April 2001

Miracles in Patzun

The San Bernardino Orphanage and School were just two more innocent victims of Guatemala's ongoing corruption. Left without the necessary funds to continue, the Sisters approached The God's Child Project for help. Though it was a massive undertaking, Patrick agreed to meet the challenge and provide what help he could to the struggling community.

Patzun's first service team, out of Bismarck North Dakota, 12 strong, settled into their new homes in Antigua in the small hours of Friday, March 16, 2001. Joined by two volunteer staff, the bus pulled out Friday afternoon for Patzun. The mood was one of excitement and anticipation as this enthusiastic, committed group set out to be of service to the poor of Guatemala.

It was an incredible week marked by the unmatched joy of satisfaction and tears of life's tragedies, interspersed with much humor and revelry. Included are a number of highlights of this never- to- be- forgotten week.

It did not take long for the excitement to begin. We made a SMASHING entrance to the orphanage as our bus drove into the yard, our luggage caught on the overhead arch and brought it crashing down on top of us. We had visions of total destruction, but after assessing the damage, realized that other than having to reconstruct a new entrance, we had escaped relatively unscathed. Miracle #1 ... construction project #1! The San Bernardino Orphanage, thanks to the Bismarck Team now sports a shiny new tin entrance ... a monument forever to our collective stupidity.

Numerous people were electrocuted by the showers the first couple of days ... but they all lived to tell about it ...Miracle #2 ... electrical project #1. Victims reported during the last few days there were no electrocutions. In fact there was even the occasional HOT shower ... Miracle #3.

The tranquil ambiance of Saturday, created by all team members intensely focussing on their tasks-at-hand, came to an abrupt halt as Rich came crashing through the ceiling. As we all clamored to the site, expecting to pick up the pieces, the appearance of a large hole in the ceiling with no body under it gave rise to an outburst of exclamations of relief. A strong but shaken voice assured us, that he had managed to pull himself up and he had survived the ordeal ... Miracle #4 ... repair project # 2.

Work went well for a couple of days ... each morning we would gather after breakfast to gloat about the previous days accomplishments, and enthusiastically await our new assignment from Woody.

March 21 was a very special day because Tip and Rich were celebrating their birthdays. Rich was particularly glad to be there in light of his recent accident. Chuck had spent much time planning a party for his wife and good friend. The day started out with the traditional deafening firecrackers, which totally caught us off guard, and scared the hell out of us. But that was not to be the only shock of the day. The workday had just begun, when we received word that Chuck had fallen through the roof at the school. He was not as lucky as Rich and had fallen to the ground. When they phoned us at the orphanage, they had no idea how serious the accident was, but the reports were he was completely white and blood was trickling from his mouth. The mood was very somber as each member of the team waited to hear more news. Tip received word of her husband's accident like a trooper and accompanied us to the site. Chuck had already left in an ambulance with Doctor Jim and Christian, a translator, (who had also joined our team) Sister Reyna (a nurse) and Chuck's son mark. The trip to the city was grueling for Chuck and it was hard for his friends to see him in such pain having to travel the bumpy roads of Guatemala.

The great news is Chuck survived with some very painful but not life-threatening injuries. Miracle #4 ... .repair job # 3.

Poor Christian and Mark had to stay in a nice room in the hospital, buy themselves new clothes in Guatemala City and have a steak dinner. Poor babies ... the rest of us had beans and rice ... but we did have a birthday party, with a pinata with all the kids with an incredible impromptu serenade by the children at dinner. Two delicious birthday cakes arrived from Antigua which were devoured by the motley crew. In spite of the near tragedy that day, the sense of new life symbolized by the birthdays was evident and we were all so grateful to be alive, and felt privileged to be celebrating with these two special people in the Patzun Orphanage.

On their return to Patzun the next day, in a taxi, Christian and Mark had a very unsettling experience when they were stopped by police and asked for their passports. Of course they did not have them because they had left the school in such a hurry. They made Christian put up his hands and lifted his shirt with a gun. It made Christian very angry that the police would harass volunteers in such a way, but he managed to keep his cool and they were released without further incident ... Miracle # 5 ... no repairs to Christian!!

More very sad news the next day when Rich got news of the death of a very dear sister-in-law. We all felt very bad for him and did what we could, but within minutes he was up on the roof attending to his job, which in a way was very therapeutic for him. It was clear to all of us the grief he was experiencing but he chose to continue to give his time and energy to the project.

On a more positive note, the outstanding highlight of the week was a surprise assembly held for us on Friday morning at the school. The huge assembly hall was packed with school children who cheered wildly as we made our way to the guest-of honor seats in the front row. Tip said she felt like a queen. Personally I felt more like a rock star. In any case the welcome was warm and rousing and one none of us will ever forget. The entertainment by the children was so special...so representative of their culture.it was obvious, this was an occasion into which they had put much effort. At half time they called us up on stage to present each of us with a gift and express their gratitude for our work. It was very touching to see the impact that our seemingly small efforts had made. This was followed by a short reception with cheesecake the sisters had made for us.

So many memories ... the glowing happy faces of the children as they had the opportunity to perform for us ... the sad eyes of the sick babies in the orphanage ...the Grand Opening of the lab which the women had totally redecorated ... the surprise pizzas arriving from Antiguta ... the police escort through Solola to ensure our safety.

As we said our good-byes at the orphanage that last day, tears flowed down Sister Reyna's cheeks. Was she sad because we were going ... or were they tears of joy and gratitude for what we had done? In any case it was clear to see that we had made a significant difference in the life of the San Bernardino Orphanage and School ... and that was the ultimate miracle of our Patzun experience!