THURSDAY

I cannot put into words our experience today in the place where the families have squatted. The ¨community¨are huts mostly made of cement and brick. Dirt roads wind between the huts. The roads are uneven and rocky. Trash and horse manure are in the middle of the uneven, rocky streets. We ¨traveled¨the streets in a buggy like a pedicab but only a motorcycle connected instead of a bike. Two sons of Fannie who runs the sewing vocational ed program pulled us. Fannie has a good heart. Her daughter abandoned her children. So Fannie now is responsible for these children and she can barely take care of herself. If I remember correctly, there were four children. Thank God she has the job at the school helping women learn how to sew. It´s hard to describe where they live. See picture.

The huts are no bigger than a bedroom. Families live in these huts. One was a family of 8. I can´t explain the filth and the smell of most of the huts. You just have to experience it.

There are cats and dogs EVERYWHERE in this community. They are sickly. One dog was all ribs. There were so many stories that afternoon. I held a baby about a year and half. He just kept looking at me with his big brown eyes. His daddy was murdered 15 days ago. The mother is very young, has a very sickly mother and four children. See picture.

Dave is going to put together some of the stories that we can share with you. I just know my eyes filled up with tears more than I can count when a little one took my hand or asked to be picked up. One little girl about 8 years old kept taking my hand and looking at my fingers. She was very intrigued for some reason.

There are markets interspersed in these communities. I´m not sure they are very sanitary. Well, I know they aren´t.

I kept thinking of my daughter and desperately I wanted to hold her close. This disease called poverty breaks your heart. I imagine it breaks the soul when God is not in their heart. How do you handle life when you have little children and you are a child yourself and your husband just got murdered.

I just know that Martha and Jose are angels from heaven. The things they are doing to help stop the cycle one child at a time. I do know they are MUCH loved in the community. This trust has taken years to build. Adults and children alike ran up to Martha or hugged her when she got out of the carriage.

Hug your child tonight and thank God for your blessings.

Lori