1st Day - Getting Started, Wednesday, July 22nd

Today was our first full day at the orphanage, and I'd say it was a great success. That doesn't mean everything went according to plan. There was a lot of adapting along the way, but everyone had a full day of working whether it was on the car port that we are building or with the kids, or something else, we all kept on the move.

We broke into groups in the morning. Some worked on the car port, and other began preparation for VBS and kids activities.

The car port had a very interesting start. At first we had several very large boards that needed to be cut. All they had for this task were some very rusty and not very sharp hand saws. This was going to be a long day. We found a small table saw and tried to walk this 100 something pound really long board over it to get a straight cut, but this wasn't going to work. Then we got creative and turned it upside down and tried to cut down into it like miter saw. Dangerous, but it was working. Then one of the long term volunteers spoke up, and told us that they have a sort of Lowe's like store in Trujillo. Brian and I and Elias, who works here, bought the orphanage some much needed equipment including a power saw. I'm not sure how they thought we'd ever get through with just the hand saw. The rest of the day moved much faster as far cutting.

Meanwhile, another group start digging out a trench for the concrete footing. This meant digging into sand. And digging into sand meant the sand kept collapsing. But they kept plodding on even though this was a very frustrating job. Others had to knock holes in cinder blocks in the wall in order to attach the roof of the car port. It was all quite an experience.

The VBS went on at the same time. I wish I could let you know what happened in detail, but I wasn't there for that. I hear that some of the Miller kids put on a great puppet show. And Kathy Starbird did a great job leading and directing activities. They put on a skit and also sang a few songs with the kids. Everyone played some part in making the VBS go off. Even the long term volunteers helped out especially by translating.

Some of the activities for the day were side walk chalk drawings, and jumping rope.

In the afternoon, everyone either continued with the car port or painted, repaired screen windows, or picked weeds around the fruit trees. The big accomplishments were to get the kinder room nearly completely painted, and to repair the screen in the kitchen. Now they won't suffer from nearly as many flies.

One additional note is that Drew Miller's missing luggage arrived as I was typing this blog. Hooray!