Wednesday, July 30th: Technical School Day

 

Dear Faith Partners,

One thing I love about returning to El Hogar for the third time is that every day is different. We have the same basic itinerary for the week, but we are able to make every day special.

On the itinerary for today was visiting the Technical School. 

After the boys from El Hogar finish sixth grade (fifth grade in the United States), they have the option to go to the technical or farm school to complete three out of the five years of high school. They are then able to use their new skills to get a job and put themselves through the rest of high school and possibly college. 

 

After seeing the electrical, wood-working, and welding shops, we had the opportunity to sit down with five boys to ask them about their lives and dreams. They nicely shared about their dreams to become engineers, soccer players, singers, and many more. Afterward we decided to play a five-to-ten minute soccer game with the boys. 

 

Our friendly ten-minute game quickly turned into thirty with the entire school watching. Amazingly, we won 7-4. Aron, Slocomb, and Eric played offense like they were teammates for years. Olden, Maurice and I were able to stop almost any ball that tried to come into the goal. And Nia was an amazing goalie with over thirty saves. I hope this soccer game will become a tradition with other volunteer groups when they visit the technical school. 

(Teaching the kids a new prayer)

 

Every evening, we have one of the four dorms for evening activities. Tonight we had dorm 3 with boys ages 8 to 10. A few of the volunteers played baseball with the boys. I braided hair with Nia and Karen and played endless rounds of a game similar to Ring Around the Rosey. Maurice was able to teach his music students to read music, which is difficult since there is no overlap between English and Spanish vocabulary for music. 

 

I saw God on the soccer field today. Our team kept playing even though the game was three times as long was it was supposed to be and there was a large audience. I also saw God this morning in one of the girls who grabbed me by the waist to bring me into the circle for the morning devotion. 

 

Thank you for making this experience possible. I can't help but smile every time I receive a spontaneous hug or hear a child scream, “Hola Celeste!”

-Celeste Kearney

For Thursday, July 31st:  Lord Christ, when you came among us, you proclaimed the kingdom of God in villages, towns, and lonely places:  Grant that your presence and power may be known throughout this land.  Have mercy upon all of us who live and work in rural areas; and grant that all the people of our nation may give thanks to you for food and drink and all other bodily necessities of life, respect those who labor to produce them, and honor the land and the water from which these good things come.  All this we ask in your holy Name.  Amen.