Day 6: Third Work Day

I woke up this morning well rested, energetic and with normal bathroom activity. It had not been traveler’s diarrhea. It had been heat exhaustion. Whew, dodged a bullet. I was ready for a full day’s work. However, we only had another 5 or 6 stoves to install. Rather than us doing them, we taught the pastor, his son Jorge, his granddaughter Marta and Solomita to assemble them from base to chimney. That way, if someone needs help with their stove, the village won’t have to rely on outsiders. They can help one another. The ONIL stoves are designed to be portable, especially since kitchens move, even when the homes don’t.

After lunch (watermelon!), we counted and bagged 25,000 adult vitamins. Then we spent some time playing with the children. Not a formal planned event but something much more personal. Sandy and I went outside with bubbles and played in the road until we were short of breath. We decided to trade the bubbles for something that would keep the children more occupied. We gathered 3 skeins of yarn and a pair of scissors and headed for downtown, which was a group of tiendas (stores), a community center, otra iglesia (another church), and la escuela (the school).

Perched along the community washing station (built by a Rotary Club), we distributed 3 long strands, one of each color, to all of the children who waited. The girls and many of the boys braided their yarn into bracelets and necklaces. Other boys used their string to make shapes, just like my dad taught me when I was young. Something I learned from them was how to make el avion (a bird). I’ll have to remember to show that to him when I get home.

As I cut the yarn, I begin to notice that occasionally someone would bump me in the back of the head. Over and over and over. The last hit was hard! And I caught the boy that was doing it. I grabbed his arm and did my best to show him that I would not tolerate that kind of treatment. I was told that eventually we would need to set boundaries with the children, but I hadn’t had to do it yet. We spent the next couple of hours braiding and cutting string for the kids, just to have them give us their handicrafts when they were finished.

We talked about the day ahead and how the pills and dewormer would be distributed. And then we turned in early, expecting a very early morning. The first group of families would be here at 8am.