Picture Page

Picture page
It's picture page
It's time for Tom and Melissa's picture page
It's time to bring your mouse and your keyboard

Picture page
It's picture page
It's time for Tom and Melissa's picture page
It's time for Tom and Melissa to share their picture page with you!

www.rhubarbdessert.com/gallery

(from Bill Cosby's picture page song for those of you old enough to remember it)

We have put together a family website with the help of Tom's brother Tony and you may view updated pictures of us and our community at least monthly, sometimes more often.

www.rhubarbdessert.com/gallery

Bienvenidas/os Santa Cruz Delegation y Que les vaya bien!

New Years was spent on a different level, Tom got sick with parasites a few days before so he was on medication and his body was physically exhausted. Therefore Tom was in bed by 9pm while I was again at the Arili´s house for the dance (yes another dance), however it just wasn't the same without Tom so I went home rather early. We were in bed by 11:30 and that's how we spent the New Years. A group of our neighbors from the community however used the still brilliant light from the moon to walk to each of the communities singing songs all night long, some of them did not sleep at all that night.

The day before New Years a delegation from Lutheran and Presbyterian churches in Santa Cruz, CA arrived in our community. We had heard lots about this group from various people in our community and we were excited to meet a group who had been coming to our community for the past 10 years. They were scheduled to eat breakfast everyday at Arili’s the week they were in the community. So every morning Tom and I would wake up bright and early to help Arili serve breakfast for the 22 people (21 + the interpreter Brenda). Unlike other delegations that have come through our community this group spent a majority of a week in the Ciudadela, giving them time to connect with many people, including ourselves. We found that we were not only helping with breakfast but also trying to spend time with them during the day. Throughout the week we noticed from their strong presence in the community that we had much to learn from them. Those who have been coming for years have developed very close relationships with people from our community.

This particular delegation supports AMUDESCO, particularly paying the salary of the doctor and the health promoters for the majority of the year, if not all. Without this group from Santa Cruz I don’t know financially where the clinic would be. They also support the school, providing scholarships that include school supplies and uniforms for a number of students. Recently they also have started supporting some of the graduates to continue to study in college. Needless to say, we had a fantastic week with them; they left us with a lot of inspiration, hope and energy to continue the work that we do.

As I finish this long rambling blog, I hope I am not boring too many of you. I hope that many of you are able to connect with an organization, church, or start a group of your own, to see what role you can play in the developing countries that most need your help. The options are as limitless as your ambitions, and for those of you interested more in Santa Cruz you may visit the following link:

http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/

Posted by Melissa and Tom

Christmas tiddings (and writings)

This Christmas we enjoyed in our community with close friends and people who are practically family. We were invited to 2 celebrations on the 24th and 2 on the 25th. The 24th was spent eating lunch at Arili and Mauricio's with all of their immediate and some more distant family. In all we were around 25 people, many of whom we knew well from the Ciudadela, but all of which we spent some time chatting with throughout the afternoon. The picture shows Arili, Claudia, and Alexander (two of her children). Supper was a date at Luis and Wilma´s (Luis who teaches Tom guitar and Wilma (his wife) is a member of AMUDESCO with Melissa), and the two children of Wilma and her father. We had visited them before and enjoyed returning as they all have a little spunk and plenty of energy. We walked home that near full moon night to join in the DJ dance at Arili and Mauricio's. The 25^th (which here in El Salvador is not celebrated as much as the 24^th) was spent visiting a few neighbors in the morning and the family of Nena (Gloria’s oldest daughter) and her family in the afternoon, eating nearly everywhere we went. For both of us this was our first Christmas away from family and friends, whom we did miss terribly, and unfortunately the season just didn’t feel the same. Nonetheless we felt content in our environment and were happy to be able to celebrate with other families to experience holidays here. But oh how I miss those Christmas goodies!! I went the whole season without gaining a pound….now that is sad.

We baked banana bread and gave those loaves to 13 families who live near us, or with those whom we’ve developed special relationships. We hope that the small gift we were able to give warmed their hearts in the way they have welcomed and warmed a place in ours. We received many warm thanks and grateful responses but hoped that they felt our appreciation for each of them that is sometimes difficult to express. A interesting difference to us was that none of the families we visited placed presents under trees and many of them did not exchange presents at all. While lack of money is certainly part of a reason for this fact, those that we visited seemed to look foreword to certain foods and family time as well. We understand that air in our community had a different spirit of Christmas feeling to it. One that at times seemed to be expressed in a sad pause of realizing this day was as much of a struggle as any other.

One such example was that upon arriving we learned that Nena was not able to celebrate Christmas due to no money for gifts, food etc.. We invited Nena, Walter, Gabby, Juan Carlos and Carolina to have lunch at our house a few days after Christmas. It was eminent how appreciative they were of the meal we had given them (pasta, chicken nuggets and garlic bread) and stated that they had not had that variety of food in a long time. So, giving them a variety from their typical beans and rice was our Christmas present to them and their happiness and appreciation was their offering to share with us.

Our christmas coffee tree

Posted by Melissa and Tom