once upon a time...: 335/365 Wednesday, December 1st

Food delivery day.

We sorted, divided and delivered 400 bags of food.

Each black bag contained a bag of corn, beans, rice, a bottle of oil, box of powdered milk and 5 soup packets.

This was a very tough day. My heart broke seeing people line up for food that would last a month at the most. They are such proud, hard working people and I struggled with the feelings that come with relying on someone else to give you food.

Scott and I were not in the exact same position as my neighbours in El Salvador but we were not too far ahead when we were first married. We lived in a 325 sq ft apartment and lived (barely) week to week. Scott worked 2 jobs and I was at home with Shelby. There was no extra money and our cupboards were very bare on a regular basis. We had the benefit of family and friends that looked out for us but I still remember the sinking feeling of having to ask for help, to ask our parents for money, to ask them for food, to borrow milk for Shelby's bottles, or when we would put frozen food from their freezers into our laundry baskets. We knew the feeling of not knowing where our next meal would come from. Where 50 cent ichiban was the meal of choice and Sunday dinners at our parents were a life saver.

I want to make it clear that I am not saying that I know exactly how the people we delivered food to felt. The situation Scott and I were in was better, we had the chance with a lot of hard work and community support to become self reliant. They work hard and have community support but they do not have the same opportunities (yet) that we had.

Why I was struggling with the day was that I knew the feeling of being proud and having to rely on help of others and it is humbling. We know that anyone that helped us did not look down at us or ever intended to make us feel bad but it is just the natural emotion that comes with it. We are very thankful for the hand up we received and I know the people of El Salvador that we provided food for were grateful as well. I hope that in the near future somehow they can be provided the opportunity to be self sufficient as well.

the day in pictures:

Marizta (Pastor Jorge's wife), she is a beautiful soul that always had a wonderful smile, getting us started on dividing the food:

the beans

the great wall of rice

the corn

our truck, with half of the bags, for the first village we visited, the church and Pastor's house (church is the front, house is behind) is the white building across the street.

food distribution in San Antonio (the village we were building in). Pastor Jorge and a couple of women who are kind of the "in charge types" kept the line very orderly. It all went very smoothly.

this little boy was around 9-10 yrs old and I bet he made brownie points at home bringing this bag home for his family.

We left the village and pulled onto the main highway, all of a sudden we pull ovr to the side, all these women came up the path out of the trees.

Craig and Kim (Craig works at Stepper, Kim is his wife) delivering a bag in the first village we had gone to. I was taken by this scene for a couple of reasons. One, I think it is great that spouses were invited as it allows us to expeirence this life/mind changing event together. As well, I was touched by how happy and gratfeul this older this lady was. I love her hand on Craig's arm in this picture.

of course, what would a day be without the pcitures of my young amigo's:

this boy was so funny, he came running over to me and pointed to my camera and then to me and then pretended to snap a picture. I said ci (yes), he jumped up on the ledge and posed like this: