Another charity that ALIG supports is the Southside Dump Site School-yes, you read that correctly. I have been curious about this place since we got here but volunteers always go here on Fridays. This past Friday, I did not have anything going on at Brent so I went along. It was not exactly what I was expecting but another one of the MANY experiences I have had in the 9 months since we have been here that really makes me appreciate and be humbled by all the blessings we have. We rode about 30-40 minutes from our neighborhood and were at what is called a "completed dump site" which means it doesn't smell TOO bad. The school was begun because the children nearby were not allowed by their parents to go to school but were sent to the dump to go through garbage looking for stuff the families could use or sell.
What the volunteers do each week is while the teacher is reading to the children in Tagalog-or you can bet I would have been the first one to volunteer to read-we give them a snack and a shower, dry them off, help them re-dress (sadly, often in the same dirty clothes they came in), and comb their hair. There were 2 groups of 25-30 kids who came into a very small room, sat with their teacher and sang, ate, and were able to get a shower and receive some minor care to cuts, and brush their teeth.
The teacher closes a gate-that you see through the doorway so that the number is limited because of the small space.
I laughed to myself as I realized the songs the children were singing were "The Lord's Army" -I remembered from church as a child "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. . ." They were singing in tagalog except the "yes sir!" part. The next song was "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" We were warned not to wear much jewelry and even told when handing out snacks to look carefully and remember where you had left off because the children would hide what they had been given and say they had not received anything yet. We had some extras at the end and were giving them to children-the teacher had asked them to line up outside the classroom but they were pushing and grabbing-just such amazing need.
The first group was mixed boys and girls-there were some other volunteers who braided hair and we had powder and body spray to put on them. I was the drier as kids came out of the small closet sized room where the showers were.
Enjoying his peanut butter on graham crackers
The hair station
Traci-in the back with the white shirt on-she is the ALIG charity coordinator just sitting and enjoying the children
showing how to brush teeth with a model
The second group of all boys enjoyed having their hair spiked up in mohawks. It was sweet time with these children-many hugged and thanked us when we left.
Since I had not been there before and there were also a couple of other first time volunteers, the teacher led us back behind the village store-next door to the school to see some of the houses. WOW! We saw a beautful baby who could not have been more than 2 months old-yes I did want to bring him home with me. Traci told me about a family that she has gotten to know who lives in a 1 room tin shack with 8 children. I don't think any of these "houses" have running water and if they have electricity it is stolen from a pole nearby-though I did see one with a television that was turned on. It was quite sobering to see where these children were coming from. If you think about it, pray for these children and teacher Keith and teacher Shara that what they can teach the children will make a difference for their future and that of their families.
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