Today we went to the Maria Auxiliadora Home for Girls to paint murals on the walls of their dormitories. It took us about an hour and a half each way to get there and back. When we arrived, we were surprised to see little boys and girls playing in the schoolyard, but we were told that in the morning, the building serves as a daycare. The parents can drop their children off in the morning when they go to work, and pick them up in the afternoon. It only costs 15 cents per day, and the children receive breakfast, lunch, a snack, and classes. Most of us played with the children for a while – they really loved getting pictures taken, and some of them hijacked our cameras!

Once the artists in our group had everything sorted out, we started to draw out the pictures and then paint them on the walls. The dormitory was divided into three sections: once for the oldest girls, one for the youngest, and one for the in-betweens. So, it was important for us to be sure that our designs were age appropriate. The section for the youngest girls ended up with cute fluffy sheep prancing along the walls, sporting the numbers to count them. There´s also a beautiful rainbow designed by Megan, Rafale (or Raffy), our Salvadorian friend, and Jesse. Once drawn, Megan slaved to give it the perfect colours. The room for the in-between aged girls was given a designed picked out by the head nun which was perfectly replicated (and improved) by Kelly, and heart balloons. The room for the oldest girls is filled with absolutely beautiful flowers and branches designed and painted mostly by Kristen, Lesley, Amy, Emily, Fraser, as well as a another design created by Sarah.

The girls were extremely grateful for our work and thanked us with dancing, playing, and huge smiles. And if that wasn´t enough, they then gave a presentation of dancing accompanied by cookies and drinks! We are heading back tomorrow to finish up what we started and be presented with even more beautiful dancing.

After painting, we went to a little soiree at the house of another few Salvadorian friends we have made here and their friends. We were yet again taken aback (waaaaay aback) by the formality and grandiosity of their home. Of course, they welcomed us with open arms and made sure we knew that ´their home is our home´.

We finally made it into our beds nearing midnight and had a well needed sleep. Surely we´re all excited to see the girls again tomorrow!

Kelly and Sarah