Picnics in the Floor

About a month ago, a house in Oromomo caught on fire.  The husband, Tito, was burned over 80% of his body, his 17 year old wife, Dilma, 20% of her body and his oldest daughter (Lizbeth, 3 years old), 20% of her body.  Mariana, the 1 ½ year old baby, was not burned.  The family has been in Cochabamba for about 3 weeks now in a burn center.  Dilma and Lizbeth were released yesterday and they came to live with me!!

The village they are from is in the jungle.  They don’t have electricity, running water, ceramic floors, stoves, showers. . . the list goes on and on.  Someone said, “They are tribal, tribal”, meaning that I have to teach them everything!  For example, how to get water from the kettle, where to put the trash, and how to turn off the lights. 

Dilma told me they prefer to eat on the floor than at a table, so we have a picnic for every meal.  They love chicken and rice.  They don’t care for vegetables. In fact, I served them broccoli last night with their meal.  Later, I found broccoli EVERYWHERE in my house.  Mariana was throwing her broccoli away because she didn’t like it.  In the jungle, they eat outside or on dirt floors, so if they don’t want or like something, just toss it – Mariana had the same concept in my apartment!

They are staying here until they are well enough to return to their village.  My prayer is that Dilma  and I can develop a friendship.  I hope this friendship will open doors for future work in the jungle.  I also want to learn some Tsimane, one of the languages they speak there in Oromomo.  Finally, and most importantly, I am not sure if Dilma is a Christian, so I am praying for her salvation.

P.S.  Oso, my spoiled dog, was very jealous of the babies last night, but as you can see from this picture, he has learned to see the positive side of the story. . .