11-19-12
“How much is it to borrow a pair of mud boots?” I asked Ms. Eunice.
“Un dolar,” she answered. “One dollar. What size do you need?”
The 34s fit the best, even with the legs of my pants shoved inside them.
Dad and I walked to the buffet-style breakfast at Ms. Eunice’s Hostel.
Coffee, pancakes, watermelon, bacon, apples, bananas, juice….
Mom was teaching, and Abigail wasn’t feeling too well, and I was skipping school. But the trip to Campo Cocha was still going to be fun.
Breathe in. People here are your friends. Breathe out. People don’t make you nervous. And, most importantly, remember to smile. I told myself. Breathe!
“Good morning!” I heard from behind me. It was Rebecca, one of Deborah and Thomas Moore’s translators.
I smiled. “How are you doing?”
After breakfast, we headed to the three canoes at the Misahualli beach with the medical team.
“Good morning, Mari,” I whispered.
16 year old Marisol smiled.
She’s so lucky to be one of the translators for the team today, I thought.
We put on the life vests, got into the boats, and took off.
It was about 30 minutes before we landed.
In a ½ foot of water.
Another 30 minutes away from Campo Cocha.
When we got there (they got the canoes unstuck), we walked over to the church. Everybody set up stations and got out medicine.
It was about 9:00 when I was assigned my job.
I’d been waiting and waiting for this part. What am I supposed to do? What can I do? Will I be able to help at all? I wondered.
Rebecca and I were supposed to play with the younger children and make sure they all got parasite pills.
We must have handed out 70 pills and 70 cups of soda.
We must have drawn 70 smiley faces on 70 hands.
Do you know how hard that sounds?
Not too hard.
Do you know how hard it is?
Extremely hard.
Where is that little girl? That kid’s running away from me! Am I really that scary? That little boy tried to get back in line! Good thing this is a permanent Sharpie. Did she really just spit that out at me? Eeewwww….. I thought.
I was pretty busy.
“Are you guys getting hungry?” Ms. Deborah asked us.
“Yes, ma’am, we are!” I answered for both of us. Lunch was sandwiches, chips, cookies, and coke.
It was good to have a break.
It wasn’t long before we went to the school to see if there was anyone left.
There were three teenaged girls, and 6 other boys.
And the pills must have been nasty.
When Rebecca and I got back to the church, we taught a few songs to some 5-7 year old girls.
They giggled and played and talked…
I gave them each a Silly Band, and they really liked those.
I also got to see one of the girls I met the first time we went to Campo Cocha. Her name is Kasela, and I hope you will include her family in your prayers, as well as the rest of Campo Cocha.
Soon, the pastor rang the bell and we attended church.
We sang, shared why we came to Ecuador (and Campo Cocha), and prayed.
It was really nice.
On the way back, we accidentally smashed onto the shore again.
But that time we got some good pictures of the sunset.
Blessings,
Madeline Studebaker