The day started just as humid and gross as the rest of them. After a wonderful breakfast we got ready for construction and let me tell you, there’s nothing like physical labour in the sunshine. We were split into three groups with some of us digging holes for the foundation to protect the generator, some shifting a dirt mound, and some bending wire for future construction. After the construction we had lunch and travelled to a nearby village called Alto de Julio where we worked with the children there. We read the creation story and they made animal masks as a craft. It was great to see how excited the kids were to be with us and do the craft. Even though there are obvious communication barriers between us and the kids, at least I found that after a few minutes both us and the kids found other ways to communicate. After the craft was done and we’d cleaned up we were treated to fresh coconut water. If I learned anything today it’s that Grace loves coconuts. Next, we travelled back to Brisas del Mars where we worked with kids there. This time we read the story of Noah’s Ark and made rainbows out of tissue paper and paper plates. It was a big mess but lots of fun and very colourful with the tissue paper blowing all over the place. After lots of cleaning up from the craft we ate meat, rice and fries from a plant I didn’t know for dinner. In the evening we hung out with some of the children and youth from the village. It turns out that falling is an everyday occurrence here in Colombia, Sarah… fell.
P.S. shoutout to my family and my favourite bass player Jed.
– Caleb