After having a fantastic day off we were all feeling refreshed and ready for another day of surgeries. By now we are all working together like a well-oiled machine. It has been wonderful to watch as we transform from a group of strangers at an airport into a dedicated team of volunteers who work together seamlessly.
This evening most of us were able to take a ride into town to do some much needed shopping. We piled into “took-tooks”, just imagine a very small motorcycle taxi, and drove about a mile down a back road to get into town. As our team split up to find the various items on their shopping list, I pulled out my camera and started snapping away at anything that caught my eye.
Within minutes I was being followed by a tiny group of children (maybe 3 or 4). With curious little eyes they watched my every move. Pretty soon the tiny group of children turned into twenty people. They started asking for their photo to be taken and I happily obliged. At first the children and adults wouldn’t smile …. they would just stare into the camera showing little emotion. But as they warmed up to me they started smiling and even laughing. Walking through town people were waving hello and would call me over to their cart or shop to request a photo. It was great!
I followed our team around as they purchased soap, chocolate, fabric, cups, socks and even a volleyball. All the items we need to make our stay here feel a little more like home. A few members of our team went to the tailor shop and had clothing made for Thursday night’s farewell dinner.
It was a very good day!