The First Real Day by Andrew von Hillebrandt

Although the first day of real work here was not as I thought it would be, I enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would, even the manual labor. We started off the day waking up at a crisp 7:00 am to a warm shower and differing expectations. After a nice warm breakfast, we left to Antioch at 8:15 and got ready to experience the school and its children for the first time. We went through our scheduled day with the kids and although it definitely did not go as smoothly as intended, it was a good day with the children.

I made a new friend during our intense game of freeze tag named Matias. As I was carrying him back inside me, Matias, Brendan, and his friend Fabian made a fire beat.

After spending the rest of the morning with Matias, we said our goodbyes to the second graders and got on the bus to get ready for the hard part of the day. After another wonderful meal, we prepared for VBS the next day and got on the bus for the working part of the day. I spent the majority of the time placing concrete blocks ranging from 50 – 170 pounds in wheelbarrows, with some wheelbarrows that were definitely more capable than others.

After spending around 3 hours moving these concrete blocks in order to build a path to improve the landscaping of the school, we washed off our muddy boots and got on the bus back. After a good stir fry meal made by Eunice, we had a devotion led by Spencer and songs led by our wonderful worship team. After an evening of soccer in the rain and resting in hammocks, we head back to bed around 10:30 and it didn’t take long to get to sleep, with the sound of rain on the tin roof to help. After our first full day, I look forward to meeting and teaching more kids about trusting god and making the school look more and more beautiful every day.