they took her to a private orphanage. After a year or so, the orphanage felt they could not meet her needs as a special child, so she was transferred to a government facility. They tried their best, but after six months they sent her to us (about two months ago). So an usual, we are the last house on the right at the end of the Street. That`s a-okay with us! Thank you God.
One of my favorite new kids is Mariana. She is about 12 and very thin, but not gaunt. She is extremely shy and timid. She plugs her ears almost all the time. Perhaps a self protective move or as the psychiatrist suggests she may be trying to block out auditory hallucinations. She does not like to walk and often the older children carry her. I certainly do.
Video Therapies. I have been trying to get inside of her world. I often take her to my office and seat her in a big comfy chair. I keep music and noise to a minimum. She smiles at me. Look you... look me? Is there an other? A cookie stimulates her to move. She smiles. Then she goes back to face caste down and ears plugged. She groans a bit when nervous. Continuously when scared. She sits quietly in the office with the video camera reflecting her image back to her.
I poked around just now and found out a bit more about her. Her parents are both drunks. The Dad died and the Mom remarried (another Drunk of course). The neglect and abuse caused the municipality to intervene on her behalf and they took her to a private orphanage. After a year or so, the orphanage felt they could not meet her needs as a special child, so she was transferred to a government facility. They tried their best, but after six months they sent her to us (about two months ago). So an usual, we are the last house on the right at the end of the Street. That`s a-okay with us! Thank you God.
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Milk Cartoon - Have you seen this child or their PARENT?
In the USA we have a custom of posting photos of missing children on the back of Milk Carton's. Without debate to the efficacy of that activity, I am attempting to launch a similar project here in Guatemala. The name of the page and blog/website will likely change, but for now I will refer to it as the Milk Carton and attempt to publish in English and Spanish.
Currently, we have two children that are lacking full documentation and they may have families looking for them. The first kid is Marie Ines. She is the sweetest thing in the world. Though she does not speak she understands much. She has a wonderful smile and sunny disposition. She has horrific burn scars on her front stomach, chest and neck. Looks like a pan of boiling water landed on her in infancy.
The other kid is Oscar Martinez. Another cool kid. In Oscar's case he is a fully grown man with an unfortunate hunchback. He probably weighs the same as I do and is only barely able to walk. He also has fairly pronounced Down syndrome characteristics.
I am thinking about creating a different blog or website with the Milk Carton theme. We also have a beautiful nine year old girl who is available for adoption. She has down syndrome and has enormous potential. Her name is Heidi and I will be writing more about her soon. If you have any suggestions about how to locate these kids parents or potentially new parents (adoptive), please let me know.
As always, I ask you to keep these children and their situations in your Prayers-
Hermano en Cristo-
Jaime
Currently, we have two children that are lacking full documentation and they may have families looking for them. The first kid is Marie Ines. She is the sweetest thing in the world. Though she does not speak she understands much. She has a wonderful smile and sunny disposition. She has horrific burn scars on her front stomach, chest and neck. Looks like a pan of boiling water landed on her in infancy.
The other kid is Oscar Martinez. Another cool kid. In Oscar's case he is a fully grown man with an unfortunate hunchback. He probably weighs the same as I do and is only barely able to walk. He also has fairly pronounced Down syndrome characteristics.
 | |
| Oscar |
Hermano en Cristo-
Jaime
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