Liz and Dana Sweet

Never having taken a team to Acuna before, I was a little apprehensive about how everything would work. After all, there’s the culture, the schedule, the new students, there’s us and how we react or respond to each situation. All this hits you between the eyes, not to mention things never go as planned.

Our first brilliant move was to hire Dana Sweet of Wide ministries to be our ground support during our stay. He and his wife Liz and their daughter Joanna run a dormitory facility for teams to stay while they work in Acuna. It is a walled off old Montessori school that had been remodeled into a dorm. They accommodated us so well and with such grace and style it made it easy to work all day in the heat. Each day we were able to go back and eat dinner, prepared by two local women and hang out and laugh,

Fun Learning Spanish and English

sing, play cards, journal, and process our day together. We knew we were in good hands.

From the renting of the giant 12 person van (nicknamed the marshmallow) all the way through to its return without a scratch, this trip was very successful. The project at the school was well planned and all of the materials purchased and ready to be taken on our first morning there.

Much time was spent trying to communicate, learn names, learn Spanish, and laughing and playing. We still exceeded the expectations of the school’s project list. In the end we painted the entire inside of the school twice to cover the purple and blue that was underneath. Patched a multitude of holes in walls, and cleaned up the grounds or at least tried to. We built two walls

Students Sign the Wall

and wired an entire classroom so it could be used for their expanding population.

This year was the biggest graduating class ever and with the building open from 8 am to 11pm, the wear and tear was showing. In the end we all stamped our hand prints on the wall entering the school grounds. It will be a great reminder of our time there.

The team worked so well together I can’t help but think spending time at our planning and training meetings helped start the process early. It was cemented by the experience of traveling and working and serving others together. We knew we were in good hands.

I know we will go back next year, so mark your calendars for next summer.

Diane

The Wall