So
this past week we had the incredible opportunity to work at a school in the
slums called “Casa De Samuel”. We were only able to spend 5 days there, and
even though it felt like weeks, I feel like I speak for all of us when I say,”It wasn’t nearly enough time”. I know
I’m going to remember the relationships I built there for the rest of my life.
The volunteers at Casa De Samuel are such incredible people, and the love of
Christ radiates throughout them. If I could spend the rest of my time in Brasil
working with these people, I would do it in a heartbeat.
This is
a small glimpse of the favela (slum) we worked in. The streets were usually
full of children running around, women buying what groceries they could afford,
or men watching soccer at the bar.
The two who stood out
to me the most were the couple who started Casa De Samuel. Their names were Wanderson and Giza, they’ve only been married 7 months, and they started Casa
De Samuel on their own. Giza spends every day, Monday through Friday, working
at the school and taking care of whatever needs to be done there. Wanderson
works four different jobs, and only gets paid for one of them. The other three
are completely volunteer positions, because that’s what God has called him to
do. There are 17 days out of the month that he works a complete 24 hours without
stop, to do what God has called him to do, to support the school, and so he
and Giza have money to pay bills. They are such an incredible couple and I was
blessed to have been able to meet the two of them. As a team we had the opportunity
to bless them, and gave them nearly $100 to have a date night, and have it be
just the two of them. It was truly an honor working alongside the two of them.
Camilla,
Ryan, and me on our last day at Casa De Samuel.
She spoke little more than broken English, but translated incredibly
well for us throughout the week! She is one of the people I will miss the most!
Not only are the volunteers
incredible, but I had such a great time working with all of the children! They
were such happy, crazy, “bouncing off the walls” full of energy, children. Our
days started at 6 am, and the kids didn’t leave till nearly 5 pm that evening.
I was exhausted by the end of the day, but the energy of the kids kept me going
day after day, with a little help from Coca-cola of course. We spent our days
teaching the children through our wonderful translators who spoke little more
than broken English, helping prepare food in the kitchen, and playing some of
the children’s favorite games! These included games such as Uno (yes, the same
one as in the United States), jump
rope, soccer, and a new favorite,
Pateka.
Me
carrying around little Bianca, she was another one of the kids who ALWAYS had a
smile on their face. She was such a joy to have around, and to play games with.
She drew me a picture on the last day, which is now in my “Brasil Notebook”
Some of the kids that really
become attached to me, and of course, I to them, were little Pablo, Yuri, and
Gustavo. Little Pablo had more energy than he, I, or the volunteers knew what
to do with, but he always had the biggest smile on his face. He was the
happiest little kid, and loved climbing on me, playing catch and soccer with
me, and just being by my side all the time, no matter what I was doing.
Me and
little Pablo! This kid was always attached to me in some way. I never got to
say goodbye to him though, because he wasn’t there the last two days. I miss
that kid!
Yuri and Gustavo were two older boys who would come in the morning, and they seemed
to always be together. They loved to call me “Joshy Bieber”, and as much as I
hated it at first, I learned to love them calling me this. Every day I would
play Uno with them, kick the ball around, and just have some fun with them. The
last day we were at the school, they both drew me pictures, and included “pop-star trading cards” of Justin Bieber, and saying that they loved “Joshy Bieber” (I still have those pictures).
Yuri and
Gustavo, those were some great kids! They stuck with me like white on rice, and
enjoyed calling me “Joshy Bieber”
I managed to pick up
a lot more Portuguese in the 5 days spent at the school than the entire rest of
the time I’ve been here, thanks to our translators, and my teacher for a day,
Gustavo, one of the coolest guys I know (different than little Gustavo). I can
understand a lot more than I can speak, but it’s a good start to learning the
language. Ryan and I had a good time coming up with random phrases that mean
nothing, but gave the Brasilians a good laugh, such as “I have a small monkey
in my stomach” and “I like the cockroach on your shoulder”. I’ve loved the past
week of finally being immersed in Brasilian culture, it’s what I came to the
country to do, immerse myself in the culture, get a chance to love on some
people, learn a little language, and love on some people a whole lot more! I see myself coming back to work with these people sometime in the near future!
This was
taken on the last day at the school; it’s us Americans with the volunteers of
Casa De Samuel. They were such an inspiration to me through their actions,
words, faith, and love. The love of Christ was radiating from them in every
little thing they did.
