Wintertime...

It is wintertime here in Nicaragua...
Some of the kids have been asking for sweaters.
The days can be really hot, but the nights can be really cold as well.
So many of the Chavalos are having colds or the flue.
I have been handing out lots of "pastillas" and vitaminas.
Tomorrow, they all have their nice hot meal, that will help them a little as well.

Last week, Gabriel got attacked and robbed while he was doing some grocery shopping for an elderly lady to earn a couple of Cordobas. A low life just hit him on the mouth with his fist and ran off with the food. His lip still looks awful.
Yesterday, he almost got stabbed with a knife, it was only a bad scratch.
But then they hit him on the head. They hit him so hard that he needed stitches.
They had no anesthesia at the Japanese Hospital, and he was in so much pain, that he told them he would come back the next day, when the anesthesia had arrived.
Which he did.
I don't know how many times I have told him to stay away from Barrio Maldito (the neighborhood of the bad guys), but still he passes through there to take a short cut to go to where his buddies are playing and sleeping in the evening.
God knows how many times more it will take before he finally understands that passing through there usually gets him into trouble.

CLARO, the phone company had a promotion in the Parque Central today.
They had a huge jumping Castle for the kids.
And much to my surprise, they allowed the little Chavalos to join the rest of the kids. It was just SUPER to see how happy they were.

Oh, one more thing....
I read that schools have to use new authorized baseball bats for safety and liability reasons.
IF, by any chance, somebody can get hold of some old ones, please let me know. Maybe one of our guests can bring them over on a future visit.
We have one bat at the moment that is loaned to several groups every week.
It is cracked, but we nailed it back together and put a rubber band around it.
So anything that you might find will be better than the bat that we have!
Also Gloves, balls, ...
Ask around and make a lot of people very happy!!!

Thanks!!!