Well ladies and gents, your trusty bronze-medaled, women's volleyball Spartans are leaving the country. We're off to Paraguay alongside Athletes in Action to help fight poverty and spread God's love. We're using our sport as a platform as we're helping in orphanages, food stations, and whatever else God calls us to do. Our team is leaving April 26th and returning on May 9th, and this is where we'll be documenting all of our experiences and thoughts. Enjoy!

Friday 29 April 2011

Day 1, Team Blue

Team Blue: Lindsay, Carly, Chelsea H, Andrea, Ryan H, Lauren, Royal

So many second-hand faces. Clothed by others' outdated wardrobes and outfitted with the caked soil of mother nature. Fed by others with plastic plates that hosted a pale version of mac and cheese. And today, loved by others who came riding on a bus that resembled a futuristic Volkswagen vanagon.  There is so much reliance and dependence on others for satisfying simple needs we often take for granted.

Team Blue (or Azule, for those Spanish speakers) was assigned to a nutrition station today, which was basically characterized by a patch of mixed grass/dirt, an open building, and a military-sized pot that seemed more suitable for bathing children than feeding them. Our vehicle was greeted with squawks and squeals and small brown hands that were frantically waving. Our presence was welcomed with Spanish singing and Christmas-morning-like smiles.  Despite the small bubbles of awkwardness and language barriers that happened right at our arrival (post-singing), the kids quickly became kids and all things God-inspired fell into place. The chicas twirled and the chicos volleyballed. Everyone laughed and every Canadian perspired. We spent hours just playing and speaking haphazard renditions of one another's languages. 
It was a small fragment of a day filled with little communication and a lot of love. I pray God blesses those families with sustainability and self-dependence. 

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