Some info on our team

I should probably mention at some point all the amazing people that traveled with us each day:

We had our team of 13 from Elim. Our group included two recent Alumni with their parents, a client from adult services, and people from pretty much every other aspect of Elim - teacher, parapro, advancement, adult services, Bethshan, volunteer, spouse.

We also had a missionary from Nicaragua who works with children with special needs. Michelle was a huge asset to our team.

We always had three translators with us. Jordan (on the left) and Abel (on the right) were always with us. The third position was shared by a couple of different people. These guys did a great job jumping in to conversations and helping people build relationships. It seemed like just when someone would need help, one of them would appear. (I really didn't get to spend much time with them but I was really impressed with what I saw and heard.)

The final member of our team was Pilar. She is the groups coordinator for FH but she's so much more! She has her own amazing story of living with a family member with disabilities. This was a major asset to our mission since she definitely understood our purpose and was able to help us advocate for these children. She was a hostess, tour-guide, translator, encourager, nurse, toilet-paper supplier, advocate, singer, and anything else we needed. Pilar also allowed us to meet two of her amazing children. I wonder if they know how they lucky they are to have her as a mother.

We always had our wonderful driver, Roni and were always joined by several FH staff when we were in Los Cipreses.

It's interesting that one of my biggest concerns going into the trip was that I didn't know anyone. That very quickly became a non-issue. I wouldn't trade any member of the team for someone I had already known.