I am unable to include any contemporary photos at the moment, so here is one from this year's archives. I leave for Newton Grove tomorrow morning and hope to return with some great photos. The latest news from Newton Grove is that, for the most part, things are going well. The groups are working well together and helping Father Tony in any way they can. Sadly, a stomach flu has hit a section of the group. So far, only kids from one of the Head Start facilities have had it, and we seem to be nearing the end of the crisis. Fingers crossed, all will be well when I arrive tomorrow. I told them to get rid of all those germs before I get there!THE ON-CAMPUS GROUPS HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD. These are the true unsung heroes of our End-of-Year program. Their work is completely unglamorous and not at all exotic, yet they show up every day ready to dig in. Terry has a group building a new ramp at the Center. Sherri's group heads out to Welcome Baby every day, and they are so very grateful for the help. (Child care, sorting clothing, putting out truly mass mailings.) Jon's Senior Banquet girls have planned a black and white VIP affair for the seniors. They have created a 3-CD set that has one song specially chosen for each senior--very cool! Every senior will receive a copy of this "box set."
The word from Trinidad is very good. Let me see if I can cut and paste from ELISE'S EMAIL..."We have had a busy two days of service. The work at Habitat continues to be very difficult and rewarding. We are working down in the southern part of the country at a small orphanage called Operation Smile. The orphanage houses 41 children on a small goat and sheep farm. The children live in small buildings but seem to have a lot of land and a playground (a big contrast to the children at the Cyril Ross home who have a small playground that is maybe 8 feet by 25 feet in dimension). We are working at Operation Smile with a group of masons to build a new building for the toddlers and infants. Apparently, babies are abandoned pretty regularly in Port of Spain and the orphanage has been turning away children for quite a while as it did not have the space or facility to house them. The masons anticipate the building will be completed within a few weeks and I would imagine that shortly thereafter it will be full of children. What's great about our project there is that I think Habitat really put the push on getting this project done because our group would be here and they knew they would want something meaningful for us to do. I'm fairly certain that this project had been on some sort of "wish list" for Habitat but it was really our arrival that pushed it forward. What we have done there has been laying brick (when we got there there was simply a poured concrete floor, now there are walls), digging trenches for the porches and steps, making rebar columns to reinforce the concrete, and making cement to use for the window shells and the porches. It's been hard work.
We have had a busy two days of service. The work at Habitat continues to be very difficult and rewarding. We are working down in the southern part of the country at a small orphanage called Operation Smile. The orphanage houses 41 children on a small goat and sheep farm. The children live in small buildings but seem to have a lot of land and a playground (a big contrast to the children at the Cyril Ross home who have a small playground that is maybe 8 feet by 25 feet in dimension). We are working at Operation Smile with a group of masons to build a new building for the toddlers and infants. Apparently, babies are abandoned pretty regularly in Port of Spain and the orphanage has been turning away children for quite a while as it did not have the space or facility to house them. The masons anticipate the building will be completed within a few weeks and I would imagine that shortly thereafter it will be full of children. What's great about our project there is that I think Habitat really put the push on getting this project done because our group would be here and they knew they would want something meaningful for us to do. I'm fairly certain that this project had been on some sort of "wish list" for Habitat but it was really our arrival that pushed it forward. What we have done there has been laying brick (when we got there there was simply a poured concrete floor, now there are walls), digging trenches for the porches and steps, making rebar columns to reinforce the concrete, and making cement to use for the window shells and the porches. It's been hard work."
YAY! IT WORKED! I know that was a lengthy explanation, but it will give you a good idea of the kind of work that is being done. I also heard from Frances in Costa Rica today. They are in Palo Verde and despite a huge amount of rain are having a very good time. They went on a great boat ride, birdwatching with a naturalist, walks in the forest in extreme mud, climbed to the lookout and enjoyed the vista. It was an hour-long journey from the highway on a dirt road to the field station, so they are in a remote spot. They have seen so many amazing birds. I hope they come home with pictures to share.
WEBSITES TO SHARE
www.elsalvadortrip.weebly.com (El Salvador)
http://cfscr.weebly.com (Costa Rica)
That's all the news I have right now. We will soon enter our final week of school. I hope to have lots to share next week. Have a good one!
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