*Continued from part 1... We asked the people of the the new resettlement community what they want painted on the walls. Basically the idea of hope and love told through bright colors and children's eyes. I chose to paint the egrets because during my first trip, there was a mass amount of vultures in a low lying area but then these large white egrets would fly in and change the entire landscape. I found it pretty amazing to see this in person.
Besides the large scale walls I also was asked to paint a new building wall. Club Hope, a place were kids can learn, play, activities are held, etc. This wall was mainly painted by the kids. Using fingerprints and hand prints to make flowers. I did add a large goofy monkey on the wall with the little paint we had left. The kids had fun and thats what matters. (I didn't get a final image of the wall)
Besides the murals there was several other amazing activities going on. Dance classes were held. (my sister helped teach some of those), a drum class was held, a soccer camp was held, face painting, etc. All of which was put together into one big final great performance for us all to watch.
It was great to see the kids really get into it.
One of the places that I felt the most connected to was the safe house. An amazing home for kids. I knew several of the kids from trips before. I girl in particular I connected with a lot. Running around eating mangos, playing music, climbing trees, and being a kid again definitely made me not want to leave.
There is always random funny things that happen on these trips. Here's just a few(see below). One night I ran around the streets & put eyeballs on certain objects. / A random horse came up to me while I was painting one of the murals. He was left there for quite a while and I was freaked out by him, especially since he got close enough to force me against the wall. / Also this little pill saved me several times from some major stomach pains. Thank you Jesse!
Our final day was held at the beach. A long off-road drive but a great day.
Just surfing, relaxing, & enjoying the amazing views.
I know I left out a lot. But again it's hard to capture all the overwhelming experiences into words. I look forward to future trips again.
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