Saturday and we met the children today

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What a day we have had. We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto and some fresh bread along with some peeled canatalope. After that we headed off to the build site. It took us almost an hour to get there because the roads are so rough. There are lots of rocks on the roads and a lot of huge pot holes. Because it is the rainy season, there were also some enormous puddles.

We eventually stopped on the side of the road . To our left was a small building made of pieces of wood with a tin roof. This was the current school. The main teacher there, Marcia, has been teaching in this structure for 10 years and working towards getting a new school. This is a dream come true for her.

The students had prepared their school for us. They each held a sign that had our name very neatly written on it. There were balloons as well. Lots of children were there. When we started this last year, we were told that there were 32 children. When we arrived, the number had grown to 47. Now they are expecting over 50 children to attend the school.

Members from the education ministry were there to show their appreciation. There were a number of short speeches and then the teacher shared a corn cake that she made for us.

After lunch we started working. We mixed concrete. Hauled water. Moved a huge pile of concrete blocks from beside the road to beside the build site. A few of the youth had to rest because they were not used to the heat and humidity. With some fluids and gatorade and rest in the shade, they quickly recovered.

Education is not something that the people here see as something that they can strive for. They live in poverty and they don't understand that if they send their kids to school that they will be able to have a better life. Part of our job here is to give the children hope and tell them that they can be teachers or doctors or what ever they want if they have an education.

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Comments

[Fiona]

Wow!
Sounds like a lot of fun! But hard work too. I'm jealous you guys got to see a volcano - so cool! Keep up the great work for those kids - they deserve a new school :) Also, hi mom and Ronan! I miss you guys!

[Tom Affleck]

Awesome!
Way to go Mission Nicaragua! Thank you for 'Making Education Possible'. Enjoy your time in the Cenicera community and please, please take the time to help the students dream about the amazing possibilities that an education can provide.

[Ruth Goldthorp]

Good on ya
Sounds like you are in for a hard working week. We are all proud of you and wish you a great week , what an experience, one that you will always remember. St Paul's members are all thinking about you.