Heartbreaking Reality

We currently have an intern living with us from ETSU.  She is studying Public Health and came here to do a follow up study on 14 malnourished kids here in the valley.  Her first day here, Ricardo, the interim director of the CAFNIMA project in the valley, took Beth and Kris to see a family he had been told had a severely malnourished child.  So, off they went the morning of March 6^th to check on this child.  What they found was horrifying. 

This is the heartbreaking reality they discovered:  Cesar is six years old and when they found him, he was literally dressed in rags and chained to a post outside.  There were no adults at the house and he told Ricardo he was chained up so that he wouldn’t run away.

They had to leave him at that point since no adults were there, but later that evening, we went back to speak with the parents and weigh and measure him.  What we found was two women, neither married, living with their father.  One mother had two children and is pregnant.  The other, Carmen, is Cesar’s mom and she has two other children younger than him.  We weighed and measured all the children in the house.  Most of the others are adequately nourished.  When we weighed and measured Cesar, I was shocked…he is smaller than my Little Monkey, who is small for a two year old.  And he is six!!!  I held him the entire time we were in their home and he was trembling from cold.

We gave him something to eat that night and he devoured it and the water offered to him as if it had been weeks since he had seen food.  The mother says they feed him, but he told Ricardo that they give all the other kids food on a regular basis and only give it to him some of the time.  His size is a reflection of that.

The next day Kris, Dee Dee, Ricardo, and Beth went back to check on him (we had left that morning for a little sightseeing tour of Guate with my mom) and they found he had been throwing up and unable to hold down the food we had left for him.  This is a sign of severe malnutrition and the protocol for such is to take the child to a hospital because they will not be able to receive food at home.  So, all the above mentioned piled into a truck along with Cesar, his mom, and his baby brother who was still nursing.

They took him to the nearest hospital where he was cleaned up and received IV and a good haircut.  When Kris, Dee Dee, and Beth checked on him late last week, Dee Dee said she would guess he had gained 5 pounds in one week.  At this moment, he is still in the hospital.  From there, he will be discharged to a recuperation center where his mother will have the opportunity to learn how to properly care for her child.

There seems to be obvious discrimination going on in this family for a reason we have been unable to completely figure out.  There are so many superstitions and beliefs here, sometimes it is hard to weed through them all and figure out the truth.  The good news is, Ricardo is faithfully following up with this situation and all involved want what is best for Cesar.  Please pray that his mother will begin to have a desire to care for Cesar as she does her other children.  Or that if she is not going to change, that this will be very clear before Cesar is permitted to return to her house and that a loving family will be found who can take care of him.

A Taste of Spring

For those of you still in the heart of winter (so sorry Caroline & Jon)…we thought you might like to see a little taste of spring…

Exploring Our Territory with Nana

Since we have been back after Christmas, we have taken time as a family to explore the territory around us a bit more.  This has been good for me to get out of the house and for all of us to get some good exercise, but also to make some good memories here with my kids.  So when my mom, or Nana, came to visit we had to show her some of our favorite spots.  There will be more to come about Nana’s visit, but here are some pictures from her time in the valley.

Our favorite play place to go is down to the Ulpan River.  It’s at the bottom of the valley and runs through the middle of a cattle farm.  There is a bridge there and little bank on the side of the water (which closely resembles a creek in the Smokies) and the kids love to throw rocks in the water.  I have enjoyed going there, especially with the older three kiddos, because all I have to do is sit on the bridge, enjoy the warm sun (which we are seeing more of these days) and let them run and play.

Another fun discovery was a cave a short hike from our house.  Much of the area surrounding us doesn’t look much like a rain forest because it’s all corn fields.  But back on this hike, you suddenly feel like you’re in the middle of the jungle.  Then you climb over a barbed wire fence and go down a very steep hill and find yourself in a cool, wet forest.  In front of you is a beautiful cave UNDER the trees.  Above you are HUGE trees, roots coming down all around you, with vines everywhere.  It’s cool and a bit eerie all at the same time.   

Entering the Struggle

For those of you who know us well and have followed our blog, it will come as no surprise to you that this time living in Guatemala has been very difficult for me.  It really has very little to do with location, but the Lord has used the location to lead me into what you might call a desert, wilderness, dark place, or a winter.  Back in October, we were really questioning whether or not to stay because I was struggling so much.  However, in a conversation with Mark’s parent’s, Jim said, “Katy, you are struggling.  That is okay.  Enter the struggle.” 

So I have.  I have plunged into a deep pool of struggle.  At first, after that conversation, there was some peace because I was no longer struggling against the struggle.  I knew the Lord was trying to do a serious work on my heart and I was yielding to that work.  As we were home for Christmas, many rocks were overturned in my soul and I didn’t like what I saw…there was so much muck to dig through and clean out.  Again, very little of the muck has anything to do with Guatemala.  But the Lord has used the space and isolation of this place to dig.

Returning after Christmas was an excruciatingly painful thing for me to do.  I have been terribly sad and after a few weeks of constant tears, I finally admitted that I have been suffering from depression (honestly, probably for several years), but moving here, where I have no distractions, has made the depression more than I can bear on my own.  Upon the recommendation of my dear friend and counselor, as well as my doctor, I have begun taking anti-depressants.  We were hopeful that this would solve all the problems and we would be able to continue living here through our originally planned departure in May. 

However, I am not able to stay here any longer.  I have had fears about admitting that I have reached my limit and need to come home early because I have felt like I would be disappointing people.  I know I have lived too much of my life trying to make other people happy and I believe one of the things the Lord is trying to inscribe on my heart right now is that I am unconditionally loved by Him and He is the only audience I need to be living for.  Knowing the reality of that truth has given me a great deal of peace to make the decision to come home and take some time to take care of myself.

So, most of the family is moving home on March 26^th.  Mark will come with us, help us get home and sort of settled, and then he and Drew will return with a team in April and stay for a couple weeks to complete the design of the remaining projects he is working on.  Please pray for our family during this time of transition.  Those of you who know me, know that I have always been a person who wants to be super-woman and do everything perfectly.  Well…God is trying to get rid of that woman.  Our time here has taught me that I cannot do everything and I should not do everything.  I should rest in the arms of HIS LOVE. 

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  We will write more as we process and continue this journey.