Monday, April 2, 2012






Today was "construction day" in the village and believe it or not, we got every part of the house (minus the roof) constructed today. This family is composed of a single mom, four kids, and the grandmother also lives with them. The oldest child's name is Daniel (13 years old), and he is considered special needs. As a child he was sexually abused by his father and it has left him mentally handicapped. He wanders off and has ended up in CISNA (the boys orphanage) several times because of it. Because of this, the mom has to keep an eye on him constantly, and it limits her ability to work and make money for her family. I'm not sure where the dad is or what his story is but he is not involved in their lives at all. It took us all of 5 minutes to move everything this family owns out of the house. As we picked up pieces of cardboard and tarp that formed parts of their beds, rats and mice started crawling out from underneath. The outside of their house was just pieces of metal thrown together and some sticks. The guys did most of the heavy work today, and I got to spend lots of time with the kids in the village. I don't know any of the kid's stories or their family dynamics, but these kids and even the families were the most playful, joyful people. They have nothing, but they enjoy life, they live it to it's fullest. We blew bubbles, we made balloon animals, we sang, and we swung trash bags around (yes, we really did. They were even full of trash but they cracked up the entire time). The littlest things seemed to amuse them and in turn, it amused me. We had the time of our lives today playing, laughing, and serving this family.

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