Day Two: The Work Begins...

I woke up around 6:30 in the morning, which is 8:30 our time. There's something simply wonderful about walking out on the patio deck in the morning and not having to put on a jacket.

A typical Costa Rican breakfast is something I would not mind having back in the States (that's what most people here call the U.S.). There was rice and beans, actually they have rice and beans with a lot of their meals, and there were different breads, pastries and fruits.

When you go to a hotel in the States the fruit is usually as hard as a rock and not too appetizing. Here...oh my...the fruit everywhere is amazing. Honestly, I think papaya tastes like mushy carrots, and is the only fruit I wasn't too fond of. There are different kinds of juice for every meal. After breakfast we headed to the church. I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. It was a nice, small place and it was very welcoming.

There was a small parking lot enclosed with a wall and barbed wire. Another thing about Costa Rica, there are gates everywhere. This is true with many other countries as well. You will not see a house or building without a gate or wall around it. It's normal for them. Ariana told us it's mainly just prevention of things that could happen. They feel safe with their walls up. We had to wait for the pastor to run errands before we could start our work. 

The pastor of the church had only been here for about 3 years, and he is not originally from Costa Rica. He only spoke Spanish so Ariana translated for us. There were three jobs available that morning. One was to go walk through the streets handing out flyers and advertising our VBS. Another was for two people to go with Ariana and the pastor to one of the homes of people that went to the church. The last job was to help smooth concrete onto one of the walls of the church. I went with Mrs. Monroe, Ariana, and the pastor to the house of ladies that went to the church. Before we left we bought bags of oranges from a man who was selling them in a truck outside the church for a dollar a bag. He was so excited when we payed him in American dollars instead of the Costa Rican colones. When we handed him the money he exclaimed, "dollars, dollars!" and waved the money in the air with a smile. When we arrived I took in the scene around me. This was my first experience really stepping out of my comfort zone. They lived in a pretty small home, not very large at all. 

 There were three small bedrooms, a tiny bathroom and a cramped kitchen. That small house was shared by the grandmother, three women, one of the women's husband who worked at the church, and two children. 

 The woman all the way to the right was part of their family as well but was married and lived somewhere else. It really made me realize how much we take for granted here in our own country. Although some of the people in this country are poor, they have much more than others do in different countries. They really needed our help. The grandmother was the mother of three daughters, all of which are in their 30's and 40's. Ariana told us that people there usually get married when they're over the age of 30, and live with their parents until they get married. All three of her daughters were confined to wheelchairs and very weak. They each had muscular dystrophy and one also had very bad anemia. The grandmother also informed us that they were having a very hard time paying for medical bills and none of them were getting the proper care they needed. The little girl had asthma but they were not able to pay for her treatment. They were also on the verge of losing their home.

One of the women in the wheelchairs had recently had hip surgery and was in terrible pain, but was unable to receive free medical care until 2019. They all needed new wheelchairs so Mrs. Tann, our group leader, is currently working with another organization to get them new, better working wheelchairs. These people were so kind, even though they had been through so much. The grandmother's husband lived behind their house in his own home, because he is no longer allowed to live with them. He had abused them for years and refuses to help them with their monetary needs. This is not uncommon in lower income homes in Costa Rica. Sadly, domestic violence is very widespread in many homes. What caught me is how these people had hope even through their hardships. They were so willing to talk to us and lay out their problems with no shame. They were happy to see us when we came into their home and let us see their day to day life.

As we were about to leave Mrs. Monroe and I prayed for them, and then the pastor prayed. Although he prayed in Spanish I still caught a word here and their and he prayed with such passion and it was very moving. As we left I thought about everything they had said and wondered how they still had smiles on their faces. God had given them hope even in their immense difficulties. On the way back to the church Mrs. Monroe and I discussed ways we could help them. When we got back I got right to work with adding concrete to the wall that everyone was still working on. We set up scaffolding so we could reach the higher spots and I began scraping and smoothing wet concrete onto the wall.

 Afterwards we ate a yummy lunch and prepared for VBS. I traced crafts and prepared construction paper, and got out a ton of stickers. Who doesn't like lots of colorful stickers? We weren't sure what to expect really so we prepared for a lot of kids. 

 This is a flyer pinned up on the church bulletin board telling about our VBS. It translates to--Saturday 19 to Monday 21 March, activity with children at 1:00 P.M. Gringos is a word that they use for us North Americans, or white people. So they are pretty much saying a VBS run by North Americans.

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Over the course of the first hour children straggled in one or two at a time. We sang songs and did crafts. Ariana, Mrs. Monroe and Bethany were the most fluent translators and explained everything to the children and answered their questions. I helped as best as I could with my small knowledge of vocabulary. A lot of times I just had to point to things or ask a translator for help understanding them. 

The first real day of working with the kids was truly a blast. We told them that if they came to church on Sunday they would get to have an Easter egg hunt afterward and get confites (candy). At one point while we did crafts a little boy at a table I was helping at looked at me and asked loudly, "chicles, chicles, chicles?" Chicle means bubble gum in Spanish and that's exactly what they wanted. A lot of the kids especially liked gum, it was a special treat. After VBS we cleaned up, went to the hotel, and then headed out to dinner. Ariana took us to another restaurant and it was really good.

Have you ever tried pineapple juice or watermelon juice? It's super good. It tastes like they put a whole watermelon or pineapple and stuck it in a blender. Mmmm it's great. I had chicken with salad and tortillas, along with some of the most amazing french fries I've ever had. We finished eating and went back to the hotel and filled Easter eggs for the kids at church the next day.

Lots and lots of eggs to fill! We did devotions and Ariana shared some verses with us. We all discussed what we've seen and done so far and how it had affected us. That day was very eye opening and allowed me to see the world in a whole new perspective.