Friday, February 04, 2011 – Good work if you can get it

Today was really a work day to finally get most of our projects done. We finished up repairs on the playground which included fixing the monkey bars, replacing the teeter-totter boards, building a sandbox and replacing the rope ladder on the swing set. Another crew put together the new bunk beds for the boy’s dorm and got it ready for the boys to move into, which they did that night! We also put up coat hooks in both dorms for the kids to hang their new backpacks up as well as shower curtains in both bathrooms, while another crew finished getting the new kitchen painted and ready for use. The last crew put together the new desks and study tables for the new pre-school classroom. All of the projects should be finished by tomorrow morning.

Our group was treated to a late lunch by Salome who is Christine’s niece. Salome’s mother was Christine’s sister who died of AIDS and in many ways inspired Christine to start HOREC. Salome has finished college and is currently trying to figure out how to get into medical school as she would like to become a doctor and do AIDS research. She dreams of finding a cure that is ravaging her country, especially its children. We had a wonderful lunch together at Christine’s house and then headed back to our hotel for the night.

We concluded the evening with an affirmation circle (sharing with each person how they had blessed us on the trip) and a time of Communion. We all agreed this has been a life changing week in many ways and we have been blessed by each other and by those we have had the privilege of serving. Each of us is grateful for all of you back home who have encouraged us to come and have prayed for us on our journey. Tomorrow we end our time at HOREC and we know that will be both sad and joyful.