Tired, Dirty, and Proud

Yesterday was a difficult day for the kids in many respects. They are still getting used to running around and doing things all day and then having one of us knock on their door at 6:30am the next day to do it all over again. Then there is the sun and heat and not being in familiar surroundings. But on all accounts the students are doing a fantastic job!

La Carpio is a poor community on the outskirts of San Jose made up primarily of Nicaraguan immigrants. Our job yesterday was to working on leveling one of the roads so that it can be paved in the near future. Although the sun was already hot by 8am, the kids were quick to grab shovels and pick axes and set to work on the road. At times the kids were so into their work that we had to force them to stop and take a break and get some water. The one thing that impressed most of them was working side by side with many of the community members, especially the kids.

There were moments when it would have been very easy for the kids to stop working and start complaining but it never happenned. By 2pm they were slowing down but they were still laughing and telling jokes and working hard. When it was time to leave the community, the kids were saying good bye to their new friends in their broken Spanish and talking abut coming back for another day of hard work in the sun.

In the end they were tired, dirty, and proud of their accomplishments, but not as proud as we were of them!

-Wilds