Walkin Walkers - HELP BUY A WALKER AND WHEELCHAIR!

For the past three weeks we have been volunteering at a rehab/long term care facility with over 200 patients who suffer from various severities of cerebral palsy, psychomotor delay, strokes, and developmental disabilities due to infant malnutrition. The facility, Las Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro, functions only on donations and is run by Guatemalan staff which include nurses, doctors, physical therapists, social workers, etc.

Dominic and I have been working mainly with the children, helping them build strength and bare their own weight through exercises and walking with assistance. Out of the sixty children that live there, only a handful of them have the potential to one day walk on their own.

So, here is the problem.

1. There are only two children walkers available, one of which is broken, and the other is only suitable for smaller kids.   Therefore, we have had to borrow adult walkers to use with the children.  This creates the problem that someone (a volunteer most likely) must take the initiative to ask the nurses in the adult section if the children can borrow a walker for 30 min.  It is rare that anyone takes this initiative.

It is important that the children have access to their own appropriate walker.  The idea being, the children practice walking everyday, which is crucial to their development and quality of life.

Dominic walking with Edwin with a borrowed adult walker.   

Yasmin assisting Elmer with the one and only children's walker.

2. Saul, a 11 year old boy with cerebral palsy, is in need of a new wheelchair.  His current chair is broken.



The SOLUTION = $300

Raise money to purchase - 2 new children appropriate walkers
                                         - 1 new wheelchair



We appreciate any donation. If interested, please click on the Buy Now button at the top left and it will forward you to our Paypal account.


Thanks!

Yasmin & Dom

Semana Santa - Antigua, Guatemala

For Semana Santa in Antigua the locals make alfombras (carpets) out of dyed wood chips, flowers, pine, fruits, and vegetables.  These alfombras are seen as a sacred offering to the passing procession.  

Parque Central - Antigua

Community making an alfombra

The Pelota Lady

Street before the procession

The Procession begins

We spent 5 hours helping a family make their alfombra

The family we met and helped make their alfombra

After the procession passes

Scuba Steve!

Spent 10 days on the Bay Island Utila of Honduras where we managed to become Advanced scuba certified.  That's 115' max depth that we reached.  We (Dom went on 14 and Yasmin 12) went on 12 dives!  

Here's what we saw:

- Hawksbill sea turtle

- Spotted Eagle Ray

- Trunk Fish

- Angle Fish

- Dansel Fish 

- Murray Eel

- Parrot Fish

- Trumpet Fish

- Snake Eel

- Lizard Fish

- Scorpion Fish

- Spotted Drum

- Dogtooth Snapper

- Electric Ray

- NIGHT DIVE 

- Black Coral (native to Honduras)

- And MUCH MORE!

Fish fish fish

Last Dive to 115 feet!

A few shots with our ROCKIN instructor Christos (aka Scuba Daddy)

Hot sauce made in Utila and bottle in a Coke bottle.  

Dive center

One Donation

After receiving a donation from an anonymous friend back home.  Yasmin and I bought a ton of fruits, veggies, and chicken to take out to the kids of Casa Guatemala.  They LOVED IT!!!

Huge thanks to Willy for giving us a ride out to the orphanage on his sail boat! 

Bigotito - little mustache

Ultimos días con los niños..

Our last few weeks at the orphanage flew by. As difficult as it was leaving all of our little friends and our fellow volunteers, we decided that the time had come to move on to our next adventure.

Dominic finally gained control and respect as the library teacher which two months ago, seemed hopeless. At first the library classes were full of energetic, yelling children bouncing off every corner of the room throwing books to and fro and ripping the pages as they eagerly turned to look what was next. After some strict, consistent rule setting and structure from Profe Dom, the children learned to sit quietly for ONE hour and read, or at least pretend to read.  When Dom broke the news to them that we were leaving (de una vez), the kids looked up at him with sad droopy eyes and said "pero quién va a estar en la biblioteca?" (who's going to teach library?)

For our last weekend at the orphanage, we all decided to take the kids on a trip to Rio Frio. It is about an hour and a half walk from the orphanage to, you guessed it, a big cold river with a swimming hole. This is the closest thing to a 'field trip' these kiddos ever get, but even though they have been there a dozen times, it is still a treat. When we broke the news to them that they would have to skip there Saturday tareas (chores) and instead go to the cold river, they were infused with excitement. 

After a long hot hike through mud and puddles (most of the children preferred to walk barefoot), we finally made it to Rio Frio where we spent the afternoon. The youngest orphan Shana, three years old, walked the majority of the trek without a single complaint.  The older kids managed to lug three HUGE pots full of spaghetti, tortillas, and refresco for lunch.  The children swam, fished, and climbed along the wall of the river for three hours, all the while with a huge smile on their faces.

The time we spent at Casa Guatemala taught us a tremendous amount about the sacrifice it takes as a volunteer to assume the role of 'mom', 'dad', 'nurse', 'teacher' for these orphaned, less fortunate kids. We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of their lives, if only for a short period of time. 

Hasta la próxima, 

Yasmin