Through the numerous activities and projects we do we touch people of all ages here in Cozumel. While all are rewarding I must admit I thoroughly enjoy working with the younger children. Their innocence, lack of prejudice and unbiased love is fantastic. If you show a child attention and interest the payback is there and you can almost certainly get a laugh or smile out of children by engaging them – they can’t help responding. And yes, I’ve frequently been accused of being a 61 year-old “child” myself.

Last week, we had a repurposing workshop at Vida Abundante Church. Some of the projects involved using boards recovered from old wooden pallets to make things for the home. For the children, we had smaller boards prepared to make crosses. They all had the opportunity to cut the boards, sand them, apply oil and fasten them together with a drill to make a small cross. Victoria was one of the children that participated in this project. She is a 7 year-old who was reluctant to use the tools and preferred that I cut and assemble her cross for her. She did sand it and apply the oil herself and finally, we added the twine to it. She was most pleased with the project and we traded “high fives” when the project was completed.

Later that evening, her mother sent us a photo of Victoria with her cross at home and when you see the picture below it’s easy to understand why I love working with the children.