Jalapa three-ish hours later (emphasis on the "ish")! The main reason I went to Jalapa was to learn about the newly founded Little Lambs of Guatemala, which will be the first children/seniors' home affiliated with Little Lambs International (Check out their website: www.littlelambs-intl.org).The future Little Lambs home is a half-hour drive from the town of Jalapa. It's in a beautiful part of Guatemala where creeks wind through pine-clad hills, and small meadows occasionally emerge from the brush-covered hillsides. It's a quiet part of the country too--far from the busy city streets of the capital and far from the gangs and the crime that is a daily part of life for far too many kids in Guatemala.
Little Lambs of Guatemala will be a truly unique blending of an orphanage and a seniors' home. The vision is to have it as home-like as possible. The children will live in family-style houses with their own "foster" parents and a maximum of ten children per house. The seniors will have their own well-equipped seniors' home nearby. This will benefit both the children, who will hopefully bond with their "adopted" grandparents, as well as the seniors, who will have an abundance of "adopted" grandchildren! The Little Lambs site will also include a church, a school, and a mission house. There will be lots of land for crops and livestock too, and perhaps some vocational training facilities as well.
What a great vision!If you visit the land today, you'll see cattle grazing in the fields and a stream winding slowly through the valley, you'll hear the insects buzzing softly and the pine needles crunching quietly under foot, and you'll feel the contentment and peace that comes from strolling through the wonder of God's creation. However, if you visit this land with some of the founders of Little Lambs, it's so easy to catch their enthusiasm and vision for the compound described above! And once you've caught that vision, your view will be forever changed. Now, when you look at the fields, you will suddenly see small houses shaded by fruit trees from the corner of your eye; when you pause to listen to the sounds of nature, you'll just barely hear snatches of children's voices carried on the wind; and when you feel that abiding peace and contentment, you'll recognize that it comes from being in the presence of God's children!
In addition to visiting the building site, my visit to Jalapa also included a visit with many of th
e Little Lambs Guatemalan board members. It was a pleasure to meet them and catch just a bit of their passion for this project! I am truly excited to follow the progress of Little Lambs of Guatemala. I hope I will be able to visit again in two years and see how their vision gets translated into reality!After visiting Jalapa, it was time to head back to the capital. There we (Ryan, Johnny, Luis, and I) visited several orphanages, ate too much fast food, and even took a side trip to Antigua. It was interesting to see how the differennt orphanages were run and to meet other people who had also dedicated their lives to helping the children of Guatemala.
p.s. - We stayed with the Cordonas while we were in Guatemala City, and they said to send greetings to everyone, so be greeted by them. It was great to meet them (oddly enough our paths had never crossed before). Claudia was especially fun to meet; she is, like Anne would say, a kindred spirit! :)
