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rio, days 4-6

Monday morning, we got up and headed back to Kristin and Jason' church, to work at the Compassion-sponsored daycare center. We spent most of the morning cleaning a room which had been used as a study room/ play room. We scrubbed it from top to bottom, cleaned all the toys and rearranged the furniture so it could now also function as a computer lab. When we finished, we got to spend a little bit of time playing with the kids there. We played soccer in their ball court, drew pictures, painted their nails, and gave them temporary tattoos.

From my experience, Brazilians are very hospitable and they laid out a spread for us at lunch.

Valdete is the director of the daycare center and it was her birthday that week. After lunch, there was another cake for her and she celebrated with each class at the daycare center.

The coolest thing about the church/daycare center, other than seeing and meeting Jason and Kristin's church body in Rio, was actually seeing a Compassion-sponsored daycare center. Compassion is something I've known about since elementary school, but it has always been a far-off thing. Seeing the kids who are served by sponsors, and seeing their bulletin board full of pictures and letters from sponsors was really moving and really showed what a difference Compassion and sponsors make in these kids lives.

Shortly after Val's party, we headed to Morro dos Macacos (Monkey Hill), the favela where Jason and Kristin spend most of their efforts. They work with kids at a community center, CEACA, which was described as being similar to FCS in Atlanta in terms of its function. Through the community center, they teach 3 or 4 classes of soccer school and Bible study to varying ages of kids.

Going into this favela for the first time was a singular experience for me. Morro dos Macacos is a larger (pop. ~150,000) and more dangerous favela than where the their church is. I've spent a fair amount of time in "dangerous" places: a summer in a housing project in the 9th ward of New Orleans, the slums of Mexico City, and working for a couple years in Zone 3. But never before had I been so aware of my own mortality. Not that I was necessarily in imminent danger, but as we walked up the street (instead of driving) into the community, a group of ten who were clearly American, I had this sense that if anyone with a gun did not want me there, little would stop them from shooting me.

We spent the next three days meeting and hanging out with the kids they teach. This involved lots of name games in a mix of Portuguese and English, make-up, soccer, foosball, ultimate, and generally getting to know them. We shared a ridiculous skit, a testimony, and conversed over the answers to some deep questions.

Jeremy, Jason, and Kristin focus on a group of 15 teenagers. In April, when our team decided to come down to Rio, they started teaching the kids to play ultimate in order to play against the Americans. So, on Tuesday afternoon, we played, Brasilians vs. Americans. And we lost. In the meantime, I picked up a nickname from the kids: Xuxa, a Brasilian children's TV host. We later googled her, learned some scary things about her, and saw some pics. I don't really see it, but the nickname stuck for the week.

posted by CP @ 4:56 PM 0 thoughts