Arms Wide Open…
Our team woke up to bright sunshine this December 25th and the knowledge of knowing that this Christmas was different. We had accomplished so much together and felt the true meaning of the phrase, “it is better to give than to receive”.After a hearty breakfast, we played what some call, “Yankee Christmas”. This is where each person brings a gift (between $5 – $10) and when your number is called, you either pick a present from under the tree or steal someone’s. Lots of good laughs as everyone decided that whatever gift Vaden chose, they would steal. Once all the gifts had been distributed, we opened them to find lots of fun souvenirs. Joy got a Monkey playing a guitar made from a coconut. Here is more of her thoughts from the rest of our day’s activities:Today we revisited one of my favorite villages that we have helped in many pasted Hero Holidays. The reason we keep coming back is because of the wonderful children that live there. Their community is so welcoming and well behaved that I feel need to visit each time I am in the Dominican Republic. After lunch, our group of 14 brought along soccer and baseball equipment to start a sports camp. As we drove into town in our open back truck, we caught the attention every child on the narrow road. We hopped of the truck and started picking up children here and there and skipped through the entire village. After collecting all the children we could find, we lead them to an open field to start our afternoon of games.
We had the most amazing time blowing bubbles and coloring with the girls as a majority of the boys were playing soccer or baseball. It was a fun filled day but it did not just end with our sports camp. Later that night, after dinner, we returned to the village to show a movie. We had brought a projector with us from Canada so it was like being in an open air movie theater. Ice Age 3, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, was a huge hit, which we measured by the amount of laughter from both child and adult alike. The smiles on all the people made us proud of what we had accomplished on our trip. Every time we show up at a place with our arms wide open to hold the kids, it touches the lives of many individuals, including our own.