Well, what a wonderful weekend, spent far off the beaten path, in a village called Tortugero, near Palenque ( as in the town of the famous Mayan Ruins). We made a visit to see Rebeca and her family at their home. I traveled with the singing missionary family, Andres, Anna, and children, Andrew, Debbie, Tommy. (That is another story..). Rebeca’s mom, Eunice, is Andres’ niece. They were instrumental in working with Dr. Rich Silver to bring Beckie to the U.S. for surgery on her rare Ovarian tumors.
Their village, tho in hot lowland, sits at the edge of a rocky mountain ridge. They live with parents, and various aunts, uncles, and extended family. Rebeca greeted us in front of their home at the edge of the road as we drove up the steep hill. It was a rocky, bottom busting ride off the main road for about an hour.
She is hale and hardy, happy and healthy. Her parents are still in awe of the miracle that happened and of their time in the U. S. She is healthier than she ever has been, as she began her terrible odyssey at the age of 2 . She brightly told us she was now “seven”, in English. She is missing her front teeth, and she is in 2nd grade. Her dad told us he used some of the money we gave them to pay for school fees, about $150 per year, a fee that is impossible for many.
Rebeca's sister, Ema is a beautiful 16 year old, and is in her junior year of high school. They are fortunate that the “Prepa” is in their town, tho she walks a long distance each day to get there. Our donations have enabled her to stay in school . She wants to study nursing. 😀. Rebeca’s illness was hard on Ema, to watch her little sister suffer. She was near death at one point, and the family was separated for long periods of time during Beckie’s Illness. They are so happy to be together again!
I discovered more information on their past life, living in another village where they had their own house and land. Due to Beckie’s illness, and to persecution when they stayed neutral during a split of churches, they were forced to leave, when the threats got physical. They settled in the village of Tortuguero with Eunice’s parents.
The arrangement works well, as the extended family support each other. Bernardino is a carpenter, works on furniture and currently has some orders to make church benches. Eunice cooks for construction workers when they are working in the area. They have pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, 4 puppies, a parrot who eats tortillas and says “Dias”, AND, a one month old fawn they found in the forest, after its mother was killed. He is bottle feeding and they named him Bambi!
Bernardino minds his brother’s cattle on the hillside, and with our money, purchased a steer for himself. Unfortunately, just recently, the cow was blatantly stolen. The thief came at night with a truck apparently, and drove off into the unknown. Some of the neighbors and village people have been jealous of the American contacts and wonder where he got the money to come to the U.S. Sad. Perhaps with the new $500 gift, they can purchase a new calf. $500 is the exact purchase price.
We celebrated with a traditional Ch’ol meal, fresh eggs and oranges and coffee grown nearby. Lots of hugs and reminiscing and photo taking. Beckie was delighted to see her Eagle, left at the Luke’s house. Eagle was with her in the hospital. She also played the violin for us! Needs a little Improvement! Andrew worked with her and they hope to find someone to teach her.
A sweet, God blessed day. Greetings to all of you from Rebeca’s family.
