Oct 1, 2018 Christ Venice
Yesterday after our work day, Juan (or Juancito to me but he prefers Juan now) came back to spend the night with the team at La Islita. He’s in 11th grade now and can only spend a few nights with us due to having to go to school from 2-6 Monday through Thursday. He now lives with Anna (his grandmother) in a house built by Guillermo, where Germans house once stood across from the school (her house is pink!). We are close to getting Juan a birth certificate with his aunt Germanía able to claim him for documentation. I stayed up way past my bedtime talking and laughing with him and Kelfi. Kelfi missing school last Saturday to pick up the team at the airport. Kelfi has recently decided to go back to school and finish high school, attending every Saturday and now in the 11th grade. I learned today the uniforms changed from khaki pants and blue short to khaki pants and a yellow shirt in Santiago, blue shirt and Santo Domingo, red in Moca….all matching their local baseball team colors. Santiago being yellow for the Aguillas (or eagles).
Today we started the day with devotion, heading to Pastoras house for breakfast after. We met our Dominican doctor to help with the clinic, Doctora Riña. She works at Materno hospital and took the week off work to come serve with us. We headed to Cuesta Arena and set up the clinic in the school, at least 20 people already waiting for the clinic to open upon our arrival. Each person was assigned their job, church and community members Daisy, Sandra, Francisco, Estella, and Pastora all joined the team in stations around the clinic to help. Doctor Pete was busy making balloon animals and writing prescriptions most of the day while eye glasses were being dispersed and prescriptions being filled in the pharmacy. At the end of the day, over 90 patients and over 209 prescriptions filled.
Outside Ron and Emily were hard at work with Kelfi, his dad, and his brother in law completing the fence around the new playground. The kids were excited to know what we would build next and we’re busy enjoying the swing set built at the beginning of summer by First UMC Orlando. More work to come tomorrow as we begin construction on the slide.
Tomorrow we head to Cuesta Arena in the morning and then to a Center for women close to Los Cocos, a new relationship the church is working to build.