Rice and Beans

The Cooke`s weren`t kidding when they said "hope you like rice and beans, they have it like every meal."  We`ve been eating rice and beans here for almost a week and figure by the time we leave Casa Luz, we will each have eaten about 84 helpings of the lovely stuff (not including the days Grant goes for seconds). The food is actually really good and we don`t see ourselves getting sick of it any time soon. The wonderful cook Fanny also mentioned that she wants a man "exactly" like Grant because he cleared the dishes off the table.

We are starting to understand and remember a few words in Spanish. Mainly the girls just talk to us and we figure out about half of the conversation. They are all very patient with us, which is nice!

We are staying in an appartment across the street from Casa Luz that was built for when the girls no longer need the 24 hour care from Casa Luz. There are 4 appartments at the moment, which can hold 8 families. They are then able to cook their own meals and must have a job because they pay for the utilities. Two days ago, one of the moms still at Casa Luz had a job interview at Taco Bell. Grant said if she gets the job we`ll eat there every day.  Then of course, we will have to move here...

At the moment, there are 2 families living in one of the appartment suites, a coule staff members in one suite and the daycare in one suite.  There are plans to build a large daycare at the front of the property which will give more space to include more children from the community. There is also enough land to build 2 more appartment buildings. The completed appartment building is a huge motivation for these girls because they see themselves living independently in the future. 

An important part of their rehabilitation is working with a psychiatrist all week. They are taught how to be good mothers and how to discipline their kids. This week they started giving smaller portions to the moms and offer a dance/excercise class on Saturdays because the moms were putting on too much weight.  There are 2 staff members ("house moms") that are with the families all the time. They work 7 days a week, then get 7 days off.  The girls also have their own school where the teacher comes to them. The highest education one mom has is grade nine and some have come without any education. It is obvious that the staff really care about the well being and the future of these moms! It is the best rehabilitation program we have ever seen.

This week we were converting the old daycare inside Casa Luz into offices for the director and psychiatrist. We took out the kitchen cabinets and sinks, touched up the walls with "pasta" (basically dry wall mud for concrete that doesn't sand off) and painted the walls with an irrisistable Salmon Pink. It looks more like a spunky palliative care room for old ladies. Tomorrow we will paint the other office light green. It looks like there will be lots of work for us to do while we are here. The classroom needs to be painted, some cabinets need to be assembled and installed, ceiling fans need to be installed, the soil infront of the daycare needs weeding and flower planting and there is always more patching and painting that could be done.

Many of the moms are outgoing and ask us if we want to go for a walk with them or ask if they can help us paint. They bring salsa l'izano to us for our rice and beans (a tasty cumin-mustard-like sauce). There is one mom that we haven't seen smile yet, but it's probably hard for her, being 15 years old and having 2 kids.

It's time for merienda (an afternoon snack). We will try and take some pictures and upload them soon!
Adios!