starving, sweating, & hand washing: worth every sticky minute

Ok we would be lying if we put up post after post about how volunteering is amazing and that we are enjoying every moment of it. Truth is: it's hard. Really hard. There have definitely been moments where we wanted to pack our bags and make a beeline to the closest McDonald's...which is hours away. It is really hard sometimes to see the bigger picture when you feel like you are starving, never stop sweating (even at night) and have to flush the toilet with a bucket. Yes, that is right, a bucket. They do not have modern toilets here. Every bathroom contains a toilet, a bucket, and a water faucet to fill up the bucket. You pour the water from the bucket into the toilet in order to make it flush. It is a 3 hour walk to the closest grocery store so you have to REALLY need something before going. But we are now on our second trip to that store to buy juice so that Kayla doesn't die of vitamin deficiency and ice cream that will melt down our hands within minutes of buying it. It is worth every sticky minute. :) Finally...

Mom: we promise to NEVER buy another piece of clothing that is "Hand wash only." We have realized how hard it is to stay in clean clothes when you have to wash everything by hand...in a small bucket. We apologize for all of the years of hand washing that you did for us. Thanks mom!

The good thing is that as soon as we think we can't eat one more mushy green vegetable one of the kids does something so ridiculously cute that you can't help but laugh. There is always something going on around the home. They fly kites, paint pictures, play soccer, sing, dance, ride bikes, constantly sneak food from the kitchen, play cards, and ask us to take their picture. We realized that we can stick it out and eat rice for every meal for the rest of our time here if it means helping them.

One day during a lesson about the different regions of the world one of the older girls told us that most of the children at the home, including her, will never have the opportunity to leave this village, let alone Bali. This made me want to stop and cry because this group of kids is so hungry to learn anything and everything they can about the world. They want to look at pictures of South America, the United States, and Europe and soak up as much information as they can. Right now they are all learning English and if you ask them what they want to be when they grow up most of them will say an English teacher at a local school. There are kids here that have amazing potential and will power but that will never see another island in Indonesia. It was that realization that led Kayla and me to decide that we could possibly do more. We talked to a German couple that has been working with the school since 2009 and they are going to try and bring one of the girls that is almost fluent in German to Germany for a visit. So why can't we help bring a child to America? Why can't we do everything in our power to help broaden the horizons of these children and help them to realize that they can be anything they want to be. There are a million possibilities that would be open to them if they just had help.

So that is our next project. We are not going to start saving money for our next big trip, we are going to start saving money for their first big trip. We are not sure the logistics of it and we know it is going to be hard but just the thought that we can help provide such a huge experience makes it all worth it.