Yesterday was the first day that I got to spend any time with the older boys who are between 9 and 12 years old. There are a lot more girls at Casitas Kennedy than boys, so I feel like the boys kind of get overshadowed. This made me really excited to get to spend some time with them today. We decided to play soccer since every Honduran boy is basically obsessed with soccer and those boys had some energy! We had a blast! I also now know that I cannot kick a soccer ball with my left foot, but I am a pretty sweet goalie. :) It was really evident spending time with these precious boys that they were in need of some attention. I am not sure how many males they come in contact with.I am hoping that we will be able to spend so more time with these awesome boys. We also spent time yesterday with the little girls that are between 5 and 9 years old (all of the children are spilt up by age and gender into different casitas). I have really grown close to all of these little girls. This is the group that Kimberly( one of my fellow interns) and I have spent the most time with. I could write pages on each of these little girls, but for the sake of time I am going to share about one that I have grown especially close to. First, there is Jessi. Jessi is 9 and therefore one of the oldest in her group and definitely the leader. One thing I noticed about Jessi from the beginning is that she has a lot of anger and aggression towards people. The first time I remember seeing Jessi she was twisting another girl Katherin's ( who is probably 30 pounds lighter) arm because Katherin had hit her. After telling her to stop twenty times I realized she had no idea what I was saying. It's safe to say I learned the Spanish word for stop (alto) pretty quickly after that. :) I have such a soft spot in my heart for Jessi and have really tried to encourage her whenever we are with them. I have also made sure to tell Jessi how much I love her and show her that I love her. Whenever I tell Jessi that her coloring is "muy bonita" or that she has done a good job at something her face lights up. I feel like Jessi is misunderstood by a lot of the workers and other little girls which makes me sad. She really has a sweet spirit and is just longing for someone to show her love and attention. My prayer is that Jessi would come to know her Heavenly Father one day, she has such an influence on all of the girls. I can see Jessi passionately telling everyone that she can about Christ. :)
I have also gotten to work with the special needs children this week. When I first found out that we would be working with these children, I was a little nervous. They are severely handicapped and a couple of them have seizures pretty regularly. I spent most of my time working with a little girl Erika. Erika is 8 and has severe CP. She spends most of her day laying on her back on mattress. Mary Elizabeth and Caitlin had worked in the special needs room the day before and told me that Erika loved having a stuffed animal bounced up her stomach until it reached her cheek. They could not have been more right. Erika loved it and I even got a couple of laughs out of her. She also loved hitting the balloon I held in front of her face. Another special needs child, Alexander, who has Hydrocephalus, is in the orphanage because his parents used him to get money from people on the street. Alexander is pretty shy, but really opened up when our translator Luis hit a balloon with him. Alexander also thought it was hilarious when Kimberly and I hit Luis in the head with balloon. He has the sweetest little laugh.
Some exciting news is that we are going to get to spend some time with the older girls on Saturday. I am so excited! We have planned some relay races and games so it should be a lot of fun.
There are so many children that I could tell you about and more stories than I can count from the past two weeks at Casitas Kennedy. I have been journaling everyday, so hopefully I will be able to share in more detail when I get home and have more time.
"Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." - Psalm 68: 4-5
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