Life on top of the Mountain

Ok, here is the anxiously awaited report on THE OASIS! Ok, so mabye not so anxiously awaited, but please, humor me.

I spent the weekend in San Cristobal with Mike and Sandi Glick and their family. They are both Kimberly's parents as well as my director through CAM. On our way to drop me off at The Oasis on Sunday night, I got a call from my Oasis director, Melanie, saying that Monday was a holiday and no one was going to work, so I'd be all alone on my first day. As pleasant as that sounded, we decided that it was best if I spent the night and following day with Melanie at her house in Antigua. So, back to Antigua we went.

Having Monday off gave me some extra time to calm my nerves about starting at The Oasis. Monday night, Melanie and her roommate dropped me off at The Oasis with a promise to be back in the morning to show me the ropes on my first day. I was assigned to eat breakfast and dinner in the Red House (all 4 houses are different colors--red, blue, orange, and green. I live in the yellow house.) Walking in, I felt like I was back in the first day of kindergarten. Then I remember why I love kids so much. Immediately, they all came over to give me hugs and say hello. I felt so relieved. They liked me! Dinner was a blast, and by the end I felt so much more comfortable about my time here.

Breakfast is served at 6 am. Yes, you heard me. The girls get up at 4 am and by the time I arrive at 5:50 all 10 girls are showered, dressed, doing chores, and cooking breakfast. Needless to say, breakfast is a little quieter than dinner due to the fact that no one's brain is functioning yet. After breakfast I usually spend time doing their hair, folding clothes, cleaning up after breakfast, and generally helping them get ready for the day.

I return to my house around 6:45- 7 to get myself ready and do personal devotions. Right befoe I left, I studied the importance of daily quiet time for prayer and reading the Bible. So, I really wanted to make a point to plan that into my dail schedule. Well, God has a sick sense of hunor (amen, Kimberly!) and decided that He'd provide me with that time by having breakfast at 6 and school at 8. Although I have never been a morning person, this time every morning with God is so special to me, and I really look forward to it. I have made it my goal to read through the entire Bible while I am here, and with each new book God reveals more and more of Himself, His love for us, and His ultimate power to me.

About 7:45 am I go outside to play with the girls before school starts. Usually, we play basketball-- I think I'm worse than some of the 5 year olds. Gotta practice that...
8 am the bell rings and we all go inside for morning devotions. The teachers read and discuss a passage in the Bible and then we pray for specific people. Each student, teacher, worker, has a specific day of the month on which everyone prays for them. Quite a good system, I think.
After devotions (~8:30) school starts for the girls and work starts for me. The girls are currently studying for/taking finals, as this is their last week of school. So, 2 of the 3 days I've been here I've been put in charge of the 3 youngest girls so that the teacher can review with the rest of the girls. These are girls that were not quite ready for kindergarten this year. This morning we painted each letter in the alphabet, read stories, and played with blocks. Then we went outside and made a fort out of blankets and a play structure.

Belen and Mariana, two of the three girls, are both 6 years old and quickly catch on to material. They will both be ready to participate in a full class next year. Candy, on the other hand, is 10 and cannot yet count. She was found wandering the streets of San Lucas, almost an hour's walk from her home town, extremely malnourished, and all she knew was her name and her age. Extraordinarily, while the principal was walking with Candy through a convention on day, a young girl recognized Candy and came over to say hello. Shocked, the principal asked the girl how she knew Candy. Apparently, they used to live near each other when Candy lived at home. The principal quickly began asking the girl about Candy's home, her parents, her siblings, and how to find them. Her mother was a seller in the market, and after several days in the market with a photo of Candy, they finally discovered where to contact the mother. Sadly, the mother could not support her, nor had any missing child report ever been filed. So, Candy is now here at Oasis, the first of many heart breaking stories I am sure to hear. They believe that between her malnourishment, improper clothing for the weather, and lack of care, she probably suffered some brain damage. She is in need of significant one-on-one help if she will ever succeed in a classroom. Please pray for Candy, me, and the rest of the Oasis staff as we try to find the best way to work with her and help her along.

The times I am not with the girls, I have spent either organizing the soon-to-be-opened library and doing office work. My first day I translated Christmas letters from the girls' sponsors. A request to all of you who are the sponsor for child somewhere in the world: You really matter to your child. They may be just a picture on your refridgerator or a name in your head, but they are a real boy/girl with a story, friends, likes, dreams. You mean so much more to them than you can possibly ever know. I have always been very lax about writing to the child that we sponsor. But now that I see how much those letters and gifts mean to them, I will not be lax any longer. They know the names of their sponsors and get so excited when they receive a letter. So please, all of you who have sponsor children under your care, send them a Christmas letter this year. (And send it early so that they poor intern who translates them all has time to do it before Christmas!)

Dinner is at 6 and I eat again in the red house. Dinner usually consistes of tea-cup plate of beans, tortillas, and a cup of atol to drink (a really water cream of wheat). After dinner we clean the house and then it's off to bed by 7:30 or 8 pm. You have to if you're going to get up at 4 am!
I go to bed quite early as well, usually by 9:30 pm. Everything just shuts down when it gets dark and there's really nothing to do, so why not?

Overall, I am loving my time here, getting to know names, and have never had/given so many hugs and kisses in my life. It's exciting to know that I get to spend the next 6 1/2 months getting to know the girls, talking with them, investing in their lives. Please pray with me that God will provide me with the understanding, the care, the paitence, the endurance, and the language skills that I will be needing over the coming months. Pray that He will give me the wisdom that I will need when dealing with delicate emotions and painful pasts. These girls need lots of unconditional love. Pray that I'll be one who can show them that they are valuable, beautiful women that God loves and whom He wants to spend eternity with Him. That's why I'm here.