March 14th through the 17 (Monday through Thursday) was also a pretty normal week. The most unusual thing was hosting a huge group of high school students staying at the house. They were visiting from Phoenix during their Spring Break and stayed Sunday through Saturday. Their main chaperone was Jim who I was finally able to meet. For those of you who don't know, Jim is the deacon of the church my family attends in Phoenix and is a long time supporter of NPH. I learned about NPH and applied here because of that connection and Jim was kind enough to talk to me a few times throughout the application process about NPH and what to expect here. I was very excited to finally put a face to the voice. Another chaperone with the group was Tommy. Tommy turned out to be doubly connected to me as well: not only did he volunteer at NPH for a year and half, but he also went to school with my cousins in Phoenix. Small world, right? I love finding these crazy connections.
We had our first official volunteer meeting on Wednesday with Marinay, the new volunteer coordinator. And yes, this is huge news. I didn't realize just how great it was to have a volunteer coordinator here until that meeting. She's already making life so much easier! Tommy ended up crashing to give us some feedback on his volunteer experience as well as helpful advice for the rest of our time here.
Thursday night was a hard night for me. One of my favorite girls was punished for something by running laps around the front lawn and when she got back she told me she'd been thinking about how easy it would be to just leave the house. This resulted in a pretty long conversation over the course of which I learned a lot more about her background before coming to here. She's been a part of the house for about 7 years now and has family (extended) relatively close by. She never mentioned a mother, but said her father was a drunk and stated that one of the good parts of NPH was that she had plenty to eat which suggests neglect on the father's part. At the time, I think I successfully talked her out of doing anything rash, but I was really worried I would come back after my descanso to find her gone. Thankfully, that did not happen and I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see her Monday morning. This is one of those girls who if she did leave, I'm not sure I could stay myself. Definitely a scary yet necessary conversation to have with her if she was at all considering leaving. It's easy sometimes to forget that most of the kids here have these kinds of histories and it's important to keep that in mind when reacting to different behaviors. I'm sorry to say, her story is also one of the more tame ones here. The vastness of this and my inability to relate is overwhelming at times, but it also helps keep things in perspective. All I can do is give as much love and patience and time as I can and hope it's enough for now!
