Day 5 and emotions are high

Hola from Trujillo, Peru!

Today was a pretty heavy day. Personally, it was extremely emotional.

I will begin from the first events of the day. We all dragged ourselves out of bed between 7 and 7:45 this morning. Muscles sore and aching bodies. We got dressed and ready to head to the worksite for the morning. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the worksite and along the way we pass through the shanty towns, some on the ground and others tucked away in the beautiful mountains. I usually don't talk much on the bus rides. I love just taking in the amazing sights, smells, and emotions that come along with viewing this country with eager eyes. Today, driving through the town to get to the worksite, I looked upon the broken down, one house, no roof homes, and my heart broke. It is a huge culture difference and you truly never see anything like this in Windsor or Niagara Falls, actually in most of North America. I spent that time praying for the people we passed on the streets and praising God for still being faithful and giving hope to these people through us.

We arrived on the worksite at around 9:15am. Right away we began working. Phil, Doug, Chris, and myself finished digging one of the water ditches and then started the other one. Everyone else worked at the cement site and doing other jobs involving rocks and lifting... which seems to be the main work ethic here. I love the worksite. It's hard work, I will say that... but it is sooo rewarding and sooo much fun. This morning Ray told us to look at the worksite with new eyes today- to look at it as if it were the finished product. So we got excited about the finished product and we all worked very hard.

At 12:00pm we went to the church for lunch. At the church Dan, one of the interns here, showed us a model of the orphanage site. It was incredible. Sooo beautiful! I cannot wait to see it when it's done in a couple years. Lunch was very good, as always.

After lunch we got back on the bus and started on our way to the dump. Some of us were nervous, some were scared, but I think it's safe to say we were all very excited. I didn't really know what to expect. As we drove into the dump the air got noticeably thicker and grey from garbage burning. The smell was bad but I did expect worse. My eyes were wide and I was taking everything in. I saw people covered in dirt picking through the dump. Children were playing in the garbage, with broken glass and pointy objects everywhere. I saw groups of people going in and out of small tents. Now, when I say tents, I don't mean our nice, rip-free, easy to set up tents. No. I mean big sticks in the ground sticking straight up with some kind of fabric or plastic tarp material over top. These are their homes. From that moment I started crying. It broke my heart. And that seemed to be the reoccuring emotion of the day. Driving further in, there were more and more tents, more and more people, and pigs. Thousands of huge pigs trampeling through the dump, picking through the garbage. The bus stopped and a crowd of children and people ran to the bus, like magnets to a fridge. Then a line started forming from the bus door before it even opened. They knew we had things for them and they were anxious. But we didn't take anything out yet, except for ourselves. I needed to take a moment to stop my tears and get myself together so I could put smiles on for the people and children in the dump.

Getting off the bus we were bombarded by children. As I was standing there a little girl, covered in dirt, and in need of a shower, ran to me and wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up at me. In that moment all my fears left me. There was this look in her eyes that I'd never seen before in a child. I still cannot explain it, all I can say was that it was beautiful. Then a couple other girls ran over to me and hugged me. We exchanged names and right away began playing simple games like running in a circle holding hands, playing clapping games, and then a big game of pato, pato, gonzo (duck, duck, goose) with a bunch of other kids. We got a couple small soccer games going and just playing with the soccer balls. We were all holding it together and having a lot of fun with the kids. Having a child come up to me and put their black-with-dirt hand in mine was indescribeable. Squeezing their hand tight to let them know they have worth and they are precious is probably the most rewarding thing I've experienced.

The children are incredible. They were sooo happy to meet us and play with us. It is crazy how they have nothing but so much at the same time. The things they have are not tangible. They are more welcoming than anyone I have ever met and I can say that confidently and honestly. Lisa Merritt started writting numbers on the children's hands after about 40 minutes of being at the dump. These numbers represented the order in which we handed out items and who they went to. The last number we wrote on a person's hand was somewhere just past 300. There are about 2000 or more people in the dump so this was just a fraction of the people lined up to receive what we had to offer. We started off with handing out soccer balls, then we distributed volleyballs, shirts, shorts and other clothing items, hygeine bags, and last came the shoes. Throughout the day that seemed to be the primary concern- if we had shoes to give. My answer was always "quizas" which means "maybe." I did not want to give them a "si" or "no" answer because we did not have 300 pairs of shoes. It was really hard to be holding a little girl or boy in my arms with torn and broken shoes (or maybe even no shoes at all) and trying my best to get them a pair but not having their size. We did meet some needs in the dump... but not nearly as much as we'd all have liked to.
One girl hung out with me the whole time at the dump. Her name is Korrina. She is 9 years old and adorable. She's pretty tiny so I held her a lot of the time. We had a lot of fun trying to speak to each other. She gave me sooo many hugs and kisses. I braided her hair and played with her. Near the end of our time in the dump, Korrina's mom came, she told her that they needed to go. Korrina kept saying "no" and holding onto me tighter. Finally she got her way and got to stay til we left.
Saying goodbye was the hardest and the worst. Hugging the kids for the last time (for a while at least!) and saying my "ciao's" was too hard and I didn't linger but just got on the bus. As soon as I sat down all tears broke loose and that was it. It was a good cry... much needed and I'm sure there will be many more to come.
My heart is broken for these people. In the best way ever. I have fallen in love with these people and am falling more and more in love with God each day I am here. A popular question hanging around the house seems to be "Why is God letting poverty happen"... and the answer- "God did not do this to the world... We did." And we need to rise up and start change. I feel God is calling me to be one of those persons to step out and be a part of this change. Maybe through Inca Link, or maybe through another organization or mission... but no matter what way I go about it... I want to glorify His name and serve His people in need.

[ For my family on a more personal note: Mom and Dad, Elyse and Sheri, I really wish you guys could come here sometime to experience what is going on here. I know you would all love it. The kids are incredible, the people are soooo nice and welcoming. My goal for this year- learn spanish! :) Mom- I am perfectly fine. Sore and a little headachy, but nothing I can't deal with!! There are so many dogs here roaming freely on the streets, Emma would have a field day! Oh and also, it was really sunny here today ;) love all of you soo much! ]

I'm going to end this now... although I really have only said half of what went on today.. .there are sooo many emotions and sooo many things going through my mind right now. But for now, I will just say that everyone here is in good health. Everyone is a little sore and in need of a good nights rest for our full day of work tomorrow!! We are all having a blast and there is so much spiritual growth happening here it's insane.
Keep praying for us, that God would continue to give us great strength. That we would be Jesus Christ in the flesh and that our hearts would continue to break for God's needy and broken people. That His restoration would be brought to these people through us and everyone else here at Inca Link.

Beunas noches!

Danae Masse