Day to Relax

Today was rather quiet. We had rain and gusty winds off and on. I did walk down the long hill to the beach during a break in the storm, gingerly maneuvering the mosaic sidewalks which are quite treacherous when wet. But we made it safely. The beach scene was quite different from my previous visit when it was teeming with people. Today, there were no dancers, sunbathers or roving vendors. Only a few die-hard food vendors having no luck on a dreary day. We were drenched in a cloudburst, but it was so windy we were dry by the time we got home.

This is a view out the window of the second floor of "home." It's a very urban neighborhood, with lots of apartments and small cars. It's quite safe it the daytime, but every building has security gates and guards.

There are 12 new volunteers who arrived yesterday from locations such as Alabama, Ohio, Michigan, California, Canada and England. Eight are college/grad school age and four of us live in the real world. In addition to Madre Teresa, people are assigned to a center that supports HIV positive children and adults, a community education center and a daycare center. One person will be working at a vocational center to help young people improve their English to help them get jobs in the travel industry.

Madre Teresa and the other daycare center serve the Alagados part of the city. It's a word that means flooded. Alagados is a marginalized swampland community where the mostly cardboard houses are on stilts stuck in the sand. There are about 56,000 people who live there and suffer from lack of sanitation and illiteracy. These programs are huge improvements in the lives of the children they affect.

I finished an amazing book today-Three Cups of Tea-the story of Greg Mortenson, a sometimes nurse/mountain climber, who after a failed attempt to climb K2, became obsessed with bringing education to the remotest locations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its a riveting account of his perils and adventures as he lives his commitment to spread peace through education. Thanks to Elyse for passing the book along. I highly recommend it.
Judy