Sights in the City

Tegucigalpa is a city of a million and a half people, more or less. We have to go there frequently. Some of the things we see in the city are hard to imagine, unbelievable and,at times, heartbreaking.

The Honduran ladies that work at Casa de Esperanza are hard working ladies and live a hard life. Dilcia and Reina are two of the ladies that work here. They are sisters. They get up at 4:00 a.m. to take care of things at home and then ride a bus for two and a half hours to get here. And we think we have a long commute when we have 30 minutes in our air-conditioned cars with our favorite CD playing. Once they get here, they cook and clean and take care of kids and anything that needs to be done. Always with a smile on their faces. They are a grateful for a job. At the end of a long work day, they have to ride the bus another two and a half hours to get home to kids and chores. Reina has not worked here very long and was having to spend 25% of her pay on bus fare. Friday is payday and she will see a pay raise. The Walnut Creek group left some money to buy a new bed for Dilcia's family as there was five of them sleeping in one bed. The bed was purchased and delivered. Dilcia told us they could not use the bed because one side kept falling. Yesterday, we took Dilcia and Reina home so we could fix the bed. It took us fifty minutes in the car. Then the walk to their houses was similar to the hike in the Smoky Mountains. I had already worked out once yesterday. They were home much earlier than normal and kids came running out to meet them. So sweet. Marc quickly got the problem fixed and Dilcia and Reina and most of their kids walked us back down the hill.

Last summer Marc met some people that live on El Hatillo that are trying to start a children's home. El Hatillo is where many of the rich Hondurans live. Our summer groups also stay in a nice place there. These people found out a need they could not fix and called Marc for help.
We drove up there today and in there, surrounded by wealth, was this house that was just about to collapse. As we talked to David and Janet, we found out the neighbors have repeatedly tried to run this lady and her children from their home, even though they have lived there for 17 years. Her children are not allowed to play with the other children. David and Janet said they could come up with the money if we build the house. They are more than willing to help build, they just did not know where to buy the materials. Soon Rosie and her kids will have a new house with a good roof and no holes in the walls. We were amazed that this lady was living like that and no one had helped her. It amazes me that, in the summer, we drive near that house everyday and had never seen it.

We were meeting some friends for lunch today, while we were in the city. When we eat in a restaurant, we cut our meals in half and then ask for a box. We then find someone on the street that is hungry and give them the box. Today, our friends did the same thing. We took all the food with us, as we went to finish our errands.

In Tegucigalpa, there are many street kids. Some live on the streets all the time. Some are out during the day trying to earn money for their families to have something to eat. Many little kids try to wash our windshield to earn just the smallest amount of money. We came upon five little boys with their squeegees. Marc handed him some of the food and the others came running. One little guy had facial deformities. They asked if we wanted our windshield washed and we said no. We handed them all the food and told them to share. They ran across the street, opened the food, divided it, and rapidly devoured it. One of these little boys was really small. In the United States, I would have guessed him to be 5 or 6. Due to malnutrition and other things, kids are smaller here, so he was probably 8. Still awfully young to be on the street. He was just the filthiest little thing I think I have ever seen. The light turned green and we drove on. I cannot get that little guy out of mind. I hope he has a safe, warm place to sleep tonight.

Terri