What is Happening in Mirador Oriente

The burnt mountainside at Mirador Oriente

Charred remains of a child's bicycle

Henry's house site

The red tile floor in the bottom floor

One of the bathrooms

The second floor being built

Yesterday, after we got off the plane, got through immigration and customs, we immediately headed for Mirador Oriente. Marc just could not wait to see what was done while we were gone. It had been a week and a half since Marc had been there and it had been two weeks since I had been there. We were both amazed at what had been done. The second floor is not too far from being complete. The downstairs floor has tile in it, the plumbing is being installed in the bathrooms, the stairs have been poured. It was exciting. The new women's center will definitely be finished next week and there is a chance it will be finished this week.

This morning we left for Mirador Oriente at 6:15 so we could get the crew started. It took us over an hour and a half to finally get there. Traffic was worse than usual. There were wrecks blocking lanes and first one thing and then another. We were also trying to buy bags of concrete. Since we have been gone, the price of concrete has risen again and it is in short supply. Some places would only let us buy five bags. Not five bags at a time, five per day. We had to stop more than one place to get enough concrete for today. Marc wants to have enough to get started in the morning as well.

As excited as we are about the progress of the new women's center, shortly after arriving in Mirador Oriente, we learned several sad things had happened there while we were gone. Both the feeding center and the school and been broken into. All the food and the school supplies were stolen. The feeding center operates on a very tight budget, but fortunately the food had been replaced and they were open today, preparing food so they could serve 250 hungry children lunch. We still need to talk to the school, but we now know another place some of those school supplies will be going.

Also a huge raging fire swept the mountainside. One of the men who has been working on the women's center lost his home. Henry is a very hard worker, one of the hardest on this site. I have seen him carry four buckets of concrete at once. And, he runs with them, dumps them and runs back to fill four more. He and his family had gone to Choluteca because his grandmother is very ill. They lost everything. The other workers on the job site helped fight the fire, but could not stop the fire from consuming Henry's house. We know we will rebuild that house. Not sure when, but we know it will be rebuilt. Please pray for this family that had so little and now has nothing.

I hate it when someone loses their home and belongings to fire. It is much worse when it is someone you know and with whom you have worked.

Terri