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Published: October 23rd 2011
Buenas dias! Bright and early, we were ready to work! We met up with Arturo in the hotel lobby to head to Pastor Fransisco's for desayuno. The ladies had cafe, pancakes y leche ready for us. I really enjoy the hospitality of the women and the simplicity of the life these people live. I led devotions on God giving us the power and strength from within that we need to do His will here in El Salvador - amongst the team and upon our return to the States. We should believe that God can do much more than we could ever imagine or dream, but we must believe and trust in Him.
After breakfast, we headed to the work site of Alba and Juan Carlos, where our paid workers (Ricardo and Juan) were already there preparing the sand to make the cement. Pat jumped right in to help! He LOVES this stuff, as he has done masonry back in the States. I enjoyed seeing the passion in his eyes and can see his work comes from his heart. The kids were incredibly curious - One was Jefferson. He was the most outgoing and grandioso. They asked lots of questions (some of
which we could not understand), but we still were able to connect quite well! Especially once we brought out the camera.....they LOVED having their pictures taken! Everything from their feet to jumping on each other to making faces to catching a frog. Oh to be a child! 😊 The smile on my face was permanent - it almost hurt it felt so good. The kids don't even know they are poor. They enjoy the simplest things in life. One of the boys was so sweet - he brought me a little rose! He was only 11 years old.
I stepped over to where Alba (the woman of the house) was working. She was doing her part in making fireworks. She was to roll 2,000 cardboard pieces a day before noon, and was then to pass them on to another family where they stuffed them and then another family packaged them to sell. She only makes $3.60 per day. Alba told me that it is hard to keep up some days with two children running around and living costs are expensive (electricity, food, water). It is so sad to see that her and other families have to go through this.
Wally and I spoke about the struggles in this community and how a simple water system could save them a great deal of pain. Oh how I wish I could just give them what they need!!! But what they really need is friends and love - that is what we are truly here for.
My favorite part was working with the masons. They spoke no English and I loved being able to learn the language again! They were so helpful in teaching too! The women of the church came by mid-day to bring us homemade lemonade and oh, was it tasty!!!! Then we headed back for lunch - time flies!!
The ladies prepared ham and cheese, and PB&J sandwiches with manzanas and horejatas, fried yucca and fresh yucca with traditional El Salvadorian hot sauce. I really love the food of this country!! 😊 After lunch, we went on house visits. We grabbed bags full of corn meal, rice, beans and oil to hand out to four families. The first lady was named Ursula. She was 80 years old who has 3 sons and a daughter. one son was a criminal, one was killed in a gang, the other was a
drunk, and her daughter was a housekeeper. None of them come to visit her - how sad!! She can't afford the house she is in - water comes up through the ground and rots the floors. Her kitchen is inside and is quite dangerous. Her health is deteriorating, so we prayed over her. She was in tears and almost fell to her knees when we handed her the bag of food. She couldn't understand why people from America would care so much. I started crying too!!! I just wanted to hold her tight - it was hard to leave her.
The next home visit was with Elaina (68 years old). She was quite talkative! In order to survive, she raises chickens and sells them for $6. I was in awe of her home...she used anything she could find to build it...tarps, metal signs, fencing, etc. Buckets of water were lying all over her property, filled with bugs, dirt, and bacteria. She said she leaves the buckets out to collect rain water because water is so expensive ($16/month). She asked that we pray for healing of her back - it hurts her because of having to carry water and food long
How precious!
He just sat and watched us as we played and workeddistances.
The next home made the largest impact on us. The home barely had any walls. We had to walk up stairs that were dug out of the hill the home was on...and they looked as if they were washed away from the rains. There was very little space in the home...extremely run-down. Dishes and clothing and toothbrushes all in the same sink. Sheets hanging to separate areas within the home. Blanca and her 10-year old son, Jose, lived there. Blanca was deaf, but was the happiest of all the people we had visited. She kept showing me how much she loved her son because he came from her (she had a c-section). Pastor Francisco embraced Jose and called him his grandson...he loved him dearly and appears they have a very unique relationship. Jose is a special kid. He goes to school in the morning and then works with his uncle in the afternoon in order to provide for him and his mom. Wow...at that age and watching him, he was so humble. We presented them with the bag of food and her eyes lit up. She was literally jumping with joy. She grabbed the bag and ran over to
a hidden door in the wall. She opened it and placed the bag in the back (it's the only area in her home with 4 walls that is safe from intruders).
The last scheduled home visit was to Ruth. She is a young mother of four. She was quite hospitable - getting out every chair she had for us. She began to tell us her story...her husband has pulmonary lung disease, which makes it difficult for him to provide for his family. He only makes $100/month and the medicine is quite expensive. So she tries to help by selling rabbits. Rabbits in El Salvador are used for food and pets.
We said our farewells and were off on a little detour. Pastor Francisco wanted to show us the Home Garden project. It was incredible! This family had been provided with seeds of various fruits and vegetables (eggplants, pepinos, tomates, chiles, papayas, bananaes, cafe, squash, maiz and jotes) and they are taught how to grow them. The produce is then used to feed their family and sell to make a living. This woman was so proud of her garden and the success she has had.
After we walked around her property,
Digging for foundation at Alba's house
We had multiple directions as to what we were to be doing. we headed back to Pastor Francisco's for another wonderful dinner - pasta with ham, mushrooms and tomatoes. Gloribel brought out some fresh cocoa beans she picked, and they smelled incredible! She is going to turn them into chocolate and make dessert popusas for us. Yum!
What a day! Back to the hotel for debriefing........
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