Sorry if you missed the big day this past Saturday, April 11th, but here is hoping that those that did come out to attend the open house at Woody's House of Hope will spread the word about this mission of Marie Claire's! Skye, the President of the Jesus Loves Me Christian foundation held a fundraiser last year at this time. The first annual "It Takes a Village" Panama raised $3500 in a Coronado held run to support Woody's House of Hope. This is a transitional home for girls needing a place to live and assistance while attending the University in Penonome, Panama. This year Skye held a Money Bomb competition which many were confused and unsure about--the name and what the heck is a MoneyBomb competition. Once the ball got rolling and the message got out, fourteen teams competed raising almost $8,000 for the house! Like Skye herself said on Saturday "it always takes a few weeks to get this going", and boy did it take off!
To read about the teams, go to this link:
In the past month, bulletins were put out on face book and other social media that there would be an Open House-Show n' Tell at Woody's House of Hope. There would be tours given of the house, food (and boy was there ever), music, speeches and a lot of tears (Skye wins the prize on this one! Where was her certificate!). It would be a celebration of the existence of the house, visitors could meet the resident girls and their families, and the house would be on display with projects complete and those that appear never ending shown to one and all!
My really sweet friend, Thea (who sadly was not in town for the event), commented on my face book page about the ongoing project of Hope. She hits it home when she writes that "this is an ongoing project of Hope for the many young Panamanian women, providing them a home, a college education and the Love of Christ through all that take part in Woody's House of Hope!" She also states that the JLM Christian Foundation. org is the vision and mission of MC Beauville, and the work of many!
But the day was not to start without a hiccup. In my previous post, I wrote about the shortage of water. I will knock on wood and try not to jinx myself when I say that this rental house for the last eight months seems to have a never ending supply of water and electricity. Sure, the water pressure has been low during the day (after morning showers) and also at night (while I am tucked in bed) just recently, and, yes, we did lose electricity once before (while we were out of the house running errands and were not in need of it that day), but lo and behold, did we really have to lose power at three am on the Saturday morning of the Open House? Ray and I have wonderful friends, and we knew that we could go to their house to power up our electronics (I had forgotten to do this the night before and wanted to use my tablet for a camera) and cool off if we were without power for the day. But all I really needed electricity for was maybe thirty minutes. Ray had just remarked the day before that the electricity cutting off has not bothered him here, "because it always comes right back on". Not on Saturday. Eight hours later, when we were both out and about, it fortunately popped right back on. I woke bright and early--no longer could I sleep or stay in bed after seven am (I kept listening and waiting for the fan to turn back on in the middle of the night), and I thought I would shower at the last minute before leaving for Penonome. Then I thought about the water pressure that was looking good at that moment, so it made sense to jump into the shower right then. For three hours that morning, until my friend, Nancy, came to pick me up, I gradually grew a little warm. I opened up all the windows in my bedroom (which we never do mostly because we are never in it, but also because there are few cross breezes), and I laid on my bed with my head by the window and a cold, wet towel on my face. And I read Thea's inspirational message. She sent a message out on What's App to the volunteers of House of Hope. The message (broken up and to the best of my memory) was about complaining, and not to do it! It was about being given just twenty four hours in the day, because this is what we can all handle, and tomorrow will be another day. It was about not worrying about tomorrow or getting stuck in the past. She sent hugs, prayers and encouragement for the day. I wrote back to her that it was a perfect message, and I was not complaining (Ray thinks otherwise, but he left the house to run to the bank which is what I should have done to cool off!). I told her I have been given too much good in life to complain, that there was a hot, sunny and blue sky out my window, and I was going to get dressed just as soon as the air conditioning popped on--thinking and knowing all along that Woody's House has no air conditioning. It has heavenly cross breezes, but no man made cool air. Boy, I was trying my hardest to see the good in all! So enough about me! Nancy was early (thank you, Nancy!), and off we went to Penonome chatting all the way. It was so good to catch up with her!
We arrived to the house pretty much before anyone else, chatted with MC, tried to stay out of her way, and we toured the house! I had just been there on Tuesday helping a friend paint the back bedroom, and the transition in three days was amazing! This room that I had helped put just one coat of primer on last week, and was also the room Thea and I tried to make sense of because there was so much stuff (!), is now a beautiful bedroom for MC when she is living in the house on the weekends. It will also be the bedroom for local volunteers and visitors.
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| This is how I left the room four days prior to Open House. We covered the oranges and blues with a primer. |
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| Voila! Many volunteers the day before Open House transform it to this serene room! |
The day before the Open House desks, shelves and bunk beds were built, walls were painted and decorated, floors were swept, all of the items that have been donated to the house that are not needed right now by the girls (meaning those things that might be for children at the orphanage nearby or for boys) were put in storage, and the library was absolutely orderly. I was glad to have MC tell me that there is still work for me in that room. I did not want to leave this burden to those volunteers that were in the house merely to get it ready for the big day!
The party bus arrived a little while after Nancy and I had arrived, and the Money Bomb competitors ran through the backyard and to MC and the girls. Fruit was being chopped, coolers were being filled, and the Pastor at MC's church was busy prepping the chicken paella, salads, tamales and much more for our lunch. Tours were given, and the house was shown off to those that had never been before with explanations along the way being given of what had been done in the past and what was still needing to be done now and in the future. We all gathered outside under the mango tree in the spacious backyard eating lunch and catching up with one another. The Pastor spoke and said a prayer, Skye spoke and gave out certificates to all of the competitors, Marla Diaz from United Realty (this is the company that sponsors the competitions) handed out the winning check to the team Someday Came, the resident girls spoke and thanked everyone, and MC gave an inspirational message to all.
It was a warm, sunny day with a lot of smiles and tears. It is the hope of MC's mission that it spirals and takes off as it has done since that first competition last year! I must say the community came together for this day, and with a dentist on board now along with expats and local Panamanians alike, it looks to be shaping up and coming together for the future!
JLMChristianfoundation.com is the website to find information about House of Hope. EMail at houseofhopepanama@gmail.com for information or to volunteer! Visit and like the facebook page JLM House of Hope Panama, also!
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| Judie helping Marta finish priming her room last week. |
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| Getting the fruit chopped for the salad. |
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| Cake and candy always at a party! There were three cakes! |
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| Paella, tamales, fruit salad and more |
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| MC and Skye inspires us all! |
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| Sign at entrance of house. |
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| The house before the party. It was decked out with orange banners, the fence at the entrance had streamers, and the walls had posters welcoming one and all. |
This is one of the best projects to be involved. Helping girls become well rounded, Educated young women that know that they can be so much more than just.....
ReplyDelete. I love the Ì am Woman`standz. Every time I go shopping, I add $20 for the girls. If everyone did that, what a difference. 3 less boxes of wine.
When I go to Canada and the $1 sales are on at No Frills, I buy 20 tubes of Toothpaste etc etc. etc. These children are the futre of the world. When I think how far Panama has come ...my community village has only been using money for 12 years..wow! They have only had electricity for about 5. And, now, my gardner`s daughter is going to University to be a dentist. My maids girls are going to high school. It takes so little effort on our part - we who have so much. Thank you MC for doing what you do.