Today was a very emotional day for me. We were told that these children live with mostly single moms and these moms are doing everything they can to stay alive. The schools are a place of respite for the children - to momentarily escape the street. They only get to eat one meal a day - it is at the school. The school day is only a half day for them (because there are so many students in need, they have to split them into 2 groups) and they either get a breakfast meal or a lunch meal at the school, but not both.
We were told we would probably be greeted with lots of hugs. And to hug them for as long as they hugged you - because they just don’t get this at home regularly.
I thought I was prepared.
I wasn’t.
We walked in past the big cement wall from the street side, up some steps and through another large metal gate - reminds me of a military compound - and into a large open area that is FULL of children in clean white shirts and blue shorts/pants (school uniform). Children started coming to us from everywhere - hugging us then going to the next person -saying “Hola” and then hugging them.
I broke down crying. Not because the conditions were bad or because I was sad for them....I think it was because they became real to me. Real little humans - not just some picture on the internet. And they wanted MY HUGS. I saw out of the corner of my eye Brady also getting hugged and high five’d. I broke down again. I simply couldn’t keep it together.
This was all in the first 15 minutes. My emotions were better handled as we settled into the day, but as we recapped our day tonight after dinner, I broke down again. I was obviously moved more than I was expecting.
After a very special presentation from the school which included their pledge of allegiance, their national anthem - then OUR national anthem (by the way - did anyone of you know that there is MORE to the song after “...home of the... Brave”???🤯), their school song and several songs and dances, the students were dismissed and we went to start our plans for the day.
Today Brady and I worked in the classrooms making beaded crosses in Red, White and Blue. These are the colors of their flag, too, so it worked well! The crosses were challenging to make and our first classroom were PRE-SCHOOLERS!! Yes, I had three 4 and 5 year olds I worked with trying to explain (ok, who’s kidding here, I don’t speak Spanish at all - and in fact - I kept using my French to these precious 4 year olds who were looking at me like WHA?) how to make these crosses. Some of our smarter team members made executive decisions to instead make some easier bracelets and let it go. I was too far in once I realized I was in trouble to start over - so I pressed on. Me and my 3 precious girls persevered and they had crosses to wear home today. Their names were Sophia, Nathalie and some garbled name I never fully understood. But PRECIOUS none-the-less. They sat very patiently TRYING to do what I was showing (uh, maybe mostly DOING for) them. Unfortunately, I was one of the last to get my group finished.
Our next group of students were 5th graders. Praise God. I don’t think I seriously could have handled doing those crosses again with 4 year olds. I mean, they were precious, but it was very CHALLENGING! I decided to throw an option out to my 5th grade girls (again 3 girls) to see if they wanted a cross or a simple bracelet. They opted for the bracelet. Thank God again. I thought I was gonna be done pretty quick - these girls were quick to pick the instructions up and move forward without me - YAY!! However, one of the boys in our group was struggling with the cross with his 3 students. So, I moved over to help him. We quickly ran out of time so I had to pick up one girl’s cross and just finish it for her as quickly as I could. We all got it done, but again, I was one of the last people finishing up with my group. My girls didn’t seem to mind though - they wanted to know if I knew what that kid’s name was behind me - it was Brady. I told them he was my son - of course all in ENGLISH because- well, they don’t know French, right?!?!? One girl picked up on what I meant and her eyes got BIG and started rattling off something in Spanish to the other 2. I asked if she wanted a picture with him. Again, her eyes got BIG and she said “SI!!” They really liked him and he was enjoying the attention.
Our last class was 5th grade (maybe 6th?) again. YAY!! Another 3 girls and this time I they wanted to make crosses. However, these girls really figured things out - even with all my wrong words (yes, I kept using French words with Spanish sounding endings - and they had zero clue what I meant) and even when they told me the correct word, I’d forget it 5 seconds later....mostly because I was trying to get them done with the task. But, luckily they didn’t mind too much. They were really sweet girls and very smart.
Near the end of the day, we were outside playing with the students and somehow Brady figured out that they liked Fortnite too. (I have no idea how they would know about Fortnite, but they did) Brady started doing the various Fortnite dances and several of them had to get involved. It was so fun to see him interacting with them.
It was a great day. Favorite part - the hugs.
In Love -
Trish
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