This month I’m with my team in Santiago, Chile! We’re staying at a girls home called Casa Esperanza (House of Hope) for girls who’ve aged out of the orphanage system and need a place to go while they finish school. Here’s what a typical day (Tuesday-Friday) looks like.
8:00-8:20am: wake up in a room full of bunk beds with all my team members. I get ready for the day and make sure I have all my jackets on (it’s usually in the 30-40’s in the morning).
8:20-8:35am: I go down 2 flights of stairs to the kitchen and have breakfast. Usually cereal and tea. Yes, I drink tea now, the Lord is already changing me.
8:35-8:45am: we walk to the special needs school we work at during the weekdays. We walk past the Lider (aka a Chilean Walmart), a meat market, vendors on the street, a store full of what looks like slot machines, and other little stores.
8:45-9:00am: we get to the school and play with the kids on the playground before class starts. There are kids ages 5-27, all with different levels of special needs. Some are very high functioning while others are non-verbal.
9:00-10:30am: my teammate Aryne and I go to our class. There are 5 kids in our class, all around 10-12 years old. Most are non-verbal or know a few worlds. One of the boys, Guillermo loves to hold our hands and he has my heart. We start class by going over the day of the week, the weather, and who’s present in class. Then we usually do an activity involving coloring.
10:30-10:45am: recess break! we go back outside and play on the playground more. Some kids swing, some play soccer, and others play music on the speakers and dance.
10:45-12:15pm: back in class. Right after recess is snack time. The kids usually have cookies or some kind of sweet for snack. We usually do another small activity and then Tia (teacher) Jessica plays music for the kids to dance to.
12:15-1:00pm: recess again! At the end of this recess period the kids go to lunch.
1:00-1:10pm: we walk back home to Casa Esperanza.
1:10-2:00pm: time for lunch! Usually one of the girls in the house has made lunch, and if we’re back soon enough we help them prepare it.
2:00-3:00pm: team time! We try to come together as a team everyday. Each day someone has been sharing their testimony. We’ve also done a bible study and just talk together as a team.
3:00-6:30pm: Free time. I usually spend this time doing my devotional, reading my bible, reading a book, listening to music, and just spending time with my teammates.
6:30-7:00pm: we help prepare dinner with the girls who live in the house.
7:00-8:00pm: time to eat dinner! Sometimes this happens at 7, sometimes 8:30. Something I’ve had to get used to here is “Chilean time”. Even though someone might have said dinner is at 7, it really might not be until 8.
8:00-9:00pm: usually we spend this time cleaning up after dinner and just hanging out in the dining room or kitchen, spending time with the girls in the house.
9:00-9:30pm: time to get ready for bed. We’re very blessed to have a bathroom and mattresses to sleep on this month!
On our off days we’ve been exploring the city of Santiago and just hanging out as a team. I’ll post a blog full of pictures next week!
Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and supported me! I’m so close to reaching my final fundraising goal, God is good!
