Baby dedication, Every Man for himself, and final thoughts (by colleen)

Kalea with Elena our neighbor... I see Bryce, too!

June 5^th, the Sunday after Kalea´s birthday, we had a baby dedication held at our house (the pastor that led the service is the same missionary that married Alan and I four years ago). There was singing in three languages; Spanish, English and Woumeo .  For me, this service was unique to witness, because there are some prejudices here between the latinos and the indigenous. At first, I felt like I had traveled back in time to middle school, you know the dances where all the boys stand on one side, and the girls on the other, and the two look at each other ackwardly….as it turned out, the latino´s were on one side, the indigenous on the other, and I chose the middle to play it safe.  At one point the pastor even muttered, “we´re at a party, not a funeral!”, but things warmed up and soon enough we were singing hymns together.

music and clapping brings down cultural barriers

The night before, we enjoyed the company of 10 others that stayed at our home, most of which are our partners with which we will start working on the MBMSI project.  The final turnout for the celebration was about 45. Kalea slept through most of her baby dedication,^, which was fine since the service stressed the importance of the parents role in their children´s lives, but also the importance in all children´s lives.

prayer with pastor Einer

After the service, we enjoyed the typical arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) which I am thankful my willing neighbors took on themselves to prepare. For dessert, I prepared Ma Foster´s recipe for carrot cake…for those of you that have never made it…don´t let the name fool you. Carrots are not the main sh-bang….there is pineapple and coconut too. For this special birthday, and because we live in the tropics, we substituted the canned pineapple and bagged coconut for the real deal….and not to toot toot the horn…but it was fabulous!!! Thank you Mama Kat and thinking of you Stephen as you missed out on this one…when you and Adri visit, I will prepare a fresh one for you. At this time I would also like to dedicate a shout out to Bryce Chapman. He was so helpful! Our go to guy…dishes, food prep…we name it, he cheerfully does it! Thanks Bryce!

And now….final thoughts…not to end on a sour note, but it needs to be addressed. Panamá needs help! It never fails, I am constantly reminded through mother´s actions how in dire need these folks are for lessons in health. Quick examples, mother wipes snotty nose with her hands and then proceeds to touch my child….mother stays at my house the day after her child breaks with chicken pox and does not tell me (once I noticed the red bumps on her son, I brought it up and addressed it)…so, when I feel like I don´t know why I´m here….this is why… and I will help create a curriculum that is geared towards health concerns in rural Panama….have any suggestions? I´d love to hear from you…prayers are always appreciated too!

Thank you all!

developing a taste for fine art with Nehemiah