The day our eyes opened a bit more.

Today was by far my favorite day. In addition to the continuation of work on both house sites and the greenhouse location, we also had an opportunity to work in the schools during the morning sessions. This time definitely made us appreciate the blessings we have at home, since there were about 130 students all taught by 5 teachers. Today, two of the teachers were out, so our courageous Mr. Bird stepped in to teach a class. Much to his surprise, they were covering math, so it was a crash course in remembering things like improper fractions.

After our lunch time today, we all climbed on the bus for a drive over to the parish’s infirmary. This is a long term facility for those that have no where else to go, so there was a mixture of people who had been abandoned by their family there because they had become too much of a burden, and people that were homeless or were in need of a place because of physical impairments. I have to say that this was by far the hardest part of the trip, because it was so difficult to see the living conditions and hear the stories of the people who lived there. I told our students tonight that I have never been more proud of them than I was today. They reached out to be the tangible hands of Christ by sitting with these people and hearing their stories, or singing praise songs to them, or reading scripture out loud to a few that were blind. When we returned to the house, we spent time just with our students talking about the experience. I would really encourage you to ask your kids about this because they all shared incredible stories and insights into the experience that I know I will not be able to do justice on this blog. I will say, however, that we all walked away with a new perspective that we will carry with us for a lifetime.

Tonight is movie night in the courtyard, and the smell of popcorn is drifting up to this little room where I am furiously typing. I know that some of you are wondering why the kids are not writing any of the blogs, and why you have to hear everything from my perspective. Normally teams are not allowed any access to the internet because they want us to fully engage in our time here. Our group leader is allowing me 15 minutes every night to blog, but students are not allowed into the office. However, the kids are all keeping a journal, so I would encourage you to ask them to share that with you when we get home.

Know that we love you guys and miss you, and are sooooo grateful for your continued prayers and encouragement. The kids love getting the comments and knowing that you following along with our adventure.