Smiling Little Brazilian Faces

Dear Family,

I am happy to report that the Kid's Place was up and running today complete with children there and everything. To give you a little background the Kid's Place is almost like a vacation bible school that is open on week days. It gives the children ages 4 to 12 a place to come and learn about God, fill there bellies, play a few games, learn something new, and do some crafts in the gap between school hours and night time. There are two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The children can come to either one, the morning classes or the afternoon classes, depending on when they have school.  The place where all of the children live is referred to the slums and is the poorest part of Recife. We drove by the area yesterday and it is located on the banks of a river. The houses are all on top of one another and constructed with, what looks like, cardboard. Trash litters the streets and roads. It is appalling to think that these smiling, little Brazilian faces have to return home there at the end of everyday. I just want to scoop them up and bring them home with me so I know they are safe.

I was able to visit the Kid's Place yesterday but no children came due to the rain we had. When it rain,s the children are afraid to leave there homes due to the possibility of the river flooding and washing away everything they have. The thought just breaks my heart. Today, however, the rain wasn't as bad and children came for a day of fun. I got there in the morning and Raquel led me to a class where there was about eight kids coloring and cutting and pasting. As soon as I sat down a few kids came running over, babbling away in Portuguese. I introduced myself and told them I was from the United States and they just started asking me tons of questions that my limited Portuguese skills left me ill equipped to answer, let alone understand what they were saying. I tried to convey that I only new a few words in Portuguese but I did know some Spanish and English. Right away they started saying "Say something in Spanish" or "How do you say this in English?" Even though I had a complete look of bewilderment on my face and kept saying "que?" (what?) they were persistent and I was able to do some translations for them.  We counted to ten in English and I taught them how to say "I love you" along with God, Jesus, pencil, magic, book, and each of their names. After that we played some games and then had lunch. I wasn't able to stay all day because all the bus drivers in town are on strike which makes it really hard to get around.

Tomorrow I am going with Edna to the slums to hand out some pamphlets about new courses they are offering the mothers. They can learn to cook, become a manicurist, or a hair stylist. This allows them to gain some skills to help them get jobs since most of the people that live in that area are illiterate.

I loved reading all of your comments and emails! It is so wonderful to hear from each and everyone of you. If you commented, know that I can't get back to you so if you want to talk with me just send me and email.

Until next time,

Sarah