Day 6 - School Visits

Today it was hot and sunny. Today we saw the smiles on the faces of hundreds of innocent children in their schools. We visited 3 schools in the area. We saw pure joy when they saw us coming. We heard them giggle. We sang for them and they sang for us (their song was better). We took their pictures and showed them their images on our cameras so they could giggle more.

We saw some children in uniforms and some in regular clothes. We saw some with shoes on and some without. We saw some with clean faces and some with dirty ones. We saw school yards with pigs rooting in them. We saw school yards with no playground equipment - just sticks and dirt. We saw happy teachers that were so proud of their students and their schools. And then it broke our hearts when we had to leave... because they hugged and hugged us and didn't want us to go. Some tried to leave with us. And you just wanted to scoop them all up and take them with you.

We saw where more mudslides had been and folks had relocated. We saw where one small village is going to be relocated so that they can live in concrete homes instead of the tin and stick homes where they ended up in after the mudslide. Their current homes were right along the side of the road - literally at the edge where if you stuck your hand out the pickup window too far, you'd be in someone's home space. Their doors open onto the road and the metal fences that have been put up to separate their space from the world are just more large pieces of corrugated tin that they've found somewhere - the same as the walls of their house. There is no grass here. This is the dry season and there is only dirt. Dirt - everywhere. There really is no escaping it.

This afternoon we visited El Tablon, which is Heartland Presbyterian Church's sister parish. They have made a huge contribution to this community in the El Tablon Centre school and the new El Tablon Cerna school which is to be finished in the next couple of weeks. We got to see them putting the finishing touches on that school and even got to talk to a couple of young ladies who are looking forward to that school opening very soon. There is a soccer field at that school, too, which Heartland also helped provide. Remember, though... no grass. Just dirt - and lots of it.

The roads to and from today were much the same as all the past days... more of lava rock made into a path or just more dirt. We were again traveling along the side of the mountain around and around and around... and up and down and straight up and straight down - maybe a little more so than yesterday, but honestly, they've all run together. I really don't know how Kathy (Mahler) tells them apart and how she remembers where to turn to get to which canton or which caserio or how to take someone home and on and on and on...

There was more riding in the back of the pickup - again - not me. I kept Kathy company in the truck and we had a great talk. I do miss her in Iowa and I had to make up for lost time and get caught up on some things. And today was our last lunch at the pastoral house and the ladies' great food. That was sad. We took them and Kathy out to supper this evening in Alegria - the next town in some direction (I have no sense of direction here at all). It was the six of us, Kathy, Blanca (pictured here, right), Otilia, Idalia (pictured here, left) and Cecelia. Milagro had to stay back at the house, as she had a meeting to attend. These are all names that I have been so thrilled to place with faces this week. Names that I've heard for 3 years - that have finally become people. And oh, how they've become people - people that I now know and love... my sisters in Berlin.

As we said our formal good-byes and thank-yous after supper, while still at the restaurant, with Kathy interpretting, I found myself once again speechless – yes – twice in a week. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Not only could I not say what I wanted to say to them because I still can't speak their language, but I just couldn't say anything. I just had to ask Kathy once again to tell them how much I appreciated getting to know them and how much I've grown to love them in the past week, but could barely get the words out.

As I was sitting here typing about 20 minutes ago, with Kathy beside me on her computer in her office, we heard a rustling and turned around to find Blanca and Cecelia standing behind us giggling. They had a sack and handed it to me, while Cecelia put a knitted polka dot hat on my head. I opened a sack to find a large, bright-colored blanket in it that they had bought for me, their "sister", as a going-away present. Again, I'm speechless...

Luckily, Kathy is leaving with us to go back to San Salvador tomorrow, so I didn't have to say good-bye to her tonight, or won't have to do that in the morning yet either. But, she put it all into perspective and I laughed so hard I started to cough (my usual routine) when she told me it would be better if I would find a place to display my new hat in the corner of my room. (obviously, not a good look.)

I've waxed poetic enough for one evening now, so must close and go wash my feet before I can put them into my bed. And on to Day 7...


– Betty