toronja

Today we served the schools of Lemonade International through service work. These projects were exciting and uplifting because they are for one of their new Academies called Toronja. Toronja is the 4th of the schools to be build in La Limonada.

We delivered classroom furniture including desks, chairs and other school supplies from one school to another over the distance of about 2-3 kilometers. What reads to be a simple task on a blog was a full day of myriad logistics as a small pickup truck, a hand-truck and many, many hand carried loads are all that can move through the narrow maze of La Limonada. The work was physically demanding, but rewarding and palpable. Another small group of us moved a refrigerator from one school to another working with a couple of Guatemalan workers. We communicated through pigeon Spanish, smiles and hand gestures.

Our group was welcomed by the various street vendors, small children walking to school, grandmothers hanging their washed clothing. We could see into the small homes of those navigating their days and curious bystanders but we also experienced being outsiders. Who are these western, white, young people moving things in my neighborhood?

During our evening meeting, we reflected upon our roses, thorns and buds of the past 24 hours. For many of us, the Rose was seeing that people with so little and experiencing so much suffering are still human. We all want to share a smile, be acknowledged. Many Thornes questioned how people could make a living fishing for scraps of trash in a river of raw sewerage. Our collective Buds of hope are to be more present, more engaged and more connected to the people we are serving.