January 6, 2014 Linda

It’s really exciting to see how the children are opening up to us. Today I think I’ve used the most Spanish I have used this whole trip. Even though I am working with the English classes, many of the children don’t know enough English to understand a conversation. I was able to use some Spanish while explaining an art project to a few kids sitting at a table. It may have been simple Spanish, but I used it and they understood it.

The best part was that I felt like I was connecting to some of the kids here, just by speaking their language. However, one little boy did not trust my Spanish. I kept answering his question and he still kept calling Courtney’s name just to make sure he understood the project! I am still thankful for all those Spanish speakers who help out with English class.

It’s really exciting working with the older kids as well. They are really enjoying our activities and seem to enjoy spending time with us. It has been really fun dancing and trying to communicate in English with them. Several of them know a lot of English. They may not always be able to respond in English, but they understand a lot.

Today I also had the privilege to help out with the Manna Feeding center here at Eagle’s Nest. Manna is a feeding distribution mission out of New Jersey that has teamed up with Eagle’s Nest. They raise enough money to pay for two cooks and enough food to feed 50 kids from the Solola community for five days a week. For some of the children who come to eat, this is their only meal they eat a day. But the children love to come to Eagle’s Nest and it’s not just for the food. Pedro sets up activities for them or just free time to play on the playground or play some soccer. Sometimes the kids who come in to eat don’t want to leave. It was great getting to interact just a little with these kids. They seemed so happy to be there with smiles on their faces.