June 19-28, 2009 St Pious, VBS & Construction Trip

Much of Kentucky’s week oners, stayed for week two and were accompanied by about 10 more arrivals from Kentucky. We were also blessed with the presence of Katrina Hennies and family, whom adopted Reese, a Guatemalan child, just before the closing of international adoptions.

The group geared up for the week with a church service, once again held at beautiful Pasabien waterfall.

The Reese House, which is the Hearts In Motion orphanage, was dedicated on June 21st, 2009 with the presence of little Reese, her adopted family as well as the Guatemalan family who cared for her as she awaited her departure for the US.

The much awaited arrival of the container finally happened during this week. Seeing the semi come down the rough, washed out roads in Valle del Motagua was quite a sight! After several tries the semi successfully ramped up enough power to make the entrance into the center for unloading. With the help of all the volunteers and many bomberos, the semi was unloaded and sorted. Thank ya’ll (as they say in Kentucky) the wonderful donations you sent to Guatemala!

VBS was held in Cubilete, Valle del Motagua where the Nutrition Center and Orphanage are located, Triunfo, and Las Carretas. Volunteers acted out the Biblical stories of Jonah and The Whale and The Three Kings, much to the kids delight! Also, the local kids successfully got more glitter on themselves and the volunteers than their projects!


The construction crew tackled the pile of pavers seen below and started the walkway. It was quite a job making sure the spacing was accurate bewteen each block! They also built and varnished more tables and benches for Wednesday’s Feed at the Nutrition Center. Black tarp was laid under the courtyard rocks, which involved first moving the rocks, a lengthy task, made much more enjoyable by the presence of good music!

The artist of the group, Angela, added to her previous mural in the HIM house comedor. Leading her team of painters they created a welcoming ambiance of butterflies, birds, clouds, and plants. Great job guys! Thanks for adding more color to our home!

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to Hearts In Motion. Another productive and fun filled week with the Kentuckians has us excited for their return in 2010.

Ya’ll come back now ya hear!!

VBS, Medical Clinic, Sports In Motion, Construction trip June 12-21 ,2009

June was welcomed with a group from St. Pius Church, of Louisville, Kentucky and a group from Illinois. The group brought many familiar faces as well as several new ones, totaling 53 volunteers. Focuses for the week included Vacation Bible School with the area kids, medical clinics, Sports In Motion work and construction projects.

Sunday morning’s waterfall service set the tone for the week with a beautiful message given by Mark. The message reminded us that the years that will someday be represented by the “dash” on each of our gravestones and what we did during that time is what really matters. Spending a week in service was an excellent way for each of us to evaluate what we want our "dash" to represent.

Following the service we visited the Senior Center in Usutmatlan, where we were greeted my many smiling faces appreciative of our visit, as well as the mayor. The mayor came to thank HIM for the hard work and helping hearts they provide to the town.

Throughout the week clinics and VBS were held, typically simultaneously, in the villages of La Fragua, Aldea El Chaguijon, El Remolino and El Arco. During the course of the week 1,145 people were seen at clinic and rougly 300 kids participated in VBS!

Vacation Bible School Fun!

The Director of SIM joined us for the week and headed up continued work on the basketball/tennis court in Valle del Motagua, as well as did some initial planning for the soccer field. The court got a new coat of paint and looks wonderful! Dusk to dawn lights were put up on the electric poles surrounding the court, to allow for night play. The first night the lights went on the court was greeted by nearly 40 people ready to play!

Check out the tranformation of the basketball/tennis court!

The court, pre paint.

Jack and Glenda, hard at work!

Lights for night play going up.

The results, including addition to the future tienda (store) area.

Be sure to become members of both Hearts In Motion and Sports In Motion on Facebook!!

Construction teams worked diligently on putting up a wall to separate a room in the Nutrition Center to allow the rooms to be more well utilized. Additionally, 6 junior beds, 6 cribs, and 4 playpens were constructed and varnished for the daycare at El Maguey. The temporary bodega (warehouse) at the Nutrition Center was torn down and the contents were moved in the new, permanent storage space.

Furniture construction

Delivery of furniture to El Maguey

Our mission work this week was a perfect example of the kind of importance of the dash in each of our lives. Hopefully each volunteers work with HIM was a catalyst for the continuation of the work that REALLY matters.

We all look forward to another blessed trip with this crew in 2010!

And remember to keep living out your "dash!"