A shift took place yesterday

The calm, peaceful, quiet guise of this beautiful village finally dropped and we got a glimpse of some dark things that were happening in the background. It’s as if for this past week we’ve been looking at a shiny, polished, wonderfully-crafted coffin made out of the finest wood. Yesterday, that coffin was opened and the foul stench of death came out.

For the past week we’ve been giving presentations at several schools in and around Quyquyho. The topics varied from abuse, alcohol, drugs, pregnancy and life skills. When we asked the students if they had any questions, most of them didn't say anything or asked generic questions that we had already covered -a sign of courtesy more than genuine curiosity.

Yesterday, however, we handed out pieces of paper so they could write down their questions in private.  This new confidentiality seemed to encourage them, and after the presentation we had a bag full of deep, personal, poignant questions: "Sometimes I feel lonely and I cut myself. What should I do?" "Boys pressure me to have sex with them. What do I tell them?" "My dad drinks everyday and I don't know what to tell him" "Who do I go to if I've been sexually abused?" "How does one deal with drug addiction?" The questions kept going...

We barely had time to answer three of them, and we left the schools feeling burdened and overwhelmed by all these issues. Inevitably, our instinct is to want to intervene right away and fix things and make it all better -but that notion soon disappears as soon as we remember that we're mere sinners trying to help other sinners.

More than ever we're relying on God's grace -desperately. The need is great and there is so much to be done. Our prayer is that, in the few days that we have left in the village, that God would bring concrete focus to our work: the specific conversation we need to have, the specific class we need to give, the specific high school student we should pray for, the specific girl from the home we should hug and love. 

Though the rancid smell from this open coffin overwhelms the senses, there is an aroma that is sweeter still: the grace of God.

"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (2 Corinthians 2:15)

Beneath the Surface

Earlier I wrote about how peaceful things seemed here in Quyquyho. And to the unacquainted, it is. It is a town where everyone knows each other, where they wave to each other as they pass by, where they work in lush green fields and children play in the street. The people are poor, but seem happy overall. Not so bad, right?

Below that friendly picture there is an sea of darkness that goes unmentioned and unheeded, and our visit here is exposing some of this nasty undercurrent. Externally, there is tranquility, but within families, we are seeing themes of abuse and molestation. One girl endured five years of this, while her other relatives didn't believe her, until she tried to kill herself. During one of our presentations earlier in the week, a student asked what to do if you are raped by a relative and become pregnant. These are just two of the heartbreaking stories that are starting to come to light. Normally, nobody talks about these things here. There isn't much governmental infrastructure to address these problems, and what there is, is largely ineffective. Mostly it's just swept under the rug, producing damaged lives that stumble into adulthood and continue the cycle.

We knew that these issues existed before we came, but I was not expecting either the prevalence or the degree to which they occurred. We have been making a point of bringing up these issues in the hope that it will give people the courage and motivation to not accept this as the status quo.  We can't do much in only two weeks, but we hope to foment the beginnings of change that will continue to grow after we leave.

Please pray for these issues:

• That God would work in the hearts of the people of Paraguay to change the culture of abuse.
• That conversations would start here in the village of Quyquyho on these topics, not just while we're here, but after we leave too.
• For energy and strength for us, to work with victims of abuse and hear their stories without exhausting our own compassion.

Courageous

Had another movie showing tonight. "Courageous" in Spanish.

Tire Swing

Today Justin and I (mostly Justin) set up a tire swing for the home.

Way Up High

How Do I Get Down?

The Tire

Fun!

Yesterday we went to a school in another outlying town near Quyquyho where we met the Mayor of Quyquyho. His story is pretty amazing. It was encouraging to hear yet challenging as well. His father was Mayor a few years ago but was murdered when trying to work and change a system that is very corrupt. After his father was killed he wanted to honor his father by continuing his work. So he ran for office. The only problem was he didn't have any money. Instead of proposing a plan to fix problem then presenting it to the people. He went door to door asking each person what they felt needed to be changed. Then from what the people suggested he proposed plans on how to meet those specific needs. That's how he earned the peoples trust and won the position of Mayor.

A lake a few minutes walk from where we are staying

- Justin

Literary Day

Where the Red Fern Grows

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Quieres Jugar?

Jackie here.  Justin informed me tonight that here in the southern hemisphere the sun rises and sets in the north part of the sky.  Everything is upside down. That´s because something to do with the equator and the tilt of the earth and other things that I was not intiending (intiending is my spanglish way of saying understanding).  But I can tell you what I do undertand, and that is the sky here is the most beautiful sky I have ever seen.  Not just the color when the sun rises and sets, but also the stars in the deepest black a sky can get.  You can even see the Milky Way.  It looks so milky!    Estrellas is how you say stars in Spanish.

Speaking of Spanish, my favorite thing to say in Spanish is, Quieres jugar? That means Do you want to play?  Since I am the organizer of games, I get to ask that question a lot.  And most of the time the kids I´m asking get big grins on their faces and come running in to play.  The girls here love to play soccer.  They´re really good--even when they play in flip-flops, or in no shoes at all!  Justin and Kaitlyn and I played soccer with the girls on Monday, and we were all laughing the whole time.  That means we were having a lot of fun.  I think if I could, I would play soccer with these girls every day for the rest of my life.

Each day here has been an enormous blessing.  Every morning we get 21 hugs, and also throughout the day, and before we go to bed.  That´s 42+ hugs every day.  That´s a lot of love.

Monday and Tuesday

Monday was our first full day in Quyquyho, and what a day it was. We split into two teams, with one team going to two different schools and another team staying at the home to do activities with the girls. The school team, consisting of Yuliana, Guillermo, Leah, Rob, Elias, and me, first went to a school where the ages ranged from 7 to 10 or so.

Loma School

I was tasked with cleaning out some computers, which mostly involved wiping the hard drives and installing Linux on them. After that, the teachers wanted some lessons on how to use it, and I found myself without a translator! It turns out that teaching technical subjects in a language you only half understand is not the easiest task, but by the grace of God I managed to get through it and they seemed to actually have learned something. This was basic stuff, how to save a file, type a few sentences, and so on. In the afternoon, we went to a second school where there wasn't a lot for me to do personally, but the other team members gave their presentations, which covered topics ranging from art and movies to alcohol and child abuse.

The Teachers at Loma School

It turned out that whatever I said to the teachers at the first school must have sunk in at least a bit, since they wanted more training. Thus I found myself on the way back there, but this time with Sam (Guillermo's contact here who helped us plan the trip) alongside me to help translate. At this point, we found out that one of the computers had some official documents that were to be sent to the government. At least, it did before I wiped the hard drive. Oops. Fortunately they didn't seem too worried, since there was nothing we could do about it anyway. It all turned out OK on Tuesday when I went back again in the afternoon. That visit started with "can we reinstall Windows?" (no, since we didn't have the CDs for it) and ended with a big grin on the teacher's face. A lot of their trepidation was just because they weren't accustomed to anything other than Windows, but after a quick run through of the applications and educational games, and seeing that their cell phone could easily connect for Internet access, they were delighted. Thank you God and the open source community :)

Sam and Some of the Girls

Sam tells us that the style of learning in Paraguayan schools is mostly a simple lecture format, where the teachers write on the board and speak, and the students simply copy down and memorize facts. The kids have very little concept of critical thinking, creativity, or the idea that there is any answer but exactly what the teacher says. This was driven home during one of Guillermo's creative exercises, which involved drawing a bunch of shapes on a piece of paper. He drew a rectangle on the chalkboard representing the paper, and some shapes inside it as an example; some kids just copied that down exactly on to their sheets, including the rectangle. During a free form drawing session, the kids were encouraged to draw anything they want, and one of the kids was so baffled that he started crying. Guillermo helped the kid along and eventually he was drawing a bit on his own, but this was just a glimpse into the state of education in the country.

I'm hoping that as more computers get installed in the schools and the Internet becomes more widespread in the rural areas, this will change, but there is a lot of precedent to get past and not a lot of initiative to do so. I don't think it's necessarily a matter of the teachers not wanting to interact with the kids, but more just an issue of this being "how it is."


Tuesday commenced with the entire team going to the local school in Quyquyho, where the normal school team gave their presentations again, and the others played with the kids. Along with the games, there was some music, face painting, and balloons. Some of the issues facing the community are starting to become more apparent; during one of the presentations about child abuse, one of the kids looked like she was holding back tears, and we saw even more indications of this on Wednesday, which I'll detail in a future post. This area definitely needs your prayers.

The experience of learning Spanish through immersion has been interesting. I came in a bit above a basic conversational level, but I'm picking up a lot, and becoming more comfortable with it. Still, many times a day I realize that a sentence I just said was nonsense. For a while I was telling one of the teachers to click and drag the mouse, and I was using the verb "atretar," which I thought meant to drag. Later I found out it actually means to press. And even later, I discovered the word is actually "apretar," so I wasn't even really saying anything at all. When showing one of the girls a typing game in which a penguin eats a lot of fish, I intended to say "He's going to be very fat," but instead said that about myself. So it helps to be able to laugh at yourself and just know that you'll make all sorts of mistakes.

Dinner in Monday was from the hamburger shop again, and on Tuesday the cooks at the home made us all sorts of empanadas, which were delicious. Paraguayans do seem to be masters of meat. On Tuesday night, the older girls did a study through Proverbs 31 on the qualities of Godly women and baked cookies with some of the team, while the rest watched Tangled ("Enredados" in Spanish) with the younger girls. Good times were had by all.

Movie Time

Face Painting!

Balloon Animals!

Hot Potato!

Thoughtful

Yuliana Finds the Tool Tree

Justin's New Friend

Stylish

How Low Can You Go?

Day four in Quyquyho

Day four in Quyquyho.

We’ve only been here for four days but it feels like I’ve known the kids for months. Even though I can’t communicate with many words, there’s no shortage of understanding between any of us.

Today we spent the day at an outlying school giving talks on various subjects, art lessons, playing games and music with the kids there. When we pulled up there was about 14 motorcycles parked outside of the school. It’s the only secondary school in the area so some kids ride for miles to get to school.

For lunch we stopped at an elderly Paraguayan couple’s home. They host a church at their house which meets underneath the mango tree in their backyard. The gentleman and his wife shared some songs with us. Carlos, Guillermo’s father, translated the songs for us. Some of the lyrics were so strong and powerful. Speaking of “the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us. It was such a great sacrifice yet why don’t we follow him. All we have to do is simply accept him” Powerful words from a Paraguayan Hymn.

After lunch we went back to the school for round two in the afternoon. We’re now back at the home resting for a bit before our movie showing tonight. We are hosting a community cinema. We’ll be showing “To Save A Life” in espanol. Pray that many people would come and watch this movie.

Hasta Luego

- Justin

Monday Morning

I wrote this on Monday morning, but just got a chance to post it now on Tuesday night. Recaps of Monday and Tuesday coming soon?

On our first day, Quyquyho seems much less poor than I expected. We've only been exposed to a small part of it so far though, so perhaps that will change.  Some people have satellite TV, and those who don't can go to a local market to watch the futbol game or whatever is showing. Street lamps are not ubiquitous, but electricity is. Food seems to be plentiful so far, though again that may just be in the sections we've seen.

We woke around 7:00 and began the drive to Quyquyho around 9:00, with Osvaldo, who runs the home, and Carlos, Guillermo's father, driving us and our cargo. The main Paraguayan freeways are well-kept and look similar to small two-lane highways that one might find in some rural place. Once we turned off the road, toward Quyquyho, it was mostly dirt or cobblestone. This provided a bumpy ride but we all arrived safely.

When we pulled up to the home, the kids were ecstatically waving which prompted a frenzied round of introductions between the 25 or so of them and the 11 of us. There were hugs all around. The kids seem very happy despite their difficult lives. I'm not sure how much of that is because we're here and how much is just in general. I would guess it's partly that their lives are much better in the home than they would be otherwise, and partly that peace and joy, in spite of adversity, that only God can provide.

Shortly after unloading the trucks, we had lunch, which again was amazing. Guillermo told us that standard Paraguayan meals generally a main dish with meat and some simple side dishes, and this basically was true to his description. But it was also delicious. The pork, tender and covered in delicious spices, rated quite high on the list of best meats I've ever had, and many echoed that sentiment. They overloaded us with food, which also included barbecued beef, various sausages, salad, rice, and bread called sopas, which is something like a corn meal bread infused with cheese. I was also glad to see that the girls' had plenty of food.

As an icebreaker activity, we did a scavenger hunt that took us throughout town today. Most of the younger kids seem to enjoy their lives and, on the surface, are much like kids one would see anywhere else despite their painful backgrounds. The older girls (~12) seem very driven and often took the initiative to take us throughout the town to find certain buildings and answer questions. I suppose that's a necessity when there's nobody else to look out for you. Some of them are more reserved, and from what I've been told there are some very sad stories behind some of their lives.

We went to the burger shop, the town's only restaurant, for dinner, and most of us had lomitas de arabe, which is basically a wrap with diced beef, lettuce, and tomato. Simple, but again the spices on the beef were perfect, not like anything I've had in the US. The burger shop was founded by a missionary group and now is run by Osvaldo's wife, Maria Luisa, who uses it as a way to provide jobs to people in the community.

Quyquyho is a quiet town overall with around 1,600 people. There is very little crime here, and many people don't even lock their doors at night. The biggest problem is alcoholism; Leah will be giving presentations about substance abuse in high schools during our trip, which we hope will make some difference in the upcoming generation here.

As I write this, it's the morning of Monday, June 25, and my view is a beautiful sunrise over the Paraguyan countryside. Time for our first real day...

Paublito is an amazing dancer!!

I was playing Jackie's ukulele today and Paublito was burning the rug (I mean dirt) with his dance moves. Go Paublito!!!

Zumba with the girls in Quyquyho

Last night Yuliana led the girls in a Zumba dance class. Then we broke off into some freestyle dancing before ending the night with limbo!

Utility closet

Lots to update about, coming whenever we have the time. We're all doing well here in Quyquyho, and our first full day there was tiring but fulfilling.

First day in Asuncion

After catching up on sleep we all had lunch at around 3 pm. On the menu there was vegetable soup, "bife koygua" (steak and egg dish), mashed potatoes, mandioca, rice, "sopa paraguaya" and flan for dessert. 

Earlier that morning, we had played ninja tag with my little cousins who came to visit.

Osvaldo is the director of the Girl's Home. He stopped by in the afternoon to meet the team and to take some of the donations we had brought with us.

Miraculously, all ten of the plastic tubs filled with clothes, medicine, toys, school supplies and electronics (more than $8000 worth) went through Paraguayan customs without being opened and inspected. This almost never happens.

Later that afternoon we walked to the shopping center. After finding a McDonald's the girls had to try the fries to compare them to the ones in the US. The verdict= Paraguayan McDonald's fries taste better.

After dinner, my friends Melissa and Osvaldo stopped by to meet the team and to pray for us. We leave for Quyquyho early in the morning tomorrow!

Jackie here.  Boy, that was a loooooong voyage to Paraguay.  Especially since I couldn't sleep a wink on the  planes.  Last night (well, early this morning) at Guillermo's mom's house, I had the deepest, most restful sleep of my life.  And on an air mattress!  Before falling asleep to the sounds of dogs and roosters, I remember feeling so thankful and completely at peace in a sleeping bag on an air mattress.  I felt like a princess in a palace on a royal feathery bed.

Oh, and by the way, El Salvador is BEAUTIFUL!  It looked like we were in the middle of Jurassic Park.  Everything was so green.  And I had my first experience with the toilets there.  You CANNOT throw your toilet paper in the toilet!  Something BAD will happen.  But not every time, apparently, because I completely forgot about that rule and I put my TP in there and flushed, and no floods came.  We had a special room to stay in while we were in the airport in El Salvador where they have couches.  I was able to sleep a little on the couch.  And I haven't put my TP in the toilets since.

This morning we ate chipas (I don't know how to spell that).  It's kind of like papusas.  Muy delisioso!  And we played Ninja with the little primos.

Now, off to town to exchange our money!

At the Airport

Here are a few photos from the airport. We just had a wonderful breakfast and lunch at Guillermo's mother's house, and soon will be going to pick up a few more things before we head to Quyquyhó tomorrow.

Guillermo's Mother and Jackie

Paraguayan Flag in Stones

Loading the Chartered Bus

Front of the Airport

Emailing Home The Next Morning