THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting"

                                                                                                       ~ Charles Kingsley

Brad Pitt and Angelina, Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Gosling, Katie Perry, George Clooney – they ain’t got nothing…I want to tell you the story of the real beautiful people.

Enter Julio, Roberto, Carlitos and Byron; the troublesome bunch that I was fortunate enough to have lunch with not so long ago. They live together at a care facility called Hermano Pedro in Antigua, Guatemala, and are four of the approximately 250 adults and children that live in this facility. Hermano Pedro cares for people with severe mental disabilities (and the resulting physical disabilities) and is run by the Catholic Church. Many of the patients have no family as they were abandoned at a young age, others will see their families a few times a year and others are fortunate to get regular visits. Fortunately, they have a great number of volunteers so have the company of someone most days.

It is always a special experience to visit our friends at Hermano Pedro, so recently when Lisa, Jessalyn and I (co-founders and full-time volunteers at smallchange4bigchange*) had the opportunity to take these darling young men out for lunch we didn’t hesitate.

Pollo Campero was the destination (similar to KFC – and yes, not the most nutritious lunch, but they love it!). So, with wheelchair seatbelts fastened and bibs at the ready we made our way through the streets of Antigua to Pollo Campero – no mean feat given that the streets are all cobblestone and our young men are getting heavy from all the love they get at Hermano Pedro. It is hard to describe the emotion that these guys have just getting to spend some time outside but when they know they are on their way to Pollo Campero they are outrageous. Shrieks and squeals, and shouts and screams we were seated and ordered our meals.

Chicken nuggets, fries and an ice cream sundae later it is hard to know whether more food went into Roberto’s mouth or all over he and I, but he’s happy; grinning from ear to ear as we head towards the playground – the slide is beckoning him. With Lisa as catcher at the bottom we send him down the slide to great laughter and giggling. This is the most pure moment of happiness you are likely to experience on this earth.

These are the real beautiful people. Four young men stuck in bodies that they can’t get out of; and two beautiful women – Lisa and Jessalyn, whom I am fortunate to experience these moments with. Beauty isn’t botox and a bikini body, beauty is the natural aurora that all of these people boast. I am blessed to have them in my life.

You can see a few photo’s of our outing at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508297569181551.121199.421391797872129&type=1

*Sidenote: smallchange4bigchange is a small non-profit co-founded by Lisa, Jessalyn and I (we are all full-time volunteers). Our focus is sustainable development of rural communities in Guatemala but we also spend some of our ‘free-time’ volunteering at various other ministries. To find out more please check out our website www.smallchange4bigchange.org or facebook page at www.facebook.com/smallchange4bigchange