ORIGINALLY POSTED THURSDAY, AUGUST 2

on the first day of our project visits with compassion, we visited a project in the late afternoon that was full with 300+ kids. we went to all their classrooms and watched the amazing staff of the project work with these beautiful little ones. i had a stunning little 5 year-old girl cling to me; and, when i picked her up, she burried her head in my shoulder. later, when i put her down, and a project worker held onto her while we walked away, she stuck her tongue out at me. she had little ringlets that reminded me so much of what my daughter, liesl, looked like when she was that age.

when we got back out to the street to leave, the program was just dismissing for the day. and, suddenly, max became a rock star. a group of 9 and 10 year-old boys circled around him and asked if he’d like to play soccer. he responded that he doesn’t know how (which surprised me – he certainly knows how to kick a ball!). they lit up, and said, through an interpreter, “we’ll teach you!” off they all went, down the street, running around, kicking a little ball (not a soccer ball — i wish i’d had one to give them). they kept passing to max and making sure he had plenty of opportunities to kick. and when he occasionally connected with the ball, i could hear them cheering his name (“bueno, max!”) all the way down the street. at some point, they all stopped playing, and circled around him to ask him question. max speaks no spanish, and they didn’t speak english. it was a riot to watch this mob of kids, all latin black-haired, with one little blonde head in the middle, all talking like a group of best friends. eventually, max dragged them over to an interpreter, and they asked questions back and forth for another 15 minutes.

later, max said that was the most fun he’d had in a long time.

i’ll add photos of all these things when i get them loaded.

UPDATE: A COUPLE PICS