A 6:45 a.m. departure got us to our destination of Las Mercedes by 8 a.m. where we distributed bedkits to children from Las Mercedes School and two neighboring schools. Las Mercedes is an independent school near the airport for the children of workers of the duty free industries who manufacture items that are exported and are not for sale in Nicaragua.
Workers in this industry get paid between $6 and $7 per day and the school is funded mostly by the duty free industries themselves.
The distribution today was particularly well organized thanks to Rodrigo from the Rotary Club and Candida, the Director of the school who were in charge. Many of the parents chipped in to help as volunteers making sure the children were dressed, assembled and taken through the picture-taking process.
All the children received a sandwich and a drink before the left for home with their bedkits.
All the SCAW volunteers today were busy exchanging high fives with the children and sharing different forms of the five-part handshake with them as they proceeded through the process. At the end, two of the girls presented Mike with a piece of paper in their own handwriting complete with hearts, which read:
“Para Ti Queremos
Ti de Nicaragua”
Signed by Julisa and Andrea, which I am told translates to read:
“We love you
From Nicaragua”
At the end of the distribution we were all feted by the school to a delicious lunch of home made cannelloni, rice, and a salad of avocadoes, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and peppers.
Today we distributed 651 bedkits, the highest number to date, and were back to the hotel by 3:45 in plenty of time for a highly anticipated dip in the pool before dinner.
All is still well!
Greg O’Neill
for Team Nicaragua 2011
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