The little children are using the space more each day and they need more shade and possible
activities. The ground needs to be fixed with grass sidewalks.
We are currently soliciting support for help with this project.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Project Cadanino y Aurora Encantado
These are photos of the garden area that we are interested in making improvements.
The little children are using the space more each day and they need more shade and possible
activities. The ground needs to be fixed with grass sidewalks.
We are currently soliciting support for help with this project.
The little children are using the space more each day and they need more shade and possible
activities. The ground needs to be fixed with grass sidewalks.
We are currently soliciting support for help with this project.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
30 Kids- Six Teams and Eight Nineras
Our format has expanded and we are serving more children this year. Our objective has been to increase the attention and care of the neediest and least mobile or articulate of the children. We had started with the wheelchair children and have expanded into the smallest and most vulnerable of the children. Almost all of the group of 30 kids are not able to speak or verbally communicate their needs. Many can barely walk or crawl. All of them are precious in God's eyes and capable of growth and joy.
We are posting the Nineras below with the names of their teams and will circle back later
with a bit more about their teams. I thank the Lord for this expansion. Also, we thank Vida i Pau who employ one of the Nineras and local Social Services (SBS) that employ another woman ninera. The other six nineras are employed by Foundation Cadanino. Hats off to our very capable and talented team leader Carmen Marie Gantenbein Leiva. She is a Physical Therapist in addition to managing the staff.
Carmen Marie- She has been with us since the beginning. A dedicated person who loves the children. She has great patience in coordinating our staff and coordinating with the staff employed by the government.
Carmen Marie
.
Marisol Team Leader of the Lions- Jaimito, Sandrita, Maria Isabella, Manueal de Jesus and Roldandito
Maria Eugenia Valenzuela Team Leader of the Bulls - Karlita, Griselda, Wendy and Samuel (Wendy is an entire classroom unto herself)
Telma Guzman Team Leader of the Tigers- Anahi, Suzi, Jose Blanco, and Hector Cinto.
Griselda López Team Leader of the Tigers- Anahi, Suzi, Jose Blanco, and Hector Cinto.
Silvia Argueta Team Leader of the Bears - Oscar, Ingrid, Elfido, Julio Caesar and
We are posting the Nineras below with the names of their teams and will circle back later
with a bit more about their teams. I thank the Lord for this expansion. Also, we thank Vida i Pau who employ one of the Nineras and local Social Services (SBS) that employ another woman ninera. The other six nineras are employed by Foundation Cadanino. Hats off to our very capable and talented team leader Carmen Marie Gantenbein Leiva. She is a Physical Therapist in addition to managing the staff.
Carmen Marie- She has been with us since the beginning. A dedicated person who loves the children. She has great patience in coordinating our staff and coordinating with the staff employed by the government.
Carmen Marie
.
Marisol Team Leader of the Lions- Jaimito, Sandrita, Maria Isabella, Manueal de Jesus and Roldandito
Maria Eugenia Valenzuela Team Leader of the Bulls - Karlita, Griselda, Wendy and Samuel (Wendy is an entire classroom unto herself)
Telma Guzman Team Leader of the Tigers- Anahi, Suzi, Jose Blanco, and Hector Cinto.
Griselda López Team Leader of the Tigers- Anahi, Suzi, Jose Blanco, and Hector Cinto.
Silvia Argueta Team Leader of the Bears - Oscar, Ingrid, Elfido, Julio Caesar and
Noemi Clavel Team Leader of the Bears - Oscar, Ingrid, Elfido, Julio Caesar and
Lilian team leader of the Panthers - Stuart, Jaimito
Lorena Team leader of the Jaguars - Francisco, Florecita, Cintia
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Specialized Exercises: Facial muscles
Many of our kids and young adults drool continuously. Not only is it unattractive, it is also unsanitary. The Physical Therapist team has started to teach the nannies how to massage and stimulate the facial muscles. Some of the kids have started to make progress already. Part of the challenge will be to encourage the nannies to continue with the program. Please pray for continued small successes and Miracles.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Staff Lunch and Birthday for Griselda
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Four Teams- (Well 3.5)
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 -
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 -
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Kids go to Granja
A group of our children went to a Granja yesterday. It's kind of like what we would call a petting zoo, but down here it is likely to be a working farm with a group of calm and friendly animals. Hector was
quite nervous around the animals. Maybe next time he will be more familiar and comfortable.
quite nervous around the animals. Maybe next time he will be more familiar and comfortable.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Profile of New Associate Jessica
Thanks to the generosity of our Friends Ellen and Stephen we are able to retain a new Ninera. She is in charge of the new team knowns as the Osos. The children in her group are: Jaimito, Rolando, Maria Isabel, Sandra and Manuel de Jesus. She has hit the ground running and in a few short days has had a positive impact on these children. We are moving away from referring to the kids in our groups as, "The Forgotten Ones" (Los Olvidados). We are fiddling with a new naming collection. Something along the lines of the chosen ones. We are open to ideas and suggestions.
Jessica has the equivalent of an associates degree in Secretarial and office management. She dreams of attending University someday soon. Please read more about her below the photo.
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Jessica's full name is Jessica Amparo Gabriela Crispin Ramos and outside of work her nickname is normally Gaby. We have a psychologist on staff with that name so we have decided to stick with calling her Jessica.
She comes from a family of five and she and her husband have a three year old girl, Zoe.
Her husband is mechanically oriented and has worked with a variety of equipment and machinery. His name is Sergio. They live in Zone 18 and his Mother lives on the second floor or their home and watches the baby during the day so that they can both work. Jessica is 24 years old. Her sister has worked with us at the center for almost 4 years, so she comes with good references and credentials. Her education level is really quite high for this position and I reminded her that the objective is for her to find better employment within six months.
A couple of things to know about her:
Favorite color; Pink, Blue and Black (she refused to be pinned down to only one)
She is involved in her Evangelical Church called Esmirna. A small Christian Church near where she lives. She accepted Christ as her Saviour when she was 19 years old.
Her spoiled or favored child is: Rolando (and also Jaimito).
She is enthusiastic and energetic. Another big thanks and shout out to our friends Ellen and Stephen who made this possible.
Jessica has the equivalent of an associates degree in Secretarial and office management. She dreams of attending University someday soon. Please read more about her below the photo.
.JPG)
Jessica's full name is Jessica Amparo Gabriela Crispin Ramos and outside of work her nickname is normally Gaby. We have a psychologist on staff with that name so we have decided to stick with calling her Jessica.
She comes from a family of five and she and her husband have a three year old girl, Zoe.
Her husband is mechanically oriented and has worked with a variety of equipment and machinery. His name is Sergio. They live in Zone 18 and his Mother lives on the second floor or their home and watches the baby during the day so that they can both work. Jessica is 24 years old. Her sister has worked with us at the center for almost 4 years, so she comes with good references and credentials. Her education level is really quite high for this position and I reminded her that the objective is for her to find better employment within six months.
A couple of things to know about her:
Favorite color; Pink, Blue and Black (she refused to be pinned down to only one)
She is involved in her Evangelical Church called Esmirna. A small Christian Church near where she lives. She accepted Christ as her Saviour when she was 19 years old.
Her spoiled or favored child is: Rolando (and also Jaimito).
She is enthusiastic and energetic. Another big thanks and shout out to our friends Ellen and Stephen who made this possible.
New Shirts and some of our favorite Volunteers
The white polo shirts are being modeled by Alina and Abby. Nike is wearing the older Blue Cadanino polo shirt. We have these made up for local volunteers, employees and friends of Cadanino back in the States. The fabric in these shirts is a vast improvement over the previous. They breathe better and are more comfortable. Let us know if you'd like one!
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Carnaval (Mardi Gras) Celebration
I am not sure of the origins or more importantly the evolution of this day, but Carnaval really is fun for the kids. They prepared empty bright colored eggs filled with colorful confetti. The objective is to crack it open on the head of your friends.
The day is the day before the forty days of Lent which is generally fairly solemn and a time for fasting, self discipline and prayer. I believe the Mardi Gras celebrations come out of the last chance to have fun before the 40 days begins. In my Episcopalian childhood we would celebrate a Shrove Tuesday supper. Though pleasant and filling; nothing like the celebrations we see today.
Let's all pray more and think more about Jesus and others in this Lenten Season.
The day is the day before the forty days of Lent which is generally fairly solemn and a time for fasting, self discipline and prayer. I believe the Mardi Gras celebrations come out of the last chance to have fun before the 40 days begins. In my Episcopalian childhood we would celebrate a Shrove Tuesday supper. Though pleasant and filling; nothing like the celebrations we see today.
The Team Approach - Focusing on 20 Most Vulnerable Children
Divide and Conquor: We are creating color coded teams: The Red are the Bears (Osos) and the Yellow are the Tigers (Tigres). Silvia runs the bears and Telma the tigers. Carmen Marie runs the whole show! The objective is specialization and individualized attention. Each child is so precious in the eyes of the Lord. — with Carmen Maria Gantenbein Leiva.
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