Greetings! A long time since I have posted... well you will be in for a long one!
Today is Children's Day here in Hondo and in honor of that I decided to have my kiddos donate old clothes and toys to a orphanage/foster home that my teaching partner, Kimberly, told me about in Trujillo called Finca Del Nino. All week I had the first graders bring in old clothes and things that they didn't use anymore and we ended up getting a whole trunk full! Literally!
Kimberly, Luke, Erika and I rented a car and decided to drive to Trujillo to drop off all the donations... and to do a little sight seeing ourselves. The drive from Ceiba is only about 2 or 2.5 hours but you learn really quickly that the roads here are... well, mostly gravel or full of pot holes. We made the most of it though and still had a fun time laughing and listening to music. As we drove we were pulled over at several police stops (common as mud here) where they asked us what we were doing and where we were heading. Kimberly, being the driver the first round, flashed that smile and got us through almost the whole way without being asked for papers. Not that we didn't have them, but it was sort of fun to see how far we could make it.
When we got into Trujillo it was still just a little ways to Finca Del Nino but once we arrived we were very pleasantly surprised. The compound itself is huge with six houses for the kids, a 'school', a chapel and other small buildings. We pulled up and were met by one of the missionaries there who proceeded to take us on a tour of the compound and tell us all about what they do and how the Finca works.
It was very interesting to hear how most of these kids are not orphans, but were neglected and taken out of their homes. What the Finca does is try to simulate as much of a home environment as they can. Each house is grouped according to sex and age, and each home has a 'mother and father' and 'tia' that cook, clean and help them. Our guide told us that they have the hardest job and many people who come to work there do not make it because they are simply doing it for the money. Most of the houses had 6 to 8 kiddos and the three adults. We went into some of the houses and it really makes you thankful for what you have. There was a common room with a kitchen and dining/living room. Off of the main room were small rooms with bunks beds, no doors, just sheets to give yourself a little privacy. There was one bathroom for the house and an outside cooking area. It was very cool to see all of the kids interacting with each other and their house mom and dads.
The school itself is a catholic school where all of the classrooms are literally just rooms outside. The Finca not only offers classes to their kids, but to the children in the community around them. For teaching they ask for donations, or if the family cannot pay they have them come in do chores on the weekend. It is a really great self sustaining community that not only gives to the kids that stay there full time, but the kids that come for school.
Once we gave the donations, we headed out to Trujillo where we ate a fabulous lunch and then explored and old fort where Columbus once landed. It was really cool to see the blue water and the old fort there. There was a soccer tournament happening as well which was really fun to watch. Overall, it was an amazing day.
We made our way back and are feeling better bad a. :) We are having some friends over tonight to watch Pride and Prejudice Part I. Here are some photos of our adventure!
The first grade classroom
Two of the younger kiddos at Finca Del Nino
A trunk full of donations...plus some in the back seat!
Erika, Kimberly and me at lunch
Luke looking handsome at the old fort
Erika and I sorta rock at jumping photos
<3
On the look out for adventure!
Kimberly with a shoe
And finally - our favorite part, the car dance party with a pot hole ending!
