Two funerals in one day...

Only 1 week after giving both Marcela and Teresa
the Anointing of the Sick,
Teresa passed away this Wednesday
and Manuela on Thursday.

Both of them were widows without children....

but the community responded in charity to attend to them in their last hours of life

and to honor them by attending their funerals...

(Above and below):

Funeral Mass and burial for Teresa...

(Above and below):

Funeral procession and burial for Manuela (today)...

One of the neighbors commented on how beautiful it was to see 

how even though both of these women did not have their own families,

the community came together as a family to love them...

and you can tell by the tears and by the attendance of many, that they were loved...

Teresa and Manuela- may you both rest in peace and please...

pray for us!

Feeding the elderly....

I had mentioned in the first post

"the day has come"...

What I was referring to was that after 2 months

 of visiting the elderly and getting to know their needs,

and then forming a committee of women from San Lucas

to help discern and put into action what we think 

is the best place to start in helping the elderly-

we finally started a feeding program to provide one well-rounded meal

for 50 of the most needy elderly once a week.

Below is a photo of the women who started the feeding program with me:

(Left to right):

Elda, Florentina, Elena, and Maria...

all dedicated, strong, and compassionate women

who have been wanting to help the elderly in San Lucas

and are very excited to begin this journey with me and the Lord!

So, the "the day" that came was July 1, 2015...

we started feeding the elderly on Wednesdays in the south end of town

in the community building in the San Gregorio neighborhood

(pictured below):

The following photos are of our first day cooking!

Above is a photo of our dear Andrés...

the oldest man that I have found in San Lucas....

98 years old with no teeth, and can hardly hear or see-

but he walks all through San Lucas every day and eats like a horse!

 

To those who can't walk to the community building,

we take the food to the elderly in their homes.

On Saturdays, we do another feeding in the northern part of San Lucas.

Above is a photo of the ladies cooking...

Below is of the elderly eating in a small community center

in the northern neighborhood called "Santiaguito"...

Again, we take food to the elderly who are unable to walk...

What a joy this is to do something small, 

but really serving a good purpose to those who have true needs.

No matter how great or how small,

as long as we do everything with love, 

it blesses others and gives glory to God!

What's more important?...My grocery bill or buying a bed for a dying soul?

2 posts ago, I had mentioned 

about an elderly lady named Manuela 

who is suffering from 2 broken hips.

I was informed earlier this week that Manuela is not doing well....

her body is beginning to swell, she is in tremendous pain,

and she tends to fall out of her bed because it is too small.

That was an understatement.  

Below is a photo of the bed she was living in...

It is pretty obvious that NO ONE should live like that...

most especially someone who is embarking on their last days of life.

So the neighbors and I went to try to find the cheapest bed in San Lucas.

We found one for 400Q ($53)...

all I had to my name for the week to live on was 430Q ($57)

As I sat in the store with the neighbors...

and we weighed the situation:

"Grocery bill or a new bed for someone who is dying?"...

I closed my eyes, looked at the Lord and said:

"We're buying the bed!"

Next question was: 

"How are we going to fit a bed in the 3-seater taxi that is our only vehicle?!"

We managed...with a lot of laughter and funny looks!

Neighbors came to help change the beds...

there was so much joy because everyone knew that this was a true act of charity...

reaching out to someone who has no children, 

no family, and no way of helping herself.

This morning, a priest from San Lucas 

was able to visit both Manuela and also Teresa 

as they are approaching the end of their lives

and gave them the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

The reason why I titled this blog the way I did is because the day after buying the bed, 

I received a generous donation 

so that we can continue to serve the elderly...

and so that I can continue to eat!

It was another confirmation that God is looking after each one of us....

and when we are faithful to the simple things He asks of us,

He will bless us.

May we continue to be His hands and feet

reaching out to those in need-

whether it be in our professions, our vocations,

in offering assistance, giving donations,

or just offering a prayer....

they are all needed!

While doing house visits...

The following are some pictures of the elderly that I visited...

 

How can you not love these humble and joyful faces?!

       

Josefina (left) suffers from an un-operated broken hip.  

Patricia (right) is the mother of 14 children!

Cirpriana (left) and Andrés (right) get the award

for being the oldest elderly people I have met so far.

Both were born in 1917.....98 years old!

With every visit, I was welcomed with such kindness,

gratitude, humility, and was "repaid" with prayer and a blessing.

This man, Rómulo, is 77 years old

and the only work he can find is walking about a mile outside of San Lucas

(up by the north part of the lake)

where he fills in pot holes with dirt 

and waits for whatever change people will throw at him from their cars.

I took a picture of his shoes for it testifies

to the poverty and simplicity these people have learned to live with.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit"...

Blessed are those who recognize that true blessing and true happiness

cannot be found or possessed with one's own strength here on earth.

All true blessing and happiness come as a gift from God

and those who are "poor" are the ones 

who give God the time to shower His gifts upon them.

God has so much He wants to give us...

we just don't believe.

Or we just don't give Him the time.

Manuela...

I met Manuela back in September 2014...

Manuela is 88 years old, widowed, and lives with her younger sister.
She worked in Guatemala City for the majority of her life
and never had children.
After retiring, she moved back to San Lucas and lives in a very poor home
with no income and very little savings.

When I was reacquainted with Manuela again in April 2015,

I noticed that her right foot was missing 3 toes due to a dry gangrene infection.

She was taken to the hospital in San Lucas to examine the infection
before possibly transferring her to the national hospital
in Sololá for surgery.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the medical doctor noticed how much pain

Manuela was experiencing as she was transferred to the ER bed.

He ordered 2 x-rays of her hips and found that both were broken...

one hip had an impacted fracture...

the other was displaced.

And this 88 year old woman was STILL WALKING!

 

Unfortunately, Manuela is too far advanced in age to be operated on...

but she was able to given measures to deal with her fractured hips

and was also given aspirin to deal with her poor circulation 

which is causing the gangrenous infection in her right foot.

May we give thanks for the access we have to medical care

in the United States...

and pray for those who work hard to heal others through medicine.

Apolonia...

Onto another dear person that inspired and moved me deeply...

After leaving the Mission in April,
I was blessed to have a trusted friend from San Lucas
take me around and introduce me to the majority of the elderly in need.
I wanted to be faithful to what the Lord was placing in my heart-
to love Him in the most abandoned and forgotten.

Within 5 weeks, we were able to visit 80 elderly people.
It was such a blessing and a joy to meet them and walk into their homes and lives!
To see their joy, their strength, their simplicity, their gratefulness, their humility...
and to my surprise, of the 80 we visited-
only 1 of them suffered from dementia.
All of these people were in their late 70's, 80's, and even late 90's...
and all of them were completely coherent and oriented.

So the first person we visited was Apolonia,
affectionately known here in San Lucas as "Doña Petrona"...

Apolonia was born with deformed feet (as you can see in the video below)
and due to her circumstances,
she never went to school,
she never got married or had a family.
She has been passed from relative to relative
and is currently living in a small room by herself.

Apolonia has some family who visit her weekly
and she has a neighbor friend who brings her firewood...
but on average, she is alone all day long.

When she gets tired of the loneliness,
and when she it hurts too bad to walk,
Apolonia drags herself out to the street so she can watch people walk by
and hopefully pass some time...



I cried the first time I saw how she moves around...this woman is 76 years old!

Thankfully, there will be a friend bringing wheelchairs
and I look forward to giving one to Apolonia.
With little mobility, her entire world as of right now is a small cinderblock room,
a dirt path and a street next to the cemetery.

When I first met Apolonia, she commented that she would like a new bed
(she was previously using 2 sawhorses as headboards,
3 wooden tablets in between as the box spring,
and a blanket to serve as a mattress)...

We were able to make Apolonia a small bed frame
and give her an actual mattress (which is very rare in San Lucas!).
She was very grateful and (I'm sure) sleeps much better at night :)

Luckily, Apolonia has a niece who is kind enough
to check up on her every day and bring her some food,
and even carry her back to her room if need be:

Hopefully you can join me in taking the time to love a forgotten soul...

but someone who is undoubtedly loved and remembered by the Lord.

Marcelo and Teresa...

Let me me present to you Marcelo and Teresa 

(whom the Lord used to inspire my heart

to be more sensitive to His thirst in the elderly).

Teresa is 95 years old.

Marcelo is 94 years old...

...and they have been married since they were 15.

For those who don't like to do math, 

we're talking 80 years of marriage folks.

And yes- they still love each other! :)

Marcelo and Teresa had 4 children

but either because of malnutrition or unexpected accidents,

none of their children made it to adulthood.

Once Marcelo and Teresa reached an advanced age, 

they were given a small plot of land 

and a small home with 2 rooms to live in for free...

But that is it.

They have no savings, no health insurance, no job, no income...

they just have each other.

Some neighbors have been kind enough to check up on them daily.

An american volunteer would bring them food every other day.

Marcelo would wander off each day to try to find firewood

so that they could make coffee in the morning.

Teresa would stay home with the dogs, 

(being that she couldn't walk due to poor vision from very mature cataracts).

And this is when I found them back in September 2014.

I saw how little they ate and how lonely they were.

I saw how Teresa didn't change her clothes for over 4 months
because she had nothing else to wear

(and because she really, really did not want to bathe :).

I eventually noticed the large lump on Marcelo's back

and gathered up the courage to ask him to show me what was causing such a lump...

I was so surprised to see a tumor that large!

This means that Marcelo has been living with this tumor for years.

With no access to medical care 

and no family to take the initiative to bring him to a hospital, 

Marcelo had to just live with it.

Unfortunately by the time I found him and with his advanced age,

the tumor was too advanced to operate on...the surgery would have probably killed him.

On May 7th this year, Marcelo passed away due to an intestinal infection.

It was incredible to see how the community responded to support Teresa...

people were coming out of the woodwork!

The house was flooded with people, flowers, gifts-

all to console and reach out to Teresa in her profound grief.

Please keep Teresa in your prayers as she faces this incredible loss.  

May we not forget those who mourn

and count our blessings with the family that we still have with us!