Daniela

Her Hospital Uniform

We have been so blessed to watch Daniela thriving at her new school.  She started in January, and her first grades have been very encouraging.  Going to a private high school, where the education level is much higher, has been very challenging to Daniela.  She has had to work harder than she ever has before.  There are two different types of high schools in El Salvador.  One is a regular, general studies type of school.  The students only attend two years there, and then graduate.  The other type of high school is a three year, technical high school. Here, the children have the option of choosing two or three different tracks of study.  One of those is a medical track, where the student’s course of study is focused on preparing them for a possible career in the medical field.  This is the type of school where we have Daniela, and she is studying on the medical track. 

Showing off some of her schoolwork

Daniela lives with her mom, Nelsi, her daughter, Fernanda (5), and her three little sisters.  When Daniela returns home about 7:00pm after a long day at school, she has hours of homework she still has to accomplish.  However, she also has much to do to help her mother at home, besides coming home to care for her own daughter.  Her mom makes and sells food to earn money to put food on the table.  Of course with no running water, and no kitchen, this is a very big challenge every day.  She cooks over wood, and has to bring up her water from a well. (Which usually has dead things floating in it)  The house has one room, with very few pieces of old, worn, dirty furniture.   Taking a ‘bath’ means scooping up water from the pila, outside (large stone basin that has been filled by hand with water from the well) and pouring it over your head. 

Her Standard School Uniform

Nothing is easy, everything takes much more work than those of us from the U.S. are used to.  Imagine bathing, cooking and cleaning with these challenges.  But, regardless, when Nelsi sends her daughters to school each day, they are polished, shined, hair done in braids, and whites are really white.   When Daniela returns home from her day at school, she needs to dig in and help wherever she can.  AND, do all her homework.  She is 16 years old, and that is a lot of responsibility.  Having a daughter at 11 years of age has taken much of her childhood away.  But, Daniela’s spirit to rise above the abuse of her past is growing.  She is tasting the possibilities now that she is attending a school outside of her little town in the bigger city of Sonsonate.  

Living in a small pueblo, like San Julian, everyone knows your business. EVERYONE knew she was sexually abused by her step-father, became pregnant at age 10, and that she has now has a daughter.  But, no one in Sonsonate, at her school knows this.  She has the been given a little power over her life, now.   If she wants others to know, the power is in her own hands to tell them about herself.  She has the opportunity to just be a girl, like the rest of the girls in her school.  Not a victim.  I think that is awesome.

Her Sports Uniform

Thank you for making this possible.  If it wasn’t for your generous gifts to our work in El Salvador, this young woman would not be experiencing the opportunity for a new life.  As we continue to invest in Daniela’s life, we hope to see her go on to study at a university here in San Salvador.  We are working with a wonderful woman who is a  physiologist. (She just returned from two years serving in Senegal as a missionary to an orphanage there.)  She has started meeting with Daniela’s family, and we are hoping to see some very positive things happening through this counseling.  Please pray that Daniela will be open with her and that God will bring the healing that she so desperately needs.  This week, Daniela begins her practice in a local hospital, where she will be wearing her medical uniform, and she is very excited about that!  Please keep her in your prayers, she has so much to overcome in her life, and needs much encouragement and supernatural strength!

Kathy with Daniela, her Mom, her two youngest sisters and her daughter, Fernanda in front

Her Hospital Badge

Lupita

Life in El Salvador can be so difficult, and then, life in El Salvador can be so lovely.  Our work with the young women here in Central America gives us many opportunities to experience first-hand the desperate situation of family life in El Salavador.  It also gives us the chance to come along-side precious, beautiful, desperate young women, many times, young mothers, to offer them simple things that they just don’t have, and that we take for granted.  Hope, opportunity, love.  When you speak truth into someone’s life, and they hear it, it has the potential to open up their life like nothing else.  All of a sudden, their world has expanded, it has become so much bigger than they ever imagined.  Possibilities take shape that were never there before.  That is what we see happening in Lupita's life.  

Lupita and her daughter, Keyri, have been living with us since February  She made this big, crazy move from life in a small pueblo, to a totally different life in the big city.  Not to mention, the change of leaving behind extended family…mom, sisters, nieces and nephews…the only home she has ever known, and moving into the home of North Americans.  THAT is a culture shock for sure!  She is eating different food, learning a new language, and experiencing something new and strange every day. Our family! :)  Since Keyri (pronounced: Katie) was born Lupita has worked nearly every day 7 to 7.  Lupita has never experienced the day to day life of being a mom.  She has now!  At first, it was just fun and games.  She was just loving being with her sweet daughter all the time, and just soaking it up.  But, the honeymoon period came to an end, and she is learning that being a mom is hard work, work that never stops. She struggles with knowing how to discipline her.  She is a great mom, full of love and patience.  But, here in El Salvador, we see that very, very few people have any idea how to raise children in a healthy, balanced way. There is no one that we know of that is attempting to equip parents. What we see generally, is that children are indulged, and then, when parents are exasperated with their indulged children, they snap and yell at them and hit them.  Then, they tell everyone who will listen how naughty their children are, yet they have not a clue what to do about it.  Lupita is very patient, but, I can see her patience waning.  One day, we were chatting about her day, and she was telling me all that Keyri had done that day…and how tired out she was from it.  At that point, Keyri yelled for her momma, and Lupita said, with a wry, exhausted smile, “Here comes mommy, the slave of Keyri.”  She rarely says ‘no’ to her little angel.  And her little angel knows just how to play her momma!  So, this is an area I have been praying about just how to speak into Lupita’s life without being offensive.  I have given her a book to read, and she has discussed some thoughts from the book with me. This week I plan to sit down with her and talk more in depth about this.  Please pray for wisdom and direction. 

This isn’t the only thing we need to talk about.  Lupita is really the seed of this ministry to women.  We are at the beginning, taking baby steps and learning as we go.  We want to take it slow, and make wise decisions. But, we feel that it’s time, after 3 months for her transition, to take stock, see where we are at, and start planning.  So, this week, I will be talking to Lupita about the next steps, and forming our plan for her stay with us.  As of March 1^st, she has been taking English classes and working very hard at it.   She wants to attend university or a technical school and gain education towards a better future for herself and her family.  We don’t yet have the funds to pay for this, and are waiting on God. The cost of higher education in El Salvador is extremely low compared to the states.  We are talking around $100.00 per month.  As we begin to look into what direction Lupita wants to go with her studies, we will keep you posted if you are interested in helping provide this opportunity for her. 

 If you are asking how you can help right now,  we could really use some assistance with her English classes, which cost $80.00 per month.   This is not a college class, but, a private teacher.  Learning English will be key in opening up her future options for employment. 

 As ministry costs begin to increase, we know that where God guides, God will provide.  With the costs of Lupita, Keyri, Daniela, Nelsi and the extended family we are trying to reach out to, we are definitely in need of more financial support. We are blessed by your willingness to pray, care and give so that young women can have an opportunity they would otherwise not have for a better future. 

 

 We are still in the process of legally establishing our own foundation.  This week, we are

taking the final steps to finish the paperwork, and hope that by the end of next week, everything will be ready to be handed over to the proper authorities.  Please pray that God will guide this process, and give us favor with those who make the decisions.  Our foundation name will be, “Hope for Families Foundation”. In El Salvador, it will be, “Fundacion Esperanza para Las Familias”.  The home for young women will be named, “Lupita’s Hope”.  We are praying and seeking the Lord’s direction and provision for renting a home, separate from our family home, for this ministry.  God has laid this on our hearts, and we trust again, that if it's His will, the windows of heaven will open up and we will have the funds for this project.  Until then, our private home will be Lupita's Hope.  We are expecting that God will show us the next young woman we are supposed to take in.