After singing and praying last night, we introduced ourselves to each other. It was very moving hearing some of the others’ stories. This morning I woke up around 6:30. It got surprisingly cool last night. I considered adding my sleeping bag to the sheet and blanket, but didn’t. After getting dressed and drinking some coffee, I went out to help the staff with whatever I could. All of the children had already eaten, so I picked up a ball in the yard and started tossing it around. There’s not a single child here that doesn’t have a physical handicap to go along with the mental handicap. From what I’ve seen, non of them can speak fully, and only a few can get around by themselves. There’s one little girl who is always smiling and laughing. We started tossing the ball around. It wasn’t long before one boy, Jerome, scooted out of the house on a chair and motioned that he wanted me to throw the ball to him. Once he got it, he spiked it volleyball style. Some of us took turns tossing it to him, and he would hit it back. He kept saying, “One more,” holding up a single finger.

Once we were finished playing, we walked some of the children to a church about 200 yards down the street. There’s a chapel at Sophie’s Place, but the church down the street is used by the residents of the area.