Inside the House

Let's take a little tour of the home of Tanya and her siblings. It looks larger on the outside than it really is.  This kitchen/bedroom combo is really the only room downstairs. That white tank is a water purification tank that was given to them, so at least they can have safe water to drink.

This is another view of the kitchen/bedroom. They do have a stove, but it doesn't work. They have no refrigerator, although they do have electricity to light the one light bulb. The ladder on the left goes up to the loft. Note the dirt floor.

The loft, used for sleeping and storage. There are a couple more mattresses up here. Three small mattresses, nine people. Don't know how they handle that. Did not see evidence of hammocks. Notice all the "windows" letting in light... and anything else that decides to come in. Part of that wall on the right appears to be plastic...tarps, maybe?

This is their outdoor kitchen, laundry, dishwashing station. They get water pumped into that barrel and any other containers they have available every 8 days. The water must last 8 days for 9 people. Susan told me that she had bought 3 additional jugs of drinking water for the kids because the workers are drinking it up rather quickly.

I just learned from Susan that the kids' mother IS on the island. Whether she left the island and came back, we do not know. Susan was up in the colonia taking some photos recently when she encountered the little guy, Roberto, on the path with a woman whom he introduced as his mother. Susan was stunned. She took the photo of them together and then showed it to the kids' neighbor who attends our church. She said, in Spanish, that the woman didn't live with the kids. Susan later showed the photo to the older girls. They identified her as their mother but said that she does not live with them.

This new development bestows added wisdom on the decision made by Pastor Chuck and Larry to not try to repair the current house, but to build a new house on the land. The new house will be in the kids' names ONLY, so if the parents return and try to take the house, they cannot. There is enough available land right there to do this. They had also thought that perhaps the kids could rent out the old house for some additional income.

Susan also told me that Tanya and the younger boys are going to the school on the beach, how regularly she doesn't know. Someone provided them with uniforms and backpacks. It's not a good school, but it is better than nothing.

Construction on the new house has begun.

More to come on this topic....