Putting hands together to serve at GSCH

A new ministry has started at the home amongst the many teenagers and grade school kids. They have been making handmade crafts such as bracelets, pottery, jewelery, and many other things to sell. All of these handmade items are then presented to the teams that come to the home to visit before going back to the states. All of the proceeds go to a special fund set up at the home to allow the children to go on organized field trips outside of the home. This also gives a visiting team member the opportunity to bring back something that was made by one of the children at GSCH.

Proudly displaying their talents.

It was great to see the excitement of those who made different items as they eagerily waited for the bus to arrive at the casitas after hearing word that the "abrigada" (team) was about to pull up. Many shouted loud "the abrigada is here" over and over until they were able to grasp the hand of a new or maybe returning visitor or receive a big hug from them as they exited the bus.

It was easy to feel and see the closer unity between the kids as during the week often I would see many of them huddled together working diligently on making more crafts to add to the surplus.

During my visit to GSCH at the end of Januay 2009 I learned that their first field trip with everybody (tias included) going was at the beggining of the year in which they all had a great time having a picnic at a nearby piece of property (about 3 miles away) that had a pretty view and a nice place to play.

So for those of you that will have the opportunity to visit GSCH in the near future, you might want to reserve a little extra dinero to buy one of these crafts that a child put a lot of effort and pride into.