Best Part of the Day

It's early here on Sunday morning, 4:30. I can't sleep, and my mind is racing. So, why not get up and write something, yes? I'm sitting in a big commons room at the Mission House, where it's quiet and I'm not disturbing anyone. Warmed up a cup of yesterday's coffee, pure Guatemalan, and I'm ready to work. My brother, Denny, and his son, Ryan, both get up to see what's wrong with me, and I've sent them back to bed. "I'll be up at this hour most days," I tell them. "Get used to it."
It's the beginning of Day 3 here, it'll be different than the others because it's Sunday and we won't be building a house anywhere. We will have a church service, then get on a horse and ride up a volcano. Didn't get to do that last year, so I'm looking forward to it. Then we're going to Antigua, the closest thing around here to a tourist trap. It has a giant open air market. Some of you may remember my story last year about the little 10-year-old girl who tried to sell me scarves, that was in Antigua. Do you suppose she'll be there again? I would like to see her, I'll be better prepared this time.
Yesterday was a different day for me. There were cement floors to be poured in 6 houses, and doors to be installed. I did a little of that, but I spent most of the day with Ryan and a handful of other people visiting another village, Buena Vista. Ryan has some friends who minister there, the Schmidts, Mark and Gina and their 4 kids. The Schmidts are a great story, they decided over the last couple of years that they didn't really like what U.S. culture was doing to their family and their spirituality. So, they listened to a calling to move to Guatemala. They live now in what feels to me like a "middle class" Guatemalan neighborhood, and they go out to help people mostly in Buena Vista. Not evangelize them, just help them. And there are plenty of people who need lots of help. Depending on the ranking you read, Guatemala is the second or third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti, of course, and right in there with Honduras.
What the Schmidts find different here, compared to most of N. America, is that when there is a need by a poor family, there's no system in place to step in. If there is a medical need (and there are many) there's no Medicare are anything romotely similar. The idea of food stamps is laughable here. No clothing pantries, no Habitats for Humanity, no school lunches. Just eyes that ask, "Can you help me?" The Schmidts nod, "yes."
The Schmidts have been here since last August, and they have made many Guatemalan friends in Buena Vista. They've built homes and plumbed some of them (with much help from like-minded friends in the states). They've raised chickens to give away. They've taken people to medical clinics. They've delivered food all over this hillside village of 7,000 Guatemalans, most of them kids.
There are lots of goats in Buena Vista, some of them milking nannies. And, the Schmidts tell Ryan and me and our friends about the need for better nutrition for kids, especially after they are old enough to stop nursing. The Schmidts have purchased and given some powdered milk for that need. But, the seed of an idea has come to Ryan: What if we gave a family, one with a lot of kids (the human kind), a milk goat? Could we even buy a milk goat? What would it cost? Would they know how to feed it and milk it? I tell Ryan that I am a former goat milking champion at the Iowa State Fair, I can teach someone how to milk a goat. Ryan finds that funny enough to stop a card game nearby to tell them that Uncle Gene has a goat milking trophy. The card game doesn't stop for long, but it does stop long enough to give me a collective "whoo-hoo."
I do like Ryan's idea about giving away a milk goat. We met a family in Buena Vista with 13 kids, they could make good use of a goat. As many of you know, I've wanted to do some kind of a livestock project here in Guatemala, the demo farm idea. Well, maybe this is better, the goat idea. We're going to talk some more about it, and when Keeci and I are on our own next week, we're going to research it, maybe. One day, Keeci and I are scheduled to visit a town, Zaragoza, that is known for it's livestock. Wouldn't that be a good place to ask about goats?
While I was off thinking about goats and such yesterday, others in our group were pouring cement floors in houses. They mostly got all that done, and we'll be moving on to new housing sites on Monday. Others yesterday organized a kids Bible school that attracted dozens of youngsters. That's what Keeci did, and she was engulfed by little Guatemalan girls most of the day. They like it that she can talk to them in their language, and she seemed to like their attention. Her brother, Coulter, mostly worked on the houses with my brother. Those 2, and others in our group, are tireless.
Enough about goats and houses and volcanoes and brothers, for now. I told you, my mind is racing. But, now it's 5:30, and maybe I can sleep for another hour. So, see you again tomorrow morning, about 4:30.