The Girls

This was my first goodbye of the week.  I remember waking up that morning with a horrid feeling in my belly.  Even Dona Blanca said to me that i seem preoccupied and not myself.  I was feeling very anxious for some reason - saying goodbye is never easy or nice and God knows i've had to do that alot in my life...:-( and for me, it's much harder when it's with people that i'm not sure i'll see again...That's when I really struggle...

I wanted to take a bag of gifts for each girl so we went shopping the day before for some of the goodies and put together a care pack:  body cream, perfume, pencils, pens, chocolates, earrings.  I know, random...but they loved it!  Mama also sent some clothes over which they loved - thanks mama, u are the bestest mama ever!

Continued...

We had a dance class and a bit of a chitchat.  The director at this hogar is very stern and pretty unfriendly so i've been very hesitant to get too close to the girls or ask personal questions but found out a little bit about them that day.  There's one girl in particular, called Lidia, who i really like.  I'm gonna stay in touch with her - she's the only one who has email!  Els took lots of pics of them and I told them that i'll be sure to send them over.  They didn't believe me...Lots of people have promised to do stuff and never end up following through but I WILL be different!  It will all depend on the Guatemalan mail system though which SUX!!:-)

I felt v sad leaving...:-(I'm very attached to the girls and my heart goes out to them.  It's like they're locked up in a prison.  The place that they live in isn't actually bad but they literally eat, sleep and study in this place - and aren't allowed to leave unless they have special permission.  Normally, kids go to school, meet lots of different people, experience different things and come back to their families to share with them.  These 6 girls are stuck with each other, day in, day out, not experiencing anything different.  However, I do realise that where they are is probably better than where they were.  One of the girls is called Candy - her parents passed away and she had to live with her 32 year old brother and wife.  Apparently, it just wasnt working out so she has been living in the shelter for 2 years now.  I dont know the history and how naughty she is/was, but it's pretty sad to lose your parents at the age of 14 and then not to be wanted by anybody...

They made me a little xmas card which was lovely.  Here are some pics of the girls.