April 29, 2010

Before I talk about the CFCA Christmas party, I’d like to clarify a statement that I made in the last blog for those of you who may not be familiar with the way CFCA works with the sponsored children and aging and their families. I mentioned that the primary source of income for Lupita’s family was the sponsorship of the children. What I did not mention was that not money, but rather the benefits the money provides, goes to the family. The specific benefits a family receives in any given month is based on the actual needs of the family. It may be food, clothing, school supplies, medical or dental care, or any number of other things that would assist the sponsored person.

The evening of the Christmas party in Panaba, I arrived with the rest of the Tizimin staff. Shortly after our arrival, Lupita noticed me talking to someone and promptly came over to greet me. After talking to me for a couple of minutes, she asked whether or not her sponsor was also there. I guess she thought that he might be since the last time there had been a CFCA event (during the MAT), we had been there together. I told her that he was not there, that he had had to go home. Then she talked about him for a bit and about some of the things he had told her. Their sponsors mean so much to these kids.

When it was time for the program to begin, she led me to the front and showed me where to sit. She was the first performer on the program. Dressed in a red Santa’s helper outfit that her grandmother had made by hand, she sang a Christmas song. As I mentioned previously, she is a natural performer and is in her element on the stage. When she was done, she came and sat on my lap. As is the custom, Santa made his appearance and began handing out wrapped presents to all the sponsored. Lupita waited patiently as names were called, but when her brothers’ names were called and hers was not, she became a bit agitated and went to talk to the project director. I assume that her name must have been added toward the end since she had been sponsored so recently, but she was afraid that she was going to be forgotten. When her name was finally called, she breathed a sigh of relief and went to thank Santa and receive her present. Even though she was so excited about receiving it, she didn’t unwrap it. She already knew what it was – a new towel – and she seemed happy to just hold it.

Then it was time to eat. She went and got my food and brought it to me, then went and got hers. I couldn’t eat everything on my plate, so I planned to take it home. As she snuggled on my lap for the rest of the program, she noticed that I hadn’t eaten everything. I told her I was going to take the rest along home with me. “Oh,” she said, ‘you must have a refrigerator.” “Yes,” I replied, “I do.” Then, because I thought her question a bit unusual, I asked her if they had a refrigerator. “No,” she answered, “we don’t.”

Lupita’s grandmother, who was seated behind us, told her several times to get off my lap, that she was bothering me. I told her that she was not bothering me in the least, that she was  welcome to stay with me if she wanted to. It was quite chilly that evening, but neither Lupita nor her brothers had jackets on.  When I saw her shivering, I took my jacket off  and wrapped it around her. Before long I noticed that she had fallen asleep. Her grandmother also noticed and commented that that was what Lupita and her brothers were missing most, a mother. As she lay there contentedly sleeping in my lap, her still unopened present clutched to her chest, I found myself giving thanks that I could provide a lap for her to find comfort in and arms to hold her so that she felt safe enough and content enough to sleep, and I found myself wondering if she had ever before in her life received a Christmas present.

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