Berta's Project

While staying at the Larsons my mom and I met a woman named Berta. She is their housekeeper and she has turned her house into a center where children go after school to learn craft skills instead of playing at the trash dump. We came to visit her and about 25 kids performed songs and dances for us. Most of the songs I could not understand, because they were in Portuguese, but I could still feel their joy in their singing and dancing. They gave Brent and I home-made slingshots and toy cars made from wire and recycled soda cans. They also made pictures for us. They had a little shop with their crafts on display. They had  bracelets, necklaces, handbags, woven baskets and cars made from recycled plastic. We gave them soda pop and jiggies (Portuguese cheetos). The Larsons gave Berta a TV, because someone stole hers. She uses the TV to teach the kids.