An Inside View of Casa de Sion Orphanage, Guatemala City, Guatemala

The children wake up between 6 and 6:30 am. The oldest ones bathe
themselves, while the younger ones wait for the nanny to come at 7 am to
bathe and dress them. During this time they are either playing or reading.
They eat breakfast between 7:30 and 8 am. The teacher arrives at 7:30 am to
prepare for school. The children have a room dedicated upstairs for their
classes. At 8:30 am class begins. Children ages 4 and up participate in
school while the younger ones stay downstairs to play. They have their
morning snack at 10 am. They are served lunch at 12:30 pm. By 2 pm they are
back upstairs to resume class. On Mondays and Wednesdays they have English
class for an hour and then continue with their teacher until 4:30 pm. They
eat dinner at 5 pm. Sometimes between class and dinner they have time to
play outside and ride their bikes. After dinner they brush their teeth and
put on their pajamas. They have until 6:30 pm to enjoy themselves. At that
time we all gather together in the living room to read from the scriptures
and have family prayer. Then it is off to bed. I have noticed that following
a daily schedule allows the children to know what to expect and creates
consistency. Their days are flexible to court appointments, visitors, trips,
etc. that might arise.

When the children first arrive at the orphanage they are completely engulfed
in the Routine of things. The very first effort made is to find out about
the children since we receive no information from the court about the
children when they arrive. We try to ask them questions about their families
and their home life to understand better why they have been sent to the
orphanage. Having this knowledge also helps us to understand better their
behavior and how to relate to them. The employees take time to give
explanations of the different things that happen in the orphanage. More than
anything the children are shown love, discipline, and acceptance.

One of the first things that is taught when children newly arrive at the
orphanage is the importance of hygiene. They are taught how to bathe
themselves properly, brush their teeth, and the importance of not having
lice. One of the things that I have noticed is that many children who come
to the orphanage are not accustomed to wearing socks and shoes, so that is
something that has to be engrained in them. Also, because many of the
children come from backgrounds of sexual and physical abuse, they are taught
the sacredness of their bodies and how to properly interact with those of
the opposite sex. They come knowing too much about sexuality. Many of them
are also way behind in their studies and come not knowing how to read and
write. So they begin from the basics to catch up to the level where they
should be.

The children seem to adapt very quickly to each other. I had the opportunity
to see five new children arrive at the orphanage. They readily accepted
their new surroundings, and the children already at the orphanage were quick
to accept the new ones. The children made sure that the new ones understood
all that was happening and that they they were included in all the
activities. They have their arguments and quarrels, but the problems seem to
subside as quickly as they arise.

In Guatemala lunch is the largest meal served, and in all the meals bread or
tortillas are served. For breakfast they have scrambled eggs, black beans,
pancakes, or cereal. They are served milk to drink. For lunch they always
have rice with either combinations of vegetables (potatoes, squash, corn,
tomatoes, carrots, peppers, etc.), chicken, beef, or soups, green beans or
cauliflower fried in egg and flour, or doblados (corn flour mixture with
ground beef and vegetables or cheese inside, fried). They are served fresh
fruit juices, such as pineapple, raspberry, or lemonade, or juices from
packaged powder. Dinner is more like a later afternoon snack. They have
black beans, jam sandwiches, vegetables, eggs. They are also served a
nutrious drink. For their snacks they eat apples, oranges, jello, crackers,
rice crispy treats. Then there are always their special treats for different
activities when they have cakes, breads, cookies, or different types of
desserts.

Our primary staff, including our wonderful head nanny, are native
Guatemalans. It is helpful to the children to be cared for by people of
their own country and provides some stability in lives that up to now have
been so unstable.We also use interns who committ to a 6 months stay to
provide an American influence. They work with the native staff and teach the
children English along with their other studies. We welcome volunteers for
shorter periods of time as they can be very helpful in several areas. One
they bring with them much needed supplies. Two, they help relieve the
permanent staff of some of their responsiblities. The children love having
the extra attention. Some of our volunteers have painted beautiful murals on
the walls. Some have taught, cooked, played or cleaned or repaired. There is
plenty to do and with our new location we will need help with construction
and gardening. We love our female volunteers for their compassion and
sensitivity, but we also love our male volunteers and would like to see more
of them. Many of the children have been abused by men and it helps them to
learn to trust the male population when they see how loving and tender some
men can be.