Today was our first official full work day and it started with another gorgeous early sunrise. After eating breakfast we all loaded up on our bus and left for the Methodist School where we will be working all week. On the drive we noticed the amount of bus traffic had dramatically increased and we soon turned a corner and saw a massive cruise ship had pulled in to the port and the island was filled with tourists who had come on Spring Break vacation.
We finally got through the traffic and made it to the school. We unloaded from the bus and were shown the community building where we would be holding VBS and then were shown the spot where we are building a playground for the youngest children. We split into two groups – some went to start preparing for VBS and some went to start hauling supplies down the hill to the spot where we are building the playground.
The school is doing some work on the pad of the playground to level it out for us before we build on top of it. The workers were still trying to finish this leveling project today and should have it finished by tomorrow. We got started on the playground by measuring everything and making preliminary cuts so everything will be ready to assemble as soon as the pad is ready.
Meanwhile, the VBS crew welcomed 40 first and second grade students. They sang songs, did a Bible lesson about The Kindness Project, gave all the kids Kindness Project wristbands, and did some crafts and other activities.
After lunch the younger grades go home and the middle school and high school students come to class. They begin in chapel where we joined them and had a chance to introduce ourselves in front of the whole school and tell them about St. Luke’s. After chapel we split up and began teaching/tutoring students in math and conversational English, while a few others continued working on the playground.
By the end of the afternoon we were all pretty exhausted and ready to go back to the house for a little down time. We ate dinner together out on the patio again this evening and have spent the rest of the evening playing cards, walking on the beach, and relaxing to prepare for another big day tomorrow. Tomorrow will be more opportunities for VBS with the younger grades, tutoring the older grades, and continuing work on the playground. More to come tomorrow!
