Bicentenario Celebrations

My birthday wasn't the only thing put on the back burner with Bailey's birthday party being held on May 14. For us, Paraguay's bicentenario was also overshadowed with the birthday festivities. But we did have the opportunity to attend a student tribute held at the school and visit downtown Asuncion while it was still decked out in red, white, and blue. Here are a few pictures from both events:

Brandon with two of his "favorite" second grade girls, all decked out for their dance number.

The third graders, also ready to dance.

Posing in front of the Panteon Nacional de los Heroes, which was alternately lit up in red, white and blue OR all white lights.

All of the buildings throughout the city were draped in red, white and blue.

A shot of Casa de la Independencia, the site where Paraguay formally declared independence (now a museum).

A view of the back of the Palacio de Gobierno, a.k.a. the government palace.

The Iglesia de la Catedral, also draped in red, white and blue, illuminated with extra lights for the celerbations.

Rash, Fungus, Allergy or Dermatitis?

During Bailey's first months of life, she occasionally got dry patches of skin on her body. They usually cropped up on her sides, collar bone and the backs of her shoulders. I self-diagnosed her with eczema. I never thought much of it since after a few days of Aquaphor Intensive Healing lotion the spots always cleared up. Then, when we moved to humid Paraguay the spots stopped cropping up and I all but forgot about her skin "issues".

That is, I did until April.

The first week of April her dry spot on her collar bone returned - about the size of her pinky - and I treated it as I had before. At most diaper changes, I rubbed on some lotion and waited for it to go away. But, alas, it didn't. The dry, irritated patch began to grow and crept along the entire length of her collarbone, even dipping down onto her chest. It began to look more like a rash and less like eczema. Daddy was worried but I assured him that it would clear up, just like it had always done in the past.

By May first, the "rash" had spread onto her back. It was painfully obvious that it was more than some dry skin:

We scheduled an appointment with our primary physician who diagnosed her with a fungus (nothing specific) and gave us a prescription for an anti-fungal cream to put on her back at night following her baths. I did my research on the cream and the oh-so-trustworthy internet reported that it's a cream used for funguses like athlete's foot, ringworm and jock itch - fungal skin infections known collectively as tinea.

After five days of treatment, the "fungus" had multiplied, spreading to her belly, and taking on a deeper red hue:

After a quick call to the doctor to report that the medication was NOT working, we were referred to a dermatologist. Our friend Mara helped with the translating and from what I could tell, the dermatologist was leaning towards an allergic reaction as being the cause for the irritation. We were instructed to discontinue using all lotions, creams, soaps and detergents. She recommended a laundry soap only available in bar form (which meant hand washing all Bailey's clothes), put chamomile tea in her bath, and gave us the names of two lotions to put on Bailey's skin. One was a mild moisturizer (similar to an Oil of Olay) to be applied morning and night and the other was a cream used by nursing mothers to relieve dryness from, well, nursing, to be applied at night on the affected areas. It seemed an odd combination - and I was skeptical about the fact that there was NO medication in the creams - but we gave it a shot.

The "allergic reaction" stopped spreading, which was promising, but a week later, it wasn't any better and every time Bailey played outside, the "allergic reaction" would get more and more red.

Back to the dermatologist.

She was concerned, too, about the fact that things were not improving and gave us the name of another cream (oh goodie!). This one actually contained medication (used for atopic dermatitis) and the dermatologist said to only apply it every other night because of it's strength. We were to continue with the other creams in the morning and on alternating nights. After five night and only three applications of the newest cream, her skin is clear:

Thank you, LORD, for answering our prayers and giving healing to our baby girl! She had been terribly fussy (for her) and we are overjoyed to have our happy baby back.

Primer Cumple

Next to a girl's quince (15th) birthday celebration, the first birthday is the most important birthday celebration for a child in Paraguay. And when in Paraguay, do as the Paraguayans! While we didn't sell everything we own to finance the festivities, we did our best to put together one fabulous ladybug themed party. Here are some pictures of the birthday girl and the party itself:

On her actual birthday in the LAST monthly onesie pose!

(29 inches, 19 pounds)

Thanks for the birthday bib, Aunt Carolyn! :)

Posing in a "My First Birthday" top from Grandma Fulbright.

The set up before everyone arrived (this BBQ area is behind our apartment building).

Chorizo, Pollo y carne - YUM!

Ladybug cupcakes for the guests and a giant ladybug for the guest of honor.

Close up pic of the cupcakes!

The birthday girl in her ladybug dress (thanks Papa Dave!) and ladybug shoes, too!

She did NOT like the cake on her hands! :)

Books and Bare Feet

Back in March, our upstairs neighbor and friend, Mara, kicked off a campaign to collect books and shoes for a women and children in Paraguay that have sought refuge from abuse at Melita's Home. Here is some background on the home from their website:

In 2008 Melita W, a Paraguayan Mennonite, opened Vientos de Esperanza, a home for girls. Her specific purpose was to care for abused girls, of which there are many here in Asunción. There are now 30 girls living with her. They range in age from 2-18 years old.

The wave of abused girls being sent to Vientos de Esperanza has now exceeded the confines of one house and another is in the process of opening. Next to the original home is a small school under construction. The youngest girls attend this school while the older ones attend schools nearby. All of the girls study in the building after school.

Once they leave the home, these girls have the chance to go to college and are connected with places of employment. These books will increase their career building opportunities to ensure that they never again have to work in the sex trade. They are now in a position to receive the education many of their mothers weren't allowed.

Many of the girls arrive at Vientos de Esperanza malnourished, hurting, and physically uncared for. Their shoes often break, or they outgrow them without any replacements available. They typically wear rubber flip-flops and sneakers.

Our goal is to collect at least 500 books and 500 shoes in three months. We will be collecting books through events held here in Asunción and will buy books using the monetary donations of compassionate contributors.

We are a month away from that deadline and have collected 118 books and 128 pairs of shoes. Please be in prayer about how YOU can get involved in the project. The link below will take you to the project's website, complete with a link to PayPal where you can make donations toward shoes and/or books. With the cost of shipping being so high, it is much more efficient for us to buy the shoes and books here with your support.

Thank you in advance for your help with this worthwhile endeavor!

http://www.wix.com/melitashome/books-and-bare-feet#!

Day of the Teacher

Friday, April 26^th marked the celebration of Teacher Day at Asuncion Christian Academy. Not only was it a modified day (with student dismissal at 12:00 instead of 2:30) the teachers also swapped classes with one another for the first two hours of the day. It brought variety to the students’ day and many of the teachers had fun teaching a different grade level for the morning. The art teacher taught Guarani (the native language in Paraguay), the 4^th grade teacher taught high school math, and Brandon switched places with the high school English teacher. In true Brandon fashion, it was not enough to merely trade classrooms and job descriptions. No, they had to swap wardrobes, too.

He passed along a pair of his baskeball shorts, dri-fit t-shirt, wide-brimmed hat and whistle while he sported MY jeans and top for the day, plus a blonde wig. Needless to say, they were the talk of the school.

The day also brought a mountain of gifts from students ranging from candy to ties to Nike hats! Students paraded by throughout the day, dropping off gifts on Brandon’s desk and wishing him a happy teacher’s day.

The administration also had students write about each teacher on multi-colored slips of paper that were then rolled into tubes and stacked into a clear glass jar. Here’s a sampling of some of the comments Brandon received:

“I appreciate Mr. T because I get to run more laps without getting tired.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because he always gets owned by me in volley J”

“I appreciate Mr. T because you’ve pushed me to be the best I can and a leader in soccer! You make me laugh and always ask me how I’m doing.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because he is kind.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because you’re funny and you let me know how to kick a ball hard with my stupid leg J”

“I appreciate Mr. T because he keeps me healthy.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because he cares about my life, my grades and all my classes in general. He makes me fit. He encourages me to be a good students, soccer player, daughter, and sister.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because he encourages me to keep moving forward.”

“I appreciate Mr. T because even though your job is usually to tell me what I’m doing wrong, you tell me how to change so that I can push myself to become better. I really respect and hunger for you advice about everything.”

Feliz Pascuas

Easter Sunday was the final event of our Semana Santa after an exhausting week in Ciudad del Este; we were definitely grateful that Brandon had Monday off, too. We needed the extra day to recover!

Much like every Sunday, we headed to church to celebrate the resurrection with our new church family. The associate pastor and worship leader was MIA, though, because his wife had gone into labor! Their son Macaias was born late that afternoon. We shared communion and Bailey played outside with some of the other little ones that are still too young for Sunday school. She decided that she didn’t even need the catnap that she usually gets on Sundays.

After church, we went to our pastor’s home and began setting up for Easter lunch. After a feast of roast, ham, mandarin orange salad, mashed potatoes & gravy, carrots and fruit salad, the kids set off on an Easter egg hunt. Bailey had finally fallen asleep, but when she woke up later, the kids helped hide eggs for her (and helped find them for her, too).

It was a fun day together as a family and we tried to capture a cute picture of the girls together...key word: tried.

Ytaipu Binacional Dam

Just around the corner from the Parana Golf Club lies the entrance to the Ytaipu Binacional Dam where Brazil and Paraguay partnered to create one of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world. Depending on who you ask, it’s the largest, or second-largest, in the world. Regardless, it holds the world record for the amount of electricity created by one of the turbines (enough to power the entire world for two days!) and is a massive show of mankind’s ability to mold nature to his will.

Before entering the gates, we registered at the front desk and were ushered into a large auditorium where a thirty-minute video walked through the history of the dam, it’s creation, it’s abilities and the effect hydroelectricity has had on both Brazil and Paraguay. The video was (of course) in rapid-fire Spanish, so many of the facts were lost as I stumbled to translate the handful of words that I caught. I did catch the fact that nearly 89% of the energy used in Paraguay comes from Ytaipu and there was enough steel used in it’s construction to build close to 17 Eiffel Towers!

After the video we boarded another bus for a tour of the facilities. The first stop was at a section of the dam that regulates the amount of water forced through the turbines. You see, there’s a massive reservoir behind the turbines and when it is too full, a number of gates are opened to release pressure. There are ten gates that could possibly be opened and on the day we visited, six were fully raised, creating a massive waterslide and striking waterfall.

We stopped for pictures, and then drove UNDER the dam (and countless tons of rushing water) toward the turbines. There was nothing notable about their appearance, aside from their massive size. There are twenty turbines in all, ten belonging to Paraguay and ten to Brazil.

The second stop was beyond the turbines, looking back the open gates and the water charging down the cement slide. Another Kodak moment.

The final leg of the tour took us along the top of where the turbines were housed, with the massive tubes below our feet and the lake to the right.

Bailey enjoyed the tour with Tia Vero and I was impressed with the whole hydroelectric operation. The only thing that would have made the trip better was if we were allowed to walk around in the power plant. And English subtitles in the video would have helped, too.