This week went very well and I think it has to do with the
conviction I ended with on my last post. Since I have been here, with respect
to the hogar, I have had to spend a lot of time concentrating on my
administrative duties and although I was watching over the kids, returning a
stray wonderer or dealing with some issue or another I really hadn’t put time
into any group enough to enjoy them and get to know them. So with most of my
projects settling in and no major dilemmas I was in charge of working with
Santiago and to some extent translating for him. Santiago, which who’s name is
Jacomo but the sisters claim means Santiago in Italian (and I personally doubt
this but have kept that to myself), is an Italian missionary here for ten day
in Santa Cruz working with mission San Lorenzo. His uncle is a bishop in Tuscany
and his father is on the board for our mission in Italy. Thus, they have sent
him to get to know what they are all working so hard for back home. He speaks Italian,
some broken English, and almost no Spanish. The kids think it is funny but have
taken to him very well. With no male role models or employees, men become a
novelty and they can’t get enough of his attention. How do I fit into this you
may ask? Well I had the opportunity to play for hours with the kids! He took
one group and me another and we just had so much fun with all of them! I was so
happy and enjoyed it and have promised myself to take at least one of the three
days to just play with the kids and leave administrative tasks aside. I don’t want
to spend a year with them and not have had those opportunities and not have
enjoyed there company. It also helped with the things I was doing in the office
because the caretakers joined us instead of sitting and watching without me
having to pull them aside and request it! They pulled out a soccer ball and had
a game going. The shouts were so loud that the sisters came out of the convent
to see what was going in and were overjoyed to see things working out. I went
to pick up Jacomo from the hogar on Friday morning and as I walked through the rooms
the kids were calling out my name. They finally learned it and can’t wait to
get on the playground with me again. So when before I only got surrounded by
all the little ones, the older children have taken to me too. This just puts a
huge smile on my face.
Final Thought
Jacomo will be going home on Wednesday with his first
experience out of his country alone, the joy and love of the children of Mission
San Lorenzo and great memories to share with our board members there. I am sure
he has no idea what he has done for me and my ministry at the hogar. Even
though my approach was different then the previously used ones for the workers
of our mission, it wasn’t enough. Now I have another tool to work with and it
is the most enjoyable one yet! It was also the missing piece I was still
searching for here. So I give thanks that we could experience these things
together. Even though everyone thought I was his blessing (being the only
person he communicated with here), he was also mine.
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