Turning a picture on a table into a reality

A late Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to all our friends and family! Our internet went out for a week, and I was intending to post this on Christmas, but such is life. We hope that this New Years' Eve finds you cozy and spending time with those nearest and dearest to you. I thought I would write an uplifting story that will hopefully give you the warm fuzzies!!


Almost 4 years ago, a friend of mine, who volunteers as a Compassion advocate, asked me if I would like to sponsor a Compassion child. Not knowing very much about the program, I asked her to explain more to me. She explained that it was much like the other sponsorship programs out there, but the children get close to every penny you put in to it and there is a real relationship between the child and the sponsor. I told her that we would give it a go, that we would like a boy in El Salvador around Kade's age. A couple days later, she brought me 3 pictures to choose from. We chose David Adonay Lopez Cuellar, he lives in Guazapa, El Salvador and his birthday is in March of 2001, making him about 2 years older than Kade.


The next week, we started writing him letters and sending stickers and photos of our family. To my amazement, we got a letter back from him almost every month. He often asked how our family was doing and asked us to pray for his family. He let us know how he was doing in school. We got a letter in the mail from Compassion asking if we would like to give extra money for Christmas and Birthday Presents. We decided that we would like to do that. We agreed to give $40 for his birthday. Adonai's first letter after his birthday mentioned a big thank you, and with the $39.91, he went with a compassion site worker and bought "rice, paper, corn, shampoo, a doll for my sister, oil, a skipping rope, " etc. Which showed to me that the money I was sending every month was actually going to where the organization said it was going. 

Fast forward to January 2011.... We knew we were moving to El Salvador and thought it might be a nice idea to meet Adonai in person and make what we read on paper a face to face relationship. We contacted Compassion at home to set up the experience. Together we decided on June 15 that we would meet an interpreter from Compassion, Ruth Cruz and head down to Guazapa to meet Adonai. 

Upon arriving there, we were met by a mountain of clapping and waving children, we were adorned with welcome sashes and treated in the highest regard. Here we were to visit our child and yet, to the compassion centre, we were representatives of every sponsor around the world. They were all so happy to have us here. The whole centre put on a show for us and welcomed us whole heartedly. We felt blessed to be the ones representing the rest of the countries that sponsor children.

After all the presentations and meeting Adonai we were showed around the centre. We were explained that the centre was not the school that the kids attended, but a place they went to after school to learn about health, computers, baking, raising chickens and getting tutoring to ensure that they stay and do well in school.

The second time we were there they happened to be doing medical checkups!

We were so impressed with all the centre does including routine medical and dental check ups. 


After we were served the best pupusas in all of El Salvador, we were taken to see Adonay`s house. We were welcomed with warm, open arms by Adonay`s mom Jessica and his little sister, Jasmine. We were shocked to find out that Adonai`s family lived in a tiny house made out of plastic sheeting and bamboo. The space inside the house was only big enough to fit one bed and a dresser and nothing else. The small space outside held a 2 burner stove. We were told the story about how when Hurricane Ida hit in 2009 Jessica`s house was destroyed. With reserve funds, Compassion was able to buy them this bed, dresser and a small stove.  Looking back, I remembered that on every single letter Adonay sent us, he always drew a picture of a house on the back.

This is what his house actually looked like....

My heart sank! Here we were building houses all year in San Antonio and San Felipe and yet my Compassion Child who we have been supporting and writing to every month is living in a house that is not even as good as the houses that we tear down to rebuild here.

The kids all got along so amazingly well and it was hard for us to leave that day. Even on the ride home, I was wondering when we would see them again. Then I got an idea. What ws the possibility that we could build a house for Adonay and his family? I asked Ruth and she thought it was a great idea, but because compassion had never had a request like this before, they weren't sure how to handle it.

The next day I put the request into both the Canadian and El Salvadorian compassion offices. It took almost 6 months before the request was finalized, as we kept misunderstanding each other because they thought I wanted them to pay for the house. They couldn't understand that we wanted to buy the materials and build the house as well. In October we went to deliver the news and measure the house. 

They were so over come by joy and couldn't wait to start building, but more importantly to be able to spend the day together again.

December 6, we pull up with 2 trucks loaded with house building materials, our two families and Chris and Krista Barkey (friends of the Berstad's and now our friends too!) and their children's Pastor Janice.

We worked our butts off and finished the house in only the morning.

Adonay, Jessica and Jasmine never stopped smiling! We then joined them for lunch that the Compassion centre in Guazapa cooked for us. It was delicious! Only we found out after that the chicken was from their chicken raising program!! :) 

Upon our return, we did a key ceremony like we do with all the houses we build. While we were getting ready to do the ceremony. I felt like God was telling me, that the building process needed to be in His timing. Just before we started, Ruth, the Translator, told us that the government had just given Jessica this land and the title a week before we built! If we had built it earlier, there would have still been a chance for the government to take it away. So this really was perfect timing. and once again a reminder that I can not control everything!!

Anyway, as we did the ceremony and gave the keys, I spoke a little about our feeling for the family and what it meant to me to be building this house with my bare hands. I read the verse in the bible Psalm 127:1

 ¹ Unless the LORD builds the house, 

   the builders labor in vain. 

Unless the LORD watches over the city, 

   the guards stand watch in vain. 

Which became quite obvious looking back from the pictures drawn on the back of the letters to the timing of the house building. 

I know one thing for certain. Adonay's house sure looks a lot more like the picture he draws now! And we have certainly been blessed to be able to have this kind of relationship with him. It make writing all those letters come to life. 

I Walk the Line

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine

I keep my eyes wide open all the time

I keep the ends out for the tie that binds

Because your mine, I walk the line

       The words of this Johnny Cash song have taken on a whole new meaning over the last few weeks.  As Carie mentioned in her last post, we are well into the season of groups from Canada.  In fact, by the end of March we will have had somewhere around 200-250 visitors from Canada.  And it is an exciting time, as we get to see groups come in and change neighbourhoods in a matter of days.  We get to see about 100 people from the community working together with between 10 and 20 Canadians.  They build together, they play together, they eat together, and for a few moments we get a good glimpse of heaven, or the Kingdom of God.  We are thankful for the joyful noise we hear made up of laughing, playing, joking, and working together.  And so, what is my role in all of this?  Well most days I feel like I am simply walking the line.

       Let me give you a little background.  We are focusing our construction efforts this year in San Antonio Caminos and San Felipe, both of which are medium-sized communities within 20 minutes of our home in San Vicente.  Our plan is to split the 120 or so houses that will be built by the groups, between these two communities.  As well, food delivery, medical clinics, and our goat project, have, and will continue to play an important role in our work in these villages.  There is no question that we are dealing with some of the poorest of the poor in this country, and for that reason many (if not most) of these families do not own the land on which they live.  Most people have squatted on government land sometime over the last 30 years, and continue to live under some sort of “squatter’s rights” agreement with the government, allowing them to stay.  In San Antonio Caminos, one such area is an abandoned train line.  A lot of the tracks still exist, but the train stopped running 15 to 20 years ago.  The land allowance on either side of the tracks provided free land, and as such seemed like an ideal place to build a shack.  For this reason 100’s of families live along these old, rusted train tracks.  Recently, much of Trent’s and my time has been spent walking up and down this old train line.

       We walk to make sure that homes are being built properly, we walk to ensure that materials are getting to where they need to be, and we walk to take tools from one site to another.  But we also walk for other reasons.  We walk to hear and see stories of need and pain, we walk to celebrate with families when they are picked for a new home, we walk to sit with friends and acquaintances and share in their lives, and we walk to find a nice quite spot to dine like princes with some of the humblest, most beautiful people in this world.  We walk the line, and the old road, and the goat trails, and the corn fields.  We walk.

     


 The other day I was walking with three people from San Antonio.  I don’t remember exactly what we were doing, but we were together checking on something or other.  And then I stopped and reflected for a moment.  My company was made up of an unwed mother of 8 children, an overtly homosexual man (which is a lot less acceptable in this society where machismo rules), and another lady who, although I can’t confirm it, is probably a prostitute, or at the very least has been abused by men in this society.  My reflection left me with two thoughts.  First of all, what label are these people assigning to me?  Am I the wealthy North-American?  Am I the guy that has more than he needs, or can use?  Am I the guy from that culture that has helped start and perpetuate many of the problems here?

       My second thought was that this way of walking feels more and more right to me each day here.  I want to walk with people to whom the walking matters.  I want to walk with those that teach me about myself and my preconceptions.  I want to walk as my Lord walked.  So, I continue to walk the line.

Stuart

7 New Kids Born in El Salvador! (the baby goat kind)

 7 New Baby Goats!

Exciting news this week! Our first goats that we delivered in June are now having their babies, which means milk for the families!!!

Some you may know about the GOT GOAT project here in ES.  In the beginning we wanted to deliver one goat at a time to the families in need as we received the goats.  We were finding that a lot of adults, children and babies had anemia, and there was a real lack of vitamins and nutrients in their diets.  Goat's milk  is the closest to that of a mother's milk.  Because their diets are so poor, women  loose their milk quickly and end up giving their babies sugar water!  The goat's milk is full of vitamins A and B-6, niacin and other nutrients like the vitally important potassium.  It is easy to digest, less allergenic and easy to keep.

After such an wonderful response of many family and friends back home, we found that we needed to spend more time thinking about who to give the next goats to and how do we ensure that they were taking care of the goats properly?  We are not in the business of just handing things out and moving on to the next!  We really want to equip people in the long run.  How to make what they have go the farthest it can, and think ahead about the days to come.

  

Pimpa and her 2 kids

Jake & Nicole with Esmeralda & Miguel and family

This is when we met Armando.   We got to talking about how the project could grow and be more effective. Armando has been working for awhile on a 'Co-operative Goat Farm' project and has had a lot of interest from various NGO's but no one wants to stop giving goats and focus on the farm idea. His idea is to have a farm of 25 goats, barn and enclosed area for feeding. One family would live and operate the farm with 9 other families living close by, who would all take turns caring for the goats. These 10 families together would be educated by Armando, how to properly care for and run a business of raising and breeding a better milking goat.

Carolina and her 2 kids

So we decided we would try out these goats.... We delivered 3 new goats to families in Las Brisas (that were already giving milk and due to have babies again soon).  When our friends Jake & Nicole Fluker came to visit with their kids, they brought with them $ from friends back home in Okotoks to buy goats for families in need of milk.  It was exciting for us because this time we had an expert goat farmer with us who was able to spend time with each of the families, showing them how to milk, feed and take care of their goats to ensure good production of milk!  This is what he would do as part of the farm, educating the families.

Learning to milk the goat

 The goats typically give around 1-2 bottles of milk per day. When given proper nutrition, vaccines and care, a well bred goat can give up to 5-6 bottles per day! Times that by 25 and all of a sudden you have a lot of milk for a lot of families! Once these goats start to have babies, we then can take some of the goats for future breeding and give some as gifts to other families.

We love the idea and would like to take his idea and make it a reality. What does that mean for us? We are hoping to start 2 of these farms. One up in the Victoria area, where some groups are building and 1 down here in the San Vicente area.  Each farm would cost $5000.00 That is including material for a small raised goat shelter, 25 goats, food, vaccines and education.  We are already getting close to having enough goats for 1 farm.

For those who have already bought a goat or donated towards the goat project, this just means that we would purchase 1 of these 25 goats on your behalf. Families will still be getting the milk, we just want to ensure that goats are not wasted and given to families who are not able to care for them. People can still purchase goats, t-shirts or give a general donation to the 'Goat Project'.  The goats we would like to purchase for these farms are $150.

Thank you to everyone who has donated, you are making a difference in so many ways! We are really excited to see communities join together in this project along with those of you at home. Together we are able to reach a much larger group of people.  

For now, enjoy the pictures and the smiles you have put on their faces!!

Much love,
kerrie-lynn

It's good, try some!

Mom & Dad McDougall holding new twins

We were fortunate to visit the family who is making the 'Got Goat' T-shirts for us.  We were able to see the shirts being made and the process it takes to put the logo on each shirt!  If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please let us know at either kerrie@berstad.org or csmcalli@gmail.com.

Shirts being made

Silk Screening process