Lesly's Home Repair Project - Completed!!

I just received word from Aura's House that Lesly's Roof Project is complete!

Lesly is my daughter's sponsor child in Guatemala. They are nearly the same age and thick as thieves. :) Lesly's project was the first of my sponsor kids projects to be funded through Aura's House. My daughter helped out by donating her allowance and making and selling candies to raise extra money. But of course the support Lesly received from the donors at Aura's House was key to making this project possible. I can never thank them enough!!

Now the photos!!


Lesly with the supplies for her home repair.

Lesly's family received gravel and concrete to lay down a slab in the courtyard of their home. This will be a great help in keeping the home clean and dry since the courtyard got very muddy and stayed damp all through the rainy season. In the background of the photo you can see the tin sheets which were used to repair their leaky roof.


The new roof for Lelsy's house - keeping them dry!

Ta da! The new roof! Now the roof won't leak all through the rainy season. The family will be able to stay healthy and dry under their new roof.


Lesly stands on the new concrete floor which will help keep the dirt out of her home.

I love this photo of Lesly, proudly showing off the new floor. Lesly's father Hugo was able to do the repair work on his home since he works as a bricklayer. It must have been satisfying for him to finally be able to work to improve his own home! And I'm sure that Lesly's mother Aura especially appreciates the new floor since it will help keep the mud out of her home during the rainy season.


Lesly showing off her new propane stove.

How cute is Lesly in this photo?! I'm constantly amazed at what a sourpuss Lesly looked like in her first Children International photo. Despite that my daughter insisted that Lesly was the one for her. I guess my daughter knows that you can't judge a book by it's cover - Lesly hasn't stopped smiling since we sponsored her! Lesly's smile is so charming.

Aura probably really loves this new propane stove. I hope it has made cooking for the family easier for her. Previously the family cooked over an open fire. Anyone who has been camping and tried this knows how tough that can be. Try cooking like that everyday! So I'm sure this new stove is a huge blessing for Aura. The family also received some water containers to help keep their water fresh and clean. Their water comes from a community faucet so storage is always an issue in that situation.


Lesly with her new bed!

I love this photo too. It makes me think of Alice in Wonderland after she drank the bottle labeled "Drink Me" that made her shrink to "very small". Lesly looks like a little miniature person on that big bed! It's so nice to think of Lesly sleeping in a new bed and not getting dripped on by a leaky roof!


Lesly with her new bedding.

Lesly also got some new bedding. My daughter was really pleased with this because she thought it was "so beautiful".

My daughter wanted to pass her message along to all of the people at Aura's House who helped launch the project and all of the donors who helped make everything possible. She said:

"I felt very good seeing the photos of Lesly. Lesly is a very nice girl to know. I'm proud that I was able to help her. I feel really good about Lesly having a new bed. It means so much to me that you helped Lesly to get all of her new stuff. Thank you so much."

And on behalf of Lesly and her family I thank you too!

Flor's Birthday Gift

The search for my camera charger is "in progress", so who knows when I will get any photos of my knitting & other crafting...

So in the meantime I'll post - you guessed it! - more about my sponsor kids. :) I've actually got a back log of photos waiting for me to get a round to post them. That's one of the coolest things about Children International - you get tons of photos. I've got over 350 photos! That's a crazy good number when you consider you probably get one photo a year with other children's sponsorship organizations.

One of my little Honduran girls, Flor, turned eight this past December. That is such a cute age! And Flor wears it well. I love her clumpy, curly pigtails.


Flor with her birthday gifts - December 2008

With her birthday money Flor bought a set of drawers and some clothing. I think the drawers look like a good choice. They look sturdy and easy to clean. Flor's mother Marta told me the drawers are going to be used to keep their clothes in and will help to keep their clothing clean.

Often my sponsor kids and their families choose to buy a bed with the first special needs gift I send them (except for in the Philippines where they almost always have to spend most of the money on groceries). Flor's family information sheet says that there are four wooden beds in the home. So Flor probably shares a bed with her two sisters. There may not be room in the home for another bed - that's often a factor in their buying decisions as well.


Flor and her mother Marta in December 2008

When I was writing up this post I took a second look at the yellow shirt Flor's Mom is holding and I thought I recognized it from somewhere...


Flor - January 2009

Oh yes - Flor wore it for her yearly photo that I got in January! It's so sweet how the sponsor kids are so thoughtful like that. They almost always try to wear something that I sent them or something that they were able to buy with their special needs money. It's their way of saying thank you and showing that they are thinking of me. I really appreciate the gesture! Plus Flor looks really pretty in yellow. :)

I enjoy getting Flor's letters, which her mother usually writes for her. For her part, Flor often draws - appropriately enough - flowers for me. One of her last letters featured a drawing of a bunch tall reddish flowers with little clumpy leaves in a flower pot. Little birds were on either side holding more flowers in their beaks. I thought it was quite artistic.

Marta often tells me about the seasons in Honduras and what the landscape is like where they live. (Despite having sponsor children in countries all over the world I am always impressed with the concept that it is summer time for me and winter time for some of them. What can I say? I'm simple.) :) In the letter I received about a month ago, Honduras was entering winter time. Marta said the weather was cool and that there were many pretty flowers and trees where they live. I often think it is "easier" to be poor in a more rural setting like Flor has. At least Flor can enjoy the beauty of nature which I know she does because she often mentions such things. I feel sorry for my sponsor kids who are poor in a big city. At least in the countryside there is less crowding and some fresh air!

I hope that the recent political unrest that Honduras is experiencing has not affected my two girls there. I have no reason to think that it has but I do keep my eye on the news. It's sobering to think that poverty is sometimes not the biggest problem my kids face. Natural disasters and unstable governments contribute more than their fair share of difficulties to their lives - much much more so than anyone in the USA ever has to go through. Imagine things like Hurricane Katrina happening pretty much every year and that's closer to what it is like for my sponsor kids.