Casa and Carlos

I have two thoughts to share today.
My first is about Casa Jackson. When I began working there, it seemed like most of the kids were pretty healthy. This is because they were. A lot of the babies were nearly finished with their time at Casa. For this reason, a lot of the kids have since gone home (or in the case of Antonio and his brother [and my favorite kid at Casa] José Luís, to a ¨children´s center¨ because of custody issues and problems in their home). Currently, Casa is emptying out. I have been told three more kids are going home tomorrow or Friday. At that point, there will only be five kids at Casa. This is good for the kids, but bad for me. It´s fantastic that the kids are healthy enough to go home (along with some nutrition and health education for the families) but I miss them. Also, Casa with just a few very young, very weak babies is less fun that Casa with six or seven active toddlers. My complaining about this situation is pretty much useless, but I thought I´d write it anyway, as it is what I spend my time thinking about. I should also add that Casa will be, of course, admitting more children. They are going on a field visit on Monday to scope out some more sick kids.
And speaking of rescues... (Please excuse my arrogant Western volunteer attitude.)
Last Friday I was hanging out at the Dreamer Center (the project´s Guatemalan headquarters) with some other volunteers and this 10-yearl-old kid, Carlos, comes up and talks to us. In general, the kids at the Dreamer Center are super-affectionate and friendly, and this one especially so. He taught me and the other volunteers a couple of hand-clapping games (like ¨Miss Mary Mack¨ but faster and furiously Guatemalan) and had a good time laughing at our inadequacies. Also, every time he cracked up, I would too, and vice versa. We laughed much mroe than it really made sense to. I´m pretty sure he was amused by my goofy smile/teeth and I was just amused by his extreme giggly-ness. Anyway, Carlos was a good time.
Yesterday, I was talking to some other volunteers, and they told me about Carlos´s awful past. He was a victim of both sexual abuse and child trafficking until the project more or less ¨rescued¨ him. He´s now the adopted son of Bernardo, one of the GCP´s employees.
I really have no words for this. I am so amazed at how Carlos can go on being as fun and carefree as he is after what he´s gone through. I can´t imagine how that has affected him. I might extend this idea to all of Guatemala. It´s wild to think that people just go about their ordinary lives less than 15 years after a civil war and under what is currently more or less a failed state.
Something to ponder, I guess.
Oh, and one last thing: I might mention, though I shouldn´t be counting, that today marks my first complete month here. And so far, I am very glad I am here. Hope all is well wherever you are.