So far this week has been chock full of activities. We’ve
spent several mornings working in the garden at Mama Tara’s – weeding,
planting, and watering. Overnight we can see the progress of the plants; it
really is amazing what a little TLC can do for them. In the garden there is a
mixture of yucca, watermelon, beans, pineapple, and corn. Our poor hands were
pretty much toast after a few days of hard labor in the garden – we kind of
felt like city pansies. But working in a garden is so rewarding because you can
actually see your progress from overgrown jungle, to weeded and clear vegetable
garden. 
We’ve been to Mama Tara’s a couple times in the afternoon
too, to spend time bonding with the kids and to help them with their Spanish
reading. It’s amazing, many of them still cannot read in Spanish; the education
system here is very lacking, and without self-motivation, most children here do
not get a very solid education unless they travel elsewhere to study. The home
is not well taken care of, because the kids there don’t seem to have any
concept of caring for nice things. There is not very good discipline there, and
many of the kids don’t seem to want to help or do anything constructive with
their time. It is a challenge to do so much work somewhere(Alex and Laura
have told us that countless dollars have been poured into the place, but only
to have the building regress to it’s current state), and have the recipients
seem so… ungrateful? I’m not sure that’s the right sentiment. What the home
really needs is someone there 24/7 to make sure the kids go to school, the
house stays clean and livable, and discipline. The struggle is that Mama Tara
is so respected that no one dares to cross her, but she will not allow any of
the kids to be strictly disciplined. It’s tough when you feel like your work is
not appreciated. It can be hurtful when you feel like the kids don’t love you
back. James 1:27 “…look after orphans and widows in their distress…” and it’s
good to remember that it says nothing about grateful and loving orphans and
widows. This is the first time on my trip that I’ve really encountered -
apathetic? Ungrateful? Careless? - None of these words seem to match these
children at Mama Tara’s. They are beautiful, wary, and skeptical but they don’t
take very good care of their things. It’s hard to feel like no one cares about
your work – I’m not sure how to do anything more than to love them. And maybe
that’s all I’m supposed to do.
