Happy New Year! Overview of our last days in Panama

Happy New Year from Team Panama!!!

The final few days of our trip weren’t without its glitches and unexpected turns, but our team made the best of it and soaked up as much Panama as possible!  

Wednesday we planned to head to Divino Nino orphanage, but received a call in the morning from the director saying we would not be allowed to come.  So our team made the most of it, and headed to the Panama Canal- where we saw our friend Hernan “Chicho” Navarro at his job of pilot of a ship going through the Miraflores Locks!!  The remainder of the day was spent exploring more of Panama City and “team bonding” activities back at Casa Paraiso :) 

Thursday we spent the day seeing what services are available to children with special needs in Panama.  We started at Hospital del Nino, the only children’s hospital in the country.  We brought informational posters and handouts for the PT department to aid in patient education, and toured the rehab department and the burns unit.  In the afternoon, we headed to the National Rehab Institute, where they have every kind of therapy available for patients from all over the country.  They charge 50 cents per visit in order for all levels of income to be able to afford therapy.  However, because of the high demand, they are only able to see these people once every 2-3 months.  We had the opportunity to spend some time with the PT's in action, working with children with a wide range of conditions.  They made sure they worked closely with the caregivers to make sure they can perform these activities at home in the months between visits.  Seeing this facility and the volume of people that are in need here in Panama made it clear how many more facilities are necessary to appropriately manage all the patients throughout the country.  

Friday we arranged to head back to Malambo Orphanage to spend more time with our new friends!  As we arrived back at the houses, kids ran up to welcome us yelling, “Amigo! Amiga!”- the best welcome anyone could ask for.  We soaked up as much time with them as we could in our last day in Panama.  As a team, we also got a glimpse of the heartache these children go through without a family.   In Panama, families are able to maintain their parental rights over a child in an orphanage if they visit them once per year.  This makes the child ineligible for adoption, and keeps them in the system until either the family decides to bring them home, or till they age out at 18 years.   One young boy in the clinic house left with a couple women early after we arrived.  No more than an hour later, they returned- with the young boy crying and the women pushing him in the door and leaving.  When we asked what happened, one of the caretakers in the house explained those women were his aunt and mother, and Christmas is the one time per year they come to see him.   For this young boy, he wasn’t just abandoned- he is unwanted.  And he is reminded of that rejection each time he sees his family.   Seeing the heartache this child has experienced in his young life broke all of our hearts, and it also clearly illustrated the need for the work Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry is doing here in Panama to reform the laws surrounding adoption. 

Friday afternoon, we set out with our friend Doris Navarro on a city tour to see all the remaining sights of Panama City- the remains of the Old City, the artisan fair for souvenirs, and walking around Colonial Panama.  We ended the night at Tantalo- one of the coolest bars in the world!  On the rooftop, watching the skyline and spending quality time with Jenny and our teammates, was the best way to end a wonderful week. 

Our next steps to support Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry and Casa Providencia is to spread the word about the awesome work they are doing there, and send as many resources their way as possible!!  Check out the facebook page and the brand new website to learn more about their work and how you can help!

Special needs orphanage “Casa Providencia”:

http://www.casaprovidencia.org/

Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry:

https://www.facebook.com/heartscrychildrensministry

http://www.heartscrychildren.com/

THANK YOU for your unending support of SUPT Thrive Mission Trips and our partners across the world!!

Keep an eye out for blogs from the last trip of the season- Community Coalition for Haiti in Jacmel- departing Jan 6, 2014! 

Muy Bien, El Toro

We had the privilege today to visit Malambo Orphanage, which is one of the best orphanages in Panama. The orphanage was arranged more like a little village, with each building housing children of different ages. We divided into two teams; one group started with the "baby house" and another group started with the HIV house. The baby house included children from birth to 3 years old, and the children in the HIV house were ages 3-6. We were welcomed into the baby house immediately. All the toddlers were out of the porch to greet us as we walked in, and they began to climb all over us. We brought in soft animal puppets, which they all loved and took turns playing with. Our nursing student, Brittani, was able to find the baby room, and we were each able to go up individually and see the babies and hold the few that weren't napping. We played games, held the kids, and made them feel loved all morning until it was lunch time. Lisa found one little boy who seemed to just block out his surroundings, and she was able to get him to walk and laugh and enjoy just being a kid, despite it being obvious that he didn't do this very often. Stephanie did an awesome job with a couple of the little girls that we nicknamed "los monos" (or monkeys), because they thought each of us was their own personal jungle gym to climb and swing on. As they were preparing for lunch, Liz and I noticed that a little girl was brought out into the dining room and strapped into a high chair and left. The little girl had special needs, so we immediately asked if we could go over and see her. The nun allowed us to go over, and we were able to get our PT, Amy, to go with us to work with the little girl. Amy was extremely helpful in giving us all the information she could and showing us so many things we could do to help this little girl out. We spent a good 20 minutes doing therapy with her and holding her and making her feel loved, just like we had done with the other kids all morning. We don't know where she had been kept, but they only brought her and another girl with special needs out at lunch time. Finally, it was time to eat and all the children were brought in and put in high chairs or ate children's picnic tables to eat their rice and beans. We all took the time to feed some of the younger ones that needed assistance, and Amy was able to feed the girl with special needs. Watching Amy work with this little girl opened our eyes to the world of pediatric therapy, and it was sad to see how much potential this little girl had but may never reach because of her situation.
Meanwhile, at the HIV house, the other half of our students were busy entertaining a room full of energetic boys and girls. They played as many games as they could come up with, and brought out all the children's favorite toys. There was one little boy at this house who needed to use a walker to get around, but we had been warned that he refused to use it. The students tried hard all morning to get him to use it, but they couldn't get him to try, no matter how many times Melissa, Zach, and Nick showed him how much fun it could be. By the time those of us from the baby house got up to the HIV house, it was nearly time for lunch. We helped all the children wash up, and the little boy that needed the walker was the very last one. We set him down in front of his walker, which was only about 10 feet away from the lunch table, and he took off. We were all so ecstatic he walked on his own that we cheered and clapped for him, which made him blush of course. However, it was after lunch that the excitement began. While Zach worked with the little boy with the walker, and Dani entertained a few boys with a Hot Wheels track, Nick and Lisa were gearing up for a bull fight. Melissa played referee, and the children took their places on Lisa's and Nick's backs. Nick snorted and stomped a few times, and then he rammed Lisa and knocked her off balance. The little boy directing Nick made sure to let him know how proud he was of his performance by cheering out, "Muy bien el toro!" (or very good bull!). You can check out the live footage from this heated bull fight here. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202885061154533&set=vb.1442442020&type=2&theater
Finally, it was naptime for these children as well, and although every single one of us was ready to join them, we took a quick break to grab lunch and then go down and see the older girls. Jordan was immediately ambushed by 3 or 4 little girls that clearly remembered the impact she made on them when she was here in the summer, and it was awesome to see how much she truly cares for these kids and how much they love her. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay long, and far too soon it was time for us to leave. We said goodbye to everyone, and I know every single one of us has made a promise to ourselves to return at some point to visit the children again. Today was such an unforgettable experience because we were able to give all of these children the one thing they all desperately need, and that was love.
To sum up the emotions we all felt today and the experience we all had, I'll leave you all with my all-time favorite Bible verse, Corinthians 13:13. "And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Lunes: El Dia de Descubrimiento... Colon (the city, not the other kind)

Hello everyone!

Today we began our first day serving in Panama.  We had the opportunity to tour Casa Providencia in Colon, Panama; a new orphanage that is being open in Panama within the next year.  Casa  Providencia will be home to special needs orphans in Panama and is run by an amazing couple from the United States.  Matt and Misty came from North Carolina to help reform adoption laws in Panama and ultimately opened Casa Providencia.

We began our day touring the renovations of the new orphanage.  It was inspiring to hear Matt be so enthusiastic about the renovations and how beautiful the orphanage will be.  As a group we gave Matt tips and suggestions as to what equipment we thought would be needed in the physical therapy gym that will be in the building.  Casa Providencia is not only an orphanage but a place for these children to receive therapy, schooling, and vocational skills.  It is truly going to be a safe haven for many children in Panama that otherwise would not get the care and love they need and deserve.

After a full day of touring Casa Providencia, Matt and Misty graciously hosted us for dinner and fellowship.  It was absolutely inspiring to hear the story of how Matt and Misty came to live in Panama.  The couple kept reiterating that God called them to Panama to help these children.  No matter how deep your religious beliefs are it is amazing how this couple have so much faith and gave up everything to come down here to serve.  Matt and Misty are thriving down here raising their family that consists of two adopted Panamanian children, Peter and Rosie, and their biological son, Issac.  They are a beautiful family with a beautiful life down here.

Casa Providencia is still in phase one of development; renovations are still being made to the building.  Matt took the time to tell us what he needs to continue developing the orphanage as well as taking our suggestions as to what physical therapy equipment and needs needed to be met for the orphanage to be successful.  As a group, we all agree that we want to help support Matt and Misty and this project in anyway we can.  Casa  Providencia runs off of donations alone and continues to need financial support to be successful.  Please check out their website to learn more about this mission and the children in Panama that could use our help.  Matt, Misty and Casa Providencia are an inspiration and a reminder that with faith, much can be accomplished.

Casa de Providencia
http://casaprovidencia.org  

-El grupo de Panama

Our First Few Days in Les Cayes, Haiti!

Bonjour from Haiti!
       We're happy to say that we have arrived in Les Cayes, Haiti after 2 plane rides and a very bumpy 5 hour van ride avoiding pedestrians, donkeys, goats, and chickens hanging off of motorcycles. Sunday morning we went to a Haitian baptist church service. Our first language barrier experience was when you say the words, "Thank you for joining us today", the very loose translation is "They are happy to be here" -- Nate Barr as he was called to the front of the church to say a few words in front of everyone. It was a great experience to see how different the Haitian church service was compared to services in the US. Later we met up with our 'In-country' contacts Consuelo and Pauli, who are practicing therapists for Medical Teams International (MTI) here in Haiti. They took us on a walking tour of Les Cayes, in which we got to see a beautiful Catholic Cathedral, the sea, and the MTI clinic. We ended the day by hanging out and doing some team bonding at our farm house as we discussed the plan for the remainder of the week.
      This morning we woke up and split into two teams for the day. One team went to the MTI clinic to work with Pauli. In the morning we saw mostly children with the diagnoses of cerebral palsy, strokes, and developmental delays. The afternoon consisted more of older adults with strokes, scoliosis, cerebral palsy, and massive bone fractures from motorcycle accidents. The second team went to a mobile clinic at Camp Perron with Conseulo, which was about 45 minutes away from the MTI clinic. To start the day, the patients welcomed us with a prayer and sang the song "How Great Thou Art". We saw various musculoskeletal conditions related to trauma from motor vehicle accidents, falls, and birth. Today we learned that patient education is probably the most powerful tool and walked away knowing that even though your hearts in it, some things can't be completely fixed. The mobile clinic team ended the day by traveling to a local waterfall in which Nate, Sarah Kate, and Todd jumped off the cliff into the deep and refreshing water. Don't worry, we got the whole thing on video, especially Todd screaming and being dragged up the cliff! We returned home to our farm house and enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by the SEED Guest House Staff. Stay tuned for more updates and stories of our adventures! Aurevior for now!
-- Kellie

Beginning Adventures

So it's been a crazy couple of days as you can tell by reading Nick's previous post. But this will give you a little bit of a better idea of what we've been up to! We arrived here in Panama on Friday around 3:30 and drove back to Casa Paraiso where we are staying this week. It's an amazing, beautiful place, later that night we decided to make a spaghetti dinner for everyone. Saturday we woke up and drove out to La Guaira once we arrived at the hotel and got into our rooms we jumped into a boat and and were taken to an island that was secluded called Mamey, we were able to see monkeys, that posses for us, on our way out to the island! While we were at the island we jumped in the water which was clear blue, and Zachary and Nick swam a little too far as you can read in Nick's last post! We also got to have a lot of great experiences there on the island, Liz found a sponge and sea urchin, we stood on rocks while getting hit by waves, and everyone tried fresh coconut! After our crazy experiences we headed back to our hotel where we played some very heated games of Crazy 8s.  This morning we rode to the town of Portobelo and looked around the town to see the ruins and black Jesus in the town.  We then rode to a little place to get lunch where we went in the water again. We all ordered different foods and tried them all from shrimp to octopus, but it was all amazing! We then headed back to the house to relax and make dinner again. Again we participated in a late night game of crazy 8s and then Jordan introduced us to cut throat Crazy 8s!

Over all we have had an amazing time both days and had some memorable moments! And tomorrow starts the hard work when we will be joining with Matt and Misty to view the location for their Special Needs orphanage and talk with them about any questions they may have!

-Risky Business!

Les Cayes:The Adventure Begins...

Hey Everyone!

So tomorrow the adventure begins! Our day starts at 2 in the morning when we meet to drive to DC for our flight. After flying to Haiti through Miami, we face a 5 to 6 hour car ride from Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes, which is a small city in the South East part of the country. We all face a long day tomorrow (made even worse by the lack of sleep from finals) but we're so excited to spread our skills with those in need in Haiti! But relaxing in 85 degree weather (instead of the 6 inches of snow projected for here) will be nice! We will try to keep everyone updated on our favorite moments through out the week. Hope everyone enjoys!!

Nate

Getting ready- It's almost time!!!

All the Thrive Service Initiative teams are pumped up and ready to go for the exciting trips happening this winter!!

In less than 2 weeks, Team Panama will leave for Panama City to work with Casa Providencia, the first special needs orphanage in the country, as well as government facilities around the city to help educate caregivers & team up to support these awesome kids!

The next day, Team Les Cayes will be teaming up with Medical Teams International to work with June Hanks and her awesome team of PT's in Haiti at the outpatient clinic, on outreach missions, and working with community support groups and advocacy projects! And all with a beautiful view of the beach!!

After the new year, Team Jacmel will head down to Jacmel, Haiti to work with Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH) at their great outpatient facility & amazing team of health professionals, working with kids and adults of all ages and disorders. Not to mention the incredible views, google map to see for yourself!

Teams will be updating the blog throughout their trips- keep posted for stories of all the adventures to come!! Thanks for your support!

<3 Jordan