Farewell Party

On Mother’s Day, we had a farewell party at the HIM house for Lauren inviting all 42 of the sponsored children and their families. After spending 10 months in Guatemala as a volunteer for Hearts In Motion, Lauren set up a sponsorship program for the children in our local daycares, helping them towards a life with an education and hope for the future. Her time has come to an end in Guatemala and she will be missed. She also will miss the wonderful people she has had the chance to meet and that have blessed her life. Check out the pictures from this fun-filled party that was accompanied by an abundance of love!

Yeiner & Widman coloring

Randil & Yeiner (Brothers)

Eddison and Diana

David with the pinata

The festivities continue

Damaris at bat...

Katherin the hard hitter

Go Narlin Go!

Anderson's brother gets a turn

Sergio's not to sure about all this.

The mask man (someone's brother)

Jason's brother

Mishell the power house.

The mob

It was insane to say the least...

Food ready and set out

The race to the food

Ubaldo getting ready to eat

Julio translating my tearful speech.

Tears of thanks and an unbelievable amount of love!

Maria's giving a beautiful speech of thanks.

Hugs & Love

Giving pictures

Jason waiting for his picture

Gifts, friends, and love

Having some words with a little one

A hug with Lusvin's grandmother

Hugs and kisses to Victor

Victor & his mom

Guadalupe and her mother

Diana and her mother

Dulce Maria, Joana, Tatiana, their mom and cousin

Mishell and her family

Jason & Amanda

Abel, Ubaldo, Sergio with their parents

The 3 teachers from Estanzuela

Gloria, Alis, and Klarita

Absolutely wonderful women and teachers.

Viviana and Moises

She was the teacher at Winnie-The-Pooh.

She has a huge heart and has been wonderful helping with this program.

Kimberly and Amanda (cousins)

Myra and David

Andrea and her family

Lusvin and his Grandmother, Catalina (Maria's Mother)

Little Miss Marilyn

Randil and Yeiner

Aldrin and his mother

Jason and his mother.

By the way Linda & Glenn, she wsa very disappointed she didn't meet you when you came for a visit. They now have a picture of you though!

Joel and his family

Damaris and her mother

Mayerly and mother and sister

Kimberly and Narlin (sisters)

Victor and his sister, Boin

Darlin and family

Sonia, her mother and 2 month old sister

Tatiana and Marilyn

Diego

Lupe

Maria and her family who all have been priceless marvelous helps with this program.

A huge thank you to Maria for all her help with the children, to Gabby for being an excellent tour guide to the other children's houses and to Oswaldo and Jose for being cute!

All the gift that were so generous and thoughtful! None of which were neseccary.

"A beautiful party! I cannot thank everyone enough for making this possible. Julio and Luis for picking all the families up at the schools. Kara for helping clean, decorate and give clothing, Barb for takign pictures, Norma, Leslie and Vivian for making the food, and all the teachers and mothers who have done such a marvelous job raising and teaching these children! It's been a pleasure working with all of you! I will miss and love each and every one of you!"

-Lauren Patterson

Ubaldo Meeting His Sponsor

Ubaldo's sponsor's mother sent a card down sending her love and introducing herself to him. Before Barbara had the chance to meet Ubaldo, Julio read and delivered the card from her mom. A few weeks later we took Barb out to meet Ubaldo and his family. She gave him gifts, hugs and most importantly, LOVE. Though Barb speaks next to no spanish, they communicated just fine. Ubaldo actually taught her a few words in spanish. Take a look at Barb's priceless experience!
Words cannot express how fotunate this family is to have Barb as a new part of their family. She has been unbelievably generous and has such a big heart! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Barb for everything you have done for Ubaldo and his family!

Julio reads Ubaldo his card from "Grandma"

Barbara delivering her presents and LOVE...

Ubaldo with his arms full

Coloring together

Barb showing Ubaldo a video of himself. As you can see, it was quite a hit!

Water gun time

Two beautiful people united forever!

Almost the whole family

Kisses of thanks!

Thank you again Barb for your continued love and support to this family!

They are fortunate to have you in their lives!

Giving Baskets

Last week, Kara and Lauren went shopping for the 13 families of the children that attend Maria's daycare. These are the children that are currently there. They did not need uniforms made for school, so instead we bought each family a basket full of toilet paper, rice, beans, sugar, salt, maseca (tortilla mix), soap, oil, a dish rag, a sponge, incaparina (a milk powder for the children), and degergent to wash their clothes. After buying, we sorted, then delivered. Below are pictures of the entire process. The best part are the smiles as a result! Thank you for your support.

Lauren at checkout.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of our heaping carts.

The checkout process

Kara and the 2 kind men from the store that helped load the 4-Runner and Lauren

The baskets ready to deliver

Victor & Edison really excited to receive their baskets

Kara giving Victor's mother her basket.

For a mother that makes $34/month, this basket is a huge deal!

Edison's mother with her basket

Damaris and her mother

Marilyn with her brother. Though their mother was not there, as she gets home very late from work, I'm sure she was very thankful. Marilyn certainly was excited.

Marilyn and her brother with Lauren

Yeiner, Randy and their mother

Tatiana with little sister Joana - thrilled!

Dulce Maria, Tatiana, Joana, and their mother with Lauren

Blanca - Ubaldo, Abel & Sergio's mother receiving her basket.

Without telling the whole story, this basket came at a perfect time for this family. They almost lost their home due to buying groceries on credit and owing a neighbor about $200 dollars. In return, he took the papers to their house if they didn't pay. A very kind and generous person was not going to let that happen, so they paid the money and cleared the debt for this family.

Damaris and her family

Fernanda's mother, along with all the local girls coming to help deliver the basket.

Once again, a lucky experience for Kara and Lauren, however, this would have never been possible without the help and support from all of you. They were told these baskets were from their sponsors in the United States and that puts a smile on each one of their faces

Delivering Packages

The best part of my job is going and delivering gifts to the children. It's the part that makes me think of all of you, it's the part that makes me smile (actually, that's usually all the time), and it's the part that the children LOVE! Here is a glimpse into what it's like being the one getting the hugs and hearing the little voices saying "gracias." They should be given to each of you, so I will try my best to pass them your way! Thank all of you for allowing me to receive even more hugs than I already do, :) and of course for your continued support and gifts!

Sonia receiving her special present!

Thank you Devon for your thoughtfulness!

Amanda's Lucky Day!

When we pulled up to her house, she went running to get her cousin, thinking she was getting a delivery since that is what happened last time. When she found out it was for her, she was ecstatic

Thank you Jim & Nancy for making her day!

Randy's day of fame!

He was surrounded by so may friends when we delivered his package, we joked that he was going to be the most popular kid in town for the next week.

Thank you Doug and Family for your generosity!

Mishell meeting her sponsors!

Thank you Todd & Kelly for having the hearts you do!


Kevin's packaged delivered!

Thank you Eva for your unbelievable thoughtfulness!


Katherin's time to remember!

She met her sponsor earlier in the year and was sent pictures of the 2 of them being silly!

Thank you Kent for sharing your life and love with Katherin!


Andrea's patient wait has paid off!

After trying to deliver her package once and forgetting to take it the second time, we finally made her day on the 3rd attempt. She assured us it was well worth the wait! Aftereach item she pulled out of the bag, she would get a huge smile, look at us and say "Gracias!"

Thank you Eva for blessing her life!

Joel meeting his Sponsors through a picture!

Thank you Donna for your love and support!

Sending packages

If you are interested in sending a package to your sponsored child, it is very welcome and absolutely possible. We ask that you send your package to the Hearts In Motion office in Indiana. There have been several emails about ideas of items you might inlcude in your package. Of course it is up to you what you wish to include. Some people have included gifts both big and small for other family members. This is a generous act, welcomed, but not a must. If you need ideas here are a few: Clothes, shoes, hair accessories, tooth brushes & paste, stuffed animals, books in spanish, coloring books, crayons or markers, do-it-yourself craft projects, toys (cars, balls, action figures, etc), underwear, learning items, socks, etc. We ask that when sending a package you try and include a mix of items. Such as toys accompanied by hygiene products and/or learning items. These children and families are thankful for anything and everything they receive. Thank you for your support and generous gifts!

Daniel Meeting his Sponsor

Jan had the rewarding experience of meeting her sponsored child in March and what a sight to watch. The excitement, joy, love, smiles, hugs and tears were so overwhelmingly powerful! It's a true gift to have the opportunity to create a relationship seperated by language, land, water, and money. Feeling so very close to an individual, having never met them, but knowing what an impact you are having on their life is priceless... especially once you get the opportunity to meet them in person!

Share in Jan's experience of meeting Daniel through her words and pictures.

"Daniel - Kids are very special no matter where they live! Daniel is one of those really special kids that have come into my life and my grandchildrens' lives. At Christmas time his sponsorship was a gift to my grandchildren. I was able to meet him when I was in Guatemala in March. Part of my mission was to bring pictures and stories back home with me. Daniel lives on a beautiful mountain with his family. His family includes his mother, grandmother, older brother and younger sister. I was able to meet him and hug him. What an emotional experience for me. He was such a handsome boy and thrilled to meet me 'face to face' as I was to meet him. He is a very bright young man and the note he wrote me was such beautiful handwriting and so well done for a 6 year old. He was thrilled with the gifts I took and the pictures he received of my family. Daniel hopes to become a doctor and I truly hope he can accomplish that goal. Maybe the little help that we are giving him now will help him become a doctor. I have been on 4 HIM trips but this was truly the highlight of them all. Thanks to all that made Daniel and my meeting possible."
- Jan Broders

First meeting

Reading the note Daniel wrote her

Daniel opening presents

Jan introducing him to her family through photos

Daniel is now "officially" part of the family.

Presents for Daniel and his brother

Jan with Daniel's family

Tears of Joy

Saying goodbye

Meeting Daniel's grandmother as she was leaving.

Daniel is now fortunate to have a grandmother in Guatemala and one in the US.

The hike down from Daniel's home

Thank you Jan for your love, kindness and support to Daniel and his family!

David meeting his sponsor

In March David had the opportunity to meet his sponsor and long time support in a different way then he had in the years past.

Scroll down and read about Leeanne's experience!

"The first time I saw David was our first trip to Guatemala with HIM in April 2006. I saw him at the hospital - he had come in for a cleft lip repair. He was one of the cutest kids I'd ever seen!! I took a great picture of him, and when I got home, I enlarged it and put it on my wall. He became my "poster boy." The following year he came back to the hospital for us to fix his cleft palate. The minute I saw him, I immediately recognized him and was very excited to see him again, and I was thrilled at how handsome he was after his lip repair!!! I took another photo of him, and put that with the first photo when I got home. Unfortunately, he got sick and we couldn't do his surgery in 2007. David returned in 2008 for his palate repair. Again, I recognized my "poster boy," hugged him and his mother, got another picture to add to my wall collection, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to assist with his surgery. Just before our HIM trip in 2009, my daughter, Lauren, in setting up the sponsorship program, called me to say that one of the children needing sponsorship looked familiar, and she thought he may have been my poster boy. She sent me pictures, and sure enough, I immediately recognized David!! Words cannot express how thrilled I was to have found him yet again, and to have the awesome opportunity to make him a long term part of our lives by sponsoring him. March 21, 2009- I had the thrilling experience to meet David (and his mom) again - only now he was our official sponsored child! A beautiful, loving, affectionate and sweet 4 year old! I got to give him simple gifts of new shoes, clothes and some toys, and he gave me the priceless gifts of warm hugs and a child's love! I hope David will forever be a part of our lives."

-Leeanne Patterson

Thank you Leeanne & Pat for your continued love and support to David and his Family!