Compassion Day! by Rebecca Roessner

Today was an amazing day! It was Compassion day which means our team had the privilege to visit a Compassion site in El Salvador. This trip we went to the site in San Vicente which is also the site Richard's Compassion child attends. This site was the first one Richard ever visited and lead him to choosing to sponsor a child from this centre. Since then he has been able to meet his child twice before. This trip was extra special though because we were able to go see his child's home and spend time with him and his family. It was also special because it was the first time that I was going to meet his child and their family. Richard had promised them that next time he would bring his wife and they have been waiting over a year for today!
It was such a joy to be welcomed by silly string and confetti to the Compassion Centre only to have the children from the centre put on a presentation for us and then have a tour of the site accompanied by pupusas, fried bananas and rice and be able to purchase some of the beaded jewelry and accessories the children are learning to make. It was amazing to see how much the staff care about the children at Compassion! Then we went to the home visit!
The family lived about a 10 minute drive from the centre but due to short cuts through the villages it only takes his child 15 minutes to get to the centre. His mom was so excited to show us her home because just over 2 years ago they received a Shelter home! Before getting to his house we drove past beautiful soccer fields where they host tournaments! Soccer is huge in El Salvador and this family loves it, even the mom plays on a soccer team and helps organize the tournaments.
When we got to their house Richard's child immediately went and got us some of his tests and homework to show us! He is doing very well and is even learning English! He has been practicing his subtraction in English and had Richard quiz him with flash cards he had brought on a previous trip.
We were able to talk to both the Compassion child and his mom about their lives which was incredibly special. I love to see the hope that Compassion provides as the child wants to be either a doctor or an accountant due to his skills in math and passion of biology.
We were then given a tour of the house and also were able to see the old house which they now use for extra storage. They are so grateful and are good stewards of what they are given! We then had lunch together, of course had to play soccer together! It was awesome to watch mom and son go against each other and also get to play with them!
We then spent the afternoon at a water park which was not only great relief from the heat but a ton of fun to watch the family play in the water and have Richard's child put the swimming lessons his mom had been giving him to practice! We wrapped up the day with frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and rolled in various toppings, squeezed in some last conversation, said our good byes, and prayed for them. The mother told us that the next time we came to bring our baby with us which of course made us all laugh!
Compassion day is always such a special day and one of the many highlights of the trip! I encourage everyone to find out more about Compassion and how much of an impact they make on children, their families, and the community!