'tis the season

On Friday morning we arrived at the clinic with bags of holiday gifts. The children were waiting for us with eager smiles. Most were dressed in their best outfits. It seemed like everyone in the clinic was ready to spread the holiday spirit. The staff members were laughing and joking around with one another. Dr. Lesley, who is typically very composed man, was posing for pictures and hugging Esmo and Coco.

We started things off by asking all of the kids go to the backyard of the clinic for a group picture. Unfortunately, some of the little ones were not excited about posing for our cameras. Maria Magdalena started crying first, then came Jerohan and a few others. We decided to postpone the group shot and move right along to the gift distribution.

One by one each kid came into the conference room, received their present, and posed for a picture wearing a Santa hat. As you may imagine, the kids looks absolutely adorable. The Spiderman toys were a huge hit with the boys, as were the purses with the girls. The little ones delighted in their new baby toys.

We also had a little surprise for the mothers. We gave each of them a 5lb bag of rice and a 5lb bag of beans. Because the price of beans has been on the rise, many of the moms have not been able to afford it. They were, therefore, extra thankfully for the gift.

November Milk Days

This past Wednesday and Thursday the whole Manna crew went to the clinic in La Chureca to run Milk Days. When we arrived on Wednesday, the doctor and Esmo were nowhere in sight. After getting a hold of Dr. Lesly and hearing that they wouldn’t be at the clinic for another 40 minutes we decided to go ahead without them.

Never have Milk Days run so smoothly! Everyone had their job mastered. Geoff and Tessa measure and weigh each kid. After a child’s weight and height have been recorded, Dane takes the mom and child to one of the consultation rooms and relays the weight/height information to the Program Director who is stationed there (either Matt or Erin).

Once Matt and Erin are given the weight/height info they compare the measurements to the previous months’ data. Matt and Erin then talk to the mothers to find out how their child has been doing, answer any questions the mother may have, and give them advice based on whether the child has gained or loss weight. Once the meeting is over the mom comes over to me to receive the monthly supply of milk, oatmeal and vitamins. During this time Julie snatches a cute picture of the little one to send to his/her sponsor. Julie also gives each kid who celebrated a birthday during the month a cute birthday bag filled with goodies.

I have to admit that it makes me really excited to see how well we are working together. What’s even more exciting, however, is seeing how well the mothers are responding to us. It’s incredible to see how much they have warmed up to us over the past few months. I believe that we owe Erin the credit for this. She has done an awesome job getting to know all the moms in the program.

As the moms warm up to us, so do the kids. Some of the kids who wouldn't smile at all are now full of giggles. The first time I saw Wendy smile was during the October field trip but this past Thursday she actually walked over to where I was, sat next to me, and asked me to play! And let me not forget Jerohan....this was the first time we've been able to get a picture of him smiling!

A final highlight: we had perfect attendance! This is the first time this has happened!