I have seen their faces
and I know many of their names. There is Sueli the woman who organized our first
mission to build stoves and who is now actively organizing the community to help
build the school. She met us at the gate Friday evening and accompanied us up
the hill where we received a warm welcome. There is her husband Antonio who
worked along side us carrying rock and sand. There are her son and two daughters
one of them named Melinda, the name of my own daughter. There is Valentino and
his small friend who helped shovel sand along side of us. They are anxious and
excited to have a school of their own. And there are the boys we watched
carrying large rocks along with the men up the steep slope to the site of the
new school. There is the entire community of San Gregorio who want a better life
for their sons and daughters.
I remember my first day
of school in 1948. All I had to do was show up. Someone else had built and paid
for the school. It was expanded the next year to accommodate the post war baby
boomers. Someone cared for me and provided a school for my education. I never
knew them, but I do know these families and their children and I will give back
something to our extended community, San Gregorio.
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