Week 1

Downtown

Nancy's last night

 I have been here for a full week now! Nancy departed this morning for Blacksburg. I am genuinely sad to see her go. She hugged us all one last time saying “Ohh, my baby! Be good!” She was a great Dominican mother. She left us with an online Spanish learning program called Tell Me More, which we will complete over the course of the semester. This week has been about getting into the routine of things. I’ve finally scouted out a 5-mile loop and it only circles a small part of the property. It is so scenic- I go through a neighborhood of ridiculous mansions, down a street that is entirely canopied by trees and orchids, along the beach sidewalk, pass Tortuga Bay, and circle back through the golf course until I get back to the forest trails behind the Foundation. I’ve started to recognize some of the garbage men, security guards, and gardeners that I pass and they always wave and cheer for me. I was running the other day looking out at the water when I realized I had the cheesiest grin on my face. No one was out yet since it was early and I could not get over how beautiful everything looked. Spanish has been intense- we had to pack so much into one week together but Nancy pulled it off. We had class from 9:00-12:00. Then we went to lunch and part of our daily assignments was to converse with the employees in Spanish. Dominican Spanish is very fast, very loud, and they cut so many words in half. There is a lot of slang to get used to. Nancy said “Out of all the Spanish speaking countries, the Dominican is the worst.” One of my favorite things is when you ask people how they are, many people respond with “Tranquilo”, meaning “I am at peace.” I like that so much better than “Fine.” Another thing I love about Dominican culture is their view of race. There are Dominicans that have very black skin, all the way to Suzanne, a Dominican woman who is light tan with blue eyes and blonde hair. Nancy said if she meets another Dominican, they may not look like her at all, not know each other at all, but they are already best friends because they are Dominican. She said there is no black, brown or white here- everyone is labeled Dominican. Simple as that. Unfortunately this rule of racial acceptance excludes Haitians. One day I ate with this guy because he was eating alone. I found out his name is Daniel and he is from Haiti. He was on his last semester at University when the earthquake happened. His school collapsed and he was unable to graduate. His family is still in Haiti and he works as a segway tour guide here and is sending it all back to his family. He told me that he enjoyed his job, that he got to meet interesting people from all over the world who come here for vacation. But can you imagine coming from his circumstances and then spending your days with wealthy people who are on luxury vacations? I think that would be difficult for me but he is so positive and upbeat. Another favorite is this very old man Christian. He was also helping me with Spanish when he told me that he was fluent in 14 languages. He’s worked on ships his whole life and was even the captain of a cruise ship for 19 years. He’s been to 61 countries and hundreds of islands so he said he picked up the languages over the years. He retired here out of all of those places and is one of the gardeners! Turns out I will be learning introductory Turkish and Sinhala in preparation for my summer trip so I am hoping he can help me out! He's so wise and has these piercing blue eyes. I think he should be the next Dos Equis guy. The people here are so interesting and I love how quickly they befriend us and tell their life stories in a matter of seconds. It’s the best. Anyways, after lunch is another hour of Spanish and then Scuba lessons from 3:00-5:00. We have our last pool session today so our next dive will be in the ocean! I find it so relaxing. You sink underwater and chill there and breathe real slowly. The only thing I hate are the mask skills. In a partial and full mask flooding you fill up your mask underwater and then you have to inhale with the regulator and blast out all the water by breathing sharply out of your nose. In a mask removal, you have to take off your mask and breathe just with the regulator. I kept inhaling water and gagging. It was really attractive. Yesterday we had a controlled emergency ascent and Paul turned off all of our air tanks so we could feel what the resistance felt like when your tank runs out of air and need to ascend. It felt like drinking a Frosty with a straw and made me so claustrophobic. The scuba assistants love us- even me, who burped up pool water in front of them. Adelle said it is normally impossible to get them to come out for pool sessions but now that there’s a group of seven girls we have at least one guy per person and they freak out if we try to carry any of our stuff. I’ll take it. After another Spanish lesson and dinner we finally have time to relax. Last night was particularly fun. It was Nancy’s going away party and she taught us Rumino’s, the Dominican version of Domino’s. Dominicans love this game and slam down the dominos and yell a lot. It was hilarious and we all go into it.  We also went downtown one night and had a good time. My favorite nights are the ones we hang out on the beach. I don’t think that will ever get old. We are becoming a little family and I feel so lucky that we mesh so well. Now that we’ve got the ball rolling, we’ve had some orientations to our service projects. We’re all pushing to get our certifications done ASAP, as we want to get out for some coral restoration. Only two of us can go at a time, so I will probably get to do that once or twice a week. Victor found out I love painting and after I showed him some of my stuff he asked if I would illustrate this children’s book he is writing about coral devastation in the DR and the restoration process. I said absolutely, but I have no idea what that will even entail. I’ve talked to Sabine a lot about Peace Corps (she’s so awesome) and she invited me to help out with a mural painting project at the elementary school next Saturday. I’m so pumped. And happy. And exhausted.

DR: Arrival

1/21/12:

The day before I left was a busy one filled with meeting friends for final goodbyes, orientation, and last minute preparations. Our group all got dinner together with our professors and I came back to the apartment for a little pow-wow with my beloved roomies. Jessie and I got into her bed around 1 am but I lay there awake for a while, not believing that I’d be on my way to the DR in a few hours.  I was so anxious and excited. Felt like Christmas Eve as a kid. Jessie won roomie of the year award when she got up at 5:45 to take me to campus- whatta gal. We loaded up our two vans and headed to the Charlotte airport. It was so foggy our plane got delayed about an hour. With my notorious airplane luck, I got seated next to this young retired couple. It was clear they’d started their vacation in the airport and were insistent that they buy me a bloody mary despite the flight attendant telling them I was not of age. They introduced themselves as “Ima Slutzsky” and “Dick Senormous”. There was a group of 14 of them and she stood up and pointed out her friends Will Ujackmehoff, Harry Butt and Sugar Lumps. It was too much. When she heard I’d be studying there for three months and working in some poorer communities she became very concerned and made me vow to always have a buddy, saying “I don’t want to read about the blonde girl from Virginia Tech who got brutally murdered in some slum town.” Then the flight attendant found out I was a runner and talked to me for forever- apparently he was fifth in the national triathlon in 1980 and had so much motivational coaching advice to share. So much. Our three hour flight came to an end and it was amazing to look out the window and see all the green foliage. It is a beautiful country. After final reminders to be safe and yes, hugs goodbye from good pals Ima and Dick, I got off the plane. It was warm! We were greeted by a private shuttle and a woman that took us through all the VIP lines. The airport is awesome- it’s the largest privately owned airport in the world and the busiest in the Caribbean. It is all open air so birds fly around and there are trees in the building. There were little bands playing music and dancing as we passed by. I loved it. We got our baggage in no time and were bused to the Research Center. Driving here is pretty crazy- everyone goes so fast and there is a lot of honking and yells out the window.  And drinking and driving is legal. The research center is so cool. It is on a nature reserve so the grounds are beautifully kept. We drove up the long drive and were greeted by our bright red, green and blue home. I got assigned to a room with Shannon, who is awesome. Actually, everyone is awesome. We all talked about how relieved we were that everyone is so chill and easy going. We had a little orientation with Ben, who will kind of be our go-to person while we are here and is the most relaxed and funny guy ever. I am going to try to figure out a way to steal his job over these next few months. He lives here and gets his meals and board free and coordinates all of our trips as well as sustainable development projects at the Foundacion Ecologica and all over Punta Cana. He is currently working on this clean sewage and sanitation project that sounds awesome. We then met Katie, a recent graduate from UCLA who is the head marine biologist of the coral reef rehabilitation project we’re working on. Afterwards, we all walked to the beach. I was so excited to see the ocean. We all couldn’t believe we were here and that we were in 26 degree rainy weather just this morning. Shannon described it pretty well when she said we’d found the greatest loophole to college. We headed back to La Tortuguita for dinner of rice, beef, and this delicious vegetable dish. It is the employee cafeteria so we got to socialize and practice our Spanish with the workers, most of whom are cleaning ladies, repairmen, gardeners, waiters, or security guards. Afterwards we headed back to the dorm and talked with Miguelito, our security guard and the cutest, oldest man I've ever met. I absolutely loved him but it also made me question the Foundation's hiring criteria for security guards. 

Airport

View of the Foundation grounds from my window

Bedroom

Rhinoceros Iguana

Beach!

Hike through las lagunas

1/22/12:
This morning I woke up around 8:00 and went for a nice run. I turned right down the drive and when I the road ended, I spotted a little dirt path. It was blocked off but I decided to go around the little barrier. It was worth it. I love all the plants here. Some of the leaves are half the size of me. I was looking so intently at everything that I barely realized I had been running for almost 20 minutes and needed to turn around to get back in time. I came back and stretched and talked to some of the Haitian gardeners. They are definitely more timid around tourists than the Dominicans and spoke Creole, which reminded me of Sierra Leone and put a big smile on my face. I took a much needed and very cold shower (no hot water here) and got some breakfast before we all headed downstairs for a tour with Ben. He introduced us to the two Peace Corps reps here- Sabine and Nate. Nate is a health volunteer and spends most of his time teaching sex ed. Sabine is working on a large-scale water sanitation project for the town of Veron. Veron is a very poor community outside of Punta Cana. Many of the people who live there are migrant workers that try to find temporary jobs in the tourist industry here. In the DR, you can only get represented in government if you have over 50,000 people, and since Vero has no infrastructure whatsoever, they were not able to get an approved census  or government representation until last year.  Basically, the town is extremely impoverished and the average person has a third grade education there- just a few miles down the road. Both Nate and Sabine are so passionate about their work  and asked if we would be willing to volunteer on some of their projects in addition to our work at the school and free clinic. A dream come true- I can't wait to get started! Ben gave us a quick history of the DR and Punta Cana- it was very interesting but also revealed how many compicated issues there are in the area. Then we all went on a tour of the Foundacion Ecologica grounds. I had no idea how huge the place was! First Ben took us to the bee colonies. He talked about how the honey comes in different shades and flavors based on what time of year it is. It is best this time of year and is an almost white color. So sweet. Rubio takes care of all of them and Ben says he doesn’t wear any protective gear, he just reaches in and grabs fistfuls of bees. The guy is a legend. Next, we walked to the worm composting buildings. Ben said that there was a huge trash problem in the Dominican Republic. All the trash was getting dumped in the streets and burned or eventually made it to the ocean, and since the DR depends on their beaches for their economy, they realized that something needed to change. They thought about giving scrap food to pig farms, but pigs poop a lot, you need a lot of land and it would stink. There is also field composting, but again, you need a lot of land, specific temperature settings and it really stinks. Last they had worms. No one believed it would work so they did an experimental worm composting plant at the foundation. It worked so well they built a second bulding twice the size. Basically, all food scraps are dumped in this building and the worms eat it. Worms can eat their body weight each day and generate 2 things- poop and pee. While they only weigh a gram, there a hundreds upon hundreds of worms eating this trash and pooping it out, making giant mounds of nutrient packed soil that doesn’t even smell bad. So sustainable, so awesome. After playing with some worms we walked through organic garden after organic garden. We are able to just walk outside, find a gardner, and buy anything that grows there- eggplants, cucumbers, bananas, lettuce, squash, all for a couple of bucks. No one believed Rubio could make banana trees grow in Punta Cana soil, but there are two huge gardens of them. We also learned that a banana branch cannot grow more than one banana plant. Once the bananas are harvested, you have to cut it down all the way to the base so it can grow again. We also walked over to the Rhinoceros Iguana colony. They look like mini triceratops dinosaurs and are going endangered so they are trying to repopulate the species. They eat their babies so they release them and said that they get a lot of calls about iguanas on the golf course in the Spring. I felt like my jaw was open the whole tour- I cannot believe how beautiful everything is and that this is where I live! This is my backyard! After the tour Ben talked to us about our two extracurricular science projects. One is to help release two endangered hawk species that are indigenous to the Dominican Republic. The hawks are very tranquil and look very similar to another species, so hunters often accidentally kill them. We will be assisting some of the scientists in collecting data on their populations and releasing others back into the wild. Our other project is Elkhorn and Staghorn reef rehabilitation. The Caribbean has the most damaged reefs in the world, and of the Caribbean islands, the Dominican Republic has the ones that are the worst off. After lunch, we went to the beach! I was way too excited. It is paradise. I still can’t believe it’s January. The day was perfect- 82 with a little breeze. We swam around and then had our first meeting with the scuba divers. Mark, the head instructor is this sarcastic British guy with a great sense of humor. His assistant, Adelle, is also British and is only a few years older than us and Paul is this goofy Canadian dude. I love them. We are starting our lessons tomorrow! After signing up, we hiked out to the freshwater lagoons. They were so beautiful- the water was crystal clear and we all climbed out on this tree and jumped into the water. We stumbled into these people who I assumed were Spanish. Trying to practice, we started a little conversation when they stared at us and said “We’re from Russia.” Oops. We finished the hike through all the lagoons, had another hour of beach time, and came back in time for dinner at Franco’s. After dinner, we had our first Cultura class with Nancy Lopez, our Dominican Spanish professor. She reminds me of Gloria from Modern Family. She is so hilarious, expressive, and full of life. I adore her and she had me in tears I was laughing so hard at one point. She bought us all a round of Presidentes and taught us our first lesson: how to drink in the Dominican Republic. It was actually really helpful- she talked about parties and how she and everyone else grew up drinking at 12, so no one here gets drunk like in the US. It’s all about enjoying yourself and being social, not getting out of control. She talked to us about safety at parties and interacting with men here, as the culture is much more touchy and forward. She pinched her fingers together and said “If you give dem dis much, they take THIS much”, moving her hands wide apart. She said that women here must be very assertive and are the ones to invite the men to approach them- not the other way around. Therefore, if we approach a man, that means we are very interested in them.  She told us to keep space when dancing, as “Dance is a vertical interaction of a horizontal desire.” She kills me. Then we all went to the hotel’s club for some dancing lessons. Nancy taught us all how to salsa and "move our hips like the Dominicans". Christian is an amazing dancer and he taught me how to dance with a partner and do all these cool spins and stuff. After dinner we walked back to our dorm. We looked up and gasped at how beautiful the stars are here. The sky is so clear and the stars are so bright. It was breathtaking and it dawned on me how thankful I am to be in this amazing place. 

Dominican Republic: Pre-Departure

Home for the next 3 months. So funky fresh.

I am getting ready to leave for a semester in the Dominican Republic. I feel like when I tell people I am studying in the Dominican, they say “Oh, that’s nice, I’ve been on vacation there, you’ll enjoy it.” It seems a little unexciting because it’s just another beach in the Caribbean. People forget it’s a third world country. Yes, the Dominican is a vacation destination full of five-star resorts, but if you leave those gates and walk down the street you’ll find that more than a third of the country’s population lives in poverty, and 20% lives in extreme poverty. The disparity between rich and poor is unreal. I've learned that the most valuable lessons come from service. I wanted to go some place I could take advantage of that along with my education. And get as far away from winter in Blacksburg as possible. Hello, 80 degree weather! I will be traveling with nine other Tech students and living at the extremely colorful Biodiversity Center of the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation. The top floor of the research building is dorm style, so I will share a room and bathroom with a roommate.  It is just down the road from the beach. The research center is on the grounds of the Punta Cana Hotel and Resort, so we have our meals there and get free access to their beach. We will be studying Sustainability, Culture, and Environmental Science in the Caribbean. I will complete 18 credits over the course of 13 weeks- taking one class for two weeks straight. Virginia Tech faculty leads the entire program and one professor will fly in at a time, teach their class, and leave before the next one begins. I am looking forward to leaving my phone at home, checking out, and fully being there. My friend who is studying abroad elsewhere found out that the average American student studying abroad spends about 4.5 hours a day communicating with family and friends back home. What a waste! To me, the point of this trip is to explore and serve the community, talk with the locals, and embrace the culture, not to sit on facebook or skype for hours. No thank you. I am so antsy I packed up today- I think the simple life of Sierra Leone rubbed off on me because I only have one suitcase and a little carry on for the whole time I’m there. I like it. I’m off to Tech on Thursday morning to take a Spanish placement test, have orientation, say some goodbyes, and peace out bright and early from Roanoke Saturday morning!

Day 11 and 12: 1/6/12-1/7/12

On the water taxi

Sweet kids on the beach

Goodbye Sierra Leone! I clumped these two days together because that is exactly what happened traveling home. It's just one big long day. The next morning, we packed up and headed to the Freetown market. My house is a weird mixture of Southern Living and African art, so my family requested that I not buy anything for them, as we are pretty decked out already. I bought three tapestries, three bracelets, two necklaces and two wood carvings. I hate shopping and am the most indecisive person ever so the market was not my favorite place. I felt so bad saying no to people, was worried I'd rip people off by bargaining too low, and could never make a decision so I'd walk back and forth 100 times between shops, deciding on the giraffe that was pointing its head upwards versus the giraffe that was looking down. (I chose the one looking up in case anyone was wondering). After shopping, we went to the Crowne Bakery for macaroons and chocolate croissants. Everyone was going on and on about how good they were and I am happy to say they lived up to the hype. We then headed to the water taxi, which was so much more enjoyable than our ferry experience. The guys had told us that it was a car with rotating tires that also floated in the water. I am embarrassed to say that Jackie and I believed them. In reality, a water taxi is like a private shuttle boat. I love boats and so I was pretty pumped. The whole experience was about 10 minutes. Again, so much more enjoyable than the ferry. We docked at the beach, which was even prettier than the one we went to in Freetown and had some time to spare before loading the bus for the airport. I took some pictures on the beach and some kids playing football crowded around, asking us to snap them. Then we headed to the airport. We passed the time by playing some more rounds of mafia. It was funny, as we were sitting around I felt weird not holding someone's hand. I had gotten so used to it at the CRC and missed it already. We made it through customs and everything and spent the remainder of our wait eating a great meal at the airport restaurant. We had a two hour flight to Ghana. Jackie and I lucked out again and sat next to each other. We talked the whole time about the trip which was really great. Jackie pointed out that the man sitting in front of us kept turning around about every 30 seconds and staring at us. I have no self control and once I started noticing I got to laughing so hard. It was so weird, he'd just turn around and wedge his face in between the seats and stare directly back at us, just smiling. We both got so uncomfortable and had to look opposite directions, clenching each others hands and shaking from silently laughing so hard. I guess I have bad luck with flights. We were happy to get off that plane away from our creepy friend. The Accra airport was so much nicer than Lungi. It is amazing how you can tell how developed a country is solely based off their airport. We only had an hour and a half to get through customs, check our baggage, and go through security, and we were all nervous we wouldn't make it. God must've seen how stressed out Tim was, because this woman led us through the entire airport- dodging a long line so that we could go to the Pilots Only section and get our passports stamped. She was all business and we made it with time to spare. The 13 hour flight from Ghana to Atlanta really wasn't bad. Darlene gave me a sleeping pill and I was out for a good seven hours. A funny but disgusting moment was when Stephanie realized that there were a dozen boogers stuck to her seat. Poor Steph. I also learned how to play solitaire. Apparently it is really weird that I've never played before. We made it to Atlanta and had to go through customs again. Paul and I got stuck in the world's slowest moving line. I am glad I got stuck with him. I was all nervous that we were the last ones and that they'd leave with out us. He was like "I'm sure if we miss it there will be another flight we can take 30 minutes later." So chill. Paul, Deb, and I were racing through the airport trying to catch up with everyone- that definitely woke me up. The flight to Atlanta was really quick. As we started to descend and land, I looked out the window. It was so strange to see all the cookie cutter houses like mine, with three cars in the drive way. My stomach dropped at the sight of suburbia. I was not ready to be home. My mom actually missed the exit for home because I was talking so much and I told her not to worry about it, to keep driving, that I didn't want to go home because that meant the trip was really over. I walked into my room on Saturday and all my Christmas gifts had been moved up there. Seeing the pile of gifts made me feel guilty and I keep catching myself judging other people for the excessive things they have. I know that is the last thing God wants me to take away from this trip. I should be all the more grateful for everything I do have, especially my family and friends. I turned on my computer to already have a facebook message from Johanese. It read "We miss you guys. I can imagine missing you so quickly. I wish there was an added time for us to spend together. Say hi to your dad. I hope he is doing well." Their thoughtfulness amazes me. They are always thinking of others first, even when things are difficult in their own lives. I want to be more like that. Days later, I am still feeling off beat- it is like I am homesick for Africa. I miss Sierra Leone and think about it all the time. It has been a strange transition home. The thing is, I don't want to ease back into "normal life". I don't want to get sucked back into routine. I don't want to forget. I was talking with my mom and dad about what it is about these trips that make them so special and why it is so hard to leave. We talked about how it is not necessarily a geographical location. My dad talked about how these trips always remind him of the sadness of God. I was overwhelmed by the images of poverty in Sierra Leone and I was in one city, in one country, in one continent. If I was flooded with sadness, imagine how sad the God of the whole world feels when he sees the poverty that persists day after day, hears their prayers, and watches the reactions of people like me, who choose daily to ignore it. At the same time, the children and people I met in Sierra Leone were so free with love- they loved with no inhibitions. Those kids knew we were leaving them in 9 days and they stilled poured their hearts out to us, knowing fully well that they would broken when we left. Because of this, I loved them with my whole heart back. I think this trip mirrored the love that God has for each one of us. It was like getting a week in heaven. And joy was joy- it was not attached to circumstance, what car you drive, what kind of house you live in. As I saw how very little many of these people had, I understood that joy wasn't attached to anything but faith in God and peace in life. It was infectious. I loved the simplicity they lived in and the contentment they had in that simplicity. I also loved the Christian community and waking up each day knowing that it was God's day- that I was there solely to love and to serve, and other than that, there was no agenda. The hardest part of the trip was not getting there. It was not the cold showers or the heat, or the long days. The hardest part was leaving. In conclusion, Sierra Leone made me the saddest and happiest I've ever been. When people told me this trip would change my life, I had no idea how much it really would. I am so thankful for the experience and cannot wait to go back.

Day 10: 1/5/12

The amazing Fudia

Beach day!

View of Freetown from hotel room

We woke up for our last breakfast with Fudia. She was an incredible hostess and always kept us laughing. Each morning, Les and I would work out together after breakfast and do push ups and ab exercises. Fudia always laughed and counted off for us and my favorite memory of her was when she actually got down and did a set of push ups with us. Another great Fudia moment was when Deb pulled out this ball of fuzzy gray yarn to knit with and Fudia scrunched up her face and said, "If you go out into the forest and found a dead animal, it would look like that." She was a piece of work and I will really miss her. We loaded up our stuff and the kids came out to give us one last round of hugs and waved us goodbye. We arrived in Freetown back at the hotel with no difficulties, checked in, and got to go to the beach. We were the only people in the water and besides the occasional piece of floating trash, it was perfect. I am such a beach person and was so excited to go and spend a couple hours in the water. It was cool to think about being on the other side of the Atlantic and nice to relax with the team. Dinner at the hotel was a much more enjoyable experience this time around, and we spent the rest of the evening playing some intense rounds of Mafia and hanging out together.

Day 9: 1/4/12

Kelvin and Alfreda

Painting the bathrooms

"One Upon a Caterpillar"

Saying goodbye to Regina

The Security Guards

Goodbye party

Johanese

The last day at the CRC. I woke up feeling sick- this weird feeling in my stomach. Like I couldn't digest the fact that this was our last day. We went to the great hall for songs before VBS and Kelvin sat down next to me. He looked sad so I asked him what was wrong. He said he didn't sleep well and went on, "I had a nightmare that you were leaving me tonight, and when I woke up, I realized it was coming true." That was not what I needed to hear. Jackie, Steph and I made eye contact and I could tell they were having a tough time, too. We intercepted Tim on our way to the MTC and decided to quit sulking and make our last day the best one yet. Still, there was a weird vibe that day. Things just weren't as lively and happy. I think we all knew what was coming. Alieu was back again and was extra funny today. He would just look at me or whoever else and start cracking up. It killed me. Such a goof. Everyone went to snack together and I sat with Alieu and a bunch of the older guys. We were icing vanilla wafers to make them look like a caterpillar. I handed Alieu a wafer and turned around to get some icing. I said "Ok man, now you're gonna take the knife and ice the cook-" I had almost finished when Alieu looked right at me and stuffed the wafer in his mouth before I could ice it. The older guys got a big kick out of that and Alieu was laughing so hard, clearly tickled with himself and the joke he'd made. It was a great moment. Another fun memory was when Steph and I took a picture with the security guards. I gave one of them my sunglasses to wear for the picture and he loved them. Every time I walked by, he thanked me for letting him wear them- just for that one picture! I ended up giving them to him before we left since he liked them so much. He was so excited and grateful. Yesterday some of the team painted the outside of the bathrooms, so we worked on the insides today. We painted the walls cream and Ganda joked that he was going to paint my hair so I'd be all one color. Les and I teamed up to tackle a particularly nasty boys stall. I went towards the back and was painting when I felt something crawling on my legs. I looked down to see about 8 spiders crawling all over my feet, legs, and the wall. Les and I took a deep breath and painted like mad- I was not trying to stand around in that any longer than we needed to. Throughout the day, I worked on writing letters to some of the kids I was especially close with. It was a good way to prepare myself for saying goodbye. Tim led a Bible Study that afternoon for everyone and did a great job. I also spent some time with my pen pal, Alfreda. She is a reunified student, but she was able to come each day to the CRC and help out with VBS. She is very nice, but like me, is on the shy side and we hadn't had much time to get to know each other. However, she would come find me each day as soon as she got there and hug me goodbye before she left. This last day, she brought me to the kitchen and showed me how they cooked everything over the fire for all the kids and how to prepare cassava leaves and rice. She introduced me to Janet, the head cook, and the three of us talked for a while. It was really nice to finally connect and spend time with her.  We also spent some time with Abdulai, who told us more about his housing project and showed off his new laptop that our team had brought him and some of the other college students. He is so careful with it and won't keep it out too long because he doesn't want any dust to get in it. He calls it his baby and even sleeps with it at night. He is so appreciative. Paul was amazing with setting all the laptops up and helping them out if they had any questions. After dinner, we had a guest speaker come and talk about HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone. He had some startling statistics to share and we all learned a lot. Hearing him talk reemphasized the importance of Mercy Hospital to me. That night, the kids put on their big play. Darlene had worked really hard on the set and practiced with them a lot, and everything paid off. There was actually another group of VT engineers (Go Hokies!) staying at the MTC with us doing a project unrelated to the CRC, and they were allowed to come for the play as an audience. The kids all wore their best outfits and were so excited about it. Kemoh was the caterpillar and main character. I was so impressed by him- he is such a leader and his voice is so powerful. I kept telling him he should become a pastor. Anyways, my favorite part of the play was Aminata's line. Her line was "Don't worry little caterpillar, change happens to us all." For some reason, she could not seem to say "worry" and no matter how many times she practiced on me, it was "Don't hurry little caterpillar." She was really nervous about messing up and sure enough, she said "Don't hurry... don't hurry, don't HURRY little caterpillar, change happens to us all." So close. I wanted to run up there and give her a little hug. The play ended in the kids singing "Marching in the Light of God" which was awesome. I was so proud of them. Afterwards, the kids signed all of our tshirts and we had sodas, goody bags and a little farewell party. Johanese, one of the older boys, was getting reunified, so we had a special gift for him. Aminata and I had one last dance together before we all headed out to say our goodbyes. She told me, "Kathryn, when you first came here, you a bad dancer. When you leave here, I made you good dancer." Love the honesty. I told myself that I wouldn't cry in front of the kids. I was doing great giving hugs and laughing until it came Aminata's turn. I knelt down to hug her and she didn't let go. I felt this stream of wet tears go down my shoulder and I started to tear up, too. Kabela and Idrissa started teasing her for crying and she stormed off, clearly embarrassed. Memunatu came over crying "Kathryn! Don't go! Don't forget us!" I picked her up and patted her head saying "Oh Memunatu, it's ok, I'll be back again. I'll never forget you." She pulled away from my shoulder, howling with laughter. "I got you!" she said. I started laughing so hard- she was just what I needed in that moment. She started mimicking all of us crying- "Oh look at me, I am so sad, I have to go home to de States. Poor me!" She is too much. My boy Tamba smiled slyly at me and asked "So, you want me to botch the tire?" I hugged him and thanked him for considering giving us a flat tire so that we could stay, but decided that was probably not the best idea. It was really difficult saying goodbye to Johanese, as he was having a hard time saying goodbye since he is being reunified. He is so tough and it was really sad to see him break down. I felt so proud of him that night and know he will do great in his internship. After some more hugs from everyone, especially from good friends Regina, Veronica, and Kelvin, I said one last goodbye to my Aminata. She didn't cry this time- she's a tough girl. It was hard, but we slowly trickled out. Momoh, a boy who attended VBS but does not live at the CRC, had been sent home much earlier but walked back and waited outside the gate so he could say goodbye to us. I will never forget the image of him sitting there waiting for us, wanting to give one last hug goodbye before walking home alone that late at night.

Day 8: 1/3/12

Tutoring Memunatu

Ishmael 

Kelvin

Finished playground

I had trouble falling asleep because I was thinking so much about Alieu, and when I saw him come through the CRC gate I was so happy. He is adopted by the retired President of the CRC, Alfred, but I think he must live very independently because he came to VBS with his shirt and pants all unbuttoned, meaning he probably dresses himself. I fixed him up and the two of us spent the morning at crafts together. After lunch, we finished painting the playground by adding the blue and Anna and I painted "CRC" on the backs of the swings. We all signed our names on the back of the slide, which meant a lot to me. It really turned out great. I spent a lot of time with Kelvin, who is 16. We played 2 on 2 volleyball for a long time and actually got pretty good at it. He has become a great friend and we had some good conversations. Around 4:00 I went to find Ishmael for our race. The past two days, he would sprint by me and we'd been teasing each other about who would win. I actually got nervous since I'd talked myself up so much and asked Ibrahim if Ishmael was really fast. Ibrahim laughed and said I had nothing to worry about. Feeling confident, I said "so you ready for this or what?" Ishmael said, "I don't want to race you anymore." I thought maybe he was upset with me so I said "Wait, why?" He looked away and said "Ibrahim. He went to your races in the States. He told me about you." I teased him for being scared to lose to a girl when I realized, wait a second, he really is scared to lose to a girl. I dropped it, but I guess I didn't realize that they were not used to girls challenging them. I don't like that. That night, we got to join the kids for their study hall hours. Kelly worked with Aminata and showed me the 3 digit multiplication she was doing by hand. We kept telling her how smart she is. I think the girls especially are not told that enough. I recently read "The Help" and kept telling her and Memunatu- "You are smart. You are kind. You are important." By the end of the week I'd ask Aminata or Memunatu, "What are you?" and they'd roll their eyes at me and sigh "Smart, kind, and important. We know Kathryn!" I worked on basic multiplication tables with Memunatu. It is clear that she does not understand the concept of multiplication, or even addition- she just has her 1's, 2's and 5's memorized. If you ask her "what is 2x3?" She quickly answers "6". But if you ask her "what is 3x2?", she pauses and says "4... no 5, no 6", completely guessing. I worked with her on the dot method and kept trying to point out the addition patterns. She really clicked with the dot method but then became so dependent on counting them individually. I never realized how frustrating it is to explain. My sister is a third grade math teacher and I really empathized with her that night. These kids are so blessed to have an education, but I forgot that the education they are getting isn't the best quality. Little Faidu came over to us and I picked him up. He fell asleep on me so I didn't wake him up and carried him to the gate when we were all leaving. Memunatu was holding my other hand and began singing "I see the moon, the moon sees me, God bless the moon, and God bless me!" They make me so happy. That night, instead of a devotion, we had Affirmations. I was not looking forward to it, as it sounded really uncomfortable to have people compliment you while you just sat there. But I'm glad Tim made us do it. We went around and affirmed each other for the contributions each person made to the team. Going around the room, I had nothing but good things to say about each person. This trip would have been incredible regardless, but the team really made the experience. We had all become such great friends and I truly loved everyone there. Each member was so important and added something special. I am so thankful I got to be part of such an amazing team.

Day 7: 1/2/12

Aminata teaching me how to dance

Alieu

Another perfect day at the CRC. This morning at crafts, Alieu, a young man with a mental disability came to visit us. I was hoping that I would get to meet him, as he is so special to my mom. When she first went over, the kids were not accepting of him at all and she had to work hard for him to be included. Now, they are all so friendly and give him high fives and hugs. I helped him make the wooden cross we made that day,  and then helped him make a hat, a necklace that said "Alieu", and a WWJD bracelet. He kept pointing at my rubber HCW bracelet, so Jeremy went and got one for him. He put it on and kept holding it up to mine, laughing because we matched. I want to become a special education teacher, so I was completely enamored with him and his gentle spirit. I caught Ibrahim staring at the two of us and he smiled and said "You know he was your mother's favorite. Watching you with him- it is like she's here." That was the best compliment I've ever received. During the civil war, Alieu's head was cracked open with a machete and cocaine was planted in his brain so that it would never heal. He was five. I shudder every time I see the X shaped scar on the back of his head. He has no speech and has some other characteristic mannerisms. But he's in there. You only have to look at him once and you know he is. He gets so giggly and I've never been happier to be around anyone. He colored one of the canvas bags to keep all his crafts in and Abu told us that we should be careful because the townspeople often steal his stuff. People with mental disabilities are not accepted in third world countries. Later that day, we began painting the playground. Alieu came and found me and I let him paint with me for a while when I noticed that he didn't have any of his crafts. I asked him where he put them and he nodded towards the dining hall. I asked him to take me to them. He took my hand and led me to the dining hall, back in the little kitchen area. He crouched down and pointed all the way underneath the shelf in the corner. There was his little bag filled with crafts. Maybe that is where they have him keep his stuff, maybe that was a little quirk, but I remembered what Abu said and I think he hid them so no one could steal them. I nodded that it was ok for them to stay there and gave him a hug before going back outside. I think about that all the time. We made some serious progress on the playground and it already looked awesome. Part of me was bummed that we weren't doing more serious labor. I didn't want to come all the way to Africa to paint a playground. But when I saw how much better the playground looked once it wasn't covered with rust and how excited the kids were, I knew this was something that would make a lasting imprint on the CRC. The paint made a lasting imprint on us. We ended up needing kerosene to get the oil based paint off- I was so covered in paint I practically took a bath in the kerosene. Never smelled so bad in my life. That night at the dance party, we were dancing to one of their favorite songs, "Forever". The lyrics are cheesy but it goes "I promise I'll be lovin you forever and ever, I'll love you forever, I'm givin you my word". After the song ended Aminata waved me down to tell me a secret. She said "Kathryn, the song. I mean it. I love you forever. I give you my word." I love that girl. That night, Jeremy led a devotion on moments we would never forget. I started talking about Alieu and all of the sudden I just lost it. Someone asked what happened to him, and although I've heard the story a number of times, to hear it said out loud now that I had met him, talked to him, seen those scars and that little bag of crafts slid underneath the shelves- it all came crashing down on me and I snapped. I think I was long overdue for a good cry.

Day 6: New Year's Day

Ishmael, Aminata, and I walking through Bo

Before the walking tour 

Family's old house

House the CRC children built

CKC Crocodile

Little boy from the walk

 This morning I woke up to go to Centenary Methodist Church with Paul, Les, Nicky, Darlene and Deb. I wanted to go here because I was hoping to walk to the original CRC building, as that was where it all started and I wanted to tell my Dad I'd seen it. The service was nice because the minister spoke in English and was slow enough to understand everything. Since it was New Year's day, they had a lot of special events take place. For instance, there were five different offerings. Five. At first, I was irritated because we'd been in church for three hours and I didn't understand the point of doing a fourth and fifth offering. But as I sat there, staring down the clock and most everyone walk up time after time to drop another Leone into the collection plate, I felt God call me out. I don't tithe. These people were dancing up their offering for the fifth time in a row and I don't tithe. Yikes. A lot of the older kids sing in the choir at Cetenary so it was cool to watch them. I also learned that my grandparent's church, and the church my dad grew up in, paid for the Pastor's tuition to seminary. Small world! Auntie Hannah sat behind us and she is the most passionate worshiper. She dances and sings so happily. I told her that she was an inspiration to worship with. She gave me a hug and said "I am happiest when I am singing the praises of my King." Faith is so real and authentic there. Church ended after 4 and a half hours and I didn't get to see the original CRC. Looking back, it wasn't a big deal but I may have been a little bitter by the time we returned to the MTC. And I am definitely never complaining about a service at Floris being over an hour and fifteen minutes again. Ever. After a much needed lunch, we went on a walking tour of Bo. Our first stop was the old forest house, which is where the mission teams stayed before the MTC was built. Ganda showed me the screen porch and said "Kathryn Berlin, this is where your father slept." I remembered all the apologies my dad has made- leaving us when we were really little on his 3 week long trips to Sierra Leone, us girls complaining that he had another meeting, missing my birthday twice in a row. I actually teared up imagining him sleeping on the floor of the porch. I couldn't be prouder of him. Next, they showed us the house they'd built for a family who lived by the forest house. I thought it was amazing that these kids were being taught to give back to their community with such a large scale service project. That is the most important thing the CRC can teach them as these kids are the future leaders of their country. Abdulai told me about his housing project. He doesn't eat lunch and saves that money to build houses for people. He talked about how important it is for him to give back because there are so many people who didn't get the chance he did. I was speechless. Then we went to Christ the King College and saw their notorious mascot- a 54 year old crocodile. If the boys get punished there, they have to clean out the crocodile cage and feed it. Only in Sierra Leone. I spent the walk talking with Ishmael. He mentioned he was a fast runner so I challenged him to a race the next day. We spent the rest of the walk jokingly trash talking each other. I really liked hanging out with him and Ganda on the walk because they were so real with me and it was a change of pace from playing with the little kids. It was cool to hang out and really talk with someone my own age- not just have surface conversations. We also had a competition of who could balance a water bottle on our heads the longest. I really hung in there and the kids were going crazy for it- "Kathryn Berlin is from Africa!" Regina and Veronica also taught me some words in Creole. I learned that "I love you" in Creole is "I like you." Talk about a disappointment. I was wearing this dumb shirt I got at a track meet that says "Pizza is the best". Ganda and I were talking when he said, "Kathryn, I must ask you. What is pizza? And why is it the best?" That killed me. He wasn't that impressed when I told him it was bread, tomato sauce, and cheese with toppings. The walk opened my eyes to the poverty outside the CRC. The compound is so warm and happy that you often forget you are in a third world country. One boy from town walked up beside me and kept gazing up at me and smiling shyly. I kept asking him if he knew how to get home, where his family was, but he would nod and smile, clearly not understanding my English. We stopped to have snack, and Ganda handed the little boy one. There were a couple kids who attended VBS but lived in town, so I thought maybe this child knew us and when he reached to hold my hand, I let him. Another 10 minutes passed when Ganda asked me if I knew him. I said that he'd been following me and that he stayed with me after snack. I felt horrible when Ganda said that it was against policy and that we could get in trouble since we didn't know him. He told the boy in creole to go home. The little boy looked scared and squeezed my arm, not letting go. This time, Ganda raised his voice and pointed for him to leave. His lip started to quiver and Ganda broke his grasp from my arm. I had to tell myself not to look back, feeling guilty tears well up in my eyes. I wish every child could live at the CRC. The 4 mile walk was tiring, but the kids never run out of energy. We played with them the rest of the afternoon and had a dance party after dinner. Aminata has become my special girl and loves teaching me her moves. That night, the kids had their election speeches. I was so tired I dozed off with little Kemoh asleep in my lap. We all returned to the MTC and I had my devotion. I was really nervous about it because I am bad at talking in front of people so I had written a devotional about sky diving while I was still home. I ended up throwing it out because of the conviction I'd felt at church. I was unprepared, but ended up talking about New Year's resolutions that had been brought to our attention since coming to Sierra Leone- mine being to tithe. I realized how silly it is to save up for expensive, leisure experiences like skydiving and not give 10% a month to the church. It took me coming all the way to Sierra Leone to figure that one out. And what's more, I want to dance my offering up- to be joyful about giving my money up to God instead of doing it because I feel like I have to. As we went around the room and talked about our resolutions, I found myself nodding along with what everyone was saying. There are a lot of things I want to improve on this year. To name a few, I need to start going to church at school, having more intentional conversations with friends, praying, being more loving, not taking things for granted, and reading my Bible. It is amazing how much these kids have taught us about ourselves and given us a new perspective.

Day 5: New Year's Eve

Getting suited up for our dance

Monjama is beautiful!

Ella showing us how its done

 New Years Eve in Sierra Leone was an experience. We started the day with VBS and made butterfly necklaces and colored butterfly bags. The kids were supposed to write "Jesus" on the back of the butterfly so that when you wore it Jesus would be close to their hearts. Aminata wrote "I love Jesus and Kathryn" and made me a matching one that said "Jesus and Aminata loves me". I wore it all week. Deb bought a lot of this stuff back in April and May when butterfly crafts were in season and on sale. How awesome is she? Around 4:00, Auntie Betty arranged our dance competition. The kids put us in the traditional dance costumes and Ella and Monjama led us girls in the dances. The kids got a big kick out of it and I could barely dance I was laughing so hard with Regina and Veronica teasing me. The guys played the drums and then had their turn which was pretty funny to watch. Afterwards, we played musical chairs. I got third place and I went to sit next to Ishmael who said "I knew you were going to lose. I could see it in your eyes. You did not want it bad enough." I guess I underestimated how seriously they take musical chairs at the CRC. That night, we went to Leader UMC, which is just up the road to bring in the New Year. The service was great. The pastor's accent was thick and he spoke parts of his sermon in Creole, but I managed to pick out bits and pieces. My favorite part was the singing. Their voices are beautiful and they all sing with such passion- loud, clear and proud. It felt great and so different from the way I sing at home, where I sometimes mouth the words! When it came time to collect the offering, the congregation danced their money up to the baskets, so joyful to be giving what little they had to God. It was beautiful. Stephanie, Les and I sat with Afiju and we held hands the whole time, the four of us bringing it in for a huddle in the seconds before the New Year. The service was a little over two hours, and the kids in my aisle were dropping like flies- sleeping on and underneath the pew. While the service was long, it gave me a lot of perspective about my enthusiasm in worship and was a great way to start off 2012.

Day 4: 12/30/11

Crafts center

Chalk with the girls

Braiding and knitting

Basketball

Littlest Faidu

 I promise these entires will get shorter from here on! I hope the past two novel-length entries haven't discouraged you from reading on. Today was the first day of VBS. Deb and Darlene organized everything for this entire week, and I cannot say enough good things about them. The amount of preparation and thought they put into our Butterfly themed summer school is evident in the 4 trunks worth of crafts supplies, decorations, and themed snacks. So many of the supplies were already prepared and she had a detailed plan for each day. "Go Deb!" became the theme of VBS. I led the crafts station with Jeremy and Emily Bennett and we made cotton ball cocoons and caterpillars and butterfly fans. The combination of glitter, glue, stickers, and everything in between made things messy and fun. They turned out really great and even the older kids enjoyed themselves. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids. A highlight included Kelly, Shane and my failed attempt at teaching some of the kids how to play Knock Out. It was hilarious- we kept trying to explain in the midst of them playing, shouting and throwing the ball everywhere that if the second person makes it before the first then the first is out, and that you don't pass it to the last person in line, and that if you make it that doesn't mean you get to shoot again... It was great. Saffie, Memunatu, and Juliana are three of the younger girls and we all went inside to play with chalk. I wrote Memunatu's name in bubble letters. Saffie watched me and worked so hard for probably twenty minutes writing "Saffie Koroma" in bubble letters and coloring them in. So cute. I spent the rest of the day floating around- swinging with Memunatu and Regina, finger knitting with Aminata, taking pictures, or "snaps" with Idrissa. One funny moment was walking with Moinina and his little brother Faidu. Faidu is the youngest boy and very short. Moinina kept pointing at him to me, teasing over and over, "This is the smallest boy at the CRC." Faidu smacked him and Aunty Hannah nodded, saying, "He is the least among us." I cracked up- I love the way they phrase things. Faidu looked a little defeated so I whispered that he was the boy at the CRC with the biggest heart. After dinner we headed back to the CRC for Vespers and movie night- Alice in Wonderland. We all were fading fast so we left early so we could do our devotional and get to bed. We talked about what we took for granted and I said circumstance. I am realizing that so much of your life is determined merely by circumstance- where you live, what you're born into. I am finding that I don't deserve everything that I take for granted each day the same way that little boy doesn't deserve to go to sleep in a pile of trash. It scares me.

Day 3: 12/29/11

Freetown

Children from Monyama Crossing

Welcome Ceremony

Greetings from Fanta, Kemoh, and Alusine

We are in the home stretch! I felt really bad because last night around 2 am, two hotel workers had to lug up all 11 of our trunks up three flights of stairs so that they would be locked safe in our room for the night. Five hours later, the same two guys had to carry all of them back downstairs to load on the bus. I offered to help but they shook their heads no, clearly agitated. We got on the bus and started the 4-5 hour journey from Freetown to Bo. Freetown was unreal. There was trash- piles upon piles just sitting out on the streets getting burned. But that was nothing compared to the amount of poverty we saw. Everywhere, people lined the streets- either selling things or just sitting outside the shops and buildings. We picked up Abdulai from his college home on the way. While we waited, people pressed up against our bus, holding things to buy up against the windows. It was overwhelming. It happened every time the bus got stopped in traffic, and every time it broke my heart. The children especially loved to wave and smile as we passed, many of them clothed in nothing but a dirtied pair of underwear. Their attention made me ultra-sensitive to the color of my skin and the status associated with being a White American. Whenever we went over a bridge, you'd look down and see the big green trees and canopy, but then if you looked further down, you'd see the ground covered in trash, most of it burning. There were also hundreds of shanty shacks piled down in these valleys and Abdulai told me that during rainy season, they get completely washed out, resulting in hundreds of deaths. We made it out of the craziness of Freetown and into the bush. The landscape was beautiful and really felt like Africa. About two hours in, our bus rolled to a stop right in the middle of Monyana Crossing, a rural village. Tim and the luggage truck was a good bit ahead, so we called them and went to the bathroom while waiting for them to come help us. We asked a local man to take us to the bathroom and wound up on a 10 minute walking tour through this little village. Children started to follow us and I am not exaggerating when I say there was an entourage of about 30 kids tagging alongside us through the village and back to our bus. So many of them had bloated bellies, swollen from malnutrition. They were all smiles and showed off for us. Women would stop hanging their laundry to stare at this parade of white people marching to the bathroom. One small girl started crying when she saw us- I bet we looked like aliens to her. I would've been fine squatting behind a tree and the bathroom ended up being a triangular hole in some concrete. We tipped our guide and he was so kind and grateful to us. We got back on the bus and waved goodbye to the sweet kids. I woke up in Bo. The city was definitely busy, but did not have the same element of chaos that Freetown had. We turned right up a big hill to see the freshly painted bright yellow Methodist Church. Then we pulled into the compound- Mercy straight ahead and the CRC and MTC to our left. I freaked out. We unpacked quickly, eager to greet the children. Ibrahim came over to say hello- a nonchalant high five and a "Hey Kathryn", but I screamed and tackled him, saying he wasn't too cool for a hug. I hadn't seen him in ages. Then we walked to the CRC. The kids were all under the pavilion, or Peace Hut, as they had a welcome ceremony for us. Aunty Betty (who I LOVE), led the girls in a traditional dance. They were painted white, wearing bright fabric, grass skirts and jingling anklets. The kids all sang while some of the girls danced and some of the boys played drums. They were such talented musicians and dancers. I don't know why, but I started to tear up. I kept having to take deep breaths to keep from crying. Without saying anything, the girl next to me, Fanta, took my hand. She asked me my name and introduced me to the children around her. I am not a very affectionate person- I don't really like hugs and definitely don't hold hands. But at that moment, it was just what I needed. After the ceremony, we socialized with the kids before taking a tour of Mercy Hospital. It made me sad to realize that this was their hospital, as it is no where near the level of care we take for granted in the US. However, it made me happy that this was a place where people could come for free medical care- where women could have their babies in a safe, clean environment, where there were hospital beds to sleep on. Some of the girls actually got to see a baby who had been born the night before. The safe delivery of that baby made all the efforts that went into the construction of that hospital worth it. I was so impressed. After the tour, we went back to meet with Fudia, the caretaker of the MTC and our cook. I was so excited to meet her because my Dad loves her so much. I immediately knew why. She is so sassy and sweet. We headed back to socialize with the kids. The kids were all over us and one girl, Aminata, took good care of me by leading me around. Tamba also followed me and had me do a magic trick. They layed three sticks down on top of each other and I had to touch one. Tamba would walk away and without fail, he would guess the correct one. I was freaking out because I couldn't figure out how he was doing it. The kids were going crazy for it- whooping and cheering him on. Turns out, Aminata would scratch her head if it was the top stick, her hip if it was the middle, or her knee if it was the bottom. They were so tickled with themselves when they fooled Les and Shane, too. The kids also gave us a tour of the compound. They are now divided up into families of 5-8, each with their own Aunty. They were so thrilled to show us their houses- how they decorated the sitting room, the boys room, the girls room, where their aunty stayed. It was wonderful getting pulled in all directions around the complex, listening to them talk so fast- "Look, Look! This is MY bed." My favorite part of the tour was the main office building. We came to one room and our guide explained that this was once known as "Trauma Hall", which is where they held counseling sessions for traumatized victims of the Civil War. Over the top of the door, the the black writing of "Trauma Hall" had been painted over with white and was now labeled, "Peace Hall". It was a powerful symbol. We reluctantly headed back for a delicious dinner of chicken and rice and held our devotional. Tyler led it and did a great job by asking us all a question. It really helped me get to know the team better. Then we went to Vespers with the kids, where they sang a few hymns, prayed and read a bible verse before bed each night. The children's voices are gorgeous and we all got to march to the song "Marching in the Light of God" and hear them sing the Reconciliation Song, which is a song about forgiveness after the civil war. The lyrics: "They are moving, the angels of peace and reconciliation, moving like gospel soldiers. We want peace, we want love, and reconciliation. Let us love one another, for this is the commandment... Yes, we know and we know, that our leaders have really wronged us, for they have killed our mothers, killed our fathers, for they have destroyed all our resources... Let's forgive, we just have to do it. It's the commandment given by God." I was so moved by the beauty of their voices and the words of this song.
Before we left, literally every kid gave me a hug. And its only day 1.