Please Give This Year

    As many of  you know, I have spent the past two and a half years here working with the neediest and most deserving populations: the orphaned and profoundly handicapped abandoned children   here in Guatemala City.  Our foundation currently employs a staff of five:   one  Physical Therapist, Carmen Marie Guatebein and four nurses aides (Nineras).  Our foundation has also  funded and participated in a wide range field trips, educational initiatives, hydro therapies  and sports activities such as the Special Olympics.

 Since we started this ministry in March of 2009 our focus has been to supplement the basic care these children receive from the Guatemalan Government. There are approximately 80 children in residence and the Government has approximately 45 full time employees. Our modest contribution of five staff is a help to the center, but the ratio of adult supervisors to children remains woefully inadequate. It is now our hope that the newly elected Guatemalan Government will significantly increase staffing to more adequate levels. As such, it is our intention to continue to expand our staff and programming. 
 
 One of our more significant  projects  has been the opening of, “Rincon de Suenos”  a pre-school like setting for  18  of smallest and most vulnerable children. The objective is for them  to spend their days in a safe, creative and stimulating environment.  Through generous gifting we have been able to re-design and decorate the largest available work space in the center. We opened the school with two teachers and one Ninera.  The physical space is terrific and local friends have donated educational toys and materials. Unfortunately, the ratio of teachers to children is still quite low and the amount of time spent individually with each child is less than optimal.

    Part of this  mission’s  vision has been to create a charity that assures donors that 100% of their gifts goes directly to serve the children and their caregivers. We have been fortunate to be able to tell people that all administrative and overhead expenses are covered by  some  generous gifts from a  Family Foundation. That  same foundation also  covers as much as 50% of the operating budget.  The monthly expenditures is based primarily on one metric; the number of women  employed.  We view this as a two for one investment:  a) we provide employment to impoverished single Moms and b) the children in the center receive far better care.  The Nineras continue to earn about $250.00 per month and our Physical Therapist earns about $400.00.   As you can imagine the $250 salary for the nineras is a large step toward leaving the lowest levels of poverty,  but they still live an extremely modest lifestyle.  Food here is nearly as costly as in the United States and the population adjusts to that difficulty by eating very simple meals or rice and beans with very little high protein content foods.

   Please  click here   Click for Website Fundaninos    and read how we are thinking about our threefold mission and challenge. Also please visit out blog for more insight into out activities and the day to day challenges the children face. In this letter we refrain from highlighting the heart wrenching anecdotal stories of some of our saddest and most difficult cases. Suffice to say, that we think that  these children’s lives remain some of the most  complex, heartbreaking and meritorious for your consideration.

Please consider giving to,  “The Orphans of Guatemala, Fundaninos.”  We are in the midst of planning programs and ministry for 2012 and are trying to expand and improve services for the children.

Please send Checks to :    Fundaninos   ℅ Jamie Waller 4 Franklin Pl.  Summit NJ 07901-3617

Kids Caregivers and Culture Cadanino 2011

As year end of 2011 draws near we are focusing on three things:
 
                                                KCC
   The Kids, the Caregivers and the Culture 

                                          Cadanino Today!
                                                                                                

Cadanino is a small Christian Ministry operating in Guatemala for the past two and a half years.  Our mission is threefold:     The Kids,  The Caregivers and The Culture.  We are explicitly a Christian mercy ministry and focus is on the kids inside a government hospital/orphanage for profoundly developmentally challenged orphans.

The Kids:

The center where we work is a government residential center for  some of the most intellectually and neurologically challenged children. There are 80 children ranging in age from 7  years old into their thirties. Technically, the government mandate is for children from ages 6 to 18, but several stay on after they reach an age of majority  because there simply is no other place for them.
Nearly half the population wears adult diapers and have limited ability to pursue basic grooming or feeding. The children that Cadanino has focused on are the nine children  that are in wheelchairs and completely unable to communicate or be self sustaining.  Cadanino has taken on the task of working with them during all their waking hours and providing them with physical and play therapies.  Prior to our arrival these children were restrained in wheelchairs during daytime hours and languishing in their beds all night long.  Their already problematic limbs were atrophying because of almost no movement or physical activity.  Today some of these children are crawling, standing up and with assistance taking some first steps toward walking.  

The Staff:

 Cadanino employs 5 Nurses-Aides types  (Nineras) and one Physical Therapist who also serves as the general manager of the team.  Most of these Nineras are single Moms living in extreme poverty.  The $250.00  per month that they earn has to cover all their living expenses. The cost of living in Guatemala is significantly lower than in the USA, but food costs are nearly as much as here and the majority of their earnings goes towards feeding their families.  We attempt to witness to them and encourage them. Initially, we told them the job would be for six months so that they  could transition into better employment.  Almost universally, they have been unable to find improved employment opportunities and have stayed working with us. Several of them are approaching their two year anniversary working with us and we are looking for ways to offer them personal development. Currently, Cadanino is sponsoring upcoming classes for our staff as well as the government’s 45 person staff classes in,   “Teamwork,  Self Esteem, and Managing Stress.”   We have hosted a few American Missions teams and they have provided excellent appreciation activities such as, manicures, pedicures and messages. While providing basic employment and some kindness, this area of our ministry has  significant room for improvement.

The Culture:


Cadanino exists to serve Christ and Worship our Lord.  We want  our initiatives to bring Glory to the Kingdom and change lives in the here and now.  We have been called to run this ministry inside a secular government run institution. We work side by side with the 45 government employees who suffer from a variety work related burn out and grinding poverty. As Guatemala moves from a third world nation into a first world nation we want to encourage their government services, local philanthropies and the local Church. Our goal is to serve as a catalyst in encouraging them to take better care of their neediest citizens. What better benchmark of a society’s culture than the care they give to their least fortunate. The second half of the cultural objective is to change hearts and minds back home in the USA.  As John Piper says, “ Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”
This third tier of our work is difficult to analyze in terms of effectiveness and impact, but we continue to pray for guidance. A newly elected government in Guatemala gives us hope for gradual change.

  This link to our blog will give you a better idea of what we are doing and some of the lives we are effecting.   

 
Click here to see Cadanino Blog

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Click here for full article  

Thank you!

 Thanks to the friends of Cadanino!  A million thanks to  Kahren, Maria Rosa, Alina, Nike and several others for their ongoing support.  These foamy cushion types of flooring are phenomenal so that the children are not playing on the hard cold cement floor!

   Week by week these lovely people have helped our kids to a better quality of life and they have shown the love of Jesus Christ with their actions and their visits.  How better to demonstrate the love of God. One of my all time favorite quotes is from Ravi Zacharias,  
 
"It is our presence in proximity. Are you going to tell me they aren't going to notice that?  When you get that close, you must ask God  in your lifetime if there is a privilege that he will give you to  get close to a hurting   community   and let them see the color of your eyes.  That is apologetics with a touch. It is our presence in proximity."

On my way Home to Guatemala!

 After a great Thanksgiving week with Family I am heading back to Guatemala. I have been missing the kids and my friends a great deal.
  This morning at a meeting four different people shared about the joys and challenges that they have with their special needs kids. I think most of the kids have some form of Autism and a couple of them are performing academically quite well. I wanted to mention "my 80 special needs kids,"  that I am en route to see, but thought I might start to cry or sound like I was boastful. The truth is that I am incredibly Blessed that God has put this group of kids in my life. I have learned more the past couple of years than I can articulate.
  At times the lack of resources, parents and staff makes me sad. The kids have too much time with so very little stimulation or activity. Then I think about this type of kids anywhere in the world as recently as 50 years ago. They quite simply would have likely died in early childhood. These disabilities and challenges are certainly a mystery to me. It is very clear that God is giving me (us) a test on what it means to take care of the neediest. I had failed this test until a couple of years ago. I was uncomfortable around handicapped and mentally retarded people.  I am so grateful that God was patient with me and gave me the time to understand His Call for my life.
  One boy, Pascual, has been on my mind the last several days. He is partially deaf so everything he says he shouts. He calls me, "Poppa Jaime,"  even though I ask him to refer to me as Tio Jaime.  In english that means that I prefer to be called "Uncle" and not, "Daddy."  He suffered at birth from the effects of umbilical cord strangulation and his  is partially paralyzed on his right size. He is basically a warm and loving kid, but he can be annoying.  His ADHD is very high and he can't stay still. He always needs to be where the activity is. He's well liked by the other kids and the teachers. I hope he can land in some kind of transitional living home one day.

Successful Cooking Lesson and Fundraiser

       Friend's of Cadanino hold Cooking Class!

The friend's of Cadanino held a cooking class in order to raise funds and awareness !! Thank you. The Lord is merciful, kind and generous!!




Some details in literal translation from Spanish 


I send this email so you can see some of the photos we took during the cooking class we had the pleasure of receiving, by the family of Leon Au chef .... who were wonderful! Thank you for your kind heart to donate their time and experience!
Learned to cook chao-mein, chop-soiu, Chinese fried rice and tacos. It was all delicious, all who attended the class tested each of the plates and were fascinated.
We were all invited to the next class.
... We want to thank all teamwork, giving all the love and putting all the effort. Everything went perfect.
God willing we can bring more of the Dream kindergarten, for children to enjoy.
 
Mainly we thank God, who is the one that has moved to do this and who it is that puts the will and to do in their hearts.
 
May God bless you all very much, and we can continue working for him.




      They had a big screen TV on in the background with a slideshow of the center and the kids. 
 This is one of our favorite kids: Pajaro.   He  would do well in a family setting. Pray for him

The Students!!

And the product was delicious.... 


   Delicioso!!

Dr. Livingstone I presume? Is this the Stockholm Syndrome Experiment?

   Marilinda has been on my mind and prayer list

 She is one of the kids that I have known vaguely for about three years. She is about 16 years old and an elusive shy type.   Her facial features clearly alert one to the fact that she is a special kid and with limited intellectual capacity. Her skin is splotchy with dark freckle like discoloration. Her teeth are straight and well aligned, but profoundly discolored like those you see in the elderly.  She has a form of PICA and everything she sees and touches she is compelled to  taste with her tongue.
   Recently, I have been trying to reach out to her and make contact.  Her hyper-activity and complete lack of verbal skills make her very hard to relate to.  She is frequently around a group of kids I will be working with, but blinks your eyes and she is gone.  Holding her hand is challenging both because of her hyperactivity and the unappealing nature of what ever  may have been in her mouth and hand.
  Legend has it that she was brought to us by social services to protect her from her aggressively negligent family. Apparently, they would lock her in a closet for days on end with no food. She reverted to eating her own feces and apparently will still ingest many strange things though she receives more than adequate nutritious meals.
  With so many children at the center, she manages to be lost in the mix. The aggressive children  consume the energy and attention of the staff and a kid like her tries to fly under the radar. She avoids problems and therefor is fairly independent and isolated. In a primitive way, I think she must be very savvy. She needs to remain safe and fed, yet avoids the potential physical aggression of the most problemtaic kids.
  Some days I feel like I am living a mixture of: Jane Goodall, Richard Leakey and Dr. LIvingstone. And that we are testing a revised role playing of, "The Stockholm Syndrome."

Thanks Very Much!! Fundraiser for Cadanino!

  There is an event today to raise money for Cadanino. They are cooking classes with a renowned chef:  Chef Ramon Leon Au.   This is being coordinated by a friend of Cadanino:Lisette de Archila.  She is also a frequent visitor and has a special relationship with one of the kids; Manuel.

Please pray for a successful event and significant attendance.

Cordialmente queremos invitarte a nuestro próximo evento

De recaudación de fondos a beneficio del

hogar de niños con parálisis cerebral

“Fundación Cada Niño”

Estaremos recibiendo la clase de comida china cantonesa impartida por

Nuestro invitado especial Chef Ramon Leon Au

En esta ocasión aprenderemos a hacer:

v Arroz frito

v Tacos chinos con salsa agridulce

v Chap Suey

v Chao Mein

________________________________________________________________

Donacion  Q75.00 por persona

Martes 15 de noviembre del 2011

3  pm

Por la gran demanda de esta clase se decidió hacerla en el salón social de Bosques de Las Luces

PORFAVOR MUY IMPORTANTE:

AL INGRESAR A GARITA DECIR QUE VIENEN

AL EVENTO DE SRA. LISSETTE DE ARCHILA

Porfavor confirmar su asistencia a:

Sra. Waleska de Solares

walsolares@yahoo.com

cel 55160279

GRACIAS! TE ESPERAMOS

DIOS TE BENDIGA

Fill 'er up please !! If the glass is half empty or half full it does not matter

     Fill 'er up PLEASE !!              

.








  Who cares how full the glass is. We need to work together to Fill 'er up. 

Meditation on Handicapped KIds from Henri Nouwen.

  I was feeling a bit down and sorry for myself and the kids. This message was in my email inbox:

"The most honored parts of the body are not the head or the hands, which lead and control.  The most important parts are the least presentable parts. That's the mystery of the Church.  As a people called out of oppression to freedom, we must recognize that it is the weakest among us - the elderly, the small children, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the hungry and sick - who form the real center.  Paul says,  "It is the parts of the body which we consider least dignified, that we surround with the greatest dignity"  (1 Corinthians 12:23).

The Church as the people of God can truly embody the living Christ among us only when the poor remain its most treasured part.  Care for the poor, therefore, is much more than Christian charity.  It is the essence of being the body of Christ.

My son JJ won a very impressive award for his service in Afghanistan!

 The Lord Blessed me with two amazing kids. This photo is of my son Jamie Jr. who was awarded the
"Joint Services Commendation" award for his Marine Service in Afghanistan.

The Actual Commendation!!

Thanks and Happy Birthday Nike!

  We celebrated our good friend Nike's birthday today. She is a volunteer with a big heart and lots of kindness. A couple of cakes to say, "Thank you" was the least we could do when we see all that she has done and how much she helps the kids.