Accompanying a Section

The children here at NPH Guatemala are divided up into houses by age and gender. In the babies house there are four sections, the first is the Angelitos (little angels) which currently has two babies in it. The second section is the Luceros (little lights) which has four little boys and one little girl between the ages of 18 months and 3-years. Then the sections divide into little girls between 4- and 7-years-old and little boys from 4-7 years. The girls are the Fresas (the strawberries) and the boys are the Cariñositos (the little love bears). When children turn 8-years-old they move to either the boys' or the girls' house. In the boys' house there are six sections divided by age, and in the girls' there are four sections. Each volunteer is given a section of children to "accompany" or get to know well and mentor. My section is in the girls' house with the second oldest girls. The section's name is Belen (Bethleham), and the girls range from 12- to 17-years-old, though most are 15- and 16-years-old.

I have really enjoyed getting to know them little by little each day. The girls are wonderful, smart, loving, and creative. Whenever I go to visit them in their house at night there is always music playing, someone singing, a few girls doing homework, others doing their laundry and cleaning up the space, and certainly a few girls who want to just talk and hang out. Yesterday evening I spent helping with a little geography homework, English homework, talking about health and especially how to avoid acne, and putting the song "You Raise Me Up" to Spanish phonetics - after which I was coerced to sing the song five or six times to a growing number of listeners. Thank goodness two girls joined in with me, as I have never been one to sing for an audience. I always feel so full of joy when I leave them, they bring up my spirits each time I visit, no matter what the day has brought. What a wonderful blessing.