I feel so into the routine of being here already, I don´t think I can leave. Getting to know my host family has been so much fun. Our family has two sisters, Angie and Cynthia and a brother, Steven. Joy and I have gotten to know Steven and his cousin Diego very well. We´ve played uno and monopoly or Monopolio en spanish with them. It´s been amazing to find how much you can communicate with mostly body language. I feel like we´ve gotten to know them really well in such a short time. This seems amazing to me especially with the language barrier. Us speaking little spanish and our family speaking little english has showed me the importance of body language and how much you can say to a person just with the look on your face.

Working at la Promesa has been very inspiring. The first day when the women shared there stories was very emotional and really motivated me to help them. One thing I´ve noticed working with the children is how curious they are about cameras. When they see one of us with one they want to use it themselves and even the mothers love to have their pictures taken. Gail explained to us that none of the mothers have pictures of their children, because it was just be to difficult and expensive to buy the cameras and film and then have the pictures printed. I like most or all of us have grown up with cameras and have always had pictures of our family and friends. I wasn´t surprised that the children were curious about cameras, but the mothers´interest made me realize that there are so many things we take for granted. Overall it´s been so inspiring to see that these women have changed so much and to see how happy and grateful they are for all the things that they do have and for how their lives are now.

Something else that has shocked me is how beautiful it is everywhere you go. For example looking out the window of the building at la Promesa you see this gorgeous green valley just covered in trees. Just above the valley there are powerlines. My first reaction was that they shouldn´t be able to put powerlines in such a beautiful place. Then I realized that the whole country is so beautiful, and they have to put them somewhere. Overall this trip has been an amazing experience, and we´re only halfway through.

Emily Simmons