Highlight of the day....presentation of the story of Noah and his Ark !!!

Well, with much anticipation we walked the kids we could find, down to the community centre which had lent us a large room for the day. We were going to spend the morning with paint and material to prepare the neccessary props for their presentations. We seemed to be missing one whole team which disappointed us slightly. So we set up the tables with tons of paint, brushes, paper, and large pieces of material. The kids were so excited and desperate to start, they all seemed to know exactly what they wanted to get on with. So we just stood back. The smaller kids were helped by Luciene, Gildo's wife, who was very patient and just passed paints around. Danielle our little blind girl got straight into painting with a big smile on her face!! She is always so happy just to be involved.

A few seconds later we heard a bit of a kerfuffle and saw the missing team of girls struggle in with a large wooden structure!!! We could quite clearly see that they had a large Ark made of an assortment of wood, it even had a cabin on the deck !!! We were so astounded we could not speak, and just stared at the detail! We eventually asked who had made it and they pointed to themselves - well you could have knocked us over with a feather. They had only had a couple of days to prepare, but they had managed to find the wood, design and construct this beautiful Ark, and then they had struggled to carry it some distance to the centre!! If you knew these kids, you would understand the enormity of this task. We felt so humble, and were so thankful that they had understood the message of working together and had actually done it. It was a huge milestone for us, and Andre told us what a massive step forward it was that they had done this, he was so touched too !! We are really seeing the fruit of our imput now. We hear the kids talk to each other with the English sentences they have learnt. They now ask for things politely, rather that shout and grab at things, and then we hear them say, 'thank you', and 'you are welcome', it's nothing short of a miracle honestly!!!

So they all got down to making back drops of the sky, sea, and water on the large sheets of material, and carboard. One group had even made a pair of purple net curtains!! ( it turned out later that this was where 'God' was going to hide behind to talk to Noah!!)

They began to tie each other up in pieces of material, very gently for which we were grateful so no tears today, and soon we were surrounded by many 'Noah's' and family members!

So onto the presentations!! Well the first group were assisted by Andre, who played the part of God and hid out of sight, then called out in a booming voice to 'Noah' asking him where the various animals were in English. They had drawn pictures of animals on the board, which were like our flash cards that we had taught the kids with !! Then 'Noah' would say in English, 'Here are the elephants, pigs, horses', etc. It was very funny as it was a copy of the way we had taught them!!

The second group had 'God' hiding behind the purple curtains. He asked the rest of his group, in English, to place various animals into the Ark, before he appeared from behind the curtain, to sprinkle paper 'rain' onto the Ark. The third group was very similar. They had managed to find various small cuddly toys that looked like animals to use in their productions. Some of the kids had made animal masks which they had stuck to their heads with lots of sellotape - ooh painful !!

Having sat through various childrens' Nativity offerings, all of which were quite delightful, I found that these three presentations were in some profound way so much more touching because of the self-initiated imput. I felt like a proud parent, watching my 'little darlings' perform. We videod every second and athough they would probably bore you rigid, we shall cherish them!!

We had the difficult task of choosing a 'winner', but gave prizes to all the teams for participating.

The children returned to school on the third week. They either go for the morning or the afternoon. So we continued to teach English to those who were there in the morning, and then in the afternoon we would take Gildo and visit the parents in their homes. We would ask them how they had been since we last saw them, and how their children were doing in school. We also asked how their children had responded to the English lessons, and whether or not they had learnt any English from their off-spring!! Most of them laughed hysterically and said they had not learnt any English as it was too hard. Some of the parents said that their kids were using Engish at home to talk to each other which was encouraging. Some parents actually used English to say their names, and to ask how we were !! Fabulous !!

We also talked to them about whether or not they were still going to the cell group. A few said that they had been going, and some said that they had stopped going because of bad feelings between other families. After many long conversations we found out that when the kids fall out with each other, the parents then get involved and fall out as well. There were some quite serious disputes going on, but when pushed some of them had to admit they could not acually remember what the initial problem was.

One involved two children aged 3 and 4. A stone had been thrown by the 4yr old which had hurt the younger child. The 14yr old brother of the injured child went into a rage, and broke down the door of the house of the 4 yr old, then threatened to kill the mother of the 4yr old. This mother now lived in fear of the 14yr old coming back to harm her or her family. This same 14yr old boy had the day before made a wonderful coconut cake for me as I sat chatting with his mother!! I could not believe it was the same lovely boy. These things flare up so quickly that you can not judge who could be capable of such behaviour.

We spent lots of time talking about forgiveness, and other issues surrounding building a new community. They seemed so grateful to talk and to be listened too, and they also accepted our advice and suggestions to getting on with their neighbours. Time will tell. I must admit it took me back to my time plodding the beat in Somers Town in Portsmouth, going to dozens of domestic disputes!! Do you remember that time Debbie (Barron), can you believe it was over 20yrs ago ??

We are pleased to report that by week three we had 5 folk from the street joining us. Gildo led the evening with a talk on Phil. 4 v. 6-8. These, coincidently, were the first verses we learnt. So it was all about not worrying, but rather pray and tell God all that's on your mind. There was a lot of animated chat during the talk and Gildo seemed to be very happy, and there was lots of laughter. We did not have an interpretor this evening so had to make do with a few words that we recognised every now and again. When it finished, Beatrice one of the ladies in the street, came up to us and said through Gildo how glad she had been that we visited her today. She was finding it all too hard, she had made her husband leave home because he had been spending all their money on drugs, and now she was struggling. She is the mum of the lovely Gabby and Fernanda. Beatrice said that she had been ready to stop going to church and cell group, but after we had spent time with her and praying for hope that she felt called to go to the cell meeting. She said she felt wonderful, and really at peace and enjoyed the talk which she felt was just for her.

The next day when the English lesson finished the kids went off for lunch. It was really pouring with rain when we heard a little knock at the door. When we looked we saw it was a dishevelled and sopping wet Beatrice. She came in and said she felt she had to come and tell us something. Via Gildo she told us that after the cell meeting the night before she had been desperate for food, so she prayed to God and told Him. Today she had received a phone call from someone she used to work with who said that they wanted to visit Beatrice and bring her some FOOD, and to bring some other friends to visit her. Just totally out of the blue, no explanation given. Beatrice said she knew that God had answered her prayer and wanted to share that with us. She was beaming, and just sat with us smiling.

Oh, I can't remember if I told you about the adult craft??!! If I have already mentioned it please forgive me. During the afternoons Lou, Gildo's wife, and I have been visiting the homes to show the mums how to make greeting cards, necklaces and bracelets, and some stitching ideas. Greeting cards are a bit of a novelty here, especially hand made ones. Andre got very excited about the idea of teaching this craft as he could see it being very popular. He has a businessman friend in the church who could advise the ladies on how to market the cards, and to sell them via the church and similar outlets in the bigger towns. I had been given loads of card making bits, stickers, etc and the ladies really took to it. They have great imagination, even though none of them had ever sent a greeting card, and had no idea how to write one or sign it. So we spend lovely afternoons around a table, elbow deep in craft bits, sticky tape, glue, and stickers, 'chatting' of sorts with me and my limited language.

Did I say that Lou has also got a qualification to teach English? She is very arty, and will continue with the card making, bead making etc when we leave. She is very keen also to keep up the English lessons, and basic reading and writing for the parents too. She and Gildo will be staying with the project with Open Hands for at least a year which is marvellous, so the things we have started will hopefully continue with their support and real love for the families. It is great to think that these small ideas will possibly grow into a real prospect of these families gaining self-esteem, and being able to better support their families.

It is really a wonderful team effort you know. We are so lucky that we were in a position to come here, but we could not have done it without your support at home. All your lovely, kind words of encouragement, your prayers for us before we left, and most importantly whilst we have been out here, your donations of craft materials, money, and ideas have all be invaluable. We have been able to show your compassion and love in a practical way to these families, and we believe to give them hope for a better future in the knowledge that we care about them. They all understand about the 'folks back home' who sent us. We tell them everyday that you are going to see all the photos and the videos we take, so the smiles and waves you see are for you wonderful people back in old Blighty, bless your hearts !!!

Well it's getting late now so will sign off. I know it is late here without looking at a clock. At a certain time of night the sounds outside change. It's been quite spookily quiet for a while, but now the night people are out and about. The deafening music blaring out of cars that should be in the scrap yard has started, the speakers in these cars defy description. They take up the whole boot, and in some the back seats. The vibration starts before you hear the music. They drive at speed around the town, for reasons known only to them. The police seem to ignore them, and just let them carry on.

Only today, as I was cooking at Vera's home, I heard a horrible story. A female friend of Vera's, who was 50yrs old and her teenage son were shot dead yesturday. The son had been involved in drugs. His family had been trying to get him some help from our Samuel who has helped young lads come off drugs in the past. ( Samuel for those who don't know is the founder of the project Open Hands, he is the master builder of the homes in our street here.) But trouble flared up quickly. The bodies were found on some waste land near their homes, with horrible injuries to their faces. Poor Vera was going to the funeral that same day, after our cookery lesson. It was a stark reminder of how volatile their lives are here.

On a happier note some of you may have seen the photos of our visit to the orphanage. The orphanage is for children who have been removed from their parents permanently. There is no hope of them ever being returned for reasons of severe neglect, abuse, or death of the parents. Also most of the children have 2/3 siblings living in the same home. By law you can foster children separately from their siblings but you can not separate them for adoption. The children in this home are to stay together, and hence it makes it almost impossible to find people who can afford to adopt 3/4 children. So the church and it's supporters have opened these orphanages which support all the kids until they can support themselves. This means all their education too.

The kids in the photos have been in this home for about a year. They had to be taught how to eat, wash, and behave properly as they had not been cared for by their parents. They all have their own bed, they have chores to do, like washing up etc, they have a routine every day so they know what they are doing. They get full support for their emotional problems, and it is a Christian home so they have Bible classes too. The children were very relaxed with us, they asked to be taught English, songs, and craft, and you can see from the photos that they had a good time. It is a credit to the loving staff that they seem so well-adjusted now. When the chef left after lunch all the kids queued up to give her a kiss and big hug - it was so heartwarming to see. Then they put a video on and showed us their hip hop dancing !! The video was in English so they asked ME to interpret....and to dance - yikes !!

This style of home is different to normal homes in Brazil which separate sisters and brothers into single sex homes when they get to about 12 or 13yrs. This home lets them all stay together, and for as long as they want to live there too. Normally at 18 yrs they get thrown out to fend for themselves. The homes are called 'Happy Homes', and their vision is to be one big family, to educate the kids, and nurture them to have their own families in the future. One example of this was that a young girl brought up in one of the homes, trained to be a child psychologist and then went back to work at one of the homes. How wonderful!!

The Happy Homes have followed a Christian ethos, nurturing the childrens body, soul, and spirit. The body is the health side of things, the soul is to show love, care, and encouragement, and the spirit is a love of Jesus. They find that the self-esteem raises as soon as they introduce them to the spiritual side, as they get introduced to Church and Christian families. Once a month a church family takes a group of siblings into their home, and shows them how to live in a loving family environment, something which they have never experienced. This is apparently extremely popular with the children. If you feel that this is something you would like to learn more about please let us know.