Day 4: Medical Center: Wiring & Starting on the Walls

This morning started early for Mallory, Tate, and the chaperones. They got up at 5 am and walked to the sea wall to watch the sunrise. The experience was very well worth it, and the changing colors of the sky were beautiful. Of course, once the sun had risen, Mallory and Tate went back to bed until breakfast. The delicious breakfast included eggs, toast, and biscuits.

A morning excursion to the
Caribbean Sea wall

Samra W. hand-sawing her way through
a piece of wall board, while Hannah G.
holds it in place

We took a morning excursion downtown to do some shopping. We visited shops in the mall and went to Brodie’s department and grocery store to get some snacks for the rooms.  Choices included chocolate, oreos, and peanut butter. After we finished shopping, we returned to the hotel to get ready for the day. 

One of the groups went out to the site to start working on the medical center, but the other group went to the seawall down the street to see the ocean. The weather was perfect and the ocean looked beautiful. It was something a lot of us had been longing to see after spending a long winter in landlocked Atlanta. After our trip to the seawall, we went out to Western Paradise (also known as 8-Mile) to join the other group in finishing yesterday’s work of putting up walls and getting the ground ready for the septic tank, which was delivered today. After a lot of hard work, lunch was a well-deserved break. Like yesterday, we had lunch at Terrence’s house. Our fabulous meal featured barbeque chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, and homemade tortillas. They were delicious and warm and smelled good. We are forever ruined for American cooking.  

Tate B. offering nails to girls hammering
wall boards into place

Miller L., planting a tree in front
of the medical center

After lunch, we returned to the worksite to continue putting up walls and put in the dirt around the septic tank. We were soon joined by the neighborhood kids as they got let out of school. As more and more appeared, more and more hammers were forgotten. We participated in piggy back races and played soccer. We played duck duck goose and invented games of our own. We also took a lot of pictures. The kids were fascinated by our cameras and took lots of silly pictures with us. After we worked on the medical site and played with the kids, we headed to the soccer field. There we were joined by even more kids and handed out 40 Westminster soccer jerseys to them. Then we played an intense green vs. white soccer game, where the white team, containing both of us, dominated. Coincidentally, the white team also contained a few varsity soccer players, but it was all us. Definitely all us. Also, a little girl decided to try out her hair-braiding skills on Jorie’s head. See photo below.

Piggy-back racing with the kids
of Western Paradise

Girls take time out to teach some
cheerleading moves to the kids of
Western Paradise

After playing with the kids until we were too tired to move, we returned to our hotel for showers and a nice pizza dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a bathroom and a pizza box in my life. Mallory, Caroline Daugherty, and Libby led our devotion tonight. They talked about “God-sightings”- seeing God in everything that we do here. Many of us volunteered our own God-sightings that we had seen that day. Some included the appreciativeness of the children when they received their jerseys and the big smiles on their faces and the selflessness of Addie when she gave her sunglasses and socks to a little boy. Another place where we saw God was at the sea wall. The fact that we couldn’t even see the end of the ocean served as a metaphor for the vastness of God.We are exhausted from running around all day, but we are all excited to nail down some more walls and do some painting tomorrow. We are also really excited to play with the kids again. The weather is fantastic and we are all having a great time watching this project come together and bonding as a mission team. 

Miller L., playing with Isreal,
a Western Paradise child

Terrance (left) is helping us with carpentry
at the medical center. With him are
Patty Johnson and Brian.

~ written by Tate B. and Lily M.

This is Yolanda (Terrance's wife).  She's an incredible cook and
was gracious enough to make us lunch each day we were
working at the medical center.

Lunch at Terrance and Yolanda's house. Caroline D. having
some chicken with rice and beans with Jamiley, Terrance
and Yolanda's daughter.

Libby T. hammering one of the wall boards in place

Chi Chi U. (left) and Janiah B. hammering the last wall
board in place before calling it a day on Tuesday

Nicky D., Taylor C., and Samra W. offering encouragement
to the girls hammering in the wall boards

Janiah B. offering the kids of Western Paradise Westminster
Soccer jerseys before the big soccer game!

The soccer game at Western Paradise

Piggy-back races on the basketball court in Western Paradise

Playing the parachute game!

Patty Johnson giving instructions on the Parachute Game

Nicky D. being tracked down by the kids of
Western Paradise

Tuesday Night Devotion was given by
Caroline D., Libby T., and Mallory L.

Our Tuesday Night Bloggers: Tate B., and Lily M.