Just before lunch we had a very interesting walking tour of part of the village.  We quickly learned that the building site is one of the few flat surfaces in the community.  It was down one steep dirt path and up another to reach one of the fields cleared on a steep hill in the tropical jungle to grow corn and beans.  The two crops mingle perfectly...the corn drying on the stalk, protecting the kernels within, and the beans using the stalks as poles to climb and spread.

You don't see many photos of Doug because he is mostly behind the camera, but Leslie took this one and Doug, of course, was quickly joined by another batch of his friends....and you can guess what they asked next!

We were honored today to be visited by the mayor (r) of the town of Armenia (of which Buenos Aires is a part) and by a regional representative of the Salvadoran Department of Education.  Guillermo and Cam translated as both gentlemen expressed their thanks to the mission team and the village for their joint efforts to improve the quality of life of the village and the opportunities for education.  In January, when the next term starts, the town's one teacher will be joined by two more, and classes will be offered through sixth grade.  For many students in Buenos Aires, that will enable them to go to school in the village, instead of making a long walk round trip to and from Armenia, over primitive dirt roads and across a stream and railroad bed...both of which present their own hazards.

Cam and Mike Collier have to head home tomorrow (Sunday).  The rest of the team remains to finish our work Monday and Tuesday before we also head north next Wednesday.  Late in the afternoon, before we headed back to our hotel in Sonsonate, the team and many of the villagers gathered in the building for a group photo.  There wasn't quite room to get everyone in the shot, but the emotions we all felt and shared will be something we will always treasure.  The fact that one of the mothers handed her baby (in the pink dress) to Whitney to hold underscores the bonding we have all taken part in.

The head of the village council said the villagers were moved by the fact that the mission team had come a long distance, at their own expense, taken time off from work and left families to come and help them create something better for their families and especially their children.

And yet the team will tell you that we have received so much more than we have given or sacrificed.  The building is a testament to God's power for good when people work together.

Cam and Mike depart Sunday evening from San Salvador airport and will be departing Sonsonate in the morning.  The rest of the group plans to attend a 9 AM mass at Father Mucci's Agape cathedral just around the corner from our hotel, and then visit a couple of villages noted for native crafts, and accept an invitation to visit a beach club in the afternoon.  On Monday we'll be back at the village for the next-to-last day of our mission.