Four thousand feet above sea level sits a small, beautiful and historically significant town of Alegria (it means “joy” in English).
After breakfast at the OEF hotel we made our way down the winding highway. It has been a few years since we’ve travelled this road: past San Felipe, past Rio Frio and then across the bridge towards San Miguel. We’ve built homes for hundreds of people on this stretch of road, up to the peaks of the mountains and down into the valleys that run along the picturesque Rio Lempa.
And today we would take those memories and use them to engage in hope filled connections with 26 families. We played some games, shared some food and began to share our stories with one another. It’s a humbling and powerful time recognizing that God has been preparing us all for these days.
In the afternoon we had a historical tour of Alegria, visiting the homes of one of El Salvador’s most prolific writers (Alberto Montferrer), who championed the cause of the poor in the early 1900s.
We then drank in some of the rich beauty of this country, at the hundred step lookout and a visit to the Laguna Verde (a sulphuric lake nestled in the crater of a dormant volcano.
Dinner at Pollo Campero, a short debrief and we were all ready to get some rest, as tomorrow the building begins.
