Toward A Common Goal

I must say that I was extremely excited today when we were finally able to put most of the finishing touches on our sensory garden (aside from the objects that will be added by the other group in July).  Up until a couple of days ago, it was actually difficult for me to imagine what our garden would look like...let alone to imagine how we would be able to weld, lay cement, and dig trenches.  Thankfully, we had become acquainted with a couple of very welcoming volunteers from Help International.  With their help (and supplies), as well as the help of several other volunteers who arrived, we were all able to create a wonderful, colorful garden and work toward the common goal of helping in whatever way we could.  When the day was over, we had a delicious meal of tamales, pupusas, platanos y atol, cooked by a woman who works here at the hotel, where the other volunteers joined us, and we shared our collective experiences of the time we've spent in El Salvador.  Honestly, I was overjoyed by the genuine connection we could make with a completely separate group of volunteers- because, sadly enough, one often finds that separate groups do not want to work together, even if they are each working toward the same goal- there is a kind of selfishness that exists, even in the service world, when it comes to accomplishing anything and taking credit.  Therefore, it was definitely inspiring, at least to me, that we wanted nothing of them, and they wanted nothing more of us, than to simply work hard and create something wonderful and useful for the orphanage.

- Erin Welch