Guatemala City

It was another beautiful day in Guatemala City. It appears we have finally left the rain and cold behind. We met up with Gloria from Fundacion Ayudame a Vivir and started our day by visiting the National Pediatric Oncology Unit. It is very sad that children have to be stricken with cancer, however, this wonderful facility makes the treatment a little easier. There are many issues that surround the illness of a child in Guatemala. The child most likely doesn't receive regular medical care and therefore the cancer is discovered very late. The parents may be unable to take the time to get the treatment for the child because they have to take care of the other children at home. This hospital not only treats the child's cancer but also provides some services for the family. They teach the family about nutrition, they provide shelter at the hospital for the family, they provide transportation for the family, they have spiritual and psychologial support for the family, and many other services. The hospital is almost finished with a new wing for the children. The blood drawing area is designed to look like a barn to encourage the children to want to enter. The new wing is very inviting. We left alot of candy for the staff to pass out to the children that are able to have candy.

We left the hospital for the meeting of the Club Rotario de la Ciudad de Guatemala. This is the oldest Rotary club in Guatemala City. There are over 50 members. Since it is so close to Valentine's Day, the spouses of the members were also invited to the meeting. It was a packed house! We set up to give our presentations in our very bad Spanish and we were asked to keep our presentation brief because the club had a very big agenda. It is difficult for us to alter our presentations "on the fly" because our Spanish is rather poor. However, we managed to cut down the time of our presentations and speak Spanish rather well. Except for Angela who referred to her boyfriend (novio) as her girlfriend (novia). The Spanish language has a lot of words that alter slightly if it is male or female. This is very difficult to get used to. Many times when people are speaking Spanish I cannot distinguish if they have used an 'o' or an 'a' at the end of the word denoting male or female. However, their more discerning ear can obviously detect the difference. The bad thing is we didn't know why they were laughing. There was a very nice picture of Angela's boyfriend. It was later that someone told us about the mistake. I had made a similar mistake and made reference to my "wife" at a dinner last week. I guess we all have to be a little more careful.

After our wonderful lunch and quick presentations Mike and Laura left to visit a children's museum in a Walmart??? We will have to get an update from them later.

Angela and I accompanied Isabela to a home provided by Fundaninas. This is a wonderful program that provides shelter, food, support, and education for girls that otherwise would be abused and/or abandoned and living on the streets. The home we went to visit has approximately 27 girls residing there ranging in age from 4 years old to 18 years old. The girls are not only taught the necessary skills to live independently when they reach the age of 18 but they are also given the skills to support themselves. Some go on to become nurses, accountants, and hair dressers. Still others may become chefs. Fundaninas becomes the guardians for these girls and provides them with clothing, food, medical care, and school - in some cases private school. It is not just routine medical exams and care that is provided. While there we met a young child that has a very serious kidney disease and Fundaninas pays for all of her treatments including dialysis. We saw another girl with braces on her teeth. The girls were very well behaved and very sweet. The older girls wanted to know if we were married, what we liked to do, what our favorite musicians were, and what our favorite colours were. The younger girls admired our hair and eyes. They wanted us to take their pictures and then they wanted to look at them. They also liked looking at the pictures of my dogs. They grouped together and sang several songs for us. Even when we passed out candy to them they were very respectful. They thanked us. Nobody tried to grab for multiple bags or claim they hadn't gotten a bag. Angela and I received many hugs and kisses. It was a heartwarming experience.

Angela and I ended our day with a wonderful dinner with our host and hostess. They have made our stay in Guatemala City most enjoyable. I will be sorry when we have to leave tomorrow morning.