Wednesday

This is our day to visit the Technical School, but first breakfast and already the kids are on their way to class.

We all climbed into the van and headed out of the city about 45 minutes to Amerateka where the school is located.  

The Technical School is the trade school for the children who have graduated from the elementary school and are looking to move onto the next step in education. The boys can get a diploma in welding, electricity or carpentry and many young graduates from this school have moved onto successful lives with their skills learned here. Because there have been changes in the organization, it means that all the boys that were at the Agricultural school are now at ITSM and grade 10 is now offered. This means that the number of students has grown at ITSM, and there are now 85 boys there. Lazaro, the Director was there to greet us and to take us on a tour. He has been part of the organization for nearly 40 years and is a truly dedicated teacher and mentor to each of these boys. When we suggested about what has been added to enlarging the student body – more staff, more food, more concerns, more kids to keep on top of, etc, Lazaro in his wisdom and kindness said “more smiling faces to look at”

. We got to see the kids in their workshops, including Rony who is sponsored by st Luke's

.

Wonderful to see a female profesora who teaches electrical courses.  Will the girls be far behind who are in the EL Hogar school system? 

We recognized alot of the boys from our stay last year and remembered as we were there why we enjoyed it so much – the beauty and the serenity of the place – and the good food!

Jose Angel, Moises and Cesar who have been at El Hogar, now taking electricity at ITSM and doing a computer assignment together.

 Of course, we can't leave without a most reverent and special moment in the chapel.  The mural is painted by a former student in 2010, over a period of a month.

The lovely chairs behind the altar were made by the students - and are metal!  They look amazing.

After lunch we headed back into the city to Villa Olimpica to see some of the kids in their sports classes and today it was Judo/Martial Arts, Ping Pong, Baseball. The park contains a number of stadiums, gymnasiums, tracks and swimming in a sports complex that was designed to serve as the city's main sports centre.  The kids love going to learn a skill and they were pretty good!

These children are waiting to start their Judo classes

There are several young girls who have become excellent at ping pong and it was wonderful to watch their skill and rhythm at the ping pong table.

Erika has been so good to take different routes any time she takes us somewhere so we are always seeing new parts of the city or the country. A wonderful way to learn about the country, its culture and people.

The main evening craft class was the Plasticine molding class and there were a number of girls who loved it.  The boys had to do extra chores tonight and so missed out on any activities we had!  

It has been another special day here.