Does it get any better!

There is just so much to write! I wasn't really looking forward to today, what with it being Fathers Day and me out here. There are two families as part of the thirty strong Yank contingent, plus a couple of Father/Daughter combos. The Dads were proudly wearing their 'No. 1 Best Dad' badges etc. But I didn't really have time to dwell as we were off to take our party to Los Algodones for their first experience of a slum village.

It had only been two or three days since we last went to Los Algodones but I think there is no other place on earth that stirs my emotions to such a degree. (Not even Fratton Park!) Its a mixture of both joy and pain, and as the coach crossed the brook (Which can sometimes be a raging torrent) and ascended up the dirt track, as the mustard coloured shack which stands at the entrance comes into view, there's a part of me in my spirit which just affirms that its right that I'm there. I can't explain it.

I so love Los Algodones.

We walked through the village, through the narrow alleys, ducking under the jagged rugged corrugated roofs which must have offered little protection in the storm the other night. The ground was muddy. Past the shacks, the store, the gambling den, our group attracting more attention from Children like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn. we stop and hand out small gifts. I start to walk on, and then I realize I'm at the house where the little deaf & lame boy, who so affected me last year, lived.

I couldn't resist. I looked for Andy as moral support but couldnt see him. I knocked on the door and a lady came to the door babbling at me in Spanish (or creole) and I started to use the universal language of mime. He's this high, (motioning with hand) Deaf (Hand over ear) Lame (Start walking with a limp) 'Ah Jason!' She says and shouting in Spanish (or Creole) at the children, instructs them to take me to him.

And then I see him. He is sitting on a concrete floor, semi naked. He drags himself towards me. He doesn't know who I am, but I'm a gringo so I'll most likely have something for him! I pick him up. He looks, well, fine! I expected him dead by now. I really had had little hope.

But Hope is a word that keeps cropping up in this country. When we visited two or three days ago, in discussing what had changed we agreed that it now had hope. Last night Elio announced that Los Algadones was to get a new name, Esperanza! (Hope!)

We moved on. Our guests were a little shell shocked. I went up to Terry (who I went running with again today) 'Is this as bad as you expected it to be?' I asked. 'No, its worse' He replied.

Back in the van and straight on to Ascension for Church in Creole. Passing through Poncho Mateo, (Still no water in that slum) and on to Carabello, peering through the window at the poor, watching the Americans reactions. And on to Ascension, the village where we have previously built houses.

I'll be honest. Church was pretty ordinary. Not speaking Creole (or was it Spanish) I popped out the back and went for a walk. I walked up the hill, listening to the chatter of women, the sound of children playing, and taking in the constant smell of burning charcoal. And then suprise number two! A little head sticking out of a stable door, eating a piece of fruit. It was Tyson, my friend since the beginning. With each year his confidence is growing and now he is no longer the runt but a member of the pack. Those puppy dog eyes still can melt the hardest of hearts, but the face now has an additional weapon, a cheeky smile. He's going to be one with the girls.!!

Perhaps what gave me greater joy was seeing his brother Kylo. Last year he was particularly non committal with me, but this time, as soon as he saw me, he called out 'Jon' and came over and held my hand. Claiming me as his prize, he barked out threats to the other little kids if they dared to come too close.

Kylos a fighter. He mustn't die in the mud.

There are other great stories from this most satisfying of days, but dear reader, you will have to wait. I missed my family today although I received some great emails from them, but God blessed me with a particularly special Fathers day in 2008.

Tomorrow, the dump. Stay tuned.