It's all coming to an end

Tomorrow is our last day of our program. In reflecting back, it seems like we just started. As we look at leaving in less than a week, it seems like we just got here and although I'm looking forward to some of the comforts of being in the US I don't really feel ready to leave.
For the five weeks that we have had our summer program we have had very few days in which it has not rained. When it rains, we get a break from the heat. It has not rained for the past two days and the humidity and heat are a strong force to be reckoned with. Nonetheless the kids still have to walk home and sometimes the kids ask us to walk them home. The past two days and then again today we have walked all over Monte Plata taking these kids to where they live. Every time I see the homes of these children and meet their families I understand them more. When I see what little they have I wonder how they can be such happy kids. Then I realize poverty does not define their lives, it is only their situation.
As we walk to the neighborhood where a lot of the kids live, we walk past our first grade teachers house so she walks with us as well. When I started the journey today of taking home the kids after school I thought it was one of our normal journeys but I had been told that Leidy (pronounced Lady) the teacher that walks with us and her mom were going to make us lasagna for lunch but for some reason it didn't click in my head that we would be eating lunch with them today until Leidy's mom was cooking lunch and I asked the intern if we were eating lunch there. I like lasagna a lot so I was excited to eat it and also blessed by these women. However, I'm not a big eater, I'm more of a snacker but today I was a big eater. As we came to the table to eat I approached with fear and trembling knowing that the amount of food that would be on my plate would be a ridiculous amount and I was right. It's a good thing I like lasagna. With much effort, I ate everything that was on my plate. After finishing, Leidy said, "I'm very happy. You know why?" I said, "why?" she responded, " Because you actually ate today!" I responded, "Yes, I ate more than I have in the last thee days combined." which was actually a pretty accurate statement. Her mom came out a couple minutes later and after seeing I had finished asked if I wanted more to which I responded no. She had quite the shocked look on her face and I'm still not sure if she actually believed that I was full. What I loved even more about being there was that we still had two of our students with us and instead of just taking them home where they would probably eat a lot less, they were invited to stay for lunch as well. I love seeing how Christians here take notice of the needs around them and meet them. I see them living out the idea of seeing Jesus hungry and in need and meeting those needs in the way of meeting the needs of the least of these (Matthew 25:31-46).
Yesterday as we were walking back to our house after walking the kids home we walked past some kids playing in the dirt. One little, shirtless boy looked up and I realized he was one of the kids from the school who hadn't been there for a while. As he realized it was us walking he came running and gave me a big hug. He was so excited to see us. We asked him where he had been the last couple days and made sure he was going to come today. He showed up today with a big smile on his face and with girls sandals on his feet. Some of the kids started laughing because his sandals were pink and my heart broke a little as I wondered if those were the only shoes he had. Even with the kids giggling he had a smile on his face and despite what his home life is like, he still had a reason to smile.