Living Stones is really moving along—I feel like it is now dragging me along, instead of me trying to pull it. This week our character quality was creativity. Going along with that was the unexpected blessing of making jewelry. Every year (since 2008) I have had a jewelry project, to make jewelry to bring back to the United States when I return. The first year it consisted of two days of chaos, where I bought some supplies, put them on the table, and it was a free for all. None of us knew what we were doing, or had any idea of how to make anything more than simple beads on a string.

In 2009, I carefully planned it out with Patricia and Cacau, thinking they would do a lovely job with the kids. In the end, they were not able to, so it ended up just me again. Luckily the art teacher taught me how to crochet, and came up with some lovely ideas for the kids to do. This year, I knew I was on my own—funny enough, now it is me trying to teach crochet (yes, it is as entertaining as it sounds).

In Cajueiro, Raissa has been coming with us to volunteer, she brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm with her. Here is our classroom, which I have to clean every Monday because lots of frogs and bats live here as well (and leave their presents). They also jump/fly out at me and make all the kids laugh when I scream.

The kids are not only enjoying the jewelry making, but are learning basic English: this week we played Candyland—and you had to say the colors in English before moving to a space.

In Paudalho, Cacau was sick, so I was on my own—but the kids loved it, and have made some beautiful necklaces. The deal is they make two pieces of jewelry—and then they choose one to send to the States, and one to keep.

As we were coloring a picture about Self-control, the kids asked me “Well, what about when someone hits you? Don’t you hit them back?” And I told them my lovely story about being punched in the eye…and not punching back. They especially liked the part where I told them all the different colors my eye turned.  

Please keep the Easter and Mother’s day programs in your prayers. If you would like to help financially to give the kids something special for one or both of these celebrations, then please let me know. In Cajueiro, we are planning a special mime presentation on Good Friday, and painting towels and wrapping lotion and soap inside it for special mother’s day gifts.

In Paudalho, all of the children who used to be in the program are invited back to the church to celebrate a cedar, like they have done for the past three years. This is an important time, not only because of the message, but to show the community that the church doors are still open to them after all the changes. In the past, tables are decorated with fresh bread and grapes, and the meaning of the first Passover, and well as the Lord’s supper are shared.

Sitting next to the ocean. I listen to the men talk about the passing boats. I put out another plum from my bag and throw the seed into the water. Some street children take a running jump from the ledge into the water. One throws a used tube of lipgloss he rescued from the water–it hits me and I jump in surprise.  

The irony of their laughter mingles with the tooting horn of the cruise ship that is leaving the harbor–decked out with all the luxuries money can buy–more money than these children will ever know. The wind calms me. The waves are tranquil. And today is beautiful.

I turned a corner and saw this guy making art. I needed his picture. This is my David-inspired picture for this week.

Sometimes I feel like I am lying when I write different statistics about Brazil, or post pictures. Yes, they can be impressive and/or depressing, and they sure would make me reach for my wallet if I were you–but life here is so much more than statistics. The stories you hear or the faces you see are only one pose captured to represent something bigger.

Brazilians are incredibly resilient people. Truth is, if Living Stones doesn’t provide for the children, they will learn to find some other way to get what they need (although, probably not a healthy way). They can survive on nothing, and then throw a party on less than nothing–and everyone has more fun than most wealthy people I know. Daily life is often the “Stone Soup,” where everyone puts in a little to make it work. Community and family hold a deeper meaning than I ever knew growing up, for here they are keys to survival.

In the United States, hope seems to be buried in the next job/career that I will find. I know things have gotten harder since the recession, but America is still the land of opportunities–the place where hard work will pull you up by your bootstraps.

Poverty in Brazil is a different flavor. Eric Jensen’s “Teaching With Poverty in Mind” lists six different kinds of poverty: Situational poverty (from a crisis or situation, like in Japan), Urban and Rural poverty (each have their different aspects, as I am learning from Cajueiro Claro), Generational poverty (it is in the family for a while, and they are not equipped to move out of their poverty), Absolute poverty (day-to-day survival), and Relative poverty (can’t meet the society’s average standard of living).

America most often has relative poverty (while generational poverty is sadly growing as well), while Brazil is dealing much more with absolute and generational poverty. When you walk around a rural Northeast Brazilian town, you can almost feel the lack of opportunities around you. The few jobs that are available are almost always minimum wage (a little over a dollar an hour) or less.

Brazil’s hope is rooted in something different. You hope because it is better than not hoping. Even without seeing the opportunities. It reminds me of the fruit trees that are planted everywhere, for anyone to pick. You eat its sweet fruit and remember that the best things in life are free. In Brazil, hope grows on trees.

The Brazilian people are not the statistics I list for you. They are not the smiling brown children in the pictures I post. They are people, with the potential of saint and sinner just like you. They are not more “worthy” because they do not have, but they are also not forgettable just because they were born on a different spot on the globe than you. Their value comes from the same place as yours–created in the image of God–and so each one is worth saving and loving. And that is why I am here.

How do good things happen? They sneak up on you until you are looking them right in the eyes and finally have the ability to see them. Sometimes. Or they whisper in your ear. Or sometimes they yell. Loudly. And you are scared for a moment and hold your breath because could it be true? Perhaps. You repeat it over and over in your head until maybe you believe it. Maybe you hold on to it and roll it around in your mind until reality begins to look a little clearer.

I still flap my flip flops

You can hear me down the hall

Clack-clacking

I was told it isn’t ladylike

That everything I do should be with poise and thought

But my thoughts are filled with other things

My flapping is done with enthusiasm

Stomping over poise

And yet

The princess cup I bought says “Gracious and kind”

And this is the woman I want to be

“Clothed with strength and dignity”

I look down at my dirty feet

And think maybe I should wash them again

Maybe I should walk more carefully

The bells are ringing

Calling me out of my comfortable bed

I follow them upstairs

To a lonely dark place

My lonely dark place

But I am never alone there

They stop

More suddenly than they began

Leaving me to the dim light and confusion

I sit in the stillness

Where is the wind?

I want it to blow past me

To tell me things are moving

Going in some direction

But that

I see for myself

And the dirty steps laid out

One by one

I watched “Beauty and the Beast” tonight. I remember watching it in the theaters when it first came out. I had a tape and book set of all of the music. I memorized every word. I wore out the VHS. But I hadn’t seen it in probably 15 years. Not since the time that someone told me I wasn’t supposed to like those things anymore.

I didn’t realize how familiar it would be to watch again. How I knew almost every line before it was said. I didn’t remember how unrealistic it was. I mean, how did the villagers suddenly find the castle after all that time of being right there? He had to break the spell before 21, so he was 11 when he was changed into a beast (since “Be our Guest” said it had been ten years of rusting)? And so many other questions I found myself asking. I didn’t realize how much technology has changed. There are some scenes where Belle’s eyes just look weird and off balance.  

And the romance. I have indulged in my own “Disney blaming” for unrealistic princes on white horses, but still—the movie blatantly indulges in every fantasy possible—including the whole “I can change him” and “he will put my desires above his own, but rescue me when I need it, without expecting anything in return.” And the beautiful dress and perfect figure as well. At least she isn’t blond.

There are some presents that aren’t the same when you open them again. But it is a nice smile at the past. Now I am ready for “The Little Mermaid.”

What if we really believed

What we said we did?

What if we lived the way

We knew was right?

What if taking time off

Wasn’t an option?

And it was now

Or it was never?

Open your eyes

Don’t you see it?

You are being drained

Strained and distracted

They tell you to close your eyes and relax

Because they are taking away your tomorrow

The one that was supposed to be written

The one we needed you to write

But you were too busy

What if we stood for

The things that moved our hearts?

What if we opened the door

When we saw opportunity coming?

We are scared to death of our own dreams

Scared that maybe it is true

That the passion burns inside us for a reason

And our role is irreplaceable

And maybe that will cost me everything

But no

Let me fritter my time

Let me rest

I deserve a break today

I feel as guilty as hell because I crossed the line

I know it

And so I drown it

And do it all over again

There has to be more

There has to be a door out of here

Open me

Take me

Save me

One of the kids from Cajueiro Claro gave me a breadfruit. A weird looking green thing (the fruit, not the kid) that grows on the tree outside the church. I just looked at it.

1. How do I cut it? “Cut it like a melon.” check

2. Are you supposed to have those weird little seedlike spots? (haven’t gotten a definite answer on that one. I hope it is normal. Because I wouldn’t know non-normal.)

3. How do you cook it? “Cook it like a sweet potato.” check

4. How do you know when it is done? There were no Brazilians around when I had that question, so I just kept poking it until I figured it was now or never.

5. I took a bite and it tasted like potatoes. (Why do I always think potato is supposed to be spelled ‘potatoe’?) So I ate it with butter. Not bad. But not my favorite. And definitely not fruitlike.

my David-inspired picture of the week…of fruit I like much better than breadfruit–Maracuja!! (passion fruit)

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Besides trying new things to eat, it has been a very productive week. Please keep Living Stones in your prayers–we are putting together support raising information and stories. Tele is having a conference call that is open to everyone on March 29–go to www.wribrazil.com for more information.

Things are really rolling at the International school. For music class, we just finished a unit on rhythm, and now are learning about instruments. It is taking me longer to plan for classes because I have to first learn all the stuff myself before I can teach it. Did you know that brass instruments only have three valves? Well, I learned that today. And the piano is a percussion instrument as well as strings. The first and second graders did a great job playing “upset the fruit basket” with instruments instead of fruit names. The game with the third and forth graders ended after a pileup confusion over who was “percussion” and who was “woodwinds.”

PETI is still looking for a place for the children to meet. Only about 20 of the 150 children are coming regularly. But, on the bright side, they have been able to offer lunch to the children again, even though they are still meeting in the large center of town, with just a big open space with no equipment, curriculum, or activities besides dodgeball. Patricia and Cacau are faithfully working with the children the best they can. Last week, Patricia was promoted to coordinator of the whole PETI program. While this is a wonderful opportunity for her, and she will do a great job making sure the resources come through (a major problem in the past), she is very upset about leaving her kids–because she now has a desk job. Cacau has asked me to bring whatever I can to try to organize some small character classes on Thursdays and Fridays–we start next week.

At Cajueiro Claro we began our first character quality of the week: Self-control. I am always surprised at how nothing I plan never goes as planned, but always turns out alright. And then I am amazed at how surprised I get…I should have gotten the memo by now. Sara, an older girl from the Cajueiro church, has been volunteering with us. I had her over to my apartment and we had a great chat–she wants to work with drug addicts someday. Raissa volunteered on Wednesday, and after walking the 4k down one hill, and up the other–at the the top of the hill she nearly fainted (no exaggeration). This made me feel better about my own huffing an puffing up and down those hills. I do hope she won’t let the experience stop her from coming again.

The children practiced all week to present at church on Friday (in Cajueiro, Sunday church didn’t work so well on Sundays. It works better on Fridays).

They did a wonderful job! There were over 30 people there, almost half of them being children from Living Stones. The woman in the front row right–Sandra–Just gave her life to Jesus last week! Please keep her in your prayers.

L to R: Claudia, Diego, Paulo, Marcela, and Jasmine

This week I was able to work out some of the particulars of my visa and student documents. I renewed my tourist visa (you have to visit the police in Recife after three months), and found out about the procedure for obtaining a student visa. I will be leaving Brazil May 12 and hopefully returning early August with my student visa to study Educational Psychology at a post-grad program here in Brazil. This means things are going to be moving quickly:

1. I have two months to finish translating and putting together the basic curriculum for Living Stones–in Portuguese–and make sure everything is in place and volunteers are trained to keep things going while I am gone.

2. Jewelry making project begins! Once again, after talking with the children in Living Stones, they are excited about making necklaces and bracelets for me to bring back to the US to raise awareness and prayer support for the program.

3. Transition time again. I thought graduating meant I could stay in Brazil more permanently…but that hasn’t happened yet. Actually, I am really excited for this time…I guess I am not ready to settle down yet–I still love this whole back and forth stuff.

4. Three months in the US of A. I will be graduating from IUPUI May 15th (Everyone is invited–it is not an invitation only thing–so come!), and jumping right back into things. If you know of any opportunities to speak about Living Stones–at churches, camps, VBS, street corners, dark allies…please let me know.

5. Mulah. Yes, that. If you know of any opportunities for making some money (legal ones, please) for my plane ticket and other expenses that add up from the back-and-forth stuff, please let me know. Really–I love mowing lawns, odd jobs, babysitting that doesn’t involve diapers–but especially summer fun things like camp…or hey, if you wanted to pay me to drive you across country or something…I am up for that:).

Thanks! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Friends from church–yea Maninho!

The group of us that went to the beach…some of us at least

This is Joao Pessoa beach…love the old men in speedos

This is our beach: Pontas de Pedras

This is the house built on the beach where I will live someday.

I walked and walked and came upon this magical place. I think it is called “Pedrinhas”

Picnics are amazing. Especially when Karine remembers bolo de rolo.

My boys, Rafael Jose and Cesar

Cookies, hot dogs, and bottled water for everyone

Patricia and her boys. The workers spent hours making those masks

Cacau making sure everyone had on sunscreen

The entrance of the city of Paudalho. The woman in the green wig is the new secretary person in charge of the program. She is really getting down to work. In the back you can see the Trio Electrico with the big speakers and dance floor on top.

We marched/danced/pushed our way through the city like a parade

And that is Carnival for the children