It has been almost 4 months since my precious
partner in crime and comedy joined her paternal grandparents and a host of
other friends and family. I miss her more and more each day, but find joy in a
closer bond I share with Sheila and time with an extremely active 6 year-old!
So, if you are one of those thinking, “get over it, already” please understand
we will never get over it. I’m not Job. Thankfully, law enforcement and the
local prosecutor’s office closed the case against me and families signed off on
seeking no further legal or civil action. Thanks to the Mision Para Cristo
construction team for their work in completing the cemetery work.
We completed 2015 having screened vision of the
children at 24 of the schools Misión Para Cristo is affiliated with. That adds
up to about 2,337 pairs of eyes. Of that number 57 children received new
glasses. We also screened vision of approximately 280 children who are part of
the One Child Matters program based out of the mission.
Sheila and various crews from the US saw
approximately 710 clients in the clinic. Of those she dispensed glasses to 630
of them. That makes about an 89% success rate. If you add to that those who
were referred to the ophthalmologist or optometrist, her success rate would be
closer to 96%. The clinic did not begin seeing clients until April and operated
sparingly during the months of October and November. We will resume
school-based and clinic screening once school begins in the next couple of
months and after I have finished some much needed remodeling in our clinic.
Sheila, the boy and I went to Managua on Dec. 14 to
sign the official documents at the ministry of family giving us permission to
go to the family court to legally change the boy’s last name to Holland. This
week we hired an attorney to represent us and he is anticipating that this
final process will take about two months. Then there will be another legal
Holland! Watch out world! I am very excited to begin sharing pictures of this
entertaining, compassionate and bright little boy. Wait until you see the two
of us together. You will think we are twins separated by 45 years.
Sunday programs for children are beginning the
registration process. Two of the talented young men here in Jinotega gave free
haircuts to children of the market and staff in preparing for the new school
year.
Sight For Sore Eyes Foundation, Inc. is now
registered as an official charity with the Amazon Smiles program. Please
consider including us in your Amazon purchases. There is no additional cost to
you, but Amazon donates a percentage to the charity you choose…Hopefully us! Go
to Smile.Amazon.com and start giving without hurting.
The year-end activities, such as Smile Box
distribution went very smoothly once the containers were released from customs.
The customs process here seems to change yearly. Nevertheless, the boxes
started getting to the hands of the children and everyone has been very happy.
We had a chance to celebrate with the youth who
facilitate the children’s program in Apanas. This is a group I’ve mentioned
before – about 10 to 12 young ladies (and a couple of guys who pop in and out,
based on which girls are there to help on any given Saturday) ages 13-16, who
live in extreme poverty. During the holidays, these kids gathered clothes and vegetables
and took them to about 15 families who live in the municipal dump. THAT is the
spirit of Christmas.
We were blessed in December to have Sheila’s
parents, John and Elma Clark, of Deming, NM, visit for about three weeks. We
were honored to share in celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary
with a dinner Sheila and her mother cooked up for about 75 guests at our home.
We also celebrated her mother’s 81st and father’s 82nd birthdays
while they were visiting.
We also enjoyed time visiting the beach in the San
Juan del Sur area of Nicaragua, which has become a surfers’ paradise. No, we
didn’t. We did, however, get to see endangered Green Sea Turtle hatchlings
being released into the surf one morning.
To get the close up pictures I wanted of this baby
I named, “Spot,” I sat down low on the sand. At one point I moved into the surf
to get photos of him/her entering the water. As is the way waves work, I got
swamped while my attention and camera were pointed inland. When I gathered my
senses enough to recognize there was a buzzing in the crowd and shutters were
clicking I realized the excitement I thought I was missing was actually the
crowd reacting to what they thought was a beached whale. It was just me.
We have had some unexpected expenses (repair,
storage and towing costs of borrowed vehicle breaking down on vacation and
having to rent a vehicle for a few days, for example) and are looking for some
additional financial assistance. While our ultimate hope would be to find an
additional congregation for more permanent support, we have some mediate to
intermediate needs to address. Below are brief explanations.
·
Computer $550: On the way to the beach
with the in-laws my computer was accidently baptized. It is useless and we are
holding on to the hope that the hard drive can be recovered.
·
Adoption $1200: This is what the attorney
fees will be. He has said there will be no further expenses by him so with his
fee and a couple of months the adoption process should be over.
·
Cemetery $1200: While all other
funeral-related expenses are paid, the cement work at the cemetery, which is in
the final stages of completion at this writing, still need to be paid. The
mission provided the labor, saving several hundreds of dollars.
·
Eyeglass Clinic Office $200: With the
addition of the eyeglass inventory system Sheila began using last year we are
needing to make better use of the office space the mission gives us. That means
adding wall-to-wall shelving.
·
Vehicle $5000: Obviously our vehicle was
a total loss after the accident. Initially we anticipated sharing mission
vehicles but are concerned about the practicality of that. While workable, it
is not completely feasible for a family to have total access and for the
mission to have the vehicles needed to do their work.
We continue to strive for peace in difficult times
as our faith is shaken and our beliefs are challenged. Even the simple prayer
is difficult. Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to adapt and
continue with life and the daily struggle it presents.
Jonathan, Sheila and “the Boy” Holland
