New Experiences

Today we went to the dump. Extreme Response has a ministry down there that helps keep the the workers' kids out of the dump and safe. First we met Jose, the leader of the ministry and he told us more about it. Then we got to meet all the kids and play with them. They have 35-40 kids Monday through Friday at the daycare they run. One particular little girl captured my heart. Her name is Tatianna and she's 2 years old. We went out to the playground to play with the kids. I was standing near the slide when I felt a tug on the pocket of my jeans. Tatianna was looking at me with big brown eyes. She motioned for me to pick her up and then pointed to the swing set. I pushed her on the swings for a while ans then she went off on her own. A while later I was sitting on a hill fixing my camera when I felt someone climb up on my shoulders. Sure enough, it was Tatianna. She held my hands as I walked around and nestled her head on mine. Elizabeth saw us and came over to take a picture. After she took it, she came over to me and said, "Do you know that everytime she puts her head down she's kissing you?" I squeezed her feet and knew that God had led her to me for a reason. It was very hard saying goodbye to her.

After we played with the kids we went to see the dump itself. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it still was really bad, if that makes sense. Dump trucks would bring loads of trash into this big area. It looked like a big warehouse without walls, just a roof. They would dump pile after pile and workers would sort through them. Plastic, carboard and metal would go into different piles and would be then be carried away to be compacted. Everyone's demeanor changed when we got there. None of the workers had any expression. They just did their jobs and didn't acknowledge us. I saw one man pick up a pair of jeans from one of the piles and see if they fit him. I still can't get over it. Nobody really said anything as we left. It seemed like we were all in a daze from what we had just seen. I'm really glad I went. I feel like for the first time I know why I went on this trip. It's not about me. It's all for them.
Kathleen