Day 8

Day 8 Thursday March 31, 2011


Last day, last 1 minute shower, last corn tortillas. This day was full of “last times”. We worked at the site for about 2 hours. I think today was the hottest yet. We did have some of the village kids around today, and we were able to personally hand out some toys, ball caps, and stuffed animals. The students also were able to hand out cans of formula to families and mothers we had met throughout the week.

After working we went to the main area where we met the villagers the first day. The School children were waiting for us and came toward us with applause and personally shook all our hands and gave us hugs. Then several people of the village gave us words of thanks and gratitude for coming and being a part of the project. One villager referred to us as “angels sent by God.” I then spoke on behalf of our group and told them that even though we had only worked with them for 6 days, our hearts would be with them forever. I also told them that we had come here to give to them, but instead they had given so much more to us. We then had a procession back to the school where we left our donations. This group had focused donations on school supplies and vitamins. The school had virtually no supplies before, and the teachers were so grateful for the gifts. The parents were also very happy to see the school would have so many things. The teachers are also going to distribute the children’s vitamins. They are going to give each child a vitamin per day. We gave a special bag of donations to Victor. Victor is a villager who stole all our hearts. He has a HUGE smile, and let us use his house for the medical clinic. For the next two groups, you will know him immediately by his smile!!! It was hard for us all to tell him goodbye. Dr.T pulled some teeth from a little boy this morning. He was a nephew of victor who had all of his front t teeth rotten. It was great that Dr. T could help him out. Before left Dr. Kratz and Dr. T helped to flush out a little girl’s ear that had an infection. Once it was time to leave for the compound we all gave away shoes we were wearing, hats, sunglasses, and Niko literally gave the shirt off his back to a man who only had a shirt full of holes.

In closing I would like to say a few more things. First of all to the parents of these students. They are AWESOME. Really, words just cannot explain how fun, giving, and hard working this group was. Thank you for trusting me enough to let them come. Secondly, I would like to thank Richard for all they hard work you do to get us here and monitor things during our stay. This experience would not be possible without the hard work, dedication, and giving spirit of both you and your brother Frank. Thank you so much for not hanging up on me the first time I called you! Thank you so much for letting me go with the Gehlen group 3 years ago and thank you so much for letting me join in your mission. You have changed all our lives with this opportunity. I would also like to thank Carolyn Bickford. You do so much for this mission as well as help me with the details. You trained me well Carolyn, and hopefully I will leave everything at the compound to your satisfaction!

Looking forward to being in the arms of our families. To the next two groups, good luck in carrying on the project. We will be anxiously watching the blog to follow your adventure!!