Archive for children’s village
Our Green, Green Garden
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to our beautiful garden filled with lettuces, broccoli, tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, sunflowers, carrots and radishes. Our tomatoes are carefully covered with a plastic green house or they won’t survive the rainy season. Everything else does well outside. We have planted many of our plants from seeds and some from starters we have purchased. We are all very excited about the tomato crop coming in. Our fruit trees were planted last year so they had at least one rainy season to take root and now have their second. We have fruit on all of our baby trees!!
Our future plans include a worm composting program for our fertilizer and a small green house to begin starting all of our new plants. The children will be included in all of what we do. They will really learn where their food comes from by planting a seed, watching it grow, picking the veggie, cooking it and then composting what is left over.
Free Range Kids
Posted by: | CommentsTrying to get my “real” work done while I am at the children’s village is nearly impossible. My real work is mainly trying to find donations to keep the kids fed, clothed and educated. No easy task. However, watching the kids playing, outside my office window, makes me want to be out there with them. So most fundraising is done when I am home and while at the children’s village I get to play. I couldn’t resist bringing my camera while I hung out with the kids.
There are photos of Ruby. Ruby is our new dog. We found Ruby running in the streets, almost hit by cars, and just terrified. She was living outside, near the entrance to the farm where I live for a few weeks. The farm manager told the security to get rid of her. The security guards told me, knowing that I would probably not say no, so she became our new dog. We let her settle in at our house before bringing her to meet the kids at the children’s village. Ruby was a terrified dog and so afraid of everyone. This has been her first week at the children’s village, spending the day, and has done well. I explained to the kids that someone had been very mean to her, which made her very afraid of people, and then threw her out. Sadly most of our kids can relate. I have been so amazed by how kind the kids are to Ruby. They move slowly with her, know that she is nervous and pet her gently. The children have learned a true lesson in kindness.
We also sampled lettuce from our garden today. We have lots of different kinds of lettuce and all ready to eat. I didn’t realize, when I bought the lettuce plants, that what I had purchased was not what most people plant here. No iceberg lettuce in the garden, but lots of baby lettuce, the fancy stuff you guys in the States pay a small fortune for. Lucky for our kids we can grow our veggies cheaply and have fresh vegetables every day. Our next food move will be eggs, but have to build the chicken coop first and then buy some chickens.
Enjoy the kids!
Sad Goodbyes and Happy New Beginnings
Posted by: | CommentsFriday Sonia and Santos left for their forever home. Many of you who read this blog know Sonia and Santos. Sonia and Santos have lived at Semillas de Amor for four years and two months. They are a part of our family and so to say goodbye, knowing we will most likely never meet up again, is heartbreaking. Our oldest kids are touched most deeply. Gaby, Daisy, Marta, Jeferson all study together and are quite the group. My heart broke for all of them as they knew the time was getting very close to say goodbye. The day before Sonia and Santos left, the big kids went off to the movies in Guate and then to my house for pizza and an overnight. I know that all of us treasured those last few hours we all had together. I had a talk with Gaby right before Sonia and Santos left, she was feeling so sad, and told her that when we really love someone, there are times that we need to be able to love them enough to let them go. All kids deserve a loving family and Sonia and Santos are no different. They deserve opportunities, love, education and everything a loving family offers. Knowing that makes it easier but the sadness, the loss is still with us.
We love you Sonia and Santos. Have a wonderful life!!!