La Puenta School, Cabañas 8/5/13

Last night’s rain made the roads up to the mountain villages impassible, so instead we went across the valley and over the river to the town of Cabañas, to a school called La Puenta. On the way we saw several huge ruts in roads carved out by the sudden rush of water off the mountain from that one short downpour. The school had two out of four classes meeting today. The teacher, Karen, spoke some English and told us that four of her students are now in the hospital due to malnutrition, and many others come to school but their parents can’t provide paper or pencils for them. The kids only attend school for half a day.

 We came prepared with a bible lesson on Isaiah 40 and a paper “eagle” (airplane) craft for the kids to make. The kids loved flying the planes outside and then playing with the jump ropes and soccer ball we brought for them.

 

When the kids went back inside to finish their lessons, the team ate our lunch in the school courtyard. After a few minutes a small, 10-year-old boy appeared and asked for permission to play with the soccer ball the other kids had returned to us. He was the right age for this school but obviously didn’t attend; his clothes were filthy and too small on him. It turns out he lives across the street with his grandfather. We asked why he’s not in school, and Noé said “something is wrong with his mind.” 


Taylor asked Chepé his name and offered to share our lunch with him. He was delighted by the food and wanted us to photograph him holding the soccer ball. He was friendly and chatty, and hung out with us until the school kids came out again and he was forced to share the soccer ball. He seemed an outcast among the other kids and his mood quickly turned. When they went home a few minutes later, he was happier, but kept asking for the soccer ball, which had been put away by the teacher before she left. Sarah asked about giving him the rest of the food we were carrying to take home, and Tim arranged for that to happen after we were gone. None of us will forget Chepé, nor will we forget that we weren’t supposed to be there today. God brought the rain and changed our plans. A couple of team members had some tears back at the house this afternoon as the head knowledge of what we are doing here migrated down to the heart.