Ayer

Hi everyone!

We've been experiencing problems with the wifi in our hotel, so that is why I wasn't able to give an update yesterday! Sorry!! That's typical life here though.. you never know when something isn't going to just stop working : ) They are working on finding some consistency in it though.

Anyway, yesterday we started off by eating breakfast, then we headed out for a very busy day beginning at 8 am! We split off to do different activities around the orphanage. A few of the boys and adult males began working on fixing the drainage issue. They dug multiple holes and trenches by hand (in fact everything is done using hand tools basically!) in search of the pipe that's causing the problem. The drainage issue has also caused a lot of the grass around the orphanage to be very soft and mushy. Mr. Kuester, Martin, Jacob, and Olivia worked very hard to dig out sod and mud so that a concrete slab can be put in. Mrs. Lundy, Molly, and I sorted through clothes donations for awhile, and Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs. Witges helped out with other miscellaneous duties around the orphanage.

After a little bit, some of us switched places. Jacob headed inside and was able to paint an illustration on how to properly use the bathroom! Olivia traded places with Molly and I, so we came outside to help with removing sod and mud from the area where the concrete slab will go. Around 1:00 we took a break for lunch. We ordered food from a little roadside stand; it was a little sketchy but worth it! Our boxes contained rice, lots of chicken, lentils, and fried plantains. It was all very delicious!!

After lunch, we continued working on the projects. The moms left and helped with grocery shopping and picking up the orphans from school. We worked on the projects until around 4:00 by the time everyone got cleaned up.

After cleaning up, we headed to the orphanage and played with the kids a little more! Then we headed back to the hotel for homemade vegetable soup (compliments of Mr. Kuester!). After dinner we all played a game called Bowl! It was quite humorous, and we tried to get some video footage from it.

Finally we ended in a short prayer service and all settled into bed! Overall, we ended up getting a lot accomplished for the first working day!

¡Hasta luego!
-Kaitlyn