The Ugly Turtles

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Published: Monday, 24 September 2012 15:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

We try to teach our girls the value of QUALITY... kindly suggesting color combinations and ways to improve, pointing out stains and badly finished work... so they can earn the joy and satisfaction of work well done...  People might once buy something badly-made out of sympathy... but a well-made product will have buyers coming back... and bringing others...

Among the pile of things we have to sell at the International Fair, there are half a dozen ugly, odd-colored bead turtle key chains... If I had seen Ruth Shirley, I would have talked to her about it... but fortunately I didn’t...   The rest of the story in a bit...

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God's Little Sparrow

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Published: Wednesday, 19 September 2012 15:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

Marco brought our old laptop home from the shops... so I’m going to write a letter using SPACES!  See...until you lose something you may never realize that something so small could matter so much! As usual I have stories in my heart...waiting to be told... 

Little Neiva is a few weeks older than our Marlee...  Why have I grown to love her so dearly?  Its not just her big, wide-eyed cuteness...  Maybe it happened the night I walked beside her mom when she was just three months old...

Marlee was only a month old when she got bronquitis...she’d cough and sometimes couldn’t catch her breath... Her doctor monitored her almost daily...  There were nights with little sleep... not so much because of her coughing... it was more me, wanting to watch her, listen for her... make sure she was okay...  In Keiden’s three years he’s had his bouts of sickness... underweight, fungus, Dengue fever, colds and chicken pox...but with Marlee it was different... she was so TINY... so little and defenseless...

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A Padlock for the "Door"

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Published: Sunday, 01 July 2012 15:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

They say,  “Ignorance is bliss.” I disagree...

Ana María ended up on the streets at a young age...  About  7 or 8 years ago, she came to “El Jordán” for a couple months...  she had a little boy, Herlan Yamil... and was pregnant with her second baby...  Their father, Herlan, never wanted to come to “El Jordan” – but then we really didn’t have anything to offer either...

Back then, I remember Ana Maria having problems with her boyfriend... but they got back together and moved to a mining community in the highlands - in an attempt to get away from the streets...  I didn’t see her again until the beginning of this year...  Yamil is now 9, Nayer (girl, 7)... and little Ana Maité is a year old...   She wasn’t planning on coming to classes at “El Jordán” – she wanted to leave little Ana in a kids’ home...

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The Pink Purse ... and Baby Wipes

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Published: Tuesday, 19 June 2012 15:46

Written by Corina Clements Soria

I love using baby wipes and often wish our girls had the means to buy them to help keep their kids nice and clean...  but it would be crazy and irresponsible to buy wipes when they struggle to:

  -  put basic food on the table  (if they have a table)

  - have bus fares to come to El Jordán

  - pay their rent

  - pay for a school book... or...

  - take their kid to the doctor...

For me, wipes are “special”... I usually rip them into two or more (depending on the quality)...   How do you think that I felt when I opened a gift that one of our girls gave Marlee...  and found a package of wipes!?!   and a little handmade pink crocheted purse...

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