What happens when you have long hair, and you sleep in a dorm full of girls? You braid it, of course! — or, rather, the girls do. Then your friend opens her treasure trove of hair ribbons, and she gives the girls a gift they will wear every day for the rest of week, whether it matches their outfits or not. In fact, some of the girls only bring one set of clothes. You notice that, and wonder why.

At least, that’s what Rachel and I did at Camp UNPES.  During the first and only meeting between staff and volunteers, the head man, Roberto, encouraged us to love the children without restraint.  “This isn’t America — you can hug them and pick them up!”  He could have warned us how much love we would receive in return. Read the rest of this entry →