This time of the day, where we play games with the kids, is a daily occurance. It is especially true this week because the kids are on a break from school. As such, the kids are around the foundation all the time. This includes the time we spent today cleaning and organizing the library, taking an inventory of the foundation's store, and organizing all the shoes we brought to Honduras for Operation Barefoot. We roughly upacked, inventoried, assigned, and organized 330 pairs of shoes this morning. On thursday, we are going to give all these shoes to the children of the community. The store we inventoried helps to support the financial needs of the foundation. The room with all the items we needed to go through was stacked almost to the ceiling with boxes that needed to be opened, sorted, and inventoried. We got about halfway through the job today, and hopefully we'll finish tomorrow. Once we were done for the day with our jobs, we cleaned ourselves up and got ready for time with the kids and for dinner. Playing with the kids is the most exhausting, tiring, and most exciting part of the day. Today alone, I jump roped, played tag, soccer, hopscotch, hide and go seek, and duck duck goose. I twirled the kids in circles, threw them in the air, turned them upside down, and gave them piggy backs. This is all in addition to the time spent talking with the kids (or at least trying), and doing my best to get to know them. After all of this, our group took a deep breath, ate dinner, and got ready for round two; Bed time is still 2 hours away.
The thing I most cherish about the kids of the foundation is the love that they show you. It is so unconditional and so pure because often times, these kids have not been shown much, or any love in their lives. As such, love is the one thing that they crave more than anything. I wish that I could somehow share with you how getting a hug from one of the kids feels like. I wish I could tell you in some cohesive way what an awesome feeling it is when you gain the trust and friendship of one of the kids down here. I wish I could relate to you the truly horrendous and unspeakable past some of these kids come from. As an example, today two young boys, William and Thomas were dropped off at the foundation by their grandmother. Their dad died recently. Their mother, who now lives in Mexico, gave them to their grandmother to care for them. The grandmother, being overwhelmed and probably unable to support the boys, brought both the boys and their birth certificates to the foundation this afternoon in order to sign them over. They most likely have been living in the streets for the past couple of years. This is only one story - there are so many more to tell.
The work that the foundation does here in La Paz, Honduras is very necessary and important. This place, and the people involved with it, try to turn the most bleak and desperate situations into bright and promising futures. It is also necessary and important because the foundation relates the story of Jesus and the love he has for them, reinforces it, and strengthens it through prayers, songs, and Bible studies. This place not only gives the kids a physical home, but a spiritual one also. I know that there is still much to be done here in Honduras, and in this city. I pray that God blesses the work being done here, and also the work being done by our group.
