Nathaly Alejandra Sermeño Zepeda. She’s the short one in the picture. El Salvador is about the size of Massachusetts, or so the Internet says so it must be true. Even still Nathaly, Anna her Compassion center tutor (left side) and her mother Carla (second from left) had to get up in the wee hours to get to the waterpark in San Salvador where we met for the first time and spent a “fun day.” The young lady to Nathaly’s right is Gabi, the CI interpreter. When we walked into the park, all the children were lined up to greet us. I didn’t spot Nathaly right off. In the picture we had of her she wasn’t over six years old and was probably younger than that. As young children do, she had changed a lot.
She and I were both reserved despite everyone wanting us to be big buds right off the bat. I had no doubt, though, that we would be before the day was over and we were. When we started horsing around in the pool, the barriers came down and it was no different than playing with one of my granddaughters. Gabi was a big help, too. She is a very sweet person and was right in there with us not only interpreting when necessary but playing in the water. She was particularly helpful in showing Nathaly how to play on the playground equipment. The Compassion center doesn’t have playground equipment and there aren’t parks close to where Nathaly lives so she had no experience of such things.
Joyce got a bunch of stuff for Nathaly that we put in a backpack and I presented it to here after lunch. We went through the bag and Nathaly politely said gracias after each item. She particularly like the sunglasses and jump rope. Joyce included some cup towels for her mom. I was surprised when Carla presented me with a gift, a very pretty clock in the shape of El Salvador. Nathaly’s dad, Raul, couldn’t get from work to come so Carla recorded a greeting from me to him on her phone.