Dec. 16, 2014
On Tuesday, the group stayed close to Clinica CEDCAS and went up just one block to Casa Salud or the House of Health to deliver more shoes to excited neighborhood children. Casa Salud is a part of Clinica CEDCAS and provides a variety of activities to promote whole person health care, which includes classes on nutrition, exercise, diabetic care and food safety and classes for children, teeneagers, women and the eldery. The center, which is run by our chef Marlem, also holds Zumba classes on Thursdays.
Our daily blog includes stories from our student-athletes on the trip. Today, lacrosse teammates Jill Doherty and Mallory Schonk (pictured above with their buddy NJ) combined to talk about their experience at Casa Salud.
Today we started the day with our typical delicious breakfast of rice and beans with eggs and fresh bread. One of our favorite parts of the morning is the multitude of jelly flavors we get to taste, including pineapple, guava, strawberry and blackberry.
After breakfast we walked a block to the other Clinica CEDCAS location (House of Health or Casa Salud) and started setting up for our first distribution. There was already a line of kids waiting outside to receive their shoes.
Immediately we recognized how the kids were just as grateful to be receiving shoes as those the day before. Being the second day we seemed to develop a rhythm for distributing and decorating the shoes. Since the language barrier can make it difficult to communicate which design the children want, Jake created a template of some of the most popular requests. One of the most popular was the cartoon shark and soccer ball. This process made designing the shoes easier and allowed us to decorate as many shoes as possible. In the first distribution of the day we gave out more than 160 shoes.
After the first distribution was over we went back to Clinica CEDCAS and ate a fantastic lunch of rice, beans, and beef. However, our favorite part of the meal was the surprise cookies and ice cream that Lillian brought us.
We went back to our second distribution with full stomachs, and energy to meet more children. Although this distribution did not have quite as many kids we managed to make an immediate connection with two brothers who stayed for several hours. We spent the remainder of the afternoon playing with bouncy balls and giving them as many Vanderbilt tattoos as they wanted. It was safe to say that they left with almost a full arm of Star Vs.
Today was extremely rewarding and we managed to give out more than 200 shoes. However, we found that the most meaningful part of our day was bonding with both our group and the children. Throughout this trip  even if it’s just three days in  we have managed to make lasting friendships with athletes we may have never known otherwise. We’re looking forward to spending more time together over the next few days, and distributing more shoes. Tomorrow we’re going zip lining!
The site of the group’s second shoe distribution  the House of Health or Casa Salud, which is run by Lillian and Clinica CEDCAS.
The line for the first session formed before the doors opened.
Mallory dries the feet of a young boy.
Hannah wipes the feet of a young girl.
Jake and a young girl pose for a picture taken by Vanessa.
Mallory and a new pal, who is looking very confident in throwing up the VU. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Our helpful tour guide and translator, and Lillian’s son-in-law, Chello decorates a young boy’s shoes. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Jake gives a high-five to a little girl after washing her shoes. (Photo by Christiana Ogunsami)
A little boy colors with Vanessa. (Photo by Christiana Ogunsami)
The young boy and Vanessa show off their finished products. Shark-tastic! (Photo by Christiana Ogunsami)
Soles4Souls Travel Manager Kelly Hoskins is impressed at how a young boy manuevered himself inside the balloons. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Jill takes a photo with a young boy and his mother. The boy gave Jill some candy after she decorated his shoes. The boy and mom also spoke a little English, saying thank you to Jill.
Skyler decorates a shoe for a young boy as his fater takes a photo. Lots of fathers and male figures joined their children on Tuesday to receive their shoes.
A father and daughter pose for a photo after she received and decorated her shoes.
Megan and two children take a break from decorating their shoes for a photo. (Photo by Christiana Ogunsami)
Jerome jumps into action and from behind the camera to help out in the washing station. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Shannon and Kelly. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Taylor decorates a shoe for a young boy. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Allison and a little boy throw up the VU after she gave him a Star V tattoo.
A young boy sits on the steps outside of Casa Salud, smiling while wearing his new shoes. (Photo by Vanessa Valentine)
Vanessa puts a new shoe on a young boy while Mallory laughs with a young girl and her mother.
As the day wound down and only a couple kids remained, NJ quickly became the life of the party. The little guy full of energy played with a bouncy ball with some of the girls in the group and bounced around the center.
NJ really latched onto Gabby, rolling around on the floor and constantly making her  and the rest of us  laugh uncontrollably.
Later in the evening, after some of the group ran to a nearby park and played pickup soccer with several local teenagers, the crew headed to dinner at Anoranza’s Restaurante in Heredia. The meal was delicious, whether you decided on the fish, chicken or steak, and the plantains were superb.
The restaurant was very unique, with a lot of antique items, including typewriters, juke boxes, computers and this car that had tons of colones glued to the outside.
The restaurant was located on the top of a huge hill and offered a spectacular view of San Jose. (Photo by Gabby Nesi)
Great group photo after dinner concluded as another day is in the books on what has been an amazing trip so far and is only bound to get better on Wednesday with zip lining in the morning followed by an afternoon shoe distribution.
