Tuesday at Manuelito
Today we were able to meet the family of two of the boys that are here. You might wonder why they are here if they have a family. There are nine children in this family and no father. They live in a one room shack, no bathroom facilities, no kitchen (just an open fire to cook over) and no food. The mother has given two of her children over for the Manuelito project to care for. Her children hang out on the streets and know to visit homes at meal time, yet with so many in the same situation I can’t imagine that they find much. When we arrived at her home we had to walk up a very steep hill and follow a trail with a very steep drop off to the left of the path.
Her children are up and down this path all day, the youngest being maybe three. The three year old had no pants or underwear on and we were told that today she had no food for them again. Before we left to go to her house we went to the grocery store and bought her rice and beans, flour, oil, bananas, tangerines, pasta, milk, juice and an assortment of other items. We also brought with us the remainder of the toys that we did not use for the Christmas party for the kids here. The two boys were so excited to see that we were bringing food for their family. They just kept saying over and over again…thank you, thank you. They were so excited as we loaded the van, being very adamant that they take the bags and load them in the van themselves. At first I just thought they were being helpful boys but when we got to their house it was clear to me that they were feeling very proud to be bringing help for their family. They are approximately 8 and 9 years old and already feeling the desire to step up to the plate that their father (for whatever reason) is unable to do. Yet there was not really much expression of emotion when this family was reunited for a moment…more a call of duty for these young boys. As we drove down the streets of their town they called out the window to their siblings as we passed by telling them to go to the house, they have food. We gave them the salvation bracelets and explained to her and the children what the different colors represent. We also made sure she knew that we were coming to help feed her children in the name of Jesus Christ. She was very grateful yet my heart is left feeling heavy… If only we could do more.
Her children are up and down this path all day, the youngest being maybe three. The three year old had no pants or underwear on and we were told that today she had no food for them again. Before we left to go to her house we went to the grocery store and bought her rice and beans, flour, oil, bananas, tangerines, pasta, milk, juice and an assortment of other items. We also brought with us the remainder of the toys that we did not use for the Christmas party for the kids here. The two boys were so excited to see that we were bringing food for their family. They just kept saying over and over again…thank you, thank you. They were so excited as we loaded the van, being very adamant that they take the bags and load them in the van themselves. At first I just thought they were being helpful boys but when we got to their house it was clear to me that they were feeling very proud to be bringing help for their family. They are approximately 8 and 9 years old and already feeling the desire to step up to the plate that their father (for whatever reason) is unable to do. Yet there was not really much expression of emotion when this family was reunited for a moment…more a call of duty for these young boys. As we drove down the streets of their town they called out the window to their siblings as we passed by telling them to go to the house, they have food. We gave them the salvation bracelets and explained to her and the children what the different colors represent. We also made sure she knew that we were coming to help feed her children in the name of Jesus Christ. She was very grateful yet my heart is left feeling heavy… If only we could do more.
When we returned home the kids had a birthday celebration for Joe. They sang Happy Birthday to him in Spanish and then in English. We had cake and then the kids took turns saying something to Joe if they wanted and Angel translated for them. What we heard over and over again was "thank you for coming to celebrate your birthday with us." We thought that was so cute...they think he came for that reason.
We are having trouble getting our pictures to load so I'm sorry I haven't been posting pictures along the way.
