The sound of sunshine

The boys of room 20 were again woken up at 7:30 by “The Sound of Sunshine” – both literally and figuratively°. Though this time still seems ungodly early to the four of us, we were all excited to get up and get our day underway. After a quick breakfast (Thanks to Tara for submitting our orders last night), we were back on the bus with Alvin, on our way to Ferry.

The day started slowly as we waited for Elin and Vig to arrive from the store with tools for the day. Because most of the kids were in school, this gave us the opportunity to spend some more quality time with the locals. Gary, Jon, and I played soccer and talked with two of the younger men in the village. They told us about their jobs (they search for scrap metal to sell), their girlfriends (one claimed to have 6), and what defines “cool” (Soccer skills, good dancing, and Nikey slippers for these guys). Though the contrast to our lives was apparent, the two men were still as happy and carefree as anyone I know. It’s this generally easygoing attitude of the people of Ferry that has made me fall in love with the place.

After the bulldozer cleared land for our soccer field yesterday, the seemingly simple task for today was evening the surface and getting rid of the rocks and weeds on the field. Elin and Vig arrived with gloves, shovels, and rakes, and we were on our way. In the 85-degree heat of Kingston, these jobs were anything but simple. We raked, shoveled, weeded, and lifted our way through the entire field, and then went back and did it again. The field is admittedly not perfect, but it is sure to be the envy of neighboring villages. Not many people in the area have the chance to play soccer in such an open area, which is why the people of Ferry are so excited about what we are doing.

After concluding work for the day on the field, we went back to the schoolhouse. Tuesdays in Ferry are sports days, which meant even more lifting of children than yesterday. A group of students from Missouri State had delivered a care package to the school, so many kids were wrapped up in figuring out new ways to play with bookmarks with googely eyes, number two pencils, and smiley face stickers (Many of which ended up on my shirt).  The other kids found pleasure in climbing all over us and swinging on the monkey bars. It was awesome to spend more time with the kids and see them all with smiles on their faces.

Though the day was exhausting, it was the most rewarding day I’ve had since arriving in Kingston. Knowing that the soccer field close to completion is obviously great, but it was the continued growth of the relationships I’ve developed here that made the day so good. I feel like we’ve finally gotten to the point where the people of Ferry feel comfortable with us, which has lead to more personal and in depth discussions. This is a huge step for us, as it let’s us figure out where and how we can actually help the community. I can’t wait to get there tomorrow and continue our work with the village.

Until next time,

John

°-”The Sound of Sunshine” is a song by Michael Franti, which has acted as our room’s soundtrack to the trip.