Meeting our sponsored child...

Today was our last day in the communities, and it was definitely bittersweet. The chicas and I spent the morning painting figurines with some of the children in the community, while the boys worked on building a retaining wall behind the community center. At first, I was disappointed that I wasn’t asked to use my super awesome muscles to help with the construction, but I ended up having an incredibly fun time painting with a little girl named Julie Diana. Even though I couldn’t understand everything she said to me, we really connected, especially over shared laughs about how difficult it was for me to say “anaranjado” (or, “orange,” in English).

In the afternoon, Molly and I were unbelievably blessed to be able to meet our family’s sponsored child, Jose Ricardo. He and his father, mother, and little sister came to Villarutia to eat lunch with us. Seeing how excited Jose Ricardo and his family were to meet us really touched my heart. His father told us that they had found out only that morning that Molly and I were here, so they had all quickly showered and gotten ready in order to hurry over to meet us. Jose Ricardo’s 12th birthday was three days ago, and since his father is currently out of work, his family didn’t have enough money to buy him any presents. It was so awesome to be able to give him a birthday present, although I only wished that we could do more for him and his family. This whole experience down here in TJ has really reaffirmed my desire to serve the poor, and meeting Jose Ricardo brought the poor so much closer to my heart in such a real way.

-Hannah L.