The day started off just like like any other. Well no, I can't say that, since it started off earlier than it would back home. I didn't have any problem with it, as I was prepared for early mornings and late-nights. Up until this day, we didn't encounter anything out of the ordinary. We stayed at a hotel overnight the first day, had great food but saw very little of Guatemala City as we merely drove through it. After a satisfying breakfast, we set out on our journey to Hope of Life which was a 3-4 hour drive. Once we got there, again, we didn't have too much that would wow us. You could feel that the team was getting a bit antsy, wanting to get right into work. However, looking back, I know God was letting us come into this slowly. Perhaps if it was too fast, it would have been quite a shock.
After lunch, we were initially suppose to take a tour of Hope of Life, but that quickly changed when Carlos, the founder of Hope of Life, suggested giving us a tour, but on the following day. So instead, we ended up getting into the cars and driving off to Pueblo Modelo. This is a village that consists of about 5,000 people who were moved there by the government since their village was destroyed by a hurricane, causing mudslides. Having heard that within this village, its residents used tarp or whatever they could rummage from the dump to build their homes, I still wasn't prepared for what I would see. As we started to drive up closer, we noticed a huge line of people in anticipation of receiving food bags that we were to pass out. Later learning that there were about 800 families which would receive these bags. There was no fighting or pushing...just waiting... waiting for their turn for food.
As we stepped out of the car, immediately, a girl ran up to me and another team member, hugging us both, and quickly grabbing a hold of my hand as we started walking. This was my first "wow" moment. Sounds silly that such a small gesture made it "wow," but it was the simplicity of these children that struck me. I'm aware of the fact that kids love attention...someone to just hug them and love them, but this was still my first moment that really made me realize that this was all truly happening. We are here, doing what we came to do, show Christ-like love and service to these people. These children, were just like any other children...they loved hugging, getting attention, and taking pictures.
After having finished the food distribution, we headed over to the school. We got the opportunity to see where these people lived. These homes they had, you can't even consider them houses. You can judge for yourself what to call them...
Visiting the schools that these children attended, was next. We learned that the government schools go up to solely, the 6th grade. This particular school has about 500 children that attend on a daily basis.
After walking around, and spending some time with the kids that followed us up to that point, we had to head back to Hope of Life. We had a little of time to get cleaned up and head for dinner, which, to our surprise, was Fiesta night! Fiesta night usually happens when a group is leaving at the end of the week, but it was that night, as there was another team from the previous week, that was leaving the next morning. The night was memorable! Three of our team members got to meet their sponsor children! What a touching moment that was! If you have ever doubted the effectiveness of child-sponsorship in the life of a child, I am here to testify that these donations are life-changing for these children! :) Words can't describe what I felt, as I witnessed this first sponsor-child meeting, through tear-filled eyes.
This picture is of some of us before we headed down to Fiesta Night!
There were numerous moments we experienced throughout our days, but one post isn't sufficient to capture it all. Until next time :)
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