Last Full Day at El Hogar

This morning we headed out soon after breakfast to go on a home visit. We visited the mother of Belki, a student whom we met Sunday at the girls` school. Belki`s mother is very sick, so Donna Claudia wanted to visit her to see if Belki should go home for the weekend to take care of her mother. Belki`s house is one small room with no electricity or water, and they must get water from their neighbors. There was a baby girl there, the daughter of Belki`s sister. We stayed for a while, Claudia talking to Belki`s mother and sending Jason out for some groceries. After some excitement, we left to go back to El Hogar.

Back at home base, we were shown excerpts from the documentary Poverty, Inc. We discussed the consequences of certain harmful forms of charity and their impact on the economies of the communities in need.

After lunch, we helped clear debris out of a shed (we saw an opossum!) and had the rest of the afternoon to play with the kids.

After dinner we had a very sweet goodbye ceremony in which the kids sang for us and kids and team members gave short speeches. The kids all hugged each one of us adios and went off to bed (we do hope to see them tomorrow morning). There was some soccer playing before we came back to the volunteer house for a team meeting.

For our last team meeting, we reflected on the entire trip. We all agreed that the trip was incredibly meaningful and educational for all of us. The group dynamic really made for a valuable experience and we are already looking forward to another youth trip next year!

-Charlotte and Alex