Today was one of our most fun and active days yet! Starting
off we met with all the little kids in the church and took them to this park.
It was a little bit of a walk, but not too far. When we arrived at the park, we
got out the balls we had brought along and played a ton of different games,
like kickball, passing a soccer ball, tag, frisbee, etc. Everyone loved them!
The hot sun beaming down on us made us tired and sweaty, but we pushed through
the exhausting work just so we could have a great time and make it fun for the
kids. After all the fun games, we headed back to camp and ate our lunch. For
lunch we had rice, beans and an option of beef. It was really yummy! When the
afternoon came, the little kids left and then the older kids showed up. We met
in the church again and then headed to the park. Once we arrived at the park, we
got out all the balls again. This time we played a serious soccer game playing
Americans against Dominicans. I thought it was going to be an easy win; however,
that wasn’t the case. Both teams were super aggressive and made it hard to
score. During half time we were all super tired and sweaty, and then as if
perfectly timed, the rain came and it felt really good. The downside of the
rain was how hard it became to play because the ball was super slippery and we
all kept sliding on the ground. As you can see it was a great day overall, and
we all are excited for all the other days we have left.
-Addie Jackson
Today was probably my favorite day yet. We took the kids on
a walk to a track surrounding soccer fields. I threw the frisbee with a couple
kids; then we played soccer. Next, we all did races against the kids and they
had fun. We stayed for a couple of hours then headed back to the school. We ate
lunch of chicken and beef prepared by the schools lunch people. We didn’t have
much time until we turned around and headed back to the track with ages 11-15. We
played a huge Dominicans vs Americans soccer game. Some of the Dominican boys
played and only one girl, but they had a couple older kids not even with the
camp play for them. and they were good. We played that the entire time and lost
6-5. In the middle of the game, it started raining and got very slippery, but
felt great since it was hot. We headed back to the school in the rain and
changed clothes and played a game called Nerts. We also finished a previously started game of codenames. Like
I said before this was the best part of the trip yet and I am so happy to have
been able to experience such a different culture. It has been great and I have
already had a very FUN time.
-Luke Metzger
Today we spent time with all of the kids that we’ve
been able to have in camp, playing games at the track near the school. We walked
through town to get to the track – 60 kids walked single file for 15 minutes! I
was impressed with the discipline this took, but the kids knew the expectation
and really did well. This speaks volumes about the character and discipline instilled
in the kids at the school! At the track, I really enjoyed getting to see the
kids from the church I’d visited the day before. At the church where we did
some Bible time and a craft, the kids were very reserved around me. But today
at the track, these same kids were excited to tell me their name and play with
me. The kids loved competing in soccer, foot races, and kickball. I was able to
throw and kick the pelota (ball) with the kids and took lots of pictures
of the girls -they really wanted to see pictures of themselves. In the
afternoon, we were rained on at the track, but it was a refreshing change to
the heat. I am looking forward to a couple more days of camp to spend with
these kiddos and I’m continuing to pray for God to work in these children’s
lives.
-Molly Riegle
