Friday was our final day at the orphanage and was our wrap up day. We made huge progress during the week and were just making sure we didn't leave anything undone by the time we left on Friday afternoon. The team worked fast to try and get as much of the aqua ponics system done as we possibly could on Friday. Unfortunately, we had to leave it somewhat incomplete because we ran out of time and power tools to finish the siding and roofing. In the afternoon, we have a pizza party with all the kids and were able to just hang out with them. We brought all our donation so they would be able to play with them on Friday afternoon while we were there. The parachutes were a huge hit with the kids and they played with them for about an hour before it was time for us to depart for Guatemala City. We had a lot of first timers on this trip that made some sort of comment about this not being their only trip to Guatemala. This is very exciting for the future trips and for the future of Casa Angelina. I hope that everyone enjoyed reading about this trip and if you have any more questions or comments please feel free to email me at jjschuh7632@gmail.com and I would be more than happy to talk to you in more detail about the trip.
I will hopefully get some pictures up later on this week. I am going to try and get pictures from everyone so I can have lots of pictures for you guys, but I am unaware of how long this may take. So for now, thanks for everything and we appreciated your thoughts and prayers while we were away.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Orphanage Day 4
Well a lot of work got completed today at the orphanage. We got a little late start today thanks to all the hard work we put in yesterday. Today we were greeted by even more cement work. We poured the porches for the two houses that we poured the pad for yesterday. This took us most of the morning. After lunch some of the team worked with the welding crew on the aqua ponics system, some worked get the school finished up, and others started the process of moving block to more strategic locations. Overall, the day was a great success yet again. Tonight we will all be packing our things and in the morning we will be saying by to the hotel staff who have taking such great care of us over the last few days. We are so blessed to be a part of this ministry and have the support of Lydia and her staff behind us. We don't know what tomorrow has in store for us be we are all excited to get the chance to just hang out and enjoy the kids. We will continue to keep you updated through the blog. Talk to everyone tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Orphanage Day 3
Today at the orphanage was another SUCCESS! The welding team got all the trusses mounted today and finished putting in cross braces on the aqua ponics system. The rest of the team was once again on cement duty. Today we finished 2 pads (60ftx30ft) for new homes going up at the orphanage, one of which was Harvest House. Today has to be up for the most work done in one day award. Everyone worked there tails off today to get the jobs done. I personally want to congratulate the team for their hard work and dedication to the kids at Casa Angelina. There hearts really showed through today as we were all exhausted, but were determined to finish the second floor. Despite all the hard work, everyone is still in very high spirits and excited for tomorrow. Hope all is well with everyone reading this and we will be home soon. We all send our love and appreciation for your thoughts and prayers.
Tonight during supper we had a mariachi band play for us to celebrate McKenna Larson's birthday. Lidia had a cake ready and we all got to enjoy the entertainment as well.
Tonight during supper we had a mariachi band play for us to celebrate McKenna Larson's birthday. Lidia had a cake ready and we all got to enjoy the entertainment as well.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Orphanage Day 2
There is not a ton to update you on from today. There were a few people that got to give the school a face lift with some new paint and fixing some of the electrical work. Everyone else was on cement duty. We laid the entire pad for the aqua ponics today which wound up being around 60ft long and 33ft wide. This is very impressive for one days work, not to mention that we mixed the cement in portable mixers and used wheelbarrows to transport it. I will put some pictures below of the before and after. However, it doesn't look I will be able to put any pictures up until after we get back to the states. I will probably make it its own post when we arrive at the Dallas airport. Other than that, that is about all we have for an update for tonight.
Orphanage Day 1
We had a pretty relaxed day today that the orphanage. When we arrived, the children were so grateful to see us. After our brief hellos, we went through our orientation session with the staff members and got a tour of the orphanage. Since I have last been at the orphanage (June) so much has changed. The kids have received a new soccer field that was donated to the orphanage, 3 new houses have been started, and they are putting in a new aqua ponics. On the tour we found out the orphanage has just received 6 new children that have been at the orphanage for about 2 weeks. So far these new children are doing great and love their new home.
After our amazing meal, we went into the village and toured one of the widows homes that was built in the last couple of years. We didn't get to spend much time there because the child had prepared skits for us and performed in the afternoon. The joy on their faces was absolutely phenomenal. After all they have been through, they still have more joy than most of the people I know. After the presentation we said our goodbyes for the day and headed back to the motel. After nearly hitting a man in the street, we made it home and had devotions. We are all excited to get to work tomorrow and serve at Casa Angelina. The pictures were stubborn and didn't want to upload so hopefully I will have them up by tonight.
After our amazing meal, we went into the village and toured one of the widows homes that was built in the last couple of years. We didn't get to spend much time there because the child had prepared skits for us and performed in the afternoon. The joy on their faces was absolutely phenomenal. After all they have been through, they still have more joy than most of the people I know. After the presentation we said our goodbyes for the day and headed back to the motel. After nearly hitting a man in the street, we made it home and had devotions. We are all excited to get to work tomorrow and serve at Casa Angelina. The pictures were stubborn and didn't want to upload so hopefully I will have them up by tonight.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Saturday and Sunday Update
On Saturday our group had the opportunity to tour Antigua with our
great friend Alejandro as a tour guide. The group visited the cross on
the hill and tour our traditional group picture their before we headed
into Antigua for the touring. One of the major stops along the way was
the Santa Domingo Motel which used to be an old Monastery which was
converted into a fancy upscale motel. There were also several other
stops along the way, but they are slipping my mind at this very
moment.
After the group was done touring, we got the opportunity to shop in the local market for souvenirs and goodies to take home. After a long day of walking, touring, and shopping, we were greeted by George's amazing cooking. Saturday was an early morning and late night so, therefore, there was no updates that night due to the exhaustion.
Yesterday our group got to travel to Lake Atitlan. This is the largest lake in Guatemala and has many villages surrounding the lake. After our 2 and a half hour bus ride to the lake, we were all very pleased to be able to stand and stretch. We got onto a boat that took us to our first touring destination. The trip across the lake took about 1.5 hours, which will give you an idea of just how big this lake really is. Even though they don't know the exact depth of the lake, they guess that it is over 1,000 feet deep in spots.
After our touring, we got to eat in a very nice restaurant. Most of our group had cheeseburgers and fries, but some got adventurous and had black bass, shrimp, and even steak. After lunch we got a tour of peace park, which is the location of the death of 13 innocent people during the civil war in Guatemala. On our way back to the boat, we were mobbed by venders on the street who eventually followed us into the boat and wouldn't leave until we started the boat and began to move.
We got back to the motel around 9:30 last night and had supper. After that most people turned in for the night. I will hopefully be putting up pictures tonight. We just had a little bit go miscommunication this morning about the bus arrival time and I figure I would at least get some updates out to you guys before we headed to the orphanage this morning.
Stay tuned for more updates.
After the group was done touring, we got the opportunity to shop in the local market for souvenirs and goodies to take home. After a long day of walking, touring, and shopping, we were greeted by George's amazing cooking. Saturday was an early morning and late night so, therefore, there was no updates that night due to the exhaustion.
Yesterday our group got to travel to Lake Atitlan. This is the largest lake in Guatemala and has many villages surrounding the lake. After our 2 and a half hour bus ride to the lake, we were all very pleased to be able to stand and stretch. We got onto a boat that took us to our first touring destination. The trip across the lake took about 1.5 hours, which will give you an idea of just how big this lake really is. Even though they don't know the exact depth of the lake, they guess that it is over 1,000 feet deep in spots.
After our touring, we got to eat in a very nice restaurant. Most of our group had cheeseburgers and fries, but some got adventurous and had black bass, shrimp, and even steak. After lunch we got a tour of peace park, which is the location of the death of 13 innocent people during the civil war in Guatemala. On our way back to the boat, we were mobbed by venders on the street who eventually followed us into the boat and wouldn't leave until we started the boat and began to move.
We got back to the motel around 9:30 last night and had supper. After that most people turned in for the night. I will hopefully be putting up pictures tonight. We just had a little bit go miscommunication this morning about the bus arrival time and I figure I would at least get some updates out to you guys before we headed to the orphanage this morning.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Update
Hey Everyone,
Sorry that there has been no updates as of yet on the blog. The last couple nights have been late nights and early mornings and the entire team is wiped by the time we get back to the hotel. I just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it just fine and that everything is going great so far. We will be starting our work tomorrow at the orphanage and I will be posting about what we did this weekend and orphanage day 1 tomorrow. I will also hopefully be able to get some pictures up for you to look at and see what we are doing. For now I bid you good evening and I will talk to you tomorrow.
Sorry that there has been no updates as of yet on the blog. The last couple nights have been late nights and early mornings and the entire team is wiped by the time we get back to the hotel. I just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it just fine and that everything is going great so far. We will be starting our work tomorrow at the orphanage and I will be posting about what we did this weekend and orphanage day 1 tomorrow. I will also hopefully be able to get some pictures up for you to look at and see what we are doing. For now I bid you good evening and I will talk to you tomorrow.
Friday, February 15, 2013
February Trip - Flight Updates
It is strange to think that I am heading back to Guatemala again. This is the first trip of the 2013 year and I am so glad I got the opportunity to come again. As of right now, we are sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth airport waiting to board our 4:55PM flight to Guatemala City. We should arrive their around 8:30PM and to the hotel by 11:00PM. There are 26 members in our group this February and a lot of returning people on this trip.
As of right now there is not a lot to talk about with the group. The flights have gone well, only one bag misplaced so far, but we have hopefully taken care of that issue hopefully, for Deb Neslon's sake. For now that is all the updates we have from the group. Stay tuned to the blog or facebook for future updates. Thanks to everyone for you good wishes and prays for our mission team. We are thinking of those we left behind to do God handy work.
As of right now there is not a lot to talk about with the group. The flights have gone well, only one bag misplaced so far, but we have hopefully taken care of that issue hopefully, for Deb Neslon's sake. For now that is all the updates we have from the group. Stay tuned to the blog or facebook for future updates. Thanks to everyone for you good wishes and prays for our mission team. We are thinking of those we left behind to do God handy work.
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