Thursday, March 20

It's Thursday, and we are sadly a little more than halfway done with the trip. So far all the services we have been able to participate in has really opened our eyes to what is really happening in the world when considering health care. However, today we focused more on children who were more than deprived of healthy food, but financial stability and the warmth and care they were not receiving at home from their parents. We first started off the day, with a nice hike at the Harbor View Forest, thankfully the weather was finally in our favor and made the hike quite relaxing and enjoyable. Then we headed over to the Newberry Child Development Center (NDC). NDC is basically an after school program for underprivileged children in the community. Surprisingly enough many of them were related. Anyways, when we arrived, we were assigned the kids we would play and interact with for the day, and were briefed on some of their physical and mental disabilities. We were also told how a lot of them may become very clingy because they do not get enough attention at home from their parents. With that in mind, we were determined to provide as much of our time and attention as we possibly could. As we played with them, helped them with homework and spoke to them about college and the future, we genuinely were so delighted to be there and see them have so much fun. Though some were a little difficult to handle, the few hours we were there were definitely the best part of the day. WE only wish we could have spent more time with them to make more of an impact in their lives. -Beverly

We started the day with a two hour hike in the Harbison State Forest.  We talked and took pictures and enjoyed the fresh air.  It was a beautiful and peaceful morning to be surrounded by nature!  After the hike, we ate lunch and showered at USC- there was actually hot water and water pressure!  In the late afternoon, we went to Newberry Child Development Center.  We were each paired with one or two buddies.  We helped our buddies with homework, ate a snack, made many arts and crafts, and played outside in the warm sun!  My buddies were 6 year olds Chyann and Kalvin.  They were really adorable, friendly, and welcoming.  We played house, hide-and-go-seek, and basketball, and not to forget the beautiful artwork we painted!  I learned that when they grow up, Chyann wants to be a teacher and Kalvin wants to be a police officer.  We had a lot of fun playing together and I think I’m the one who didn’t want to leave!  After we left, we got stopped in traffic on a closed highway for a few hours because someone was going to jump from an overpass; thankfully he didn’t and everyone was okay!  It was a crazy situation.  We ended up stopping at a nearby Ruby Tuesday for our celebratory dinner.  When we returned to the church, we had our reflection, which involved some deep thinking.  It was a long day, but working and playing with the children at NCDC was one of my favorite parts of the week! -Jess