As a Geography major, I do have a general curiosity about spaces and places. And this "island" thing has been bugging me. Where is this mysterious place anyway? The drive took us to the coast but then google maps just sort of went dark. In fact, while we were in the ferry boat, google maps had us in a grayish place that was neither land nor water. I gathered that we were in an estuary of sorts, in water that was probably brackish due to the fact that the water level fluctuated with the tides.
By the time we reached the landing at the island, I realized just why this place is not really on a map. We were well beyond civilization.
It had a Louisiana bayou feel mixed with West Virginia, the Jungle Cruise, Deliverance and Apocalypse Now. As we ferried up the river, the mangroves were impenetrable. All you could see were the wooden jail bars of the mangrove trees with lush green above them. Our passage way got narrower and narrower. Finally we reach the landing. There was no sand, just mud. And the dock was made by the 2nd little piggy (out of sticks - just testing you).
The first human we came into contact with was a boy, maybe 8 years old, covered head to toe in dirt wearing only underwear for bottoms. Then other kids biked up and waited at a distance until our pickup chauffeur arrived. It was the only car I saw all day. The rest were bikes and a lone horse. This is by far the poorest place I have ever been.
Remember the three boys I have told you about who live at the mission house? Christian, Harrison and Billy. This is their home. Thugs have started to take over the island and made life hard on some of the people there. Harrison and Billy, the two with death threats, were awkwardly sad as we left them at the mission house. They couldn't come with us to their home.
But Christian was with us. It was his show today and we were along for the ride.
We ended up at a nice home or church. I don't know what it was, but Christian's mom was there with a big hug for her son. It was bordering a large soccer field that was in way better condition than anything thus far in Soyapango. Christian had gotten the word out well in advance that we were coming to put on a soccer camp. The kids were already there. Boys and girls alike. After about 10 minutes of us standing around waiting for some kind of green light, I finally just opened one of my bags, got out some cones and some balls and started laying out some activities. The first one was merely a line of cones to weave thru. I laid down two cones and a little boy with no shoes politely grabbed them from me. He wanted to help. I just counted and pointed uno-dos-tres and he took over from there. In less than 16 seconds about 30 kids were weaving thru the line of cones one after another. Laughing and skipping. Boys and girls.
This bought me time to lay out some other activities. All told we had four stations, including a mini game field.
While I got out pinnies, Christian divided the kids into groups. Jake, the head of CFTC down here, Shelby and I manned the game field, Gillian manned a station, Lauren and Aubrey took one, and Christian roamed (we abandoned the original line of cones and let that remain as a "walk up" activity for the kids who were filtering in).
What a riot. These kids were just an impoverished version of what you would see at a rec league camp in Minnesota - some were in to it and some weren't. But the main difference was: these kids just loved that someone was paying attention to them. These kids spend most of their days doing absolutely nothing. They probably used up their imaginations long ago. So when we showed up it was a carnival.
Btw, all the kids were barefoot and dirty. A few had flip flops, and would put them on their hands to play soccer.
The heat and humidity on the island is almost unbearable. I drank a gallon and a half of water and did not pee for 13 hours. By lunch time we were all beat down. And, to be honest, I was dreading an afternoon session with "older boys".
But after some PB&Js Christian took us on a life changing journey. We walked part of the island to various huts (shacks, lean-tos) and gave a bundle of provisions, including food clothing and a bible, to poorest of poor families in the poorest of poor places on the earth.
The first place we stopped (the above picture, hut on the left) had 8 people living in it. Christian was amazing. In His native language, to a family he knows from having lived there his whole life, he shared the Gospel and prayed for the family. He was eloquent, confident, and humble. I was amazed.
We walked to the next hut and Josue asked me if I would want to address the next family. I was way into it - up until I walked up and began to address them. A strange feeling overtook me - I didn't feel worthy. Here I was standing in front of a shoeless, toothless man who had little hope other than what God could provide him and I am overwhelmed with humility. I almost started crying.
I was able to work my way thru a makeshift sharing of the gospel along with a prayer. My girls handed them their food, clothing and bible. It was very special. It was an honor.
It is almost pointless to tell about anything else. Cliff's notes from here on out.
Instead of an afternoon camp we just played a pickup game with the 16 or so boys who showed up. After we gave them all some soccer gear and old athletic clothes, all of which Tim Hawkinson managed to get to me prior to the trip.
The traveling circus act known as "The Juggling Northrup Girls" wowed the island boys. The only person who could beat Gillian was her own sister Shelby. No island boy came close.
We packed up quickly then pickup-ferry-micro'd our way home and ate a delicious meal by our wonderful cook, Marybell.
Tomorrow is our last day of action. Two Futsal sessions. One of them is supposed to be particularly exciting...
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