Yesterday

So, apparently last night's spoons game wore me out. Here's a little update from yesterday:

The morning was pretty awesome. Compared to other camps, we don't have to wake up as early, so everyone is definitely enjoying that part. After breakfast, we broke into a couple of groups and went out to work. Matt's group did some scraping, and m group was focused mostly on painting.

Before we even got to the worksite, and actually before we even got to the road, we were all surprised to see the group of people waiting outside the villas that we were staying at. They were standing there hoping to get some work for the day. A lot of us have seen things on tv about this, but the reality of actually seeing it in person was a bit overwhelming. Of course, we totally forgot about it when we finally got to the neighborhood that we were working in and saw such worn-down homes. The fact is though, in the states, we wouldn't even call these structures homes. They were more like broken-down and neglected sheds.

Our first resident was someone who went by the name Mr. Light. He was an old fella who lived alone. He was clearly poor, but to add to that, Bart made a wonderful comment in our evening discussion that Mr. Light looked like he was alone most of the time. He didn't have anyone to really be around, and there was a more profound poverty in that than in the simply lack of money that he had. There is a video below of the house and the work that we did on his house.

The second house that we worked on was roughly the same size, maybe 10 x 12 feet, and it housed a young pregnant woman and four of her kids. For me it was a treat, because the kids were roughly the same age as my daughter, whom I miss so much while I'm away. But in that same light, there was a distraction from me being able to fully enjoy being around them, and the initial catalyst for that was when I saw the bed inside. It immediately hit me that they must all be sleeping in that same bed...the five and soon six of them. Anyone who is a parent knows how amazingly gifted children are at taking up space in the bed when they come in and are scared of the dark or something. Not only did this woman have four kids, but she is currently pregnant. I started to ruminate and think about every other aspect of parenting and how hard this all must be for her. My heart simply poured out for her and the billions of people in the world in her situation. Again, a video of her small home will be posted below or above. Her house was placed upon a ledge that has an amazing view of the ocean.

After mass, our group met together in one of the villas to share our highs and lows of the days, with an added component of what we did with the lows when they happened. There was nothing superficial about any of the comments that I heard. Everyone had something amazing to contribute about their day. Fr Geoff and John the musician joined in our conversation and because of them being there there was definitely an added component. I want to get into this part of our night a little more, but breakfast is almost ready and I can't be late!

The last part of our night included some music and some games of spoons. Lots of fun!