guatemala video

follow this link for a short video covering the last Guatemala trip. it lasts about 13 mins. hope you enjoy it :-)
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v28417856sCpZHMqa
i have edited and voiced over this myself on my new computer, with instructions from my Apple store Creative :-)

wrapping up

last tuesday i returned to Dunton school who had supported me and christina in 2010. to give them an over view of the 2 last trips to Guatemala. the children listened really well and were so interested in everything i said. i put on my traditional guatemala dress and the necklace and earrings made by the class at America Latina. i showed them clips from the DVD and some of the artifacts i had bought home with me. it was such a blessing to be there and to see how interested they were.

in October I also visited Yelling chapel. they have been great supporters of the project and were very interested to hear what we had been doing. I had a 10 min slot and tried to pack in as much info as possible. they were very interested.

I have also given a talk at my own church of potton. i didn't have my dvd then, but God willing I will be able to make a shortened version to show to all people who are interested.

sadly, there are no plans to return to Guatemala this year. this is for a few reasons. Through the Roof would like to concentrate on the evangelism surrounding the Paralympics and the olympics themselves. also it was also hoped that we have given people enough tips and ideas for them to try out themselves, so for this year at least, there are not plans to return. TTR is not returning to Uganda this year either.

I won't pretend that i found the decision that we were not going to Guatemala this year easy to deal with. I was and am really upset about it. I believe that God is doing a great work in that country, and I pray that he will keep doing that work. and that he will enable disabled people to be included. and if its ever his will, I pray he will let me go back there, to help in any little way I can! what a blessing these trips have been to me. how i thank God for the opportunity, and for my many new friends.

belated Guatemala post

This is a belated blog post summarising the work in Guatemala. My only excuse is that although I’ve been in the country, I haven’t been home. So here goes:

The ten days we were out there we visited 4 schools, 4 churches, 2 children’s homes, a hospital, and a disability club. We were able to give tips to the teachers and prospective teachers about how they could include children with disabilities. It is very hard in a class of up to 70 children to do much more than crowd control, but the teachers came to the workshops because they wanted to find out how they could help the children who were slipping through the net. Quite a lot of the questions were about children who were behaving badly in the class room. We explained that this could be because of a disability such as ADHD (either diagnosed or undiagnosed) or autism. Some children were reported to be fiddling with things all the time or in some cases with the child next to them, or not interacting with the group etc. in our team was Alice who has been a teacher in a special needs school for a number of years, and she came into her own sharing tips with the teachers such as giving children something to keep in their pocket to fiddle with like a stress ball or a stretchy man, giving the teachers strategies to try and stop bad behaviour or answering back such as “speak and spin” (saying “I would like you to get on with your work” then turning and walking away) or “broken record” (not listening or responding when the child answers back, simply repeating the instruction such as “I would like you to do your work”).

Michele and I made play dough which was a novelty out in Guatemala. We explained that it could be used to make shapes and model things, such as getting the children to model characters to go with a story that either they or the teacher was telling.

I shared my personal experience of growing up as a blind person in a mainstream school, and, where appropriate, my testimony as a Christian.

We also gave the biblical basis of disability wherever we went, which Mike read out and I tried to expand slightly on the verses.

Alan also gave his testimony (as well as being the team leader). He told about losing most of his sight overnight when he was 9 and how that had affected his school and home life.

At the churches we spoke to youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, church pastors, church members, and children about how to include disabled people and their families in church life.

We visited a school that already include children with disabilities in their school. We were able to spend time with the students and teachers, and were very impressed and touched by the caring attitude of the teachers and the happiness of the students. They were mostly included in the main classes, but were taken out if a lesson was too difficult for them and brought into a class especially for them.

We spent time at the family day of the Ministry of the Fragile, who run a monthly club for people with disabilities to meet together and do activities. It was so nice to be there and see how much love there was for all the people in the club, and to be part of their special family day.

We visited love the child again this year, spent time with the children as they played. We also visited another children’s home and ran a brief workshop on including children with disabilities, including parachute games, singing a well-known song “Jesus loves me this I know” and showing them the English signs to it.

It was a joy to visit all these places, and a joy to see all our partners again. There is so much hope for Guatemala and I believe that God has his hand on that country and will continue to bless those who work in his names sake.

I am hoping and praying that there will be another trip next year, and look forward to seeing what God has done then!     

Thank you all for your support, prayers and interest. Until next time, God be with you all!

nearly time to go!

There are only 1 and a half days till we leave for Guatemala! I’m surrounded by luggage in various states of packed or unpacked. My suit case feels as if it has got led in it, but I think it is just the 3 parachutes and 5 hymn folders I’m carrying, plus the other esentials which I can’t live without like tea bags for example!. I will have to have it weighed soon, but will have to hold my breath that it doesn’t go over the limit!

I hope and pray the rest of the team’s preparations are going well! I can’t wait to see everyone at the airport and get going! Our t-shirts are all printed and ready, and will hopefully look great when we ware them to the workshops.

I have managed to remember my passport so that’s a relief!

So, only a matter of hours now before we bid England a fond “see ya later!” 

meeting the team! :-)

The team day was on Sunday 26th June. It was a really wonderful day and I enjoyed meeting up witheveryone. It is a team handpicked by God and we have already gelled together! I am looking forward to the trip so much. I want to pack my suitcase right now! I have been nominated to be worship leader, so will put together a booklet of hymns for us to sing. Also I need to order parachutes and t-shirts. Many thanks to those who have donated/been involved in the plans towards this trip! Couldn’t have done it without you!!!



I am still getting sponsor money in from the bike ride, and also the ladies at my church have been selling calendar’s and pads for the trip funds. God has richly blessed me! I should not have worried about never having enough money to go. As one of our team members said, I need to “let go, let God.”



If anyone else wishes to donate (and thank you!) the website is

www.justgiving.com/philippa-woodcraft2011

God is Good-the last of the fundraising

Well! Since I last wrote, lots of things have happened. Judy and Amy from New Life school Guatemala came over for a visit and I was able to meet up with them at the Through The Roof office. It was so wonderful to see them again!!!!



I have had 3 fundraisings for my trip to Guatemala:



• A sponsored bike ride! 15 of us did 16 miles from our cycle track in Sandy to Bedford. We nearly all managed the whole thing, apart from my brother in law got 2 punctures so had to stop, my nephew Connor and my niece Courtney stopped at 8 miles also. We were so thankful that God sent the sun because the rest of the week had been rainy and cold, even the practice was done in the rain! A big big thank you to all those who rode, sponsored and supported!!!

• I spoke at Yelling chapel-spoke there last year also. They were very receptive and attentive. I explained what we would be doing in Guatemala and what we had done last year.

• Blind awareness evening went really really really well. We had about 30 people come, to take part in activities such as pouring their own drink, buttering their bread, hovering the carpet, doing their hair or make up, and guess the objects. Sounds simple, but when I tell you that they had a blindfold on for each activity, you realise its not simple at all! They even got a turn on the back of the tandem.



So now all my fundraising is done. I just have to collect it all and send it on. The bike ride will have raised approx. £400 when I have collected it! Yelling were very kind to offer a £50 donation, and 2 of the members donated themselves-thank you!!! The Awareness evening raised £130 too which is wonderful!! This brings me up to, and over, my total of £1000! God is so good!



I am now very very excited as on Sunday we are having the team day! We have already got our packs with the details of flights etc! Guatemala here we come!!!!!

concert!

The concert last night was a great success! The performers were wonderful! We had Rosemary, Kirsten, the Peregrine recorder Orchestra, Time After Time-barbershop quartet, Kayleigh-anne Robert Fisher and Ed Beard (piano trio), Tash, tony and me. I had to do all the announcing because we could get nobody famous to do it!

About 40 people came, and we raised £283! I think they all enjoyed it, I know I did!



The days before the concert were fraught with dramas great and small, from running out of ink to almost over lapping an event at the church. But we got there! Thanks to all the performers, Christina for playing, the people who delivered leaflets, mum and Jenny for printing programs and leaflets, and everyone else who helped!



Next? . . . . . . . the bike ride! Aaaaaaa!