Daily Reflection Monday April 18th

It is insane to think we have been here a week. Today started out with the usual, helping with breakfast and eating with the children. It is really nice to see what their days are like, or at least how they start out. Then we walked with them to the school bus stop. Some were holding my hands even in the burning heat. That puts a smile on my face just seeing that they actually like me:)

Then we went and played with the adorable children in the daycare. Then the security guy who also does everything on the compound came and grabbed us so we can paint a room. We went in this little house that I had never noticed until today. This house is being fixed up for next fall to be a transition home. This will be a place for the older kids to be because they do not need twenty four hour attention but they will still be able to get help if they need anything. So we went in there and we had to paint a room yellow. I have never seen so much yellow in my life. The paint splattered all over me to the point where it looked like I had just done a color run. It was in my face, my hair, my clothes. I discovered today that being a painter is definitely not my calling. A lot of work goes into painting room. Many people under estimate it. We had to be really careful once the brush got high because the paint could not touch the ceiling. So we used a smaller brush to paint the edge of the ceiling. Then we did the same to the edge of the ground and had to go over it to make the paint even. Once we did the whole room we went for a much needed lunch break. Then when we came back we went over the paint once more and it came out really nice. It was a good feeling inside knowing that when these older kids move into this home that I had a small part of making this place happen. I know its small compared to the big needs of their home, but it really is the little things that matter. It was worth every bit of frustration with perfecting that yellow room because now I know that they will not have a boring color to wake up to every morning.

Then once it was time for the kids to come home they quickly changed clothes and I helped them with their Spanish homework. After that I had my phone out and I played some of their favorite songs and we just played some basketball and danced. It is moments like these that I cherish the most at Liberty. When the kids are smiling and happy and everything else in their lives are forgotten is my favorite part of the day and trip. Tomorrow we will have more painting to do around the compound so I look forward to that now that I am basically Pablo Picasso. Then we set up their dinner and ate with them. After that we said good night. I then washed up and blogged, logged, and finally uploaded some pictures. It has been hard to take pictures because for safety reasons we cannot take pictures of the children. But, I will try to keep posting them when we do a successful task on the compound! I look forward to another long but rewarding day tomorrow.