Back to the trip details... :) Day 3 in El Salvador!

On Day 3 of our trip, which was Tuesday, we went to Cisna. Cisna is an all boys orphanage. Within the walls of Cisna, they go to school, sleep, eat, play, and have extra classes of art, etc. It is not a very pleasant place for the boys. A lot of the boys are wild. But they still all want LOVE. We had a really good day here at Cisna. I enjoyed it.

These boys have SO much talent.




We split the boys up and made their t-shirts while some listened to the story and others played soccer. Some boys just chose to hang out with us and get some attention. Which was fine by me! :)

Stanley, myself, and Luis :)

I think Luis is so handsome. I told Cassidy that he was pretty and then realized that he could speak English. :) He just blushed. So did I. :)

Many of these boys have very tough stories. They have lived on the streets. Been kicked out of their homes. Been left by their parents. Tried to join gangs. Been sexually molested and abused. Physically abused. You name it. They've seen much more than I could ever fathom.

This sweet boy, Douglas. He had lived on the streets with his brother, Jose (picture directly below) for 5 years after their mom left them to come to the States. I am pretty sure that I couldn't survive on the streets now at 24 much less as a kid!

They took a LOT of interest in their shirts! Douglas put the words "Mama" and "Papa" on this shirt. :( They may act rough but they still miss having a family. 

We had a lot of chance to just hang out and give these boys some attention and love. They crave it.  The top picture is of Douglas and me. The next one is Samuel. Samuel has been through a lot. I pray that he can always remember that God loves him. The Starfish Team and Kurt and working on getting Samuel moved back to another orphanage that would fit him better. He is pretty young for Cisna. Then there is Eddie. He was such a love bug. He would hug you and NOT let go. I wish I could have hugged him all day!The bottom is Wilbur. You had to be careful with him, he would snatch your camera. :)

This is Daniel. He and I became buddies. I gave him my friendship bracelet. He was a sweet kid. I wish I knew his story. I was sitting beside him while he was making his t-shirt. He moved my hair aside and looked at my name tag. Then on his shirt he wrote this: 

It says: "Merany mi amiga por sien pre" ("Merany is my friend forever") How sweet is that? I hope that every time he wears that shirt he is reminded of me and that I love him and pray for him. These boys, regardless of their age, want to be loved.

Here are a couple pics of their shirts. Some are very creative. They have a ton of talent!

We also had a cookout for the boys. :) We grilled hundreds of hotdogs. And when I say "we" of course I mean, Russ and George! :) These boys ate and ate and ate until they couldn't eat anymore. :)

Jose had just made it to Cisna a couple days before we got there. He did not have any shoes. I just happened to have a pair of flip-flops in my backpack for him. :) Is it sad that they fit?! He was 10!!! Oh well. He was happy. :)

 After the cookout we had planned on splitting up. Some of us painting faces and balloon animals. Some of us playing games. And some of us cleaning the bathrooms. Of course I hid behind a rock when they ask for volunteers to clean the bathrooms volunteered to clean bathrooms! Well, karma came around and another group of people came to play with the kids, so we ALL got to clean bathrooms! YAY! :) They were pretty nasty. 

No privacy whatsoever. No doors on toilet stalls or shower stalls. They are not made to clean anything. So, as  you can imagine... it was pretty bad. We oddly enjoyed cleaning these bathrooms. It was a time of service to these boys and a bonding time between our team. We also got a few good laughs out of it! :)

Look at that toilet!!!! They had said that a plumber was going to have to be called to get this toilet fixed but Jody, Laura, and Mike prayed over the plunger before they used it and it worked!!! hahaha. Oh, us of little faith!

This was AFTER the bathroom cleaning! My clothes were ruined. I am the messiest cleaner, EVER. :) That is why I buy clothes at Goodwill! :) We had a REALLY good day at Cisna. I hope those boys are still feeling the love that we gave to them that day.