Thursday, Dec13th: Let There Be Water

This morning at the devotional Jorge asked if anyone had anything prepared. What?! Aren't you supposed to be leading us? We were kinda floored..especially Lauren, cause he turned to her specifically. The fear in her eyes was recognized and he quickly went into a testimony of his first well.  Good story and lesson about being careful not to think you have it all figured out and under control, because God will send you a curve ball to remind you that He's in control. I really enjoyed his story.

After breakfast, we headed out to the village. This is our last day here so I am feeling a bit sad, but pray to make the best of the day. We were a little early and have all been very curious about the school the children attend that we asked Ernesto to drive us up to see it. This is it; its divided into 4 rooms with windows at the top. There is also a well at the school that Living Water put in not long ago. I thought it was strange that the two wells were so close together (the one we are drilling is about 1/4 mile down the road) but after I thought about carrying buckets of water for several round trips of that 1/4 mile, I no longer thought it strange.

 The kids were once again waiting for us at our usual spot. Rosa (below) is sporting these awesome sneakers after just having her bath. Unfortunately, they came off about an hour later and her feet were greeted with the dirt. Its such a losing battle for them out here with all the dirt.

 So happy that Josh got a little time to play with the kids. The morning was slow for them so he took advantage of it.

 Today we start with Karen's Bible story, Fish for Breakfast. The kids love this story and the goldfish crackers that Theresa brought for them, they each got a handful. Then we had a fabulous craft planned and we have learned over the chaos during crafts of the last couple of days that we needed a more organized way of doing it. So we had stations for the kids to bring up their fish and get and eye, glue, then glitter. Theresa and Karen had a little competition over whose color of glitter was most popular. We laid them out to dry on the tarp and I think they came out fabulous! Estebana, one of the mothers (I like to call her the mother hen of the village because all the kids listen to her!), was with us today to help keep the kids a little under control. They were so rowdy today!

 When we walked back up to the site for lunch, the drillers were getting ready to see if we hit water. And then it just exlpoded out of the pipe!! So exciting! They had to let it run for a while into the street to flush out the well.

Josh and Jim

We found out that we would be back tomorrow for a few final things to be done to the well and for the dedication, so I was happy that we got one more day to see everyone. After lunch, Theresa did a re-inactment of the Good Samaritan. The children colored the injured man and then we taped him to their shoulder. They loved this! We let them free color with markers for a bit so we could set up for the beaded bracelet craft. Everyone did a bracelet, even the teenage boys and Estabana! I really hope that they keep them for a long time so they can remember our time together.

We get ready to get the sports bag out and the kids are so excited! I took a turn with Theresa and helped the children with the popitas (bubbles) so that I could sit for a little bit. I feel sort of run down today. This was fun because the children's faces light up when the bubbles are blown and I love seeing their smiles! Guadalupe asked me to throw a frisbee with him so I spent the rest of our playtime doing that. At one point I was throwing 3 different frisbees to 3 kids. Luckily, they all had pretty good aim and I never took one in the face!

 At one point Lauren and I looked over and found some of the women huddled together, looking at the beautiful pictures of these children's Bibles that Theresa brought to give to the church. They sat like that for a long time. I was overwhelmed by the sight because you just don't see that in churches these days. We take simple things for granted everyday. I will forever remember this moment.

 Estebana, watching over the children.

 Jason Antonio

 This is a picture of the bathroom that we used (the one on the left).

 As the day came to a close, we came back to this. The well almost complete!

 Randy with the plaque that will be placed by the well.

 Some of the local men mixed together the concrete for us and laid it around the well.

 Me, Lauren, and DeAnna

 The hygiene gals took to some shade while we waited for the men.

Rob, Katarin, and Jim

Placing the plaque. We left after this, and tomorrow when we get here the concrete will be dry and we can put the head of the well together and hopefully pump out clean water for the village!

For dinner we had grilled chicken, my favorite meal of the whole trip! It was so yummy! So many of us went back to the kitchen to ask for another piece! As we get ready for bed, Lauren and I talked a little about the kids and who we felt we had formed bonds with. I felt a strong connection with Juan Carlo and his brothers and I will miss them very much! Especially Juan Carlo's smile!

Tomorrow is really our last day in the village. I cannot believe how quickly the week went by. Jorge told us at the beginning of the week that it would be Saturday before we knew it and I kinda thought he was just saying that, but turns out that its true. I realize how sad I am that the week is almost over. 

Wednesday, Dec 12th: Starting To Feel It

I woke up this morning, hotter than usual, only to find out or A/C unit had stopped working! Found out the water breaker went out and they had to turn off the breaker, which happened to be the one for the A/C. Since we don't use the water there, except to take a shower, it wasn't really a huge concern. But then when I wanted to go to the restroom before we left and found that you couldn't flush, I was in trouble! We had to carry buckets of water (from outside) to fill the tank up so that the toilet would flush. I am blessed.

Since I taught my lessons on Monday and Tuesday, I was looking forward to just being with the kids and not having to stress over whether I would relay the lesson well. To start out, Theresa and Lauren teach their lessons to just the moms, so Karen and I have the children color on the tarp. They like it, but for some it quickly becomes boring. I've noticed that some of the kids are warming up to us as the days go on and are acting out a little and listening less. So we start a game of 'pato, pato, pollo' to run out some of their energy. After the adults are tired, we gather them to the chairs so Lauren can teach them about tooth brushing.

 

After the lesson, we have them make tooth puppets out of paper bags. They really enjoy this. While the children are working on that, we notice that one of the kids is going over to Santo's water bucket and helping himself to some water. Daniella (Santo's daughter) sees this and quickly goes over to fill a water jug and sets it out for them, but with only one cup. As sweet as that was for her to do, we have to gently tell them that its not ok to share cups. There are lots of germs that are shared when you do that. We could tell that her feelings were hurt a little, but it was our job to at least tell them. Unfortunately, the reality of their life, in most cases, doesn't permit the houses to have a cup for each person, so we realize that its kind of a losing battle. If they don't have more than one cup, how can we expect them to not share when they want a drink of water?

 As we break for lunch, we see some of the drillers have come over to one of the houses to cut the pipe. Josh is cutting slits about one inch apart on 3 sides of the large PVC pipe that will be at the bottom of the well. This will be so the water from the aquifer can seep through the slits and up the pump.

 Caught a picture of Kent playing soccer with one of the kids when we were walking up for lunch. The drillers didn't get much time to play with the kids, so with today being a little lighter in work for them, they took the chance when they got one.

 Lunch today was hot dogs. If you know me, I don't care for hot dogs, but it was lunch so I ate one.

 Then its back to work for the guys...they are inserting the large PVC into the 160 ft hole to serve as the walls for the well. They have to glue each piece together.

 My handsome hubby. Even though we didn't see much of each other during the day, I am so happy we came on this trip together!

 The cows are leaving so this signals us its time to head back to the class area. I don't know if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but the cows from all over the community would basically herd themselves to the pasture at the end of the main road (my guess is about 1/2 mile) around 1:30 and then they would come home about 4:30. As the houses come up, each cow would just break off from the herd and head to their house. It was so funny!

We started the afternoon off with an acting out of the good Samaritan.

 

 Look how many kids we had this afternoon! Close to 50 kids! And their attention span was short today so we didn't do the Bible lesson and instead let them play with some play dough. They loved this! We let them put their play dough in their tooth puppet bag so they could take it home.

While the kids were busy with the play dough, Santo's pig got off its leash so Brian took off after it. It was so funny because the pig just kinda pulled Brian along and it looked like he was skiing on the dirt! They eventually got him back to his tree.

We got out the sports bag after the kids were done with the play dough. It was short lived, though, because the compressor at the drill site went out so they had to quit for the day, which meant it was time to go home.

On the way back home Theresa decides we need to go into town and buy a new chair to replace the one the kids broke while fighting over who would carry it. She also wants to get some new soccer balls. I went with Karen to the store yesterday after we got home and really wanted to take a shower today, but everyone else had something they had to do so I went with Theresa. It was quite the adventure! At points I was a little scared for my safety, but Ernesto (our driver) assured me I was in good hands. We went into the markets where there are thousands of people walking the streets and selling things at their booths. I didn't take my camera with me so I don't have any pictures. There was one point where we parked the van and walked to one of the street markets and as a bus tried to squeeze by us, I literally could reach out and touch it, it was that close. Then Ernesto drove us to a small shop, parked in the middle of the street so he could just run in, and left us in the locked van! We were fine until a car behind us started honking...we didn't know what to do! Thankfully, Nester came out about that time so we didn't have to find out what would have happened. Sheesh!
Once we get home I have a few minutes til its time for dinner, so I rush my shower. Its really not that rushed, since all the showers are quick ones because there is no hot water. Dinner is taco salad, and I love taco salad! We had some good juice too. I am so thankful that I brought chocolate with me because there is no dessert here and everyone knows I love dessert!! So after some m&ms we are off to bed. Tomorrow is possibly our last day in the village and I can't believe how fast its gone.

Tuesday, Dec 11th: Its Gonna Be A Doozie

Woke up feeling very emotional today. Last night we used Emily's Ipad to facetime with the boys. It was so good to see them and hear how much fun they were having, but my poor Jacob was not doing as great. Not only did we just rock his world by leaving him but he's getting his molars in and is just miserable, and I feel completely helpless that I can't comfort him myself.

After devotional and breakfast (which was pancakes today!!) we head out for the village. Today we are greeted by a few of the children as we arrive: Katarin and her little sister Rosa and Juan Carlo and his brothers. They are so excited to see us, and my mood is changed right away as I realize how excited I am to see them too!

After no moms showed up yesterday for any classes, we had to 'light a fire' so to speak and give them a reason to come. The pastor David told them we would stop drilling if they didn't come to the classes...so here they are! We are very elated to see so many come this morning!

We start with Theresa's lesson on germ transmission. As she is preparing, we realize that all of her supplies were left at the house. She decides to improvise with a makeshift fly & homemade poop (play dough rolled in dirt) and I think it was actually better that her prepared supplies! So she starts teaching and the frequent used word 'kaka' is a hit with the children! After the lesson, we have the children make mozquas (flies) out of pipe cleaners. As this is a little advanced for most of the children, we get down and help them with their flies. They all love them! I think a few even brought their mozquas back the next day!

After the craft, Karen sat with the moms on a class about diarrhea and oral re hydration. We kept the kids occupied by playing our own version of duck duck goose. Theresa didn't know the Spanish word for goose (and neither did our translator Scarleth) so we called it 'pato, pato, pollo' (duck, duck, chicken). And the kids ate up this game! One of my favorite memories about the week so far!

At about 11, we broke for lunch. This is earlier than usual, but we told the kids to go home and eat their lunch and we would meet back at 1:30. Before we even started lunch, they were at the fence waiting for us. As much as we hated telling them to leave, we definitely didn't want to eat our lunch in front of them. Lunch today was tuna on top of rice. Not one of my favorites, but I ate it because I was hungry and knew a granola wasn't going to get me through the day. After lunch we are escorted by our new friends, who love to help us carry stuff. Its a big help with that heavy trunk!

We reviewed Theresa's lesson in the afternoon and then did a Bible story and a craft. The kids were pretty rambunctious today, so we decided to bring out the 'sports bag' early. Bringing out the fun stuff too early meant 2 whole hours of non-stop playing with the kids! I have to admit, at times I wished I was sitting with the big group of kids who were blowing bubbles! I was definitely worn out at the end of the day!

As we walked back up to the site, Lauren and I talked about how tired were were after throwing frisbees for 2 hours. We both realized that we had never just sat and played, non stop, with our kids. That was so convicting for me. I know this is one of the things God wanted to show me on this trip. I pray that I will remember this day every time my boys ask me to play with them and I am tempted to say no because of all the 'busyness'. Life is too short and they grow up way too fast.

We were happy to hear that the drillers had made great progress today! And they were dirty!! Today was the dirtiest day for everyone!

I love this picture of Jim!

Emilita!!

After cleaning up at the house, we had dinner. It was fried chicken and we couldn't get enough of it! The best meal so far! After a cutting out what seemed like a thousand Senor Diente for Lauren's lesson, we turned in early and hoped all would get a good night's sleep.