Saturday April 6, 2019

Greenbank-Seagrave Mission Team

Saturday April 6

Breakfast was at 7:30 am – eggs, black beans, fresh fruit, fried plantains and peanut butter!!! Carmen is an amazing cook and we are so lucky to have her serving us again!  Pick up was at 8am and Enrique is our van driver for the week.  It is a half hour drive to the School of Hope where our “home base” will be for the week.

Sorting

Judy, Cathy and Juli spent the morning unpacking, sorting and repacking the 35, fifty pound bags of donated items.  They sorted the 460 goody bags for the boys and girls that the team will work with over the next week.  They had a little help from the boys with all the athletic equipment.  Unfortunately last night upon our arrival, it rained, so many of our bags were damp this morning and needed to be unpacked, aired out and dried before we could re-sort it.

Build a Classroom

Stan and Doug worked at the new addition of the School of Hope.  They dug holes down to the footings for additional support. It was warm work in the sun and working in the high altitude was very noticeable.  They then went to the school to blow up all the balls for the picnic and for the schools. 

Build a Stove

Rod and Kelly had a very productive day! They worked with a talented mason and almost completed a stove in just one morning. The family was so happy with the donated gifts that they received. They have never meet people that had so little but smiled so much. A great start to a busy week!

Build a Home

After gathering supplies at the School of Hope, Dianne, Brian, Krista and Stephanie headed to the first work site, to meet our build-a-home family.  They were excited to meet this family, as our team member, and Minister, Stephanie's sponsored family was the recipient of the home.  Demaris - Stephanie's sponsored child greeted us happily at the gate of the town lot with the rest of her family.

The forms had been pre-set by Loving Arms helpers, and they set forth with the team to hand mix the cement, rocks and sand, in a pit they made on the ground.  They wheelbarrowed over 30 wheelbarrows of cement into the forms, and smoothed the cement in preparation for the next group to put the walls up on a subsequent day.

They rotated entertaining the children with hopscotch, pockets of hard candy and small toys.  Stephanie helped the children write their names with rocks in the sand.  She also helped the family imprint their hands into the cement pad for a lifetime memory.

As they were finishing, we watched one of the ladies work on an intricate fabric weave.  They noticed that many of the women’s shirts were the same pattern as the weave she was working on.  As she worked, her baby rested quietly in a sling on her back.  She was very proud of her work and eager to show off her work.

As they waited for their ride, they had a lovely conversation with some of the other ladies, using Google Translate.  They were so happy to find out that one of them could read Spanish.

After about 3.5 hours of work, their ride came, and they headed back to the School of Hope for lunch.  They left the helpers - one of whom was a member of the family to complete the removal of the forms and finish the smoothing.  They were very hard workers.  They all left the site sweaty, dirty and sunburnt.  It was a very rewarding morning for all.

 

Picnic

We were graced with really good weather as we welcomed 14 sponsored children (69 guests). These children are all sponsored by Greenbank, Seagrave and Port Perry supporters or our team members.  We were fortunate to bring care packages for the children and their families.  

We played soccer games, parachute games, bubbles and stickers, and BELLS!  

They kids really enjoyed their time together. It was alive with laughter and good cheer…even before we served cake and juice! It was amazing that some of the children had never seen a juice box and we had to show them how to use it.

  Each team member was blessed to sit with each family as they received their gifts.  They were so full of gratitude and thanks not only for the “regalo” (gifts) but for the monthly sponsorships that allow them to go to school and provide food for their families. 

 It was an emotional but rewarding time together, and we are all excited to build on those relationships this week.

 

We arrived back at La Hotel Merced at about 5:15 exhausted.  Carmen had dinner ready for 6 – chicken, rice and vegetables. Everyone was happy to have hot showers to clean up and we have enjoyed the evening writing our blog and sharing pictures and stories of the day.  We built our wall of sponsorship and all took a moment in gratitude for all the help that we have had over the last year to get us here.  In deepest gratitude, we say thank you.

We are excited for tomorrow!

GS Mission Team