Starting our service in Costa Rica

It feels like we’ve been in Costa Rica waiting patiently for this day: our day to start serving, to begin connecting, to meet those who we’ve only yet envisioned in our minds. So after our Team #227 had breakfast and a quick team meeting, we headed down the roadside with smiles on our faces and warmth in our hearts.

We began our service by meeting Karen, our contact at the school and who introduced us and gave us a tour of the school, which contained more than just traditional classrooms. We saw up the hill where the livestock were kept, we toured where the cows were milked and cheese was made, and we saw the beginning work done on the biodigester. Traversing the campus grounds was definitely an up and down adventure. We made our way to the gym where our project awaits.

We were going to paint the gym floor, but first we had to sweep, which I felt would be hard to do with only the two brooms I saw. Finally, the reinforcements came in in the way of students and more brooms!

We began to work, side by side, with enthusiastic students so willing to be a part of this project. We swept, we taped lines, we mixed paint, we painted – green, lots and lots of green! Some painted white on the soccer goals, but most of us ended up with green on our clothes, our zapatos (shoes), our faces, our hair. But none of that mattered because we were having a great time transforming their gym.

Throughout the day and night we all shared our stories of the kids we had worked with. We knew them by name and we recounted our individual ways in which we communicated, albeit sometimes brokenly, but nevertheless, communicated with them. There were many humorous moments throughout the day as well. However, none will top the moment when Taylor informed a bunch of teenagers and adults “Me gusta el salmón” and the students understood something else. What a funny moment.

All in all, Day One was a success and we are looking forward to finalizing the improvements in their gym over the next day or two.

Entry submitted by: Debbie

Message of the Day – Maggie: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.