The Cercadillo Project

Children's Leadership Team of Cercadillo

So proud of Ricki, Elida and Joelina who completed 30 hours of AMO training, focusing on social and spiritual education of children!  The training was held in an upscale private school in downtown Santo Domingo.  Not only were the days long for people unaccustomed to a full day of school (We left Cercadillo around 6:30 each morning and returned around 6:30 each evening), we were being trained with professional teachers.  Ricki is currently attending night school, Elida has never had any formal education and Joelina is the equivalent of a high school Junior.

I worried that they would feel overwhelmed, that they would be discouraged, that they wouldn’t complete the training.  All needlessly.  Our three Cercadillo women were definitely devoted to the tasks at hand, trying to absorb as much as possible during each session.  I was amazed each day at the conversations we had in transit.  They not only understood the philosophies and principles, they were applying them to individual children/youth in our village.

My favorite insight from the five day training:  Moses was born into the home of slaves and yet became an incredible leader.  Just imagine what God can do with our children in Cercadillo!

And just for fun . . .

. . . The room where we were meeting had a cooling system set at about 68 degrees.  We “Cercadillo-ans” aren’t accustomed to air and had to wear jackets the entire time.  We joked about looking forward to when class was over so we could go outside and warm up.

Oh, and one more bit of fun . . . The last day of training was Sunday afternoon.  I took the ladies to lunch down by the ocean to celebrate their completion of the course.  It was the first time that  17 year old Joelina had seen the ocean.  Remember, she lives on a Caribbean island, about 15 miles from where we were standing. She was totally amazed by it and said, “I want all our kids to see this, too!”  Ah, a children’s leader is born!

OK, seriously folks, what happened to July?  It seemed the last I checked it was mid-June and now suddenly it is August?!?  I know blogs are supposed to be short, but I have to fill you in on just a FEW of amazing events that happened.  Hang on, here we go . . . July in review.

The last blog post more than a month ago (SO SORRY!) indicated that I would be posting pictures of the completed bathroom project that was started and funded by Renew Community Church in PA.   For those of you who have been holding your breath, here are the pics of the completed bathhouses.

This is the 3rd four-family bathhouse that we have constructed in Cercadillo.   The families of Yaquelin, Elida, Yolanda and Mayleni will be using this one.

Yaquelin showing how to flush. 🙂

Each of the four rooms has a ceramic toilet that flushes with a bucket of water and an area about the size of a bathtub with a separate drain for bucket bathing.   It’s really just an enlarged outhouse, but to hear the families celebrating the completion of the project, one would think they each had a high-end-luxury bathroom.   “We no longer have to bathe in the streets!”  “I praise God that I can bathe in privacy!”  “A toilet for my family!  We’re living like the rich folks now!”

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Recipe for One Incredible Week

of Children’s Day Camp

Gently mix together:

• 12 flexible, ready-to-serve volunteers from Gateway Community Church in Northern Virginia www.gatewaychurch.org

• 9 AMAZING women from Cercadillo

• 3 Self-less Cercadillo Project Interns

Quickly add in:

• 110 7-12 year old Cercadillo campers

Bring all together for large group activities such as . . .

WORSHIP

SILLY SKITS . . .

snacks and sports.  Divide into three teams and send to . . .

CRAFTS . . .

MUSIC . . .

and BIBLE STORY TIME.

Rotate the teams approximately every 20 minutes.  Marinate in lots of prayer and laughter . Bake under tin roofs in the Caribbean sun.

I’m pretty sure that we exceeded the amount of fun that should be had in one week!

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 PRESCHOOL AND YOUTH DAY CAMPS

The Thursdays we weren’t doing children’s day camps, we were spending with preschoolers and youth.

With the preschoolers we did a modified version of “Cinco Super Sentidos – Regalos de Dios.”  (Five Super Senses – Gifts from God.)  This was the theme for the first children’s day camp that Valley Church did in June.

One of the days of youth camp the boys built a fire (under the direction of our faithful interns!) and roasted hot dogs for lunch.    It was not exactly a total success due to several hot dogs dropping in the fire or being eaten or burnt, but all in all, a good experience.

Although we had some great large group times together, my personal favorite times of the youth day camps were when we divided into guy/girl groups.  Ryan and Brian took the fellows to go do something “manly”  and left Jessica and I with the gals. While the girls worked on crafts we had the chance to talk about their hopes, dreams and decisions they are making.    Sweet times!

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OTHER JULY HAPPENINGS

July 15 a visiting team from TIME Ministries (www.timeministries.org) held a VISION CLINIC in Cercadillo.   Although we were the last place the team visited, there were still 22 pairs of the exact prescriptions that people in Cercadillo needed!  How is that for God’s provision!

Saturday mornings we spent with children in free reading time and math drills.

Wednesdays and Fridays we spent with the women in our ongoing discipleship/Bible Study/sewing and craft times.  (Cafe y Coser con Cristo)

Four Tuesday nights in July we showcased the work of the women at a Cercadillo Market at the TIME Ministries building.  Visiting team had the opportunity to purchase items the women have made.

Oh, and we had a big celebration event on July 22.  We celebrated birthdays, students passing grades, newly acquired birth certificates and the 5th Anniversary of The Cercadillo Project.  Jessica made a slideshow consisting of pictures of the villagers throughout the last several years.  They were on their feet screaming for the entire 27 minutes of the slide show.  What a great night!

So, I guess that’s what happened to July!

(Let me suggest that you check out Jessica’s blog.  Lots of great pictures and great editorials. terpstrajess.wordpress.com/)