Our Final Day

July 25, 2009

Our final day began with a much appreciated 7:00 AM wake-up call, and after a quick breakfast, we boarded our bus and departed for the Aldeas S.O.S orphanage. Anticipation on the bus grew until we finally arrived.

As we walked into the orphanage and witnessed the excited children, we knew exactly why we had an extra hour of sleep. We spent the next few hours laughing and playing with children, who appreciated every minute of it. Helping us at the orphanage were local Costa Rican Boy and Girl scouts. Many of the scouts spoke English well enough to hold a conversation with, but some scouts were a different story. Fortunately, even those of us who had only learned a limited amount of broken Spanish over the last ten days were able to communicate well enough to joke and have fun. The scouts helped us plant trees and supervised activities such as arts and crafts. Though difficult, leaving the orphanage was a touching moment for both the children and us. We made our goodbyes last as long as possible before loading the bus and returning to our hotel.

Our final night came to a close with an emotional closing ceremony. We said our farewells to our beloved leaders and Mary Eisenhower opened the microphone to questions allowing each of us to get to know her a little better. After the Q & A session, we broke up into teams and took an “exam” to see exactly how well we’d gotten to know each other over the past ten days. After learning the… substandard… results, the leaders each spoke about the trip and what it meant to them and some of the delegates also took part in sharing their final thoughts. In keeping with the trip’s rollercoaster of emotion, the ceremonies ended with a final dance party – GYFHC Delegate, David, leading the way and one of our last acts as the 2009 GYFHC delegation, a group hug.

-By Elliott Wall (Mexico, MO)