Day 13 - February 4th

Another beautiful morning with a light breeze blowing by.  I will miss this beautiful place, it is so serene.  

After a breakfast of porridge and toast and cantaloupe, Wynne, Yvonne, Judy, Samuel and Allan and I went back to the bodega to prepare and load bolts of materials, sewing notions, patterns, etc into the van for the morning’s visits to the co-ops.  

Andrew and Dawn went back to Pan de Vida to work with the guys on the build.  Kurt, Ron, Wes and Larry continued with their Mr Fix-It projects.  They have been very busy touching up with paint, sanding and varnishing, fixing screens and installing hooks and door sweeps.  Barb went to visit a friend and Annette and Sharon went to meetings.  

So off we went (Allan, Samuel, Wynne, Yvonne, Judy, Tara, Delores and I) to Tipi Tapa.  The first two store locations (La Nica and Great Harvest) are doing great and, as usual, they were happy to see Yvonne and Wynne with all their praise and support.  They have just opened a 3rd store for a co-op that they have recently started.  The new store (called New Song) has been open for 24 days but the rent is expensive so without the tourist trade, only time will tell if they can make it work.  

The second location is a church called Cristo Rey.  Despite the poverty of the area and the dump down the road, these people are happy and children play the same games that ours do.  There is a real sense of hope here.  The church provides 1 meal a day for these children 5 days a week.  They have support with this from a mission called the Hope Project.  

The ladies running the co-op and sewing have a real pride in their work.  They are meticulous and the detailed work is impressive.  They have a market push cart for taking their items to other locations for sale.  A very ingenious idea.  See the photo below of Allan demonstrating how it drives.

Then, we were headed home to Jardin Shalom.  It was about 3pm when we returned and decided we were too tired to head out again.  More tomorrow.  

On the way back we passed Mercedes, Best Western and Pharaoh’s Casino on the Carrendara Norde (North Highway).  The difference was a shock.  Such a dichotomy.

We want to help them break the cycle of poverty here by helping them to educate themselves, stay in school, learn to read and write and speak English.  We are teaching skills and supporting them as they better themselves so that they can see how much they can accomplish.  WE love these people, we need to be a part of their lives. We are building relationships as we build houses and churches; strengthening their sense of looking after each other as we give them skills and help them grow.  We support growth and we pray for each person here.  We love them and want to give them tools to build a better life for themselves. In God’s name, we praise the Lord that has brought us all together.  

It is heartrending to witness the depth of poverty here... and yet there is hope.  

Until tomorrow, a manana.

Susan (aka Suzie)