We had a great trip on Thurs. that an American owman and her sisters and mom paid for. They rented a big boat and took all the kids from the orphanage and my kids from my family across the lake. Then they bought all hamburgers and fries in Panajachel. The kids loved it. They also left some great donations.
On a sadder note. Betty and Vilma ran away from the orp. Both girls had lived on the streets for a long time and just could not adjust ot rules. betty left her 2 year old. Helen is eating now. At first she would not. But her big brown eyes are so sad. Life has just been hard for her.
Aisha went home to her family in the states. They sent me pics and she looks so happy. She has been with us since she was 1 and so hurt she would pick her skin raw.

We arrived safely in Guate and picked up the many donations the Newton family had left with Harvey plus Harvey's food supply. Then on to see our kids who we had been away from for 9 days. I sure did miss them. Now I miss peace and quiet. We have spent the last two days at the orphanage catching up with all the minor crisis. the rest of the time I have spent unpacking donations and organizing them. Today I gave out some of the much needed shoes and threw in the trash the ones the kids had on. I have my staff making a list for each child of what they have so on Monday I can start passing out what the kids need.
Thanks so much for all of you who gave so these kids can have a higher quality of life. I have to use the internt cafes for a while as banditoes stole my wireless box and printer.
Vicki
Director of http://www.safehomesforchildren.org

Jody and I are in the states now and have been for the last 9 days. Our kids are in Guate and doing great with our security guard and our college daughter. Jody and I have spent the time visiting with our older married kids and our 6 granddaughters. That has been alot of fun. Jody got to participate in the name blessing of Tali, 3 weeks old, and I got to hold her alot and hold Baleigh who is 5 weeks. We ate at some great restaurants and just had fun as a 50ish couple traveling with no kid responsibilty. Tomorrow we return to 50 of them.
We have had some great donations to the orp that were at the house in the states when I arrived home. Jody and I are taking 4 suitcases of donations with us and Sarah is bringing 2 more when she comes a month from now. I have an Easter outfit and small easter toy for every child thanks to these wonderful donations.
The Newtons visited the orphanage while we were gone and brought a ton of donations with them. Thanks so much. there are alot of shoes which is great as I have 20 kids clamoring for shoes.
We have some new kids and some old ones have left. When I return I will try and get a list on here of current kids. We have a mother/sister/friend team coming next week with more donations and some volunteer time. They are going to go thru all the kids clothes and throw away the ratty stuff and give me a list of what each child needs. Then I will pull their needs from the donations. They are also going to foot the bill for a boat tour of the lake and a barbecue dinner for the kids.
Some of the city teens have been causing a rucus, all girls. They want a better cook and tv time and on and on, gosh they sound like American teenagers. I am reading a book now on the psychology of teenage girls. Hope it helps. We do have all the kids in school now and basically the city kids set up out here. next step is we need to build more buildings.
Oh I forgot to mention. Our famaily moved into a better house. During the moving process, someone entered the old house [ while no one was there] and stole our wireless internet box, our printer and a cheap keyboard and a bike. Good old guatemala. So now I will have to use internet cafes foe a while until all this gets straightened out.
Well I have got to go pack .
thanks for everyone's help.
Vicki Dalia
http://www.safehomesforchildren.org