Grand Opening!

It's the last work day for the last group of the summer--and you couldn't ask for a more storybook ending activity. It's the grand opening of Chaguite Grande's new school!

I wish you could see EVERYone who was there

The first Saturday after I arrived this summer, we put on a "Children's Day". It was kind of an experiment, and we learned many things. We learned "lining up" is not a universal norm. We learned that dividing kids up by age is not a useful or functional system. We learned that we can pool the manpower of visiting groups and the many different types of activities the mission offers to make a day that really impacts an entire community.

It has become a regular feature of the summer. About once a week, we invade a town with game and craft stations, mobile VBS materials, sometimes medical/dental/vision care, malnutrition relief packs, parasite medication, and often--a giant pot of soup for the town to share. 

It's one of my favorite things. By combining all of the types of activities that the mission groups routinely do into one big day--(a feat only possible thanks to Jonathan's freakish obsession with color coding and spreadsheets)--we can really spend lots of time in a town, and make a significant impression. Add to that, the fact that almost every group that came down this summer spent at least a little time working construction on this particular school and you can see that this day is the perfect summation of the summer's work. 

I wish everyone who came to work this summer could have been there. I wish everyone who supports us could have been there. I wish everyone who bought a brownie at some mission trip fundraiser could have been there. So for everyone who made this summer, and this day possible, here's a tiny little taste of Chaguite Grande's Grand Opening: