Our last day in the villages

Our last day was in the village of Copper Bank. As you drive into this village, you get an overwhelming sense of not being in Kansas anymore. After seeing so much poverty in the other villages, Copper Bank looks like the "Right" side of the tracks. So the story goes... Copper Bank is convieniently located on a strip of River that has amazing money making potential. As the drug runners head up the river with their "load" of goods they sometimes dump the load if there is a fear of being caught. These little "White Lobsters" as they call them make their way to the shores of Copper Bank. There are people who spend their lives just waiting for these to wash ashore. If the drug runners come back to Copper Bank looking for their goods, they pay the village people a substantial reward. However, if the Coast Guard comes looking, you guessed it, they pay the village people a reward. So the houses in this village are more than shacks and they are painted bright colors. You can certainly see a difference.

We were in a school today doing clinic. It was a slower day. That was nice, though because we had seen 212 people the day before. I got to spend a lot of time with the kids in the school. I was amazed at how well these children were behaved. I spoke with the principal and he said that they rarely have discipline problems at their school. They each have chores at the end of the schoolday, sweeping the floor, cleaning the chalk boards, etc. If they do get out of line, they resort to the old standard of paddling. That's probably why there's not much trouble.

The Senior Pastor from Horizon came to the village with us today. He entertained the kids for hours with magic tricks. They loved watching his show. They crowded around him so he could barely get into his backpack. They just love a change from their normal routine. On recess, they wrestle with each other, play with Hot Wheels Cars and play Futbol, of course. We ended the day with a fun round of limbo and then they totally kicked our butts on the soccer field.

In between patients, some of the guys taught me to play euchre. We had a great time. It was a good way to wind down our week of village clinics. On the drive home, I did find myself being a little relieved it was our last day. It's so exhausting. Mentally, physically, emotionally. I can't even describe how I felt. But by the same token, I also felt incredibly sad. How can I leave this? I was so not ready to go home. Emotions were running high.