Happy 4th

Morning began around 6:30 with a walk (just me and Marta) along the beach. It's shaped similar to a flat crescent and would take us several hours to walk from end to end - and I'm glad Marta isn't making me do the whole thing. Often she jogs the entire beach but today she has a lot to do before she leaves again tomorrow guiding another tour, this time 20 days - to the south of Brazil and then into Chile. As it is, we speed-walked almost 1 1/2 hours!
I met her parents this morning - they were asleep last night when we arrived. Lourdes and Carlitos are short, smiling, and speak no English. I'll stay here with them while Marta is gone, so yes, I can use more of your prayers. Although if they speak slowly, I can usually understand, or at least get the gist of what's being said. The maid Penha is also here, and when we came back from the beach, my bed was made. Boy, I could get used to this! (Oh yeah, I already have...Terry makes our bed every single day...even puts back the 10 decorative pillows in a near semblance of arrangement...thanks, Babe)
I'm waiting right now for Drew to pick me up...he has already come here once for Marta's mom - dropped her off at church, and then will come get her father for an appointment, picking Lourdes up at church on the way back here to have lunch. Then my work begins. We'll go to university for Marta, who had to take a test this morning, and then she'll show me all around Cenca and her projects in the slums. Got my cameras and notepads handy. Ok, he's here now...gotta go.

How do I describe Cenca? First of all the acronym means Evangelical Center for Children and Adolescents...arrived and met some of her "girls"...women who live in the favela and help her at the Center. They are open and friendly...everyone tells me their names and Marta shows me around. There is work being done today...someone has donated ceramic tile for the floor, so 2 guys who live in the Center are doing the work. The building needs floors, ceilings, and walls...electrical outlets and also computer hookups. Some of the rooms need to be divided, a second floor needs to be added for more classrooms, and there is a need for bathrooms and a bigger kitchen in the rear of the property. Other than that, it's complete. (for those of you Seminoles who didn't understand, that was a joke!)
Fortunately, in this area, which is barely outside of Joao Pessoa, no permits are needed. One just needs to build whatever one desires, and show the plans at the completion. I have no idea what the Prefeitura (City Hall) would do at that point if they didn't like what you built! There is a very inexpensive place at the end of the road nearby where materials can be purchased. We're hoping to get enough in donations from organizations, foundations, and churches, that we don't need to buy anything at all. Mariana, the graduating architect, showed me the plans she had drawn up and we transferred them to my computer so I can, in turn, explain it to the team members. Fabiana, a teacher, wanted to show us her school of 64 children. Currently, she's renting the building and when Cenca is refurbished, she'll move her students there rent-free.
We walked through the favela...a dangerous activity but for Marta accompanying us. "Homes" are built with just one wall separating each residence...like one long single story dormitory. Dirt floors, no window glass, and very tiny. It was hard for the 3 of us to even crowd into their "living room" space. They have nothing, but food obviously tops the list of needs. There is, however, a president (presidente da comunidade) in the favela to whom one would go if one has a dispute with a neighbor. This person also advocates with the local government on behalf of the residents in the community.
There are favelas all over Brazil, small communities that are extremely (with emphasis on "extremely") poor. Some of them have a cart and a horse and they travel into the nearby cities to pick up recycling, for which they can then receive a few coins to buy food for their families. My first encounter was more than 20 years ago on my first visit to San Paolo and Rio. All over the cities were cardboard homes built under the highways. Of course when it rains, between the water and the mud, all was lost and new cardboard must be found to build a new "house". At that time, Michael Jackson had just released a video picturing some of these favelas.
Our next stop was Casa de Salem (House of Peace) where Helio goes to volunteer his time as a doctor to the community. There is donated dental equipment and also an exam table where Helio can care for patients. Above his desk is a handwritten sign that proclaims "you are special to God". The resident burro is named either Anna or Shrek, depending on who answers my question. (It's a male)
Lastly, we arrived at the orphanage...sign in front reads: Resgatando Vidas. Ey Adoto Este Sorriso! "Rescuing Lives. Adopt this Smile!" Orphanages in Brazil are not allowed to house more than 10 children, and for up to 2 years only. At the end of those 2 years, the children must be returned to their homes if possible, or find another place to live. They often end up back in the orphanage and this cycle can repeat several times before children are able to be adopted. This orphanage has 12 kids, 11 girls and one boy. Niedja runs the home, and her husband Moises is studying biology in the University.
This building, too, could use some work, though not as much as Cenca. Here the lack is ceilings, updated bathrooms, and a renovated kitchen. The children's rooms are nice and colorful, and there is a large yard with a sandy area and plastic play gym.

As is often the case, this community is built very near the train tracks...where a group of boys was playing soccer. I remember visiting a slum in Guatemala, and the babies were just playing on the crosspieces of the tracks. When the train blew its whistle, the mothers calmly went to pick up their babies, let the train pass, and then put them back down in the middle again. We just have no idea what life is like for them. I tend to focus on each individual and that's what hurts my "mother" heart. Marta is only one person. I am only one person. The church - worldwide - needs to - as Chef Emeril says - "kick it up a notch". We need to have teams coming year-round, to build, to train, to feed, to play with, to tell them about Jesus. There's the missionary in me coming out again. I know there are many good works going on right now, and many churches who are doing their part (more than their part in certain cases) to help, but there's always so much more to do.

In our little "family" there are not enough cars to go around, so everyone borrows everyone else's car...although every day we all join together at Marta's apartment for lunch. This afternoon we pick up Sueli from work, hopefully to get her car from the mechanic, and later get Marta to the airport at midnight. Evening arrives and no one has made supper - (Lourdes will have nothing to do with the kitchen), so when Penha leaves at 2pm, no more food gets made. Even with the big lunch we had, we're hungry, so Drew, Sueli, and I go to the beach..."Churrascinho do Gaucho"...a little barbeque place with great garlic bread and picanha (New York Strip steak) prepared on skewers. A bottle of Bohemia beer and Guarana rounds out this late supper for us and it's home to bed. I saluted our troops for Independence Day.