Layers Upon Layers: Mixed Media Art

Guatemala: Day 5 (part 2)

by Cyndi on January 26th, 2007

At the hotel, we picked up our ice cream and headed back to the house to stow it away for dessert. The kids were outside playing games—Susan likes to have them get out of the house every afternoon that the weather makes it possible!—so it was pretty easy to sneak it inside with the unexciting eggs. Then we joined the kids for some romping around.

After the outdoor games, everyone came inside and took their showers to clean up before dinner. This is a time when the kids may end up working on schoolwork that they didn’t finish earlier or playing quieter games together. Esme and I managed to finish reading the book that we’d been working on this week, and there was also time for a round or two of dominoes with Gladys before supper.

Tonight we had traditional rice and beads, with spicy homemade salsa and hot green chili sauce. There was also leftover coleslaw salad from lunchtime. Hawthorne berry juice, iced tea, and chocolate milk were in pitchers on the tables to drink. Noe has still not been able to join in a meal since he became sick the other day. We were all beginning to become quite worried about him and were worried that he may have to return to the hospital tomorrow if he still can’t eat or drink.

After dinner, Susan brought out the cakes, loaded up with candles, and we unveiled the ice cream. The kids were thrilled with the unexpected treats.

Tom had handmade cards from the kids and several gifts to open, including a gift from Lizzie (one of their daughters, and Nate’s girlfriend).

Once more, the kids got out the board games, but this time Monopoly didn’t last very long: Nate offered to play the video “Cars” for them in Spanish with English subtitles. Dani decided to watch it with them, while Nate, Mike, and I went up to the family loft where Susan was lobbying hard for “Anne of Green Gables”. It really ended up being nothing like I expected, and we enjoyed it a lot. There was only time to see the first half before Nate took us back to the hotel.

One of the things that I learned from Susan while she was making the cake earlier was the reason why so many of the kids were still at the home two years longer than they were supposed to be. A briefcase was stolen from Tom when they were all living back at the old house in San Cristobel. All of the birth certificates and legal documents for the kids were in that briefcase, which probably ended up in a dumpster somewhere. Two years have now passed while the courts reconsider each case individually from scratch. New birth certificates had to be obtained, which meant doctor visits to determine the children’s ages. Then a judge would hear the case and give a birth date to each child. One judge gave three kids in one family the same birth date! Talk about a lack of imagination and thought! Legal guardians, negligent or abusive parents had to be tracked down and convinced to sign away their rights to the children all over again. In all cases, the process would probably have gone faster if bribes were paid, but that is simply not how this children’s home has chosen to operate.

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POSTED IN: Guatemala, My Family & Friends