Reachin' OUt in the TL of SF 25 Sept

Hello, Friends! Chris here in San Francisco in the TL (Tenderloin, for all the non-SF'ers), cathin' up on some needed washing of clothes. I'm 2 weeks out from home, 1 more to go (we return to Chula Vista next weekend), and Lori is here, 1 week in...
Today (Saturday) the Urban Health Care School participated in a SF-TL-wide Community Health Fair. There were about 45+ agencies who had booths, and offered a number of free health info and health services.
As part of the Urban Health school, the students put together, all on their own, an educational booth to promote good HANDWASHING... and a number of associated activities to make it fun, informative and eye-catching. (The pictures up top show a bit...). One of the 'fun' parts was having children apply a 'glow-gel' to their hands, 'wash' their hands as they normally would... then see how much of the 'glow' is left in a black box... wow! The kids were amazed at how their hands could still be loaded with bacterias... !! Lori was there interacting with the Latina women, and talking to a number of the health workers at other booths for ideas on our own health outreach fairs.
I had two unique interactions. One was an elderly Samoan woman being pushed around in a wheelchair by her son, giving out Samoan candies to the workers. When I asked her son on how to say 'thank you ' in Samoan, and did so, her face lit up with the biggest smile and she pulled me down to kiss me on the cheek!
The other interaction was a group of Muslim children who came to the station. Not knowing if I should address the girls, I and the YWAM student did a group-fun thing for handwashing ed... and there was water flying everywhere! The two mothers (in their veils) were watching and laughing... it was fun. A few minutes later, as I was headed indoors on an errand, the mother called me over and asked if I would have my photo taken with their children... so a great 'everybody wash hands!' pose was struck...
One of the biggest rewards of doing public health fairs is the bridges of relationships built. The YWAM students spoke with many who live in the neighborhood here. With over 400 people coming thru the Fair, most came thru the Handwashing booth. Many knew about YWAM's presence in the SF TL, and their caring outreach...
A great outreach day...