Friday's recap of the ETBU Beach Volleyball TAME trip to Roatan is provided by sophomore Paige Dickson. 
 
"Today was a great but also a sad day since it was our last day seeing all the kids. We got to play volleyball with and against the local group. There were about seven players who played with us and it was great that we all played volleyball and had a universal language in a way. Getting to talk to them after was so fun. Since they were our age we talked about university, our dreams, and our families. We laughed and bonded over TikTok and all exchanged Instagrams, so we can keep up with each other. 
 
After lunch we went to a ministry called Little Sprouts. As soon as our bus pulled on to the gravel road in front of their building, the kids swarmed our bus with smiles and waves. As each one of us stepped off the bus, we couldn't even get down the stairs before we were greeted with massive hugs. After we all got off the bus, the kids took the bags of volleyballs we had and immediately started running around with them. We all dropped our stuff and started playing anything we could think of: catch, tag, volleyball, basketball, soccer, etc. The kids had massive smiles and there were so many giggles and voices flooding the yard. Everyone was happy and relaxed, and all the kids felt seen and safe. They jumped into our arms and we held them and talked with them as long as we could. 
 
After our play time we did small groups. I led one for all the moms there and they were all so sweet and attentive. The small groups with the kids were so good but some of them were still so excited they could barely sit still. After small groups, we sent them off with cookies, apples, and big hugs with lots of 'I love yous' that followed. They waved and blew kisses to us as our bus pulled out on the road. These kids have had such an impact on our hearts since being here and the Little Sprouts just exemplified it more today. They are so sweet and show nothing but gratitude and joy."