Sunday, April 30, 2017

I Am Dreaming Of A New Feeding Center

Wednesday, May 3 is Dump Day.  The funds we raise will allow us to continue weekly feedings in the dump.  It will continue feeding five hot meals a week to the children in Buen Samaritano.  We also hope to raise enough to build a new feeding center in Tierras del Padre.

A church was built in Tierras del Padre last summer.  I had the pleasure of worshiping at Tierras del Padre this afternoon.

Luis and I drove up.  I opened the door of the truck and a crowd of kids were standing there looking at the gringa.  Nearly everyone of them said , "Luis." 

The person who had the key to the classroom was not there.  In Honduras, that is really not a problem.  They just had class outside.




Take a good look at this  little princess.  We want her to receive five hot meals a week, don't we?

And this little guy.  He wants to eat, too.





And these.





This guy needs his energy to keep throwing rocks.


Please help us build this feeding center for these children.  At a minimum, pray for dump day.

Donations can be sent to:
Honduras Hope
P.O. Box 9222
Columbus, MS 39705

or go to http://www.easytithe.com/dl/?uid=hondpo256 to make donations online. Please use the dump fund tab.

All donations are tax deductible.





Friday, April 28, 2017

A Lot

It has been a long, hard week.  A lot of appointments.  A lot of trips to town.  A lot of road construction.  A lot of sitting in stopped traffic. A lot of bouncing on rough, bumpy roads.  A lot of cups of coffee.  A lot of homework.  A lot of dirty dishes and dirty laundry.  A lot of meals cooked and eaten.  A lot of receipts.  A lot of juggling schedules.  A lot of heat.  A lot of work.  A lot of laughter.  A lot of tears.  A lot of heart-to-hearts.  A lot of sleepless hours.  A lot of prayers.  A lot of hugs.  A lot of mistakes. A lot of love.  A lot of forgiveness.  A lot of living at Casa de Esperanza.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Pillows, Lamps And Dresses

Last week Doug and Donna came to work with the kids again.  Everyone was out of school and there was a lot of work accomplished.

Doug worked with the six oldest boys, including Yair, making lamps.  I did not think Yair could do this, but with Doug's guidance, he got it done.  I only have pictures of the finished lamps, but I did see boys huddled around Doug many times during the week.


Most of the boys were excited that they would have items to place in the store.

Donna and the girls began the week by making dresses.  Everyone made a dress to wear.  Since the dresses are made the same, the girls did not want to wear them at the same time, but I have seen several being worn during the week.




After all the dresses were complete, the girls began making pillows covers.  They also learned to put in zippers.  The zippers were easier than they thought.  Some of the girls made several pillow covers. 




We were pleased with the girl's progress.  This time more of the girls were able to work independently, both on the dresses and the pillow covers.  This made things go much faster.  Some of the older girls were even able to help the younger ones. 

You will see some pretty new pillow in the store this summer.

The one I said might starve to death if she had to make a living making tortillas, might just be okay.  Her sewing skills are coming along nicely.

A big thanks to Doug and Donna.





Wednesday, April 12, 2017

El Picacho

This is Holy Week, aka Semana Santa, aka national vacation week.  Everyone, well almost everyone, does something.  I like to plan something for the Casa kids.  Not vacation, just a one day outing.  I had been thinking about this one for quite some time.  I thought going to El Picacho (the Jesus statue) would be fun.  Then I decided not to go and then I changed my mind again.  I told the kids on Saturday night.  No one was very excited.  I was a little disappointed.  The boys let out a big cheer when I said they would be riding in my car and the girls in the van.



Excitement did not build much over the next few days.  That all changed this morning.  Everyone was rushing through chores.  Sandwich making was earnestly happening in both houses.  I was packing coolers.  And, around here, I am sure something else was happening. 

My goal was to leave here at 10:00.  We were ready to do that except for one small problem: the car registration for the van was in Ojojona.  Eddy went to get that and we were ready.

Josue had an appointment this morning.  He and Seidy left at 5:30.  Seidy called as we were leaving and said they were through.  We decided she could get to Loarque and meet us.  After picking up Seidy and Josue, there were 11 in my X-terra and 14 in the van.

There were nine adults and 16 kids.  I liked those odds.

We arrived, parked, and unloaded the vehicles.  We had to take a few picture before we went any where.




Then we were on our way. Twenty five people and we had three coolers, two large pans of food, blankets, toilet paper, sunscreen, and, of course a soccer ball.
We played for a long time.  Everyone, adults and kids, had fun.
















We stopped to eat.  We plowed through a mountain of sandwiches and a ton of coke.







We packed our things, which by now, were much lighter.  We walked through the house of mirrors.  This was a real riot.

There was one I especially liked.  I was tall and thin.

We walked into the plaza where the statue is.  We walked all around the place and found many photo-ops.














It is always endearing when we plan an outing and the employees go to the trouble to make an extra treat for the kids.  Before we headed back to the car, we had muscas.  That is sort of an ice cream treat, made with milk instead of cream and sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.  It hit the spot before we started back to the cars.

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was just about perfect.  We laughed.  We sang.  We played.  We ate.  Some days I am so proud of these kids.  And, today was one of those days.

If everyone is as tired as I am, we will all sleep very well tonight.