Hola mi amigos! Well I have survived my first week out in the pueblo of Yalu. It has been quite a week - one filled with heartbreaking poverty, hard lessons learned, and freezing cold showers:)
It is hard to describe just how the people of Yalu live. The houses are made of concrete bricks with tin roofing. The floors are either concrete or just plain dirt. The road is a mixture of dirt and poop from the hundreds of animals running around - dogs, pigs, horses, roosters, chickens, etc. Most families have anywhere from 5 to 10 people living in a one room house. Many don't have bathrooms within the house, although some have Mano con Mano built outside bathrooms. It is definitely a world away from Antigua, America, and pretty much anywhere else I have ever been.
Besides the emotional side of being witness to such great poverty, I have also been struggling with feeling like I am not being useful. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I help at the feeding center; cooking the meals, weighing the kids, go on home visits with the doctor, playing and chatting with whoever is not too terrified to look at me(which most of the kids are thus far :)). On Tuesdays and Thursday I walk about 3km to the next pueblo to help out in a medical clinic, weighing, taking temps, and blood pressure of patients. So although I am definitely keeping busy 'helping', I have a deeper desire to do something here that will accomplish more than just allowing them to run the way they always have. I feel like God has brought me here to give more of a long-term benefit to the village and the program. Unfortunately God has not revealed what that is to be yet but I am confident that he will. Regardless of that feeling, I most definitely cannot say that God hasn't taught me anything. I am learning much about the cycle of poverty, giving poverty a face and a personality as opposed to just an idea that I read about in a textbook or hear about on the news. God has impacted my heart through the people of Yalu and he has made a lasting impression on me that I hope will shape the rest of my life. My prayer in the two weeks I have remaining is that I can return the favor.
I am heading back tomorrow morning and will be doing my first 'nutrition counseling' session with a family in the village! Pray that I have the words to help them and am able to communicate them effectively. The language barrier has definitely been challenging. Especially because all of the villagers speak Katchikal, a mayan dialect, as their first language. I have been able to communicate effectively enough with most of the people, the workers at the feeding center, and the doctor on staff but my Spanish vocab is about 90% maxed out at this point. Time to teach myself some new words! Again, I will not have internet access so I hope you all have a fantastic week and will let you know that I am still alive next weekend! God bless you all - Miss you!
**By the way: Sorry about the lack of pictures! My stupid camera died yesterday and I didn't bring my charger to Antigua :( So unfortunately they will have to wait until next weekend...sad.
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