Day 3

      Day three started with an 8 o clock wake up call from zach's phone; which us boys weren't feeling. As we strolled down to breakfast as a group of men, the ladies were already all but done with the pancake meal provided for us. After breakfast it was time for our first stop of the day; the Panama Canal. 
      While we were at the canal we saw some ships being lifted through the lock system.  We also went through the museum there and watched a short movie about the canal. After the canal tour it was time for lunch at the mall the second of our destinations of the day. The mall was gigantic with four food courts and endless stores for shopping. Us boys departed on a voyage to find the bathrooms which took us the entire length of the mall to the last wall in the building in the fourth food court where we finally found the banos (bathroom).
      After the mall we traveled to a river where we took a boat across to the indigenous' homeland. Upon arriving at the dock a small boy greeted us waiting to help us off the boat, he went by Mateo. The boat had to make 2 trips since it only fit 12 at a time. Once we were all together on the island we ventured into the first of three villages. We were showed jewelry and baskets and wooden objects of animals the people make to sell to visitors as a means of income. Once the whole village was under their central pavilion hut we began the water filtration demonstrations. Amy proceeded to introduce us and what we were doing while our translator relayed it to the tribe. Taylor drilled the first bucket for Amy to use in her demonstration. In the filter packet there is a drill bit to make a hole for the water to flow through the hose, filter and nozzle. The people were  amazed at the simple yet highly effective process that turned their mucky, brown, and debris filled water into clear, parasite free drinking water. Even though most of us know some Spanish we cant pick up on the dialect the natives speak, but we were able to hear the excitement and astonishment in their voices when they saw Amy drinking the water. Every family in the village was notified upon our arrival to have a bucket, we then broke into groups of 2 to help each family set up a filter system. After a refreshing downpour of rain which the kids loved we proceeded into the jungle towards the second village. The trail was narrow, rocky, slick and wet. As many of us found out Jeremiah, John and Wes particularly it wasn't going to be a stroll in the park! Jeremiah and John each slipped and grab a thorn tree and Wes slipped and went straight down on his rear ending in a muddy mess with Coach Van Pelt laughing the whole time. Finally we made it to the second village where Taylor shared his testimony to the one family and we again passed out water filters to the families there. One of the families had a sick 5 yr old with fever and a few of the members of our team went into the hut to pray with her; Taylor M, Megan, Kira and Amy. As we moved down the path we came to the last house in the second village, we were offered Cokes for 45 cents each, Coach Van Pelt bought us each one and as you can see in the pictures they were consumed with much love and closeness in the sticky jungle. It was on to the third and last village, as we walked from village to village kids from each one ran along with us and by the time we came to the third village the majority of the children from all three villages were with us, which was ironic because it was made known to us that the villages dont care too greatly for one another but the kids didnt seem to care about the trivial matters between them as they played with the toys and games we handed out to them. Again we did water filters and helped the families there. Before we left the guys grabbed the children and held them into the rafters for them to do pullups from the beams. The children loved this and made it a competition to see who could do the most. On our way back through the villages to the river where our boat was we were stopped by a family who's daughter was returning home from a soccer game, she had injured her knee and was in need of help, Taylor and Coach Van Pelt went into the hut and brought her outside where David and Taylor proceeded to carry her to the dock to be picked up by our boat. Once we were all across the river and loaded up on the bus we returned home and the driver and our one host took the woman to the hospital to receive treatment on her knee. If you could keep Nora in your prayers with us as we are hopeful she will recover and heal quickly. Muchas gracias for your continued prayers and support as we go deeper into the land of Panama!

THE Baseball Guys- Zach, John and Wesley

P.S. Coach DeRiggs we miss you down here and wish you were along with us, continue healing up, we have you in our thoughts and prayers!!