Meet Mercedes...

Mercedes is 19 years old. She comes from a large family of seven children who live in a small rural community in the department (instead of provinces or states, Bolivia is made up of 9 "departamentos") of La Paz. Her brother Luis, 15 years old, is also deaf and lives at the centre in the boys' dorm.

The centre offers classes to kindergarten through grade five. Grades four through eight attend nearby regular public schools with interpreters. After grade eight there is nothing for the students here at the centre. Though she is 19, Mercedes is in grade three and attends classes at the centre. Most of the girls, though they are in their teens, are still in elementary school. For some this is due to the fact that they were put in school a lot later in life. You also need to take into account that these girls are studying in a "foreign" language (learning to read and write in Spanish is a challenge, because they have never heard it spoken!) and sometimes it may take them more than a year to get through a grade.

Mercedes does not find learning easy. It takes her a while to process new information. I think God wants to use her to teach me patience. Only yesterday her eyes filled with tears as I impatiently tried to explain a math concept to her for the third or fourth time. Later on I had to go back and ask her to forgive me for my impatience!

Mercedes may find learning hard, but she posseses other talents. Mercedes' favourite colour is white, and she loves to crochet! In the above picture you can see her working on a beautiful off-white "poncho." My aunt sent me some money to spend on the girls, and with it I was able to get them wool, knitting needles, and crochet hooks. The girls were all quite excited, and Mercedes especially has proved to be very good at crocheting! She is also very good with hair and doing braids. The other girls are always getting her to do their hair for them.

With Mercedes I have been reminded how wrong it is to judge people! One day I was playing a game of yengha with Mercedes and Jhesica (one of the other girls), and Jhesica and I determined that the punishment for losing would be to run back and forth through the dorms five times. I was quite disgusted when Mercedes lost a game and refused to run. I thought she was just being overly prim and proper. Then, when she refused to go to her physical education class I thought she was lazy and disliked physical exertion. Well, later on I discovered that a few months ago she had surgery on her leg and isn't allowed to run or take physical education! I felt very bad! I also didn't understand why she would always cling to my arm whenever we would go somewhere at night. Just recently I was told that she has weak eyesight and cannot see very well at night!

RANDOM INFO. (about my life here): The other day I saw a piece of mud on my bathroom floor. I thought it kind of looked like a small frog, and when I stooped to pick it up, it moved and made me jump back! It turned out it was a frog! I trapped it with a clear plastic cup, slid a paper underneath and took it to show the girls before letting it loose outside. The only way I can think it could have gotten into my bathroom is by coming up the drain!

THANKSGIVING (Blessings):
-Mercedes life.
-The beauties of nature that surround me (e.g. the beautiful surrounding mountains, the clear blue skies and sunny days, the moon and stars at night!)
-Breaks from the routine and monotony of my days (e.g. a trip into town to see the psychologist for a psychological assessment yesterday afternoon was a welcome break after working the whole weekend. It ended up being a bit of an adventure, because some of the roads were being blocked by protesters, and we had to go a round about way on this crazy dirt road through countryside that made Patty--a co-worker-- think of the wild west.)
-The lessons God is teaching me through the girls.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Spiritual salvation of Mercedes' family who are not believers.
-Mercedes' relationship/walk with God.
-That I would learn how to be a firm yet loving disciplinarian.
-For strength and wisdom in facing a complicated and disagreeable situation at the centre.