Day 7

Today we worked in one of the colonies, the same one we were at last week. I am really going to have to start writing down the names when I hear them because otherwise I cannot remember them for the life of me! The main project in this colony is building toilets which would be an improvement for obvious reasons. It meant more lifting cinderblocks and mixing cement. Silly me, I forgot my work gloves but luckily no cuts or scrapes at the end of the day.

We are each assigned a house that we go to every evening after dinner to read to kids and help with homework. I and another volunteer go to a girls house and it has been fun to get to know the girls better. There are 16 or so girls in "my" house, from kindergarten to ninth grade. It can be chaotic but they are very sweet. They always want to sit close and read with you. Unfortunately almost all of them are infested with lice. It is just a given here that the girls will have lice but I have had a hard time getting used to the idea. I am especially terrified of getting lice myself. It isn't like I can't get rid of it- I even bought lice shampoo- if I get it but the idea of those little bugs crawling around my head and laying their eggs...yuck! I try to push those thoughts aside when I am with the girls because they need hugs more than I need lice-free hair.

And who could resist sweet Vijayalakshmir (it took me a couple of day to master the pronunciation of that name!)

Oh, what a blessing! A girl (who happens to work at Best Buy) brought an extra camera that she offered to let me borrow for the duration of the trip. Thank you, Shannon!!