"Ah-Chee-Knee"

My adorable twin cousins: Braedon and Brodie

One of my childhood dreams was to be a twin.  And, when I finally realized that that was impossible, the dream changed.  I settled on one day having twins.

Here in Brazil, there are many tribal, or indiginous people groups.  For most Americans, this is very hard to even picture.  Communities of people that rely on spears, bows, and arrows for their food, dry wood for their fire, and fruits for their dye seem so pre-20th century.  We typically only hunt as a hobby or fish for fun.

Banana trees at "Ah-che-knee"

In some of these tribes, when children are born with disabilities, whether physical or mental, the child is considered a threat to the tribe.  If a woman has twins, they are also considered a threat.  These threats are considered dangerous, and must be destroyed.  The parents are obligated to bury the child(ren) alive to get rid of this threat.  Not all parents bury the children alive.  There have been some cases where the parents have even poisoned themselves to avoid having to kill their own children.  Yet, not everyone that has twins or children with disabilities submit to these tribal laws.

Me painting at Atini

Last weekend, I was able to go with a group to a place called "Atini," pronounced "Ah-chee-knee" in Portuguese.  Atini is a non-profit organization that was created for the purpose of giving a voice indigenous people that do not agree with the practice of infanticide, thus, providing a safe place for those families to live and helping fight for the Brazilian government to help meet these peoples needs.

Atini is located on what I would call a "community campground."  There are small homes, meeting places, cooking areas, etc. all located on a beautiful Brazilian plot of land.

Group Picture!  

Our group went for the purpose of painting, organizing, and cleaning up a small building that will be used for educational purposes.  One of the rooms will be used as a small computer lab (4 computers), another as a library/resource room, and the other as a classroom.  It was kind of like a one day "mission trip."  We had an awesome team of teenagers and families.

Lunch

For lunch, we all ate together with everyone, including indigenous people.  They cooked a meal outside with fish, chicken, and a tortilla-like bread made from mandioca, or yucca root.  The food was delicious!

Some houses at Atini

 All in all the day was awesome.  With the exception of a few, we are not necessarily skilled in the areas we served, but we were able to work together to leave the building clean, organized, and nicely painted.

We were able to encourage the workers at Atini to keep on, even in the midst of difficulty.

Pray for Atini.

Pray for the people in the tribes that are standing up against infanticide.

Pray for God to use this shelter to share His love with the indigenous people.

The Finished Library/Resource Room

The small schoolhouse we worked on.

The couple that currently serve at Atini