|
Friday morning—July 9th.
It is nice to have a few days
here that are not planned. Usually when I am here we have a full schedule. Miguel and I will be here until the
13th and then we will be joined by the group. From now until the 13th I will be working with Ruth on some office items and
spending time with Miguel’s family. Let me tell you a little about Miguel for those of you who don’t know him.
Ed and I adopted him 5 years ago at the age of 12 from the orphanage Casa Guatemala that we work with here. He had spent
6 years living on the street with an alcoholic mother and then 6 years at the orphanage. A year ago we got a message
from the orphanage that he had a sister who was looking for him. They gave us her phone number here in Guatemala and
Miguel called her right away. It was a very tearful reunion. Last April when I was here I met his sister Irma,
her husband, an aunt and lots of cousins. Miguel has very little memory of them but is anxious to see them again.
Irma had wanted to meet us at the plane, but after traveling all day I did not want an emotional reunion at the airport, so
we decided she should come to the office today.
I got up early and unpacked all the bags and separated all the things
that we had brought with us. Ruth lives next door and brought us some waffles she made for breakfast. She made
sure we knew that the waffles were made from scratch, not frozen. She is such a wonderful person and I tell everyone that
wants to find a husband for her that we need to keep her single and dedicated to Sharing the Dream. Ruth just laughs
about this. Ruth and I worked on some office items and waited for Miguel’s sister. Miguel got up and was
anxious to meet his sister too. He is really secure in our family and looks forward to learning more about his
past. His sister was suppose to come about 9:30 but did not make it until about 11:00. They traveled here by bus and
got lost many times. They especially got lost after they got off the bus about 5 blocks from here. Nothing is
well marked and it is pretty confusing. It was quite a reunion. She grabbed Miguel and started to
cry. Then she would hold him back about 2 feet and touch his face and hair and then hold him and cry again. She
kept saying that she thought she would never see him again and what a miracle this was to see him. Her husband said
she has not slept for 2 nights because she has been so excited. Miguel just let her keep touching him and grinned. Both
Irma and her husband thanked me over and over for taking such good care of him. He looks strong, healthy and very happy.
I will share a bit of Irma’s story here as it unfolded throughout the day. This will be a lengthy saga so just
log out if it does not interest you.
|
| Irma hugging Miguel |
Irma was the oldest of 7 children who was born to Miguel’s
mother. The mother was a kind and loving person but was an alcoholic her whole life. Irma does not know
her father; she lived on the street with her mother until she was 6 and then went to live with a family as a cleaning girl.
She made Q30 per month which is less then 50 cents. She has never been to school but learned how to read from reading the
Bible. She said at the end of each month she did not get her Q30 because her mother had already collected it from the
family. She never saw the money but worked very hard because she got a place to live and some food. (Although this was
not a great place to live for a small child.) When she was a teenager she sold items on the street and became pregnant
with her daughter. This is her only child. Nine years ago she met her husband who seems to be a very kind and
loving man and now they have a house and she has a small tiende (store) in her house where she sells items to her neighbors.
(Small tiende's out of houses are very common here) They live in Esquintla which is about an hour from the city.
This is also where Miguel was born and lived. After having Irma, Miguel’s mother lived with a man and had 2 boys
and a girl. She then went back to living on the street because she continued to be an alcoholic. The man
raised these 3 children and Miguel hopes to meet these siblings. When she was on the street she had 3 more children.
The first two she gave to other families to raise. Irma has no idea where they are. The last child was Miguel.
Irma said that Miguel was delivered at 7 months. A very small and delicate boy with many health problems. His mother
seemed to really bond with him and did not give him away but kept him with her on the street. Irma was an older teen
at this point and had made contact with her mother again. She too bonded with Miguel. Again Irma has no idea who
Miguel’s father was. She tells the story that he could not walk until he was two because he was so frail
and sickly. She and her mom took Miguel to a beach and buried his legs in the sand for the day and the sand was warm
on his legs and she said after that he could walk. She told about how he loved boxes and would tie them to him like
a train and walk up and down the street. She said when he was 5 and 6 he would leave his mother and could travel all
around the city on the buses and would take a bus to see her. He would beg for money and then ride the buses.
She said when he would beg for money he would also buy food for his mom and little gifts for his mom and Irma. He also
would buy himself some little toy cars which he still loves. When he was about 6 a lady who owed a store was very concerned
about him. Miguel and his mother often slept in the doorway of her store. One day when Miguel’s mother was
drunk the lady took Miguel to the police and told them about the conditions he was living in and the police took him to Casa
Guatemala. Irma said that her mother was very upset that Miguel was gone and looked all over for him but the lady wouldn’t
tell her where she took him. We hope to go and meet this lady in the next few days. Irma did find out where they
took him though and went to the courts and told them that she would take care of her brother. They said she could not
because she was a single mother and couldn’t provide for him. This broke Irma’s heart because she loved
Miguel and wanted to take care of him. Miguel stayed at the orphanage for 6 years and was declared for adoption after
being there about 3 years. His mother died about 3 years after he left her.. She never did know where he went.
Irma says she never forgot Miguel and prayed for him every day. Every year on his birthday she would think about him
and wonder where he was and if he was safe and happy. She says she went to the orphanage office several times but they
would not let her see him because they said it would be confusing for him. She said when he first went to the orphanage
his godmother happened to be driving by and saw him on the roof of the building. This is all gated up and a play
place for the children. Anyhow, he saw her and was yelling, “Godmother come and get me!!” but she
went around the block and came back and couldn’t find him. Miguel says he remembers this a little bit. When Irma
met her husband she told him about her little brother and how she wanted him to live with her. Her husband said they
would go to the orphanage and find him. When they went to the orphanage they found out that he had been adopted and
was living in the United States. Irma said for sure she thought she would never see himagain. But she never gave
up!!! Last year she went back to the orphanage and talked to the social worker again. The social worker said Irma could
not contact Miguel but she would take her phone number and give it to Miguel’s parents and if they said yes Miguel could
contact her. This was last April when we received the number and Miguel called her right away. ( Now as Paul Harvey
says, you know the rest of the story.)
|
| Willy and Miguel |
After sitting in the office for several hours talking and crying
we planned out the next few days. Irma said she wanted to call Miguel’s brother Willy so she called and told him
that Miguel was here. Willy works as a truck driver not too far from here and wanted to see Miguel so we loaded up the
SUV and went to find him. Irma said that Willy looks a lot like Miguel although he is quite a bit thinner. We
found Willy and again there was a tearful reunion. Irma is just like the mother duckling that has lost and then found
her babies. She is so pleased that she has brought her family together. They all made plans to get together over
the next few days. Willy is married and has 4 children. Miguel is finding out he is an uncle many times
over and in the case of Irma’s daughter who has 2 children is a great-uncle. By this time we were all very hungry
so went to Pollo Campero to celebrate. ( A very well known fast food restaurant that serves great chicken) Again as
we sat there Irma kept looking at Miguel and then the tears would well up and she would say. “I thought I would never
see you again”.&nbs;; Irmas’s husband insisted on buying us all dinner. I know this is quite a stretch
for them as he has been unemployed for 5 months and they just have their small store. I did not want to be rude though
as this meant a lot to them so just was very gracious with my thank you’s.
After a late lunch we went to zone 1 to the clinic /orphanage. Miguel
wanted to visit the people there. He was there quite a bit when he was at Casa Guatemala but spent most of his time out at
the river at the larger orphanage. This was not a happy place for Irma as she had been there several times asking about Miguel.
After visiting the clinic we dropped them off at the bus stop to go back home. Miguel packed his backpack and went with them.
He is looking forward to going to Esquintla and seeing where his mother is buried. Ruth and I will be joining them today.
(Saturday) The bus stop was crowded, noisy and very dirty. It was quite amazing to see my son and his birth sister blend in
with the crowd and then disappear. Ruth, Leo and I did some grocery shopping and then came back to the office. Late last night
I did get a call from Miguel. He said, “ Hey mom, when you come tomorrow please bring my CD player and my sandals. Then
he added, I love you and I will see you tomorrow.” It was a conversation just like we would be having back home. I think
our son is doing a great job of blending family, language and culture.
Well, enough for the story and the tears. I am excited to see what
today brings….. Hope all is well.
I will enclose some photos for those of you that can receive them.
If I send them to you and it is not a good idea please let me know.
Diane
©Copyright 2004, Sharing the Dream in Guatemala
|
