The following day...

There were some really special highlights from Saturday - the first day of hard WORK.

First, the teenagers and pre-teens on the trip were amazing workers.  Not a bit of complaining, just smiles and willing hearts!

Second, we had 10 kids from Familia Alastero join us to work that day at Mama Tara's.   This is a simply remarkable thing!   This culture is not a culture of volunteerism.    Plus, the Alastero family is a family of orphans.   Orphans serving other orphans...   isn't that a beautiful thought?   It was an amazing thing to witness.

See below... some of the Alastero young men... Jose, Denis, Chester, Bendiman, Bernardo, Davis... 2 of the girls - Deborah and Dina came to completely clean out a room that will be used for a long-term missionary this fall.  

Third, but certainly not any less important... the women worked hard giving the schoolroom a much-needed facelift.    The younger girls repainted the chalkboard and hung trim, we selected verses to be painted on the walls and hung donated items around the room.   The girls also worked on thank-you letters to the sponsors who sent bags of treats.

 And Saturday came to a close... all too soon!