We really earned our salaries today! We spent most of the day filling in the rooms of the boys dormitory. Here is the process… First you fill a wheelbarrow with sand, roll it to the designated room, dump the sand, tamp it down with a really heavy tamper. So we had several people shoveling, 3 people wheeling, 3 or 4 people tamping. All morning in the hot sun. By lunch time we were beat. (see pix) The construction workers were very patient and helpful despite our clumsiness! Mario, El Jefe, was particularly nice to us. He would adjust our techniques so that we could do more with less effort or avoid hurting ourselves! We all had a very still, quiet siesta (read we were all sound asleep) until we reluctantly got up at 1 to resume our labors. Thankfully, God is good and clouds rolled in. It was amazing the difference doing the same work without the benefit of the boiling sun beating down on us! We really made a lot of progress in the afternoon – much more than I thought we would. We broke at 3:30 (ish) to spend some time with the children. Pamm continued to deepen her bond with Yolani. By the way, Pamm has a couple of other monikers – “Not Amanda” and “Momella” The kids will see her from a distance and call, “Amanda!” When they see it is not me they say, “Oh.” and go on their way. Pamm has gotten into the habit of saying, “It’s ‘Not Amanda’!” Aaron Joshue, attempting to say Pamm or PamELLA, calls her Momella! So cute.
Donna, Leamarie, Jan, and Anne (aka Anita) spent the day in Flor. Leamarie moved her teacher workshops to El Cordero and the others worked with the CAP ladies making skirts with zippers! I asked them if they used the same technique I used to use: 1. Put zipper in upside down. Then rip out. 2. Put zipper in right side up and backwards. Then rip out. 3. Burst into tears, try again. “Um, no,” said the three expert seamstresses! They reported all skirts zippered properly by the ladies.
Jan had an amazing encounter with Erling. Turns out I was wrong. Isidra is not his mother, but has taken him under her wing. Erling told Jan that he was abandoned as a baby and has never had a mother. Jan told him she has two daughters but no sons so from now on, he is her son. He gave her a huge hug and rested his head on her chest. Later he explained that he was listening to her heart… Imagine that. I suppose he has never had the opportunity until now to just be held by a mother. Then he gave her a smalled stuffed animal – a tiger holding a baby tiger. He said, “the big tiger is you, the little one is me.”
As many times as I have been here, something always leaves me speechless. Time after time, there is an event that is indescribably beautiful. God’s love is absolutely tangible here. Honestly, if you want to experience an encounter with the Divine, visit LAMB.
I can’t bear to think about tomorrow being our last day. I have already been answering the kids’ questions about when I will be back. October is my plan. Anyone want to come?
Geoff...
El Jefe and "Jeferina"
Pamm with Yolani
Children with some of the books sent by Milton's Spanish Honor Society led by Mrs. Bush!
Leamarie leading a teacher workshop
