Abundancia: January 2013

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Here comes the bride...

Yesterday we had the opportunity to witness two weddings. It was the weirdest thing. We met the two couples at the judges office here in Filadelfia (the city that our hotel is in). The two couples were married, but while being married and after being married they didn't look at each other, touch each other, speak to each other or kiss each other. The culture here is definitely a different culture here. I think the entire time we were in the judges' office the only smiled once...that was because we made them smile for a picture. So.. here are some pictures of the weird wedding!

Couple #1

Couple #2 and their daughter

The whole gang at the wedding

Then we went to a baptism. The middle three got baptized! To make the first couple even more weird..(the first girl to the left of the picture was the one of the girls who got married earlier that day). Her brand new husband didn't even show up for her baptism.

We then delivered a new born baby kit to this precious baby.

Then we found an Armadillo and held it! This animal was so calm. I was so surprised!

Amber with the armadillo

Me with the armadillo

Larrry Shaw with the armadillo

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Chagas Disease

Yesterday the Public Health Association made a surprise visit to Abundancia. They came to test the people for a disease called Chagas. You get this disease by being bit a Chagas bug or if a mother has while pregnant she can pass it on to her children. The disease stays dominant in your body for 20-30 years and then suddenly attacks your heart and intestines. Once it starts to attack you die within a couple of days. The Public Health Association found twelve people that tested positive in the village. It was heart wrenching, but at least now the people can be cured or helped. It was a very neat experience to be there with people while they were being tested and to be able to record our data and send it into an Epidemiology class at BYUI.

Here are some pictures. Sorry if they gross you out :(

Here is the Chagas bug

One stripe on the testing tray mean negative.

Public Health people! This woman was crazy!

Say no to Chagas!

Davita

Getting tested

All of us in the office :)

After the village was tested we then put on a Relief Society meeting for the women. They made felt hearts that they could hang in their homes. It was a really success. The women laughed, giggled and sewed the afternoon away!

Sewing away!

Davita with some of the sisters

Me with my group!

53 women with their hearts :)

How cute are they?

Today we for the kids activities we made Indian feather head bands! They were quite the hit. All of the kids were fascinated with all of the different color feathers. I don't think they realized that they were died fake feathers. Oh well!

Kirsten giving some sassy looks!

Little Indians!

My favorite little kids! Guilam and Justo

The big kids made oragami balloons today!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Not one...but two language barriers.

One of the things we are really focusing on this week is a program for the kids. Everyday for two hours from nine to eleven the kids meet at the church. We split them up into two groups. One group is the older kids and the other are the younger kids and most of their moms. We usually start with some sort of craft and end with a few games. It is has been a real success although it has not been easy. We have discovered that the women and children do not speak much Spanish at all. They pretty much speak as much as I do. Thank goodness the men speak Spanish. In order to communicate to the people I have to speak to someone who speaks English and then they have to translate it into Spanish and then the other person has to translate it into Nivacle. It's been rough, but I have learned to be a lot more patient. I have noticed the people are really starting to trust us.

Here are some pictures from the last week:

Some of the things I have bought while in Paraguay!