First day of school

Sorry no pictures tonight! Today was the long awaited first day of school. All our girls go to school for the afternoon session after doing their homework in the morning. That session, vespertina, starts at 12:30 and ends at 5:30 for primary school and 6:03 for secundary school. All of the primary girls in regular classes - the majority - went to school in their new uniforms (donation), new shoes, and with one notebook and a pencil or pen depending on the grade. Many of the girls have the same teacher they had last year - which is good in all cases. For the first time in their school carera Johana and Kenia will be different classrooms - in 5th grade. Both of these girls are excellent students.

The Jr. High girls didn't have school and probably wont all week because the parents of the morning session had a big demonstration and blocked a major highway - so classes are cancelled at Leon A Soto Jr. High at least until next week.

We have two girls entering 10th grade (highschool or segundo ciclo) The have new uniforms and also. Both said that the first day was good. They were in different schools last year and are good students. Yeri, now 15, has been with us since she was 18 months old and so has spent her entire school carera with us. Yanitcia, also 15, started first grade with us and also is a good but somewhat rebellous student. She has a gift of drawing.

After several years of looking I found dry erase pens in all the basic colors. Since the K to 2 kids get home an hour earlier than the others we had fun with them - having the kids write the name of the color. Just by having this short fun activity I now know the Estefani and Chochi (second grade) need to practice writing the letter Z (in cursive - they write in cursive from the start), practice woords with Y and LL which make a very similar sound and start to learn the words that start with B and which start with V (which basically have the same sound in spanish. Vaca is cow and verde is green.

Hope to post some pictures tomorrow or Wednesday. We still don't have internet at the home.

Visit to Bocas - part 3

This is the school where Graciela went to school before she got sick. Other of the family have attended here as well. SHe has one younger brother who goes to 6th grade here this year.
Let me introduce Roberto, Graciela's brother who is one year older than she is. He is 17, is going into 10 th grade, likes math and received a years average in math of 92.
Graciela's older sister who is 34 and did not have the opertunity to go to school. Her kids are in school though.
The very best thing that could happen for Graciela is that a relative give a kidney. The family nad I had a talk about it in the airport. The first thing I told them was that we each (most of us )have two kidneys that that giving on to Graciela would not mean that they would die. We talked about that imn detail and about what the first steps would be to give this gift of love to her. Roberto is interested to see if he is a match and he asked me to take this picture of the book I gave them. Click on the picture to make it bigger. Pray for them both.

Meet Crystel

This is Crystel in the blue dress. Her sister Johana is trying to have her close her mouth for the picture but she didn't get the idea. Although her cerebral palsey is mild and she hears and understands she doesn't talk.

You may remember that I have talked about Crystel, a now 5 year old with mild cebral palsey. I have know her for two years. She was in a special school of kids with CP last year and will start again next week when school starts here. Her sister Johana lives with us at the home and another sister is in 12th grade this year and I hope will go on to the U. All three girls are part of my ministry of education for girls. After a lot of talking on my part and showing her much older half sister (with whom she lives) how to help her learn to be independent she now dresses and undresses, feeds herself, walks up and down stairs with no help, can get on and off her bed, play, run etc.

Our Swimming Party

Here are several of our girls enjoying the wonderful pool at Tia Norma's house in coronado.
Graciela enjoying the hamock and the gazibo. For lunch we had fried chicken, rice with chicken - later they had ham and cheese sandwiches, cookies, burundanga (junk food).
Our cook, Sra. Elvira and new childcare worker, Sra Maria.
Evelia in the shallow pool with a beach ball. It was punctured by a spiny plant later.

The Girls' home is my home again

After more than two months away (look at an earlier blog to see why) I have returned to live in my little room at the girls' home. I have my bed and pillows all set up and the room is full of stuff much of which I am going to move to an alternate place more accessinle to the girls and staff. More later.

Wonderful Swimming and Picnic

All of the girls and much of the staff went to Coronado where Norma, a long time member of the board, has a beach home - a bit off the beach but a wonderful place to have a picnic and for the girls to swim all day in tje kidney shaped pool. No picts because I could't get them to load up tonight. We arrive about 10 and by 10:30, after reminding them of rules of the pool and rules of the house (e-g- if you walk in the cut grass you must rinse your feet). Everyone was very cooperative and we had a really great time. I will try to post some picts tomorrow but I am not going to stop writing because the up load doesn't work.

More Bocas del Toro

This is the path approaching Graciela's house. We walked in for about 10 minutes from the road. After we got everything together in Changuinola - finding her brother at Restaurante Lissett where two brothers work, resting, then buying food for Graciela and her family while she was there as her diet is restricted (kidney failure), we got on a bus headed for Almirante which would pass the school and a store at Loma Muleto. First we had to cross the bridge over the Changuinola river. This is a one lane bridge which has railroad tracks on it as it serves both vehicles and trains. The bridge is old and the boards that serve as the road bed are moveable. The government is building a new bridge beside it. We then reached the school and got off. Her two youngest brothers ages 11 and 13 were waiting at the bus stop. I think they had not seen eachother for 5 years.
The walk was medium difficulty with a few places where I needed help - around a muddy spot, jumping over a stream and walking across a log over the stream which you can see in this picture! If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see the house, Graciela and Beni (secretary at the home). Her mother was back helping me - but I made it with little trouble.
Here is a chicken - it belongs to the youngest of her brothers Oiden - he is very proud of it. In the blue/green chair are chocolate seed - Cocoa.
Here I am looking up to the house which is on stilts. The baby is one of her nephews and the others are brothers. Later I sat in the hammock. One brother demonstrated for me how to sit into it and as you can see in the previous posting I did! The little boy is sick with diarrea and I told the family how to make rehydration drink -- in a glass of clean water put a palm full of sugar and a three finger pinch of salt.
Here is the baby again. Also one of his uncles!

More this weekend.

Tia Sue