Clark and I were chased by dogs on our run. I was fine
with running by, but Clark thought they were aggressive. We walked until we
passed them, but finished our mile.
Today, we went to the dump. After this, our group split
and served as relief for the house building teams. Finally, we spent the time
before dinner at Casa de Esperanza.
The dump was nothing like last year. Marc asked that we
not bring items for distribution because he does not want inhabitants to think they get stuff whenever a bus arrives. Instead we
distributed food and spent time with them. There was a gentleman that I thought
was being a menace to our ladies. He was in his fifties and spoke
very broken Spanish. When Joel asked me to handle it, so I saw it as an
opportunity to work on my Spanish. Twenty minutes later, Karol told me he was
drunk and speaking nonsense. Way to go Joel.
Next, we built a home on a secluded farm for a family that was the target of
a local gang. They were relocating outside of the city in refuge. The
site was shaded well, but tight and muddy. While we were there Melissa (Heidi's
sister) caught a baby chick and passed it around for us to hold. It was neat.
We
arrived at Casa de Esperanza well before the other group. I spent about 30min
in a back room playing with five month old twins Olman and Josue. Soon Marc arrived and told
me it was okay to take Olman outside for the rest of the group. Once outside I
also played with Sisi, Hailey and Nohemy as the jumped on the trampoline.
As I observed, a little boy made his way below the
trampoline on which the kids jumping. He looked one or two years old. I scooped
him up to make him safe. He didn't smile, but sat with a troubling scowl. As Debbie reached for him,
he clung to me and buried his face in my chest. He was very shy and very
guarded. Anytime someone came by to hold him, they were denied. Then Logan came
along. He lit up bright as day. He began laughing and playing with him and did
not want to leave him. I could tell Logan had shown him a great deal if love.
This day gave me a glimpse of how a parent feels about
work and their children. Before visiting Casa, I was extremely exhausted. I
wanted nothing more than to go home, shower and sleep. I was not 'in the mood'
to entertain children. However, when we arrived and I saw their carefree,
smiling faces my fatigue faded away. It was as if I was never tired.
"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me:
for of such is the kingdom of heaven"- Matthew 19:14
No comments:
Post a Comment