Thanksgiving in Honduras

This was my first Thanksgiving ever away from my family.  But I received an invitation to join my Tela "family" and went up there for a day or two.  I stayed with my good friend Stace who is a gringo teacher at Espíritu Sancto.  We had a delightful dinner at a local restaurant where the power went out just as the meal was served.  But we talked about our spiritual journeys and how God had lead us here and how He continues to work in us.  And that was a great blessing.

Thanksgiving morning began with a service at the church with all the students from the school.  It was such a blessing to see the success of the school and how closely they work with the church, not to mention seeing all those gorgeous happy faces of the children.  It was raining like crazy, so after the service I went back to Stace's apartment and took a long nap.

That evening, Reverenda Olga Barrera (who I love) had invited us to her house for a Thanksgiving celebration.  There were about 25 people there and the food was non-stop and delicious.  It was so wonderful being with my old friends and some new ones.  The number of people who speak English in Tela is much greater than anywhere else I work and that was surely a pleasure.  There was also some great  music provided by Olga's daughter Swami and You Tube.  There was dancing.  I danced.  I danced at Thanksgiving and it was great.  I danced with Olga's mom who has the greatest smile and not at all shabby on the dance floor.  A little samba, a little salsa, some rumba mixed in with a little "punta," a native dance.  What a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Thanks to Olga and Stace.  And my dear Swami.

A nuevo amigo

One of the greatest things about my job here in Honduras is that I have an opportunity to meet some of the finest people you could ever hope to meet.  Such was the case this last week when I had an opportunity to travel around with a great guy named Richard Marks from Washington D.C.  His church has taken part in short term mission teams in the past but not in the last couple of years due to the aging of the participants.  Working here can be pretty demanding physically.   The amazing thing is that their passion for the work is still strong.  Richard was on a fact finding mission and together with Rev Hector Madrid we traveled to some really out of the way places accessible only by dirt "road."  His church has been supporting a clinic in Protección for several years including the salary for Dr. Waldo Madrid and funding for pharmaceuticals.  These people would be really hard pressed for any amount of medical attention if it were not for this clinic.

We traveled to three different locations that are in my area that I had not had an opportunity to visit before and because Richard is totally bilingual, he was a huge help to me.  I learned a great deal  about the needs of the churches and health care facilities we have in those areas.  We also visited with Rev./MD. Elvia Maria Galinda here in Siguatepeque.  In addition to being a priest in the first church I ever worked in here back in 1989, she is also running an AIDS clinic where she attends to about 100 HIV patients.  She also sees about 20 patients a day with other maladies.  It was interesting to learn that there were only three new cases of HIV last year.  She said that education here had been very effective.  They also opened the clinic to everyone so that the HIV patients could avoid the  stigma that goes along with the decease and still come to the clinic, which worked.

Teams are great and we need more, but it sure was a pleasure doing some one on one with someone who shares my passion for the work we are doing here.  Richard was simply a joy to be around.  He treated me to a great dinner at his hotel in San Pedro Sula and we talked about how Christ has worked in our lives and in the lives of the people of Honduras.  We talked about plans for the future.  It was as enjoyable and it was informative.

Thank You Richard.  God Bless

What's that you say Bob?

I SAID,  "I will never be one of those guys who retires just to turn around and work another job 6 days a week."  I also said, "Never again will I take a job that has me in the road all the time and living out of a bag."  And here I am, doing exactly that.  But in Honduras.  Tired, but it's a good tired.

Last week was incredibly busy.  I had a group in Puerto Cortez with a medical clinic and I had to leave and drive 5 hours to Copan in the middle of the week for a meeting with a scouting group that will be bringing down a group in June.  It was a lot of driving, but both of these groups were incredible.  The Echol's group in Puerto Cortez was a medical brigade.  They saw close to 375 people!  They were such a joy to work with.  And so appreciative.

The group in Copan will be moving their operation there after working for many years in another location.  They were fun!  Very excited about the possibilities for medical clinic and construction on a church we have there that has been under construction for 10 years.  I stayed with my old Spanish teacher Edgar, and had a chance to visit with Edgarcito, who I've had in school for years.  He is speaking English now.  Great help.  Edgar is trying too.  Larry Tate and his group treated my to some of the finest dining in Copan, steak tenderloin in coffee and rum sauce.  Awesome.

I had to return to San Pedro to see off the Echol's team and missed them.  Then back to Puerto Cortez to wrap things up there.  Back home for two days.  I return to Puerto Cortez tomorrow with paper work and then back here in the evening.  Meeting with representatives of an engineering school Saturday morning to take some soil samples at San Juan School in preparation for the new construction.

Busy, busy, busy, but still loving life in Honduras.

Young Love

       Last night I was having dinner in a restaurant in Omoa on the coast.  The only other people in the dining room were a young couple, very much in love.  There was a lot of cheek rubbing and kisses and gentle caresses.  As I was waiting for my dinner to arrive, two young street girls came in selling something out of a big, yellow plastic tub covered with towels.  Their clothes were dirty and one of the girls was sniffling badly.  I dismissed them with my usual "No gracias."  Then they went over to the young lovers.  The young woman asked them some questions and talked to them for awhile.  While they were talking, their dinner came out.  What happened next surprised me.  The young woman handed one of the plates to the girl, who took it to another table while the young man told the waitress to get them something to drink.  The young lovers shared the remaining plate and the girls ate half of the plate they had been given.  Then they took the rest to the counter and had it put in a go bag, no doubt to take the remaining meal home to mom.  It was the most Christian thing I think I have ever seen.
      I was so convicted!  I see these little children all the time, already working.  They stand in the middle of the streets at red lights in San Pedro Sula selling peanuts or mango slices for 20 Limpera ($1).  They stand on each other's shoulders juggling oranges and then go car to car asking for one or two Limpera (5-10 cents).  In Tela, they walk around selling pan de coco or handmade jewelry.  In Puerto Cortez, dried fish or tortillas.  I hate to say it, but it seems that I see them so often that I just dismiss their existence.  I still have a lot of problems understanding Spanish and I have a particular problem understanding their little voices.  But it never even occurred to me to try to talk to them.  Honduras pays for public school through the grade of 6.  After that, they have to pay for more education and many, many cannot afford it.  Some 40% don't even make it to the sixth grade because they have to get out and work to help feed the family.  What a horrible plight for a child!
       My friend Fredy drives our bus for us when we have a group in country.  He makes $20 a day.  In between groups, he has only odd jobs, and that is difficult because he has no car.  He has three beautiful little girls.  He told me today that he knows he will never have anything to leave his children.  That is why their education is so important to him.  It costs $170 a month for a good, bilingual school.  He struggles to keep them in school AND keep food on the table.  It is very difficult for Fredy and he needs help, but his girls are blessed that they have a daddy that works so hard to care for them.  Many are not so lucky
       God forgive my my coldness towards those of whom heaven is made.