Now it was time to build the stove.  The children in these villages suffer from many breathing problems because the moms cook over a wood fire in their homes or even outside in enclosed areas.  CALMS is starting to teach them how to build these stoves.  Not only are they healthier, but they use ALOT less wood which is helpful because they spend loads of time looking for wood to cook with.  First we hiked way down the side of the mountain, carrying the cinder blocks, to get to a path that would take us to their home.  The stove was for a young family - an 18 year old mom, 20 year old dad, and 1 1/2 year old baby.  The dad built the house out of sticks and mud and put a corrugated tin roof on it.  They have a sheet and a black tarp hanging up for walls.  She cooks outside - the stove that the dad built had collapsed.  She was using the stove on the 5th picture down or a long time.  They have no electricity or running water and no bathroom.  First the dad made a spot to build the stove. Then our group assembled it - you will see Bob working hard in the 6th picture.  The bottom picture shows the mom who received the stove.  CALMS is going to begin working more in this village that has loads of needs.   They will be building more stoves as well as some homes.  They are extremely poor - they grow corn and beans for a living and that is only possible to do for a few months each year.  There is no church so that is a great need in the area, too.

Then we drove down to where we were going to help build a stove.  We met this 96 year old lady who had fallen and broken her wrist.  She has 50 grandchildren.  We prayed with her and she was really touched.  The little girls just wandered up by us and they were so sweet I had to take their picture.  The little one made me want to hug my little Hannah!

After seeing the school, we walked on a path up the mountain to see a house that CALMS built for a family.  This little guy was sitting in front of an outdoor oven at his house.  The next pictures show the house - you can see it is much nicer than the homes that are built out of mud (like the one below where the little boy lives).

On Wednesday morning, we headed up into the mountains to the town of La Avanzada.  It was a crazy ride zigzagging back and forth and then heading up a rutted dirt road for about an hour.  The road was narrow and there were no guard rails so it was very exciting!  We went straight to the little public school.  It is the building in the second picture.  The little girl in the top picture was dressed like a cow girl because she is going to be in a competition with some other schools.  The school is very overcrowded and teaches kids who are in preschool-6th grade.  They go for half a day.  Most children drop out in the 2nd or 3rd grade - most will go through their lives without ever learning to read.  When CALMS first came to the school, the children were so malnourished that they didn't even have the energy to play.  Most families exist by eating tortillas - and maybe corn and beans.  No milk, no fruit.  They can buy Coke cheaper and they also drink a lot of coffee because they grow it in the area.  But things have changed because now each child gets a protein drink each day. It has milk as one of the ingredients.  The children bring a cup to school.  Several moms come in and volunteer to prepare it each day.  Now the children are in better health than they have been before.  However, they still suffer from parasites in their tummies because of the water.  They were so precious and loved having their pictures taken.  The bottom picture shows Bob looking at a coffee bean plant.  He thought coffee grew in cans so it was an interesting lesson for him.

Here is a map I made of our trip.  Each day's drive is color coded so you can see where we have been and where we are going. 

After eating lunch at the school, we drove to a nearby village to help a family with a building project.  The top 2 pictures show the family's home.  We poured a concrete floor for an addition to their home.  they were really appreciative that we came to help them and the family worked alongside our group.  The women taught us to make tortillas the way that they make them - over an open fire.  It wasn't as easy as it looked!  Bob was worn out after carrying big bags of concrete on his shoulder and hauling buckets down to where they were pouring the floor.  It made us sad to see the conditions that the people live in and to hear their stories.  Their oldest daughter is 15 years old and quit school in the 3rd grade.  She already has a baby who is about one and a half years old.  There was another little girl there who is 10 years old.  Her mother abandoned her and her father moved away with another woman.  She is living with her grandparents.  The look of sadness in her eyes moved us to tears.  Please pray for this family.  

Tuesday morning we drove three hours to Gualan where we visited the Lutheran School.  It was started 3 years ago by Pastor Luiz.  They have 160 students in preschool through 6th grade.  

The next site we visited was at the docks.  This is a Lutheran Center that was built in 1945.  It has been closed for years and Pastor Byron is in the process of re-opening it to serve the people in the area.  They have started having programs for the children on Saturdays.  Thieves broke in recently and stoled the building materials and chairs for the kids.  It will serve the people in the area who are descendants of former slaves. They support themselves by fishing.  They are the poorest people in Puerto Barrios.

We went and visited the village of San Francisco. It is a village of about 500 people.  They were hit by a terrible flood in the fall of 2010.  CALMS is checking out the area to see where they can help Pastor Byron minister to the people by possibly starting a church in the area and building homes for the people.

On Monday, after breakfast, we drove for 3 hours to Puerto Barrios.  It is a port on the Caribbean Sea.  We went to the Lutheran School there which is run by Pastor Byron.  The school has 532 students and they had to turn 100 children away for lack of room this last fall.  The school is amazing!  They have a computer lab and an amazing music program.  This area is more of a middle class area since there are lots of jobs, due to the port.  See if you can find me in the second picture!  The bottom picture shows Steve Hughey with Pastor Byron.

On Monday morning we went and had breakfast at the Lutheran School in Zacapa.  It is the oldest Lutheran School in Guatemala.  They have classes for K-high school.  They also have a boarding school for kids who are attending high school but live up in the mountains.

This is the village Lutheran Church.  It has recently been painted by the little congregation and the next picture shows our leader, Steve Hughey on the left, with the Deacon of the church.  He is not a pastor yet, but is working on becoming one.  He is a leader of the little congregation.  Then there is a picture of me and my new friend, and roomie, Michelle.  She is from Trinity Lutheran Church in Houston.  Then there is the inside of the church,  and a precious picture of some of the little girls who came to church that night (including Susan and Hillary Clinton), and then a PRECIOUS picture of two of the little girls outside of the church.  I want to bring one home and so does Bob!