By Laura Shoopman

The team began the day with service projects within the church and community. We had a team stay at the church and help with cleaning, painting, and organization of their facilities while a group went to a construction site for a woman named Doris. Her house burnt down in a fire four years ago and it has taken time, resources, and many volunteers to get the house to the point it is at today. There, the team hung sheetrock, installed insulation, and taped walls. Another team headed to the outskirts of the village to Ninja Nick’s house. Nick Hansen was on the Ninja Warrior TV competition and he is truly one of a kind. The world is his playground and he finds joy in everything.

After lunch, we went to the school to run basketball camp. There are three sessions for various age groups. It was a great first day and all of the kids were very excited to see us and have someone to play with. Grace did a great job with the younger kids and Frank and Michael led the basketball-specific drills. It was so unique to see how the kids were so open with us. They wanted high fives, piggyback rides, and to play 1 on 1 with us. They didn’t care if they won or lost, they were happy to be there.

When spending time with the kids, it was eye opening to see how casually they talk about the aspects of survival that are needed to live in the remote bush. It made me realize the conveniences of life in Nashville and more developed areas that I call home. If they are in need of something, there is one store in the village for grocery shopping and little clothing options & home goods. Ordering items online is a major way of importing goods to the town.

Our bags arrived today and we were finally able to take a shower! The village is in a water shortage, so because our group was so large, we were limited to two minutes of water usage per person. We were all so happy to be clean!