Four thirty this morning I was shaken awake by the third
earthquake of the trip. I was not as
afraid this time, but it lasted longer and was a bit stronger than the
others. The dogs in the neighborhood
went crazy and did not stop barking after it ended. I was a little worried that a bigger quake
would occur later, but another one never came.
A bus ride and hike up the steep mound of sand and stairs
took us once again to the town Lomo de Corvina.
Emilie decided to adopt a street in the city on the sand dune and asked
me if I wanted to join her. Emilie,
Candice, Mari (the translator), and I walked door to door inviting the ladies
and children to a meeting that will take place tomorrow. Our plan is to get to know the women and
children through sharing our stories and asking them to share theirs. We are hoping to win them over with nail polish
and food. The women responded positively
so we are hopeful about the meeting.
On our way back we came upon an older lady sitting on the
sandbags overlooking the city. She did
not speak Spanish, but Mari knew a little bit of her native tongue that
originates in the highlands. We sat and
listened to her talk for a little while and she did not stop giving thanks for
our visit. She used to live in the
highlands, but left her friends and land to move to the city so her daughter
could find work. Now she is trying to
learn Spanish so she can communicate with her neighbors and make some friends. She seemed so grateful to us just for
stopping by.
This afternoon we made yet another school visit. This time we were able to interact with the kids for about an hours before the presentation, so we got to know them a little bit.
A member of the church hosted a meal of chicken, vegetables,
and rice for us. After dinner the host
explained that we would not be going to cell group as planned but would be
talking to young people on the streets.
The church we are working with has a group of people devoted to working
with members of gangs and other young people that are involved in drug and
alcohol use. They were very concerned
for our safety and took extra precautions.
We rode the bus to a park where a group of young men sat nicely in a row
with police men in attendance. We talked
with them and found out the main problem the young men face is not having
enough money to attend college. The
group has decided to work together to make their community a better and safer
place. One of the guys asked what we
could do to help them. We are only here
a short time, so it is frustrating because I don’t feel like there is very much
we can do for them. They don’t even live
close enough to the church to attend regularly.
One of the church members explained that we are the bait. We attract curious people by the color of our
skin and then the church members reel them in.
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
