It was a long busy day for the camp leaders and our team, and coming off the heals of the previous day's activities, there was a continuing high level of excitement but also one could detect leaders were tired and a little more restrained during high energy songs and games. But not the 90 children. It is amazing to see how much energy they expended participating in all the activities planned for them - singing and praying at the top of their lungs, doing bible study, kicking the soccer ball or throwing the frisbees, planting trees, repeatedly climbing up and down the monster water slide, or swimming in the small pool. The morning rain did not hamper the well-organized program that was entirely put together by the Dominican leaders. It started around 8:00 a.m. with breakfast at the TEARS Centre and continued well past 10:00 pm last night. Each moment was scheduled by Judith and Chelo to maximize the experience for the children. Yesterday's craft involved painting on a small canvas and these were displayed today for others to see and admire. The art talent of these children is varied and expressive and holds much potential for the future.
 |
| Chelo and Judith deep in thought planning activities |
 |
| Bible study moved inside due to rain |
The children also did ministry work this afternoon. In 4 groups of up to 25 they visited a seniors home, a couple of schools and a children's hospital.
On the first day of our arrival some of us had gone with Obed to pick up a large variety of small trees that were donated by a local government nursery. The children were asked to participate in planting these trees on the TEARS Centre lands. These include fruit and nut trees and some shade trees, about 50 plants in all. It was the first time most of them have experienced gardening yet they jumped to the occasion and under Obed's quiet guidance managed to plant them all.
 |
| Planting donated trees |
 |
| Learning how to use a shovel |
The evening program took place at the El Camino church, the highlight of which was a "80's night" and what a sight it was to see the TEARS leaders and teachers and most of our team dressed in 80's fashion. Some of the more conservative personalities made minimal effort with their choice of costume while the more outgoing types could be picked out readily. Some were even hard to identify at first, including Chelo and Rosa for example!
 |
| Rosemary and Aneudy |
 |
| Rosa and Amay |
 |
| Ladies from the 80's with Bautista, Cheer Leader |
The following video of the Feb 15th camp day was prepared by Bertico and shown during the previous evening's program to rounds of applause.
Tomorrow, all the children and both teams will spend the day in Santiago.
Don
No comments:
Post a Comment