Picture Day and a New House, Batman

The internet connection at our house has been horrible for the last three days which is why you haven’t been updated. 

Kids lining up to get their picture taken

On Tuesday we were at the school in Congrejo for picture day.  Picture day here is different than a Canadian picture day. These kids are some of the happiest kids until they have to take a picture, it seems. Here is the sequence for most of the pictures:

1. The kid is laughing and playing with their friends watching others have their picture taken and trying to make them laugh.  
2. The kid is called up to take his/her picture 
3. The photographer gives the ol’ “smile” 
4. The kid makes one of two faces:  a perfectly straight face OR a “verge of mad face” but definitely doesn’t smile. 
5. *click* 
6. The kid smiles, then laughs, then runs back to their friends to try and make the next kid laugh during their picture.

It’s hilarious.  I’m not sure why this is the way but I do know it’s a culture thing. Even adults do it. I have friends down here who if you don’t ask them specifically to smile they won’t. Crazy. Now, I will say the kids at this school are getting better at smiling during pictures because they are now used to getting their sponsorship pictures done twice a year but there are still many who don’t know how to take a happy picture.

On Thursday I went to Agua Negra to see the progress made on a house Servants Heart is helping build and to do some videotaping of a Haitian family who received a new house a few years ago. The progress on the house is going great. I went there on Monday and they were just finishing up the bricks for one of the last walls. Then on Thursday they had the smooth coat done and 80% of the roof put up. This coming Monday is the “handing over”  ceremony where the family gets to move in. This family is receiving a new house because during hurricane Irene their house was completely destroyed. Agua Negra is a massive village (might be a town) built on a garbage dump beside a harbour and a river. When there is any good amount of rain the river rises and quite often knocks down a house or two along the river side. Also because of the garbage underneath the village the water becomes essentially a cess pool of waste water hence the name of the village Agua Negra or “Black Water”.  Not only that but the water rushes into the houses and sweeps away any belongings not tied down or higher than the water line. Servants Heart (among other ministries) have started going into this town and building the houses higher so that the water won’t get in. It makes all the difference in the world. I’m excited and humbled to be able to take part in and witness this new house being given to a family in such need.

kid holding a live bat

In other Agua Negra news: while I was hanging out with Sandra (the Sandra we have written of before) and Franklin (our translator) the kid who watches the gate at the school came in with a live bat in his hands. It was nuts! Sandra said he needed to get rid of it nicely so they found a cardboard box to put the bat in to take it outside. Once it was in the cardboard box it went insane and started flapping around in there. The kid brought it out and everything was ok. Who grabs a live bat? Chiquito does.

This is a long entry already so I’ll end it for now. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Chris