Monday, March 28, 2011

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Last week Doctora Turcios and I went to Tegucigalpa to collaborate with on the process of fabricating AFOS (Ankle Foot Orthopedic shoes) for patients that had an orthopedic surgery in January. The shoes are important to improve the way the patients use their body to walk, and in that make it more efficient for the recovery process.

In Tegucigalpa right now there are groups of teachers protesting under the maintenance of the Leaders of the Teachers affiliate to the public System. They are protesting because the government wants to change the way the salary is calculated. Every year the salary increases but right now in Honduras the government is struggling to pay, and in the future there is the possibility of not being able to pay the teachers. But in a Honduran society there is an eternal fight between the rich and the poor.

Thursday Dr. Turcios and I were having lunch at a restaurant, and in that time the manifestation of the teachers protesting got to the point where the police needed it to step in and react. The teachers had blocked the free traffic in the street, so the police used water tanks to spray water and also used gas to calm the protestors down. The water and gas only made the protestors more aggravated and more enraged. They started throwing rocks at the police officers, nearby offices, restaurants, and even street signs. The restaurant that Dr. Turcios and I were eating at was about 25 meters away from all of the action. The rocks that the protestors were throwing were hitting the glass of the restaurant, with the idea that the owners could afford to replace the damaged property.

The environment inside the restaurant was filled with incredible fear and in some cases hysteria. Some of the people hid in the restrooms or behind concrete walls, while others watched in shock as the events unfolded right in front of our eyes. Once the craziness calmed down outside and things seemed to be less dangerous, an excited discussion started between the people inside the restaurant. Of course there are always two sides to every story, one side in favor of the protesting teachers and others in favor against. Both having seen the same events take place and both having different opinions based on what was seen. Later on that day the news on the T.V. had the same two sides of the story and interpretation. Show after show was different even thought they have the same videos and pictures. There were some shows that were more neutral on the situation because they don’t want confrontation with their viewers and lose their audience. Some are afraid to say or think against the network they work for in fear for their jobs or because they have nothing more to express about what was going on.

To be honest the same story happens in most of the situations here in our country or around the world. In decades the society has been feed the idea that if someone does not help us or things the way we want, they are then converted into our enemies. This creates a hostile enviroment for organizations like Providence that try to change the way we help others. We believe that we can make a impact in others life’s by changing the way they act and face situations based on economic status. We encourage them to act in a way that can help themselves and then promote helping others in that way. Leading by example teaching a person how to help themselves and giving them the tools to succeed and lead by example, not just by giving a handout.

It was nice to see the contrast of the people that are a little more aware about the future. Out of the group of families that came for the AFOS, 2 of them have kids with special needs. The amount of work that they do with them is unbelievable; they volunteer or try to help others with the same disabilities. To quote one of my teachers from the school “We call them special kids, because they have special parents” and to be honest that is very true. I was able to see how these couples spend the time trying to make their kids comfortable, while enjoying the time with them. Even one of the 2 couples is divorced but they spend a lot of time together because of their love for their child. I wonder kind of life these kids would have without this quality of parents, or if their parents would think the same way of others and say that this happened to their children because of the poverty. The truth is that it’s not because of poverty what so ever, but Because God in his immense wisdom set things to happen for his Glory. He has a plan for each and every one of the families and there is a reason for children being born a certain way and in this moment we might not know why but God will reveal his plans to us on his time.

La Providencia Polaroid

These is the story of Pedrito in his surgery process, before pedrito went into surgery he was full of energy, running around the building, jumping off of chairs and full of laughter. When he came out of surgery, it was like he was a whole different person. He woke up angry, violent and in a lot of pain. During his recovery process he seemed to behave the same very aggressive and non-cooperative. After 6 weeks of recovery whit his feet in casts, he returned to have a checkup. I was afraid of how to control him thought the process of taking off the old cast, removing the pins in his feet and resetting a new cast.

When the doctor first saw him he suggested that we sedate him, it was the best idea ever. He was calm and very relaxed and didn’t give us any Hassel. We removed the cast and the pins and pedrito left the clinic pain free and not afraid of doctors. He was excited to look at his feet and as he left he said “take care, I love you!!”

Monday, March 21, 2011

Agentes de Renovacion

Muchas veces como cristianos nos envolvemos tanto en nuestro estilo de vida que nos desconectamos del resto de las personas que nos rodean y así no sentimos alegría en lo que hacemos, la biblia dice “Buscar primeramente el reino de Dios y todo lo demás añadido será” … “Porque yo soy fiel y prometí que siempre cuidaría de ti” y viene la pregunta ¿cuál es el Reino de Dios?.
Es muy común que cuando hacemos una transacción comercial en nombre de providencia las personas nos den un trato diferente o especial porque así consideran ellos que de una forma ayudan a nuestro ministerio, pero lo que llamo mi atención fue que una de estas personas preguntara a que se dedicaba Providence y al darle una explicación ella respondió “Que tontera es esa, yo no sé porque pierden el tiempo; sinceramente no creo que Dios permita que uno adopte pudiendo uno tener hijos propios” .
Soy honesto al decir que es la primera vez que alguien hace un comentario de este tipo en los 5 años que tengo de estar involucrado con esta organización. Le agradezco a esta persona su honestidad porque seguramente hay muchos que se preguntaran y pensaran lo mismo que esta persona, y le agradezco por el hecho de que ahora me tengo que esforzar mas para que esta persona mire la forma en la cual le damos un mejor cuidado a los niños, para que esta persona al ver la oportunidad que modelos como este les da a niños que no la tenían antes de ingresar bajo nuestro cuidado (noten como intencionalmente dije el modelo y no nosotros) este es un trabajo a largo plazo, se van ganando pequeñas batallas en el trayecto pero el resultado final que es; ver una vida cambiada y así encontrar el reino de Dios, es lo que realmente servirá para que este tipo de personas que ahora no lo creen, puedan entender lo bonito del programa.
Les invito a ser agentes de cambio para que esta errada forma de pensar desaparezca y realmente encontremos lo que nos dice Santiago cuando dice “La religión pura y sin mancha delante de Dios es esta, ayudar a las viudas y huérfanos en sus aflicciones y conservarse limpio de la corrupción del mundo” . No dejemos pasar la oportunidad, ni esperemos recibir un llamado de película para empezar a actuar como Dios nos pide que actuemos…
Por ahora me gustaría introducir una sección que la denominaremos “La Providencia Polaroids” y en la que compartiremos algunas historias de las situaciones que merecen publicarse  para que otros capturen esos momentos por los cuales  vale la pena nuestros sacrificios.

La Providencia Polaroids
La otra vez decidí tomarme el día libre y después de dejar un grupo me quede en un hotel que tuviera piscina para poder disfrutar un tiempo de relax, de regreso decidí usar sandalias (Cosa que no es del todo agradable para los locatarios de esta área) y cuando vine al trabajo uno de los niños me miraba como preocupado tratando de recordar algo, así que el papa le dijo si le gustaban mis sandalias y él me respondió de forma muy natural así “Se parecen a las de mi profesora”…… Me sentí avergonzado porque el relaciono mis sandalias con la de mujeres!!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Stretching Boundaries.

Here at Providence I have had the opportunity to work in different areas of our ministry. One day I am working in the school going through inventory and the next day I could be working in our office. I love that each day I am able to experience La Providencia from a different standpoint. This week has been one of those weeks where you work with a new set of people in an unfamiliar area, doing unfamiliar work. I have had a week of learning and I am learning a lot! I have spent this last week working in our Store Providence in a box. I have been sorting through boxes looking for clothing that can be used by families in our local Aguas Del Padre area. I say that this week is a learning week because I am working in our bodega and I am constantly learning how to do the tasks I have been asked to do. I have gone from working in the office where I am comfortable to the bodega where I am getting my hands dirty working with metal and material of that sort. I have had a blast watching my co-workers build our new equipment for the Academia La Providencia playground. They have been working hard bending, welding, and cutting to make an amazing playground to let our students run around and play. It has been great getting to stretch my boundaries and really get to know all of our staff members. While working in the bodega I have been able to bridge the gap between working with some guys I didn’t really know to actually having relationships and being able to call my co-workers friends. Not only have I been able to get to know more of my staff members, I have been able to spend time and talk with families that come in to get clothes. Every day I have been given the chance to make a relationship with the person that walks through the door, to really listen and learn from the people we are serving.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Footprints of February

This past month at Providence has been busy, busy, busy. To prepare for Academia La Providencia to begin, the amazing teachers we have worked long hours to decorate their classrooms. A lot of cleaning, cutting, gluing, counting, and decorating was involved to make La Providencia look as wonderful and creative as it does! There is a lot that goes into preparing for Academia La Providencia and there are many people here that have served and volunteered their time to help make Providence as Successful as possible. Academia La Providencia is now going on its fourth week of school, the teachers and students are extremely energized and are excited for class. There have been a lot of donations for the school; the students and teachers have been busy using the supplies for reading, writing, and counting! We even have recorders to practice music, so the children have been loving being able to learn in a different way. Academia La Providencia is still within its first month of school; there will be more stories to come! Also, this month at Providence we had Phil Darke our President/CEO stop by with a team of 13 people. The team came for a week and got to experience La Providencia first hand. They spent their time within our school sitting in and watching the children learn. The team also got to enjoy fellowship with us staff members by celebrating Orlando’s 24th birthday. February has been the month for birthdays here with our staff members Douglas and Deivyd both had birthdays only a day apart. Loida one of Beatriz and Mario’s daughters had her second birthday as well! It has been fun getting to know the staff members here actually make real relationships but fulfilling God’s command to love and take care of the orphans. We are enjoying the presence of the children back in school here, as well as the teams that have stopped by to help fulfill the goal of Providence’s ministry.

Please keep the teachers, staff members, and the students in prayer as we take on this New Year with a joyful servants heart!

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Kicking Off the New Year!

This week at Providence we have partnered with an extremely talented medical team coming all the way from Wisconsin. The group of twelve (12) Orthopedic Surgeons has willingly donated their time and skills to help the children of Honduras. The first day started off with one hundred and five children coming from all over the Honduran area to be medically examined. The team spent Sunday screening child after child deciding which of those needed surgery in the coming week, and those that will be options for the coming year. After a full day of work the team finally settled on twenty-nine (29) children that were chosen for surgery the following week. The team arrived everyday at seven o’clock in the morning prepped and ready to use the skills God gave them. Each child was a special case having different problems ranging from clubbed feet, extra toes, and hip problems. There are two operating rooms and each set of surgeons had three to four patients a day working case after case. It has been a pleasure being able to be a part of something so much greater than I could imagine and something so much greater than myself. As the Providence staff we have had the opportunity to sit in and watch the skillful surgeons perform their tasks. It is an amazing thing to see first hand how much time and effort goes into each patient, and having six patients a day is an amazing feat for any surgeon. This week at Providence has been full of wonderful people volunteering their time to come and help fulfill needs here in the Honduran community with joyful hearts and high spirits. The family members would hug and thank us for everything that we did, and in those small moments all the stress, worry, and exhaustion is suddenly minor to a simple smile or hug that explains more than words ever could. The providence staff and the medical team were running around ready to lend a helping hand wherever it was needed. At the end of each day the surgeons and the staff members were extremely exhausted but it was a chance for all of us here at Providence to be the hands and feet of our Lord and Savior.