Little Sally Walker...(Service Week)

Wow. This past week was incredible. Although I've always loved this type of service and working with kids, one of the most appealing aspects of the the trip for me was the adventure week that is next week for our group and we leave at 5 AM tomorrow for that! But I can easily say that was one of the best weeks of my life. From the time I stepped off the bus Monday until we were waving goodbye through the windows on Friday as our bus rolled away, the smiles from ear to ear never ceased. I have been fortunate to have had great service opportunities in the past in Peru and Nicaragua, but this was a truly different experience for me. Much of my joy from my mission trips in the past was being able to see the tangible ways in which I was able to help a community whether it was giving shoes and school supplies away in the hills of Peru or helping commence the building of a medical clinic in the little fishing village of Jiquilillo, Nicaragua. Do not get me wrong, I definitely thrived off the love I was able to give as well, but the way this week was organized was aimed towards planting roots and building relationships so that our impact will be sustainable and lead to growth by having different "families and soup moms" for the week along with 4 other students. This was awesome because I was able to become very close and able to open up along with our soup mom opening up as well telling us her story. She was such an encouragement to me. The first night we were there she was talking about the joy she has in life. She says that is what keeps her going, she finds the positive and the good in everything she is "blessed" with even though her living conditions would suggest otherwise. Its incredible what our society values versus her attitude, her happiness is centered around her faith and family. The other different aspect was the curriculum behind the service. "Service-learning" is different than normal service because it is based off a reciprocal relationship in which both sides are mutually benefitting. I always go into service thinking about "what I am going to be able to give", but much of this week was what we were able to take away as well. The smile on my soup mother's face every time I saw her was enough reward for me for the whole week. But even more rewarding for me was Courtney(program director) coming up to me tonight at our Sunday night dinner and telling me that she had interviewed Ms. Eunice(my soup mom) and that I had made a huge impact in their family. She said the hug was just what she needed every day and that it made her so happy to see me loving her kids the way I did. And it meant a lot to her that we didn't come into her house and judge her situation or even try to empathize with her but rather just came in and genuinely wanted to get to know her and build a relationship.

Radian and Jaquan

Hope: The baby of our family.

Some of my boys Sean and Sirwin putting on our game face

probably cutest kid award 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1. FRIDAY FIELD DAY-On Friday, we had all the kids down to the fields by the school and played all sorts of old school games like three legged races and wheelbarrow races. This was my favorite day with all of the kids.

2. RUGBY- all week with the teenagers. An important part of this week was to connect with the older kids in the community and not just spend all the time with all of the "cute" kids we see. This was emphasized so the love will trickle down and still progress whenever we leave.

3. Little Sally Walker- this is the old school playground game which breaks all the kids out of their shell. Its basically where everyone gets in a circle and sings the song little sally walker(which will be stuck in my head for a long time..) over and over again and a girl/boy walks around the circle and picks out someone to do the dance to and then they switch. Heres what the lyrics consist of..haha "Little Sally Walker walkin' down the street, she didn't know what to do, so she stopped in front me and she said"hey girl, do yo thing, do yo thing and switch'"

4. SMILES/Hugs- from every kid I came in contact with it was either a high five, simple smile, or they would jump on you for a hug. I am literally sore from this past week from kids crawling up my back and on my shoulders every day this week. But it was well worth it.

I have to finish some laundry and pack and wake up early for another amazing week ahead!