Oi! Jacquelyn here.

Hi everyone, its day eight here in beautiful Brazil and I figured that it was about time I checked in with you all. The moment I heard that we were going to post a blog, my fingers were itching to tell my story. Funny thing is, now I haven`t a clue as to what I can say. I guess I`ll just begin, well, at the start (of the day that is) and hope that by the end you get a glimps of our own small taste of this incredible Country.

The day started for our group getting the chance to sleep in and get some much needed rest. By 9:30, a tasty Brazilian breakfast, and two cup´s of coffee -for myself, we were off! We went back to the F.A.D building where we have been holding our clinics but rather than working with the people personally as usual, we spent some time to give the building a much needed make-over (if you will) by sanding the fences and gates and giving them a fresh coat of vibrant blue paint. We whitewashed the walls as well and by the end we were all happy to take a break for lunch and from the fumes we couldn`t escape breathing in.

After lunch we all piled back onto the bus and headed to the trash dump. Hearing the itenerary of the trip long before we ever came to Brazil, I knew that this day was coming but never took the time to think much about it. Our group had even driven by there at least twice a day and again, I had never even given it or the people within it`s walls any thought.

Then we arrived. Sitting on the bus an unpleasant smell had begun to creep up on us and by the time I stepped off the bus, it hit full force. It took all I had in me just to not turn right back around and get back on. The smell was rancid and I soon found myself gagging not only from the sheer stench but from the sight that met me there as well. I wanted to run away, cry, and throw up all at the same time. Stretching ahead of me wherever I looked were mounds and mounds of trash -not the kind that you carelessly toss into a nice little tin at home, but rotting mounds of decaying debris. I hardly had the chance to take it all in before an armfull of bread was thrust my way and I had to snap back into reality. Because beyond the trash piles were the people who live in it. Numbly we all walked to them, handing out milk and bread as we went. It was all I could do to meet them with a smile and a greeting. My heart broke as I watched the women who wouldn´t take the bread from us until they washed their hands from the filfth that they not only worked but lived in. It broke as I watched my group struggle with the smell, the sights, and sheerly being overwhelmed with our invidual thoughts. It continued to break as I saw the children without even shoes on their feet but a smile on their faces when they met us.

After spending all too much and all too little time there with the people, we were supposed to set up a clinic to be able to give even the smallest amount of care to these people who were in so much need. Unfortunately our doctor (Laura) was sick today and the Brazilian Doctor who was supposed to meet us was unable to be there. So we got back on the bus and drove home. Some sat in silence, others talked together about thoughts and feelings and I myself decided It was time for me to finally write my story.

Its hard to know what to do or what to think after something like this but now i realize that´s the way its supposed to be. Its heartbreaking to see such absolute poverty and neglect and realize there really is not much we can as individuals do. Even if someday we were able to come back and help this community more, even spend our whole lives devoted to it, that doesn`t change the fact that there is always more to do, more dumps and communities exactly like this one. Im not saying its all hopeless, oh not at all. There actually is a group that comes in week after week to care for these people, not only to give them food and drink, but to give them something more- The love of Jesus. And that`s where we can find our hope. That through him people find the courage and love- his love, to give these people, and thoes all around the world.

So, driving away from that dump today, I don`t think that any of us felt good about ourselves, that we had done a great deed or really helped in anyway at all. Most felt disgust, hoplessness, saddness, humility, confussed, but I feel now that it is important that we felt all that in more. But more than It all being about what WE can take away from this and how WE feel, I think its important to come back to the main reason we are all here. Because our God loves these people, just as much as you and me. He loves them day in and day out no matter if our group or another one is there to phisically show them that in the form of a peice of bread or a glass of milk. And the children and families who amidst all of this greif and poverty who have come to know that love, that´s makes it worth it.

-Jacquelyn