We're up to day 3! In predictable fashion, I'm finding that my week on the diet is dragging by MUCH slower than the week in Nicaragua. My coworkers are now joking that I'm visibly losing weight in front of them. On a positive note, they all know about my diet and why I'm doing it. I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about it with colleagues. Hope you enjoy installment 3 of my trip journal.
Tuesday, August 6th. Day 3 was our "hump day", and our longest day yet. We went to the Verbo school, the church/feeding center, and got a quick tour of the future orphanage site, the quarry, and the dump. What a whirlwind!
The school is past the soccer field
At the school, we split into two groups and went to visit classrooms. My team (Shireen, Stephanie, Logan, May, Wilson, and me) went to 4 classes, where we spoke on nutrition and hygiene. We started out disjointed but got to the point where we had a general order and transitions between topics. We even sang a song printed off the UNICEF website that put washing instructions to the tune of "La Cucaracha" in Spanish. The 3rd graders were the most responsive, the 6th graders the least. I know, against all expectations, right?
Family under a tent breaking rocks
From there, we visited the quarry and dump; both were heartbreaking. The quarry had all ages, from small kids to adults, chipping rocks to make gravel. Whole families worked there, with parents keeping kids out of school so they could work and support the family. At the dump, people picked out garbage for recyclable materials, which they turned in for money at the dump. I cannot imagine spending 8 hours a day just chipping rocks or picking over trash. The dump is significantly improved. The government of Denmark came in and built new facilities a few years ago where scavengers can turn in their recyclables. It's a great improvement, although it doesn't change that families still scavenge to live day to day.
Finally, we went to the church and did Vacation Bible School sessions and some work. It stopped raining, so we were able to begin the roof installation and painting the hand washing station. Around 4:30, we started home, but stopped by the orphanage construction site, which was just the bones that will be turned into a full facility. We prayed over the site, where we hope many kids will find family and God!
Porch time was rich. Three team members shared their testimonies. All were good, but a couple of folks teared up, which really demonstrated our vulnerability with each other and definitely brought the group closer. I think the young ladies have really been impacted by this trip, I am praying that they will have a renewed passion following this trip (and the rest of us, too)!
Hindsight View: Something that I haven't brought up before, but that was a constant throughout our week was "Porch Time". At the end of each day, we would gather together (usually on a porch) and look back through the day. We started with the phrase "Remember when...", then transitioned to "I saw Jesus when...", then talk about some Bible passages or through some themes that Logan or Shireen brought to the group. For example: I remember when young men would blow kisses at one of our girls in the back of the truck and Jon would blow kisses back. I saw Jesus when I saw a child put their meal in a small plastic bag they brought and skip lunch, so they could give the food to one of their siblings at home.
It still hits me. Some kids get just one meal, and they care so much for their little brother or sister, that they eat a bare minimum and take the rest for others.
Porch time was when we could slow down and digest what we experienced during the day. While we were all in the same general place, we each saw events through different lenses and often had vignettes that only we experienced. For instance, May was "kidnapped" to an orchard, where the kids tried to get her to eat the fruit. With so many things coming at us fast and furious, it was important that we get to think back over it and understand what all we saw and did. Especially after seeing the deep need and difficult situations at the quarry and dump. That kind of poverty boggles the mind, especially for folks that have never seen anything like it before. I'm so glad we had team members there that could help us navigate that gut wrenching, visceral experience night after night.
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