Windows down, music blaring, heading to highway 30A with friends...
This would have been my typical spring break trip...full of fun with friends, the gulf's fresh seafood and an impending sunburn. As fun as this all sounds, I wanted to go somewhere out of my comfort zone with new people this year for spring break so I took a trip to Costa Rica with UNA.
I've never been on an international mission trip of sorts, so I knew this was going to be eye-opening and life-changing like people have always said, but have you ever heard, "You've gotta see it to believe it," ? Well this is just the appropriate time for that phrase...you've really gotta see, gotta experience it before you'll believe it!
Although parts of Costa Rica were impoverished, devastating and sad, I was delighted to see that our presence brought such joy and hope to the community of La Carpio.
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Two twin girls, a little boy and I. I was trying to read a book to them in Spanish. |
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Photo by: Bethany Pierce |
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All this little girl wanted to do was sit in my lap and watch a movie. |
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Monsarrat, a precious baby girl I got attached to at the orphanage. |
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This picture was taken at the orphanage in La Fortuna. This little boy loved Kelci.
We visited the city of La Carpio, where we visited a church that has been built and is maintained by Pastor Huberth Chavarria and locals who care about his mission.
The first day we visited was on Sunday, March 24, and we got to visit the church service that evening. It was AMAZING to see and hear all of these people rejoicing for God who live in such awful conditions. It literally brought tears to my eyes while I was trying to comprehend how they could seem so content and gracious. A church located in an impoverished part of the city, a garbage dump, filled with Nicaraguan refugees. It made me realize how truly blessed we are in America.. in our homes that have fresh, clean air, running water, floors made out of hardwood and concrete as opposed to dirt...it was unbelieveable. These people had their hands up, worshiping the same God we worship in the U.S. It was a really defining moment for me to hear these people singing to God in Spanish. One song I recognized was "How Great Is Our God?" Although none of us were able to sing along, we connected. It was an amazing night. And to top things off, a little girl who I had seen earlier in the day got up out of her pew in the church and came and sat with me and held onto my finger the entire service. We talked (in Spanish) about our clothes, nail polish...little things...but it was so cool for me. She was like...5. I noticed she was checking out everything I was wearing: Nike shorts, a plain crew neck t-shirt, heart-shaped earrings and teva sandals. I know...fancy, right!? Well it was heart wrenching when she leaned down to the floor, sat back up and tapped me, whispering, while pointing to my shoes "Muy bonita." I was thinking, "What? my old dusty sandals?"
It's just such a different world they live in.
The next day we visited the church again. We spent the day sanding the walls of what's going to be a classroom. We ended up having time and energy to clean up the dusty place, paint all of the walls and the front of the building. The finished product just made me smile :)
Afterwards we rested and ate an awesome lunch prepared by some ladies at the church.
We got to spend time playing with the children for a few hours as well. I got to use and improve my Spanish skills like the entire time because none of the kids spoke English... :O
We had fun watching the play football (soccer). I was actually terrified because they were running over each other and all kicking at the ball at once...a.k.a. being kids. haha We gave them books, thanks to my Uncle Mike who donated them through BookSmart, and coloring books to do a more calm activity. This was fun for me because I got to talk to some of the kids and we all taught each other our languages haha.         
We drove to the city of La Fortuna located a few hours away from where we had been staying in San Jose. The drive and the volcanos were gorgggg! We took a day to visit an orphanage in La Fortuna where children had been placed that were either abandoned by their mothers or were taken from their mother because of some type of abuse, addiction and neglect. All of the children were 10 years old or younger. I spent most of the day playing with them, particularly the babies. Monsarrat was a little girl, probably under one year old, who had been there. I wanted to adopt her right then and there! She was the best baby...didn't cry and just wanted to be loved. I basically carried her around for hours, walked her around to look at different things or to play ball. We were originally going to clean and repaint the sidewalks and surroundings outside, but it rained :( We decided to go ahead and clean the pavement and walls outside that had moss growing on them, but we got SOAKED from the rainshowers...but it was ok...we would've gotten dirty and hot otherwise!
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The orphanage had the most impact on me because I got so attached to Monsarrat. These children were so so sweet and you could really tell they just wanted attention...someone to sit with them or look at them...play with them. It was so sad when we left; Monsarrat, along with all of the other children, ran outside waving at us. I am really glad we got to go spend time with them, though.
I'm really glad I got the chance to go on this trip with UNA through AB because it was my first time out of the country for a trip like this. It was seeing Costa Rica from a different side than of just a tourist. It made me think past that and on to what I can do to help. It's really easy to get discouraged too, though. A few times on the trip I found myself thinking "I'm not doing much to help them in comparison to how many people are hurting and poor here," but I was constantly given reminders of why I was there when the refugees and orphans showed so much appreciation for us being there.
I feel truly blessed but a little saddened that not everyone gets equal opportunity in this world. By fate, some of us grow up in better conditions than others. I think that's why it's our responsibility to do as much as we can to help others that are less fortunate. I love having the memories of the children's smiling faces when we arrived, or how they all scurried to and ravaged through the books we brought...when I saw a little boy walking down the side of the road alone with only his books in hand as we left La Carpio. These are the most precious memories I'll hold.
