Archive for News
¡Feliz Dia del Niño!
Posted by: | CommentsFriday, October 2nd, we celebrated “Children’s Day” at Semillas de Amor. And what a celebration we had! It was our job to entertain the kids. I lucked out and didn’t have to be a clown and was in charge of the barbeque and strawberry shortcake (an all-american food menu). The kids had so much fun as did all of the adults. We thought the fiesta would be cancelled because of our lack of electricity. Yes, our new generator blew up and no thanks to the Guatemalan company we bought it from because they have been less than helpful in fixing it under the warranty. But Guatemalans are resourceful people and the day went off beautifully. Even our electrician was there. Odd to have an electrician when we don’t have electricity. We celebrated with barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers and all the fixings and for desert, strawberry shortcake. We had hoped to fill our plastic swimming pools but because of no electricity that meant no water and could only fill one pool with buckets. The kids loved it just the same. All the children dressed up in their “career outfits”, we had farmers, cowboys, artists, teachers, mechanics, writers, doctors, nurses (hmm….no lawyers present, must be sore point).
I hope you enjoy the video and share a part of the day with us. I’ve only started to make movies with Apple’s iMovie, which I love, but am still on the learning curve. Be sure and turn off the sound if you don’t like the music.
And as always, we are forever grateful for your donations to help us keep going. If you would like to make a donation just click HERE
Enjoy the party with the kids!
Feliz Dia del Nino Semillas de Amor from Nancy Bailey on Vimeo.
Party photos
Friday Morning Hike in the Mountains
Posted by: | CommentsFriday morning we left for a two hour hike, up the mountain near our home, with 14 kids, five dogs and six adults. This was the first hike on this trail which is steep going up and not much easier going down. Our youngest hikers were three years old and the oldest was me (but you won’t get my age). What a gorgeous morning. We have had some rain, so everything was green. There were lots of little buggies out, which made the kids very happy. On the entire two hour walk, no matter how steep it was, not one child whined about being tired, thirsty or wanted to go home. In fact they wanted to keep climbing. The kids have lots of space to run at the children’s home but our Friday afternoon hikes take them out from behind our big wall and into the countryside. It is isolated and rarely do we see anyone on the hikes. And the best part, it is free.
The kids filled my pockets with treasures, as you will see in the photos. Our gardener, Juan José, identified all the seeds and plants the kids brought back. The children are going to plant some of the seeds to watch their treasurers grow.
Our hikes give the children an opportunity to “talk while we walk”. Most of the kids have a zillion questions about the world around them. This time gives us the opportunity to spend quality time with our oldest kids and is invaluable to them. We can never replace a family for these children but we can try and get as close as possible to being their family until they are able to have their own. Enough love, attention, food and education is costly but the investment is well worth it.
It is always nice that we can find things to do for free, since running our children’s home is expensive. We continue to need your support in every way. If you would like to make a financial donation to our children’s home please click HERE.
Have a wonderful week, from all of us at Semillas de Amor!
Monday and Two Red Wagons
Posted by: | CommentsMonday morning greeted the kids with two new red wagons! It just seemed liked the kids were missing wagons. Every Friday we take long walks into the surrounding countryside so the wagons are perfect to pick up worn out stragglers. Maybe, if we are lucky, we can get some harnesses and have the dogs pull the kids. The wagons were a huge hit with the kids. Maybe not so much with the adults since they were pulling the kids around. We had lots of kids pushing, but they were actually hanging on a bit more than pushing. The wagons will give the kids a good chance to learn about waiting patiently in line for their turn. Something the kids really need to learn. The wagons are lots of fun and perfect for the kids (sturdy, unbreakable).
Despite the lack of rain our garden continues to thrive. Our tomatoes are growing fast and we are keeping our fingers crossed they don’t acquire the nasty black fungus that killed our last crop. Lots of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, swiss chard, herbs and a crop of pumpkins. Our sunflowers are ready to harvest and soon we will have roasted and salted sunflower seeds to munch on.
Getting the electricity continues to be a huge problem. Some days it seems we are close and other days it seems like it will never happen. Not having electricity has put a huge stress on us but we function with our generator six hours a day. Soon we will have our solar perimeter lights (more on that when they arrive).
We continue to move forward with our preschool for the little ones in the children’s home and as funds become more solid we will invite some children from the surrounding community. We still depend on and count on your generosity to keep us moving forward and the kids thriving. Please click HERE if you would like to help the kids.
Have a wonderful week from all of us at Semillas de Amor!
