To start off, this first picture shows a bunch of pieces of wood. Every single piece of wood
used in the construction of all the buildings you are about to see came from crates that are used to ship glass. The crates were being thrown away before but now each and every piece is taken apart, nails and staples removed, planed, sanded, treated for termites, and stained. They begin like the piece on the far left and end up as beautiful as the piece on the far right. (Talk about a 4-H, project, right?!)
Here is a pile of scrap wood waiting for someone to complete the necessary steps to make it usable. They have volunteers from the states or Canada almost once a month. They help out with the kids and also help take down this huge pile. Apparently, there are about 4 more piles of this size in a different area that we didn't see today.
This is the gorgeous woodwork that they complete with the scrap wood. Stunning, isn't it?
This building is where all the classrooms are. There are rooms specifically for infants, toddlers, and 3-4 year olds. Upstairs there are more rooms for older students. The public education system in Costa Rica has students going to school for only half days because of the lack of resources for all the students. There is usually not enough room for all the students to come all day, so they split it into mornings and afternoons. When the students are not in school, they're able to come here and use these upper rooms.
The kids that attend the nursery/day-care come from local farms and neighborhoods. The orphanage is in a very dangerous area of town (just outside of San Jose), but has really made a difference in the amount of violence in the area. For the most part, these kids only eat when they come here. Lunch is served every day: a bowl of rice, beans, and sometimes chicken. When they finish the bowl, they're able to have a glass of juice. Breakfast and a snack are also served to those who are there at that time. There are approximately 120 kids who come every day to the guarderia.
These two buildings are the orphange itself. In each building lives one host family and 10 orphans. The host families are expected to treat the children as their own. They have chores, are disciplined, but are part of a family with whom they play, eat, and live. The buildings are so clean and well-maintained, it was remarkable! They certainly put to shame most of the college apartments I've seen!
Here's a typical bedroom. No worries...they do have sheets, but it was laundry day. The beds were also made from the scrap wood.
This shows some of the playing area the kids have. Our guides told us the orphans are cared for very well. They have enough to eat, plenty of clothes, and lots of toys. It's the local children who are really lacking and are really in need. The orphans do have some pretty horrible stories of where they came from, however. There are four siblings (3 girls, 1 boy) here together living in the orphanage. One girl was raped at age 7, another has scars on her face from rat bites, and the third was laying in bed with her mother when she was decapitated by her estranged husband. The poor brother is struggling with rage issues from having to be the sole protector of his sisters for so many years. I couldn't help but tear up hearing stories like these yet seeing how joyful the little ones appeared. God really can shine through the darkness.
The kids that attend the nursery/day-care come from local farms and neighborhoods. The orphanage is in a very dangerous area of town (just outside of San Jose), but has really made a difference in the amount of violence in the area. For the most part, these kids only eat when they come here. Lunch is served every day: a bowl of rice, beans, and sometimes chicken. When they finish the bowl, they're able to have a glass of juice. Breakfast and a snack are also served to those who are there at that time. There are approximately 120 kids who come every day to the guarderia.
These two buildings are the orphange itself. In each building lives one host family and 10 orphans. The host families are expected to treat the children as their own. They have chores, are disciplined, but are part of a family with whom they play, eat, and live. The buildings are so clean and well-maintained, it was remarkable! They certainly put to shame most of the college apartments I've seen!
Here's a typical bedroom. No worries...they do have sheets, but it was laundry day. The beds were also made from the scrap wood.
This shows some of the playing area the kids have. Our guides told us the orphans are cared for very well. They have enough to eat, plenty of clothes, and lots of toys. It's the local children who are really lacking and are really in need. The orphans do have some pretty horrible stories of where they came from, however. There are four siblings (3 girls, 1 boy) here together living in the orphanage. One girl was raped at age 7, another has scars on her face from rat bites, and the third was laying in bed with her mother when she was decapitated by her estranged husband. The poor brother is struggling with rage issues from having to be the sole protector of his sisters for so many years. I couldn't help but tear up hearing stories like these yet seeing how joyful the little ones appeared. God really can shine through the darkness.
The final building on the campus, which is being constructed right now, is a consortorium/stadium. The consortorium is seen in this above photo. The dream for this building is to bring in doctors, nurses, dentists, lawyers, etc. from the States or wherever to help these kids and these families. Obviously, if the kids don't have enough to eat, they aren't getting the proper health care either.
The only building I didn't get a picture of was the multi-purpose building. It's used on Sundays for 2 different church services with a total of 450 people! During the week, it holds the cafeteria and is used for special events at the school. Pastor Jorge has dreams of the other side of the consortorium being used as stadium, which is shown here in this picture. Soccer, being the unofficially official sport of the country, is so important to small towns here. This area does not have their own soccer field. Jorge sees this place turning in to an indoor soccer field that can also be used for Sunday services and any sort of school play or event.
This above picture are 3 of the 6 bags that the kindergarten teacher brought from only 1 student's mother. 1 student had this much stuff (toys and clothes) at home that was no longer wanted. Can you even imagine what the entire school could bring in? We're heading back here on Tuesday to help train some of the guarderia teachers. When we walked in one of the classrooms, the teacher was playing the Quiet Game with the students. The first one to talk, loses. That's not the interaction these students need. Another incident happened when the teacher wanted the students to play with blocks, so she handed out one block to each student. Can you imagine playing with one solitary block? How sad...I'm so looking forward to coming back next week.
The only building I didn't get a picture of was the multi-purpose building. It's used on Sundays for 2 different church services with a total of 450 people! During the week, it holds the cafeteria and is used for special events at the school. Pastor Jorge has dreams of the other side of the consortorium being used as stadium, which is shown here in this picture. Soccer, being the unofficially official sport of the country, is so important to small towns here. This area does not have their own soccer field. Jorge sees this place turning in to an indoor soccer field that can also be used for Sunday services and any sort of school play or event.
This above picture are 3 of the 6 bags that the kindergarten teacher brought from only 1 student's mother. 1 student had this much stuff (toys and clothes) at home that was no longer wanted. Can you even imagine what the entire school could bring in? We're heading back here on Tuesday to help train some of the guarderia teachers. When we walked in one of the classrooms, the teacher was playing the Quiet Game with the students. The first one to talk, loses. That's not the interaction these students need. Another incident happened when the teacher wanted the students to play with blocks, so she handed out one block to each student. Can you imagine playing with one solitary block? How sad...I'm so looking forward to coming back next week.
All in all, it was one of the most impactful days of my life. My heart has grown for these kids today. I can really feel God telling me that I'll be back here someday to really help them. I'm hoping to pool ideas for resources and man power from my home churches and come back for a mission trip some day. What a blessing that would be indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment