Moms and Dads

In the last week I have taken on the role of mom for one of our students and we have been preparing to celebrate Father´s Day with our kids and their dad´s, first today at our first annual monthly meeting with the parents and then this Sunday is the actually day here in Brazil. After I blogged last week we were informed that one of our young female students, Daniele, who had been missing PETI alot had had a severe case of lice. It went unnoticed for far too long and got to the point where the lice was eating at her scalp. When they finally took notice, she had to go to the doctor in another city and have all her beautiful, long hair cut off to a very short length. She LOVED that hair and now is so embarassed to leave the house. The sad part is that her mom died a few years ago so she didn´t have a mom to notice that her hair was full of lice and now she doesn´t have a mom to encourage her that she is as beautiful as ever with this short hair. Her poor dad and brothers are clueless. So we went and visited her and convinced her to return first to PETI and then to school. She started back this Monday and we have walked everyday with her to help build her confidance. The first day we walked into the classroom with her to make sure her teachers let her leave the hood of her coat up... we are working on her having the confidence to take it off but it is a struggle. That first day we took her into the bathroom and tried to fix her hair so she felt comfortable but she immediately starting crying and begged us not to make her go into the room with it down. It is a process but yesterday when I walked with her, her response to me asking if she was ready to remove the hood moved from "Absoultely not" to "I don´t know".. baby steps! It has been truely special to play the role of a mother figure in her life this past week, I think it is exactly what God called Katie and I.
One of our other students entered into a musical festival in Telemaco so we went and saw him and his brother perform ´Obrigado Senhor`, if you have been to Brazil in the last two years with the group than you are very familiar with their rendition of this music! It was fun, free entertainment and it meant a lot to them that we came to see them.
Katie and I spent the afternoon on Friday at another rehab center for men. We went with the other teachers to deliver some vegetables and then got a grand tour and met a few people who are working there and others that have overcome addictions. It was another rewarding experience that showed us the harsh reality of how powerful an addiction can be. We planned to have the pastor of the center come and give a speech at our next monthly meeting with parents in September as we have a lot of parents who struggle with addictions, I think it will be very beneficial!
Our singing lessons are going okay.. it has turned more into us just singing songs we like instead of learning how to train our voices to sing better. It is hard not to laugh because the instructor has Katie singing a low part and a part of the music that I have never heard before whereas I sing how I am accustomed to singing. She gives me looks telling me she is just about done with it many times each lesson! Only one more lesson and then I owe her for doing something I love.
We had our first taste of why we dislike Sunday´s so much.. other than church there is next to nothing going on. It is a great day to relax but sometimes it can drag on and the minutes feel like hours.. this gave us motivation to think about where we want to take small, weekend trips this year to nearby cities! We have both been saving money so that we can travel more this year in this manner.
One family that has been breaking my heart since we got here this year is the family of Juliano/Rogerio and their 3 sisters in the program. I mentioned Rogerio in an early blog. They were in the orphanage last year and right before we came back this year that were put back in their mom´s house right beside the orphanage and they have not been the same all year. They have lost their interest in anything and everything about life. Juliano has stopped caring about the advanced English course we have him enrolled in and today I collected his book as we had to take him out since he has yet to go since we arrived here.. we have given him every chance and he refuses to stay motivated or even come to the class. We saw a light with him though when earlier this week we took him to the doctor to see if he would agree to have a drug test done as many people have confided in us that he is using again, something he did before he was originally put in the orphanage but he stopped once there. Instead of agreeing to the test he confessed that he is using drugs and that he hates what is has done to him and now he wants help! I don´t know what our next step is going to be but he has been coming to PETI everyday since then and particpating again, it is exciting! Unfortunately his brother Rogerio who I was really close with last year continues to stay home and not come to PETI. I saw him the other day and when I asked him how he was he replied that he was bad but refused to look at me and explain why.. it was really heartbreaking. I went today to his house to try and talk with him but he was not there.. my plan is to keep going until I find him and talk to him, I think he feels trapped inside the terrible living conditions of his house and doesn´t think there is any hope. :( This family is constantly a topic of conversation amongst the teachers and everyone is brainstorming how they can help get them into a better situation.
We had a little connection with the United States when I skyped with 4 of our students and 3 of the boys who traveled down in the last group, Marcos being one of them. The kids so appreciated the chance to practice their English and see some people that left a big impact in their lives! They are already talking about when we can set up another one.
Katie felt for Rio de Janiero Wednesday morning for a Capoeira event with the instructor from the gym so I am on my own until Sunday.. it is strange without her here but once again it puts me to the test and challenges me to step out and do things that I would otherwise leave in her hands. She has always wanted to travel there so I am happy that she got the chance and I can´t wait to hear her stories and see her pictures!
Today I had my first day teaching English at another school here in Imbau, something I agreed to do every Thursday morning for the next 2 months as the teacher is out on pregnancy leave. I was really nervous this morning but everything went great! I had two classes, 3rd and 4th grade, both small in number. The book they are learning from is very advanced and so I find it difficult because I want to start over with them with the basics but I have to stick to the curriculum of learning about endangered animals. I had to use my dictionary alot to translate some of the words they were learning! In general I really loved it and feel that God is calling me to be here at this point although it will come with some struggles and separate me from the kids of PETI one morning each week. I was leaving to return to PETI with one of my students and just when I thought I was leaving a good impression, after turning to say goodbye I fell really hard on all fours in the middle of the street. I actually really hurt my knee and the student looked really confused! Katie will love that story when she gets back as she is always counting the number of embarassing spills I take!
Now I am headed back to the program to meet another teacher. We are going to visit a few houses of students how have been misbehaving a lot these past few weeks to talk with the parents. Then afterwards we have the meeting with the kid´s parents.
The weather here has been beautiful and from what I have heard it has been the same there! I am sending out another Happy Father´s Day for my dad since the day is celebrated this Sunday. Thank you for all you do, the wonderful example you are to all us kids and for the constant support you show me. Let´s all take the time to celebrate this holiday thinking about our dad´s with love not only this Sunday but always!