Debriefing

June 17th entry am entry

Yesterday was the last day of clinics. Today was a free day-that means shopping and the beach. We started out with breakfast and what is called "debriefing". That is where you try to make sense of all that has happened to you and get a chance to share with the rest of the group how the trip has affected you.

My group was adults doing a medical clinic, the other two groups were teenagers and adults working at a local church and orphanage to do painting and other work projects. The teenagers were very touched by the whole thing and a lot of them were crying at what they had seen and heard. It's not that I am hard, it's just that since this is my third trip here, I'm not in such shock over what I have seen. Instead, I am more firmly convinced everytime I come here of the things God had showed me in the past. But one thing did make me cry.

The dentist María got up and spoke to the group through one of the translators. She said that she had always did all that she could to help her people, but it amazed her to see foreigners (extranjeros) travelling so far and spending so much money to show love to her people, and on behalf of the people of Mexico, she thanked us. That got to me.
Here's a picture of María and her son Hernan who came on the trip with us: