Llegamos el día lunes 26 de diciembre a mediodía a Boa Vista, Brasil. Luego viajamos media hora aproximadamente, hasta llegar al lugar del campamento llamado “Eco Park”, en donde tiempo después llegaron los jóvenes a instalarse en el lugar.

Las niñas dormían en una casa con varias habitaciones, mientras que los niños en hamacas, en un galpón ubicado a un par de metros.

Eco Park fue un lugar maravilloso para realizar el campamento, presentaba todas las facilidades para realizar las actividades, además de tener un hermoso paisaje. Los otros voluntarios del campamento decían que tenía la apariencia de ser una isla, por lo plano del terreno y el lago extenso que se teñía de colores salmones al atardecer.

While at camp we stayed at a place called “the fazenda” which is the portuguese word for farm. There they had a lot of fruit trees that are popular to Brasil like “jaca,” “caju,” “manga” and others. Since it was summer time we could see fruits all over the place, on the trees and on the ground. We would also see different kinds of animals, like birds (which we would hear singing everyday) roosters, and lambs.

Today with the youngest group (0-5 years old), they created robots out of styrofoam and aluminum foil. We brought a variety of items for them to experiment with and to decorate their robots. They enjoyed being able to make their robot their own through their creativity. Although each child started with the same basic outline, they were able to essentially show their personality through how they decorated their individual robot. When they completed their creations, they were so excited to show them off to everyone that they came into contact with for the remainder of our time with them. It was a very rewarding experience to see the children’s creativity and to see their excitement through what they were able to make.

Today was our first full day at the orphanage. We had beautiful weather with only a little rain in the evening. We started off the day with a team meaning out on the grass. Then we had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and fruit. Next we went to the children's home to help get the kids ready for the day and have the Bible class. Many of the toddlers need help getting ready, so we changed diapers and got them dressed. A few of us played and hung out with the kids before the Bible class. For the first Bible class, we did a get to know you activity. Everyone had a piece of paper taped on their back. We walked around and wrote what we liked about each person. At the end the kids enjoyed reading the nice comments on their paper.