El Salvador: Day 6

Last night the plumbing went out because tree roots had gone through the pipe. Their easy fix for us was to have the girls go to Dehlia’s house and the boys stay at pastor’s house. The boys ended up staying at the church and pastor Carlos was taking us to Dehlia’s house, but we had to drop Kevin (his son) off at home first. Right before we pulled up it started raining a little and by the time we walked the two feet into his house it was a full out downpour. We tried waiting out the rain and after a long time pastor and his wife decided to ask if we just wanted to stay there. That was at 11:30pm. We were quick to say yes and they made beds for us. We were all so tired that we fell asleep right away.

Today pastor, Franko, and other people stayed to try to fix the plumbing while we worked at the Piñera. We continued welding, cutting beam, and grinding the beam pieces smooth. When we got back from lunch they wanted some of us to stay down where the kids class was. Carin and I were down there most of the time by ourselves. One little girl (the one who lit up like a flashlight yesterday) came out to say hi and stayed with me the whole time and made sure both my hands were around her. She has one of the most beautiful smiles and one of the cutest laughs ever! Her name is Maria Isabel. The leaders were teaching the kids and parents about hygiene. So, they actually did some of the stuff there. They washed their hands with soap, ate their meal, and learned to brush their teeth. After all of those things were done, most of the kids got a hair cut. The girls also had their hair washed with lice shampoo (which they were much in need of) and then combed with a lice comb. One of the poor little girls hair was so tangled that she cried the whole time her mom brushed it. Her mom was not gentle either.

The last thing we did was hand out clothes to them. Monday I took notes as Qulette told me sizes we needed to bring. Each kid got two outfits at leas and some got clothes. Maria Isabel was so happy to get her clothes and even more so for the shoes we gave her. She smiled sooooo big when Ryan and I finished putting the shoes on her and she jumped up and down with them. All the parents were changing their kids into their new clothes right away! They were so excited! Maria Isabel looked so adorable in her hiking type boots and colorful dress! Ryan and I kept saying how we just wanted to take her home! She is my new favorite for this year! I will hear her calling hermana for a while after I get home!