The Rescue Aftermath!

On April 25th, 2009, over 80,000 people gathered overnight in 100 cities around the world to raise the banner of the child soldier. This is the Aftermath.

Building bridges among the Costaricans...

It’s been awhile since we have had Internet access as we have been away from our home at the Finca Educativa. This last week we went up to Alto Coen to help in the building of a suspension bridge. This bridge has been a dream for the BriBri families for many years-one that they have been working on for the past 6 years. It has been a long, difficult process for the BriBri as they have fought to find aid and funds to build this much needed bridge. For many of the families, they are unable to get to the nearest clinic and school as the only way of crossing is through a river that contains raging rapids. These ever swelling rapids have separated a village for years and this past week, a group of 7 of us had the privilege to be part of God connecting the two sides. As we arrived with clamps in hand and an excitement to build, one could feel the joy and elation that spread through the air as locals traveled from near and afar to be part of their long journey of building a bridge. Everyone wanted to assist in some way and in many ways it was neat to see the bridge not only physically join a community but also by bringing people together. The men of our team: Yon, Donovan, Monas, Ben, and Kory worked alongside the BriBri men: Abdul, Margarito, Moises, Cesar, and Arielle to name just a few as they began drilling holes in the planks and setting up clamps that would connect the two wires. As Americans and Costa Ricans worked together, with each plank that was laid and each clamp put in place, one could witness the formation of this long awaited project. While we finished the work we came up to do, more work remains to be done on the bridge however with each step the people are finding themselves able to finally see their dream take shape.

Westfield Presbyterian in Costa Rica

After being here in Costa Rica for about three weeks, the reality of being here all summer started to set in and the days seemed to get long, but our spirits were brightened when our next team from western Pennsylvania arrived. The group came with great attitudes and ready to work. Once everyone arrived at the work sites they realized that with the cultural difference, work was going to move much slower than expected. For us in America, we are used to getting things done in a time effective manner, but here, all of the teams are finding that the work moves much slower. After realizing the cultural difference, they decided to embrace it instead of fight it. They immediately spent more time getting to know the people they were working with and serving alongside as well as sharing their lives with them. Western Pennsylvania was not only a blessing for this community on the Bri Bri reservation, but also a blessing for our summer staff as well. Their great attitudes lifted our spirits, while Jacob and Alex brought constant laughs.

This group came down ready to serve in any way possible and ready to serve anyone. They were even able to financially bless us as summer Staff after my tennis shoes were stolen. I desperately needed a new pair of shoes and they wanted to treat us to dinner so they left us money for me to get new shoes and for us to watch a movie and get dinner. We had money left over so we wanted to pass on the blessing to someone else. We were able to help Retano, a taxi driver from last year, who lost his leg to diabetes. He is in the process of getting a prosthetic leg, but is short on funds. God was able to bless Retano though the western Pennsylvania group with money to go towards his new leg. Many lives were touched this week. Even though there are bumps in the road sometimes, God is providing down here and doing amazing things.