A New Project

The tools we use

Can you see the dirt flying?

Marc in a footer that will be 40" deep

The end of the day

When we were in Atlanta in December, a group of people who fell in love with the community of Mirador Oriente, wanted to do something for this community. Something more than build a house or two. Discussions were held, prayers were said, and it was decided to build a women's center. It will have pilas on which to wash clothes and showers in which people can get themselves and their children clean. It will also have a room for Bible studies and a room with sewing machines. Janet and Lori will be getting some teachers out to teach sewing classes.

The money was quickly raised. Marc and I went out and looked at available property. It was decided the center should be built in between the church building that Steve Davidson's group built and the Sunday school classrooms that Columbus, MS built. Throughout the length of construction, several Hondurans will be employed that otherwise would not be.

Today was the groundbreaking and the beginning of construction. The preacher was there as we began. We honestly thought the ground would be solid rock and would take all week just to dig the footers. It was rocky, but not solid. I soon discovered the pick axe was lighter than the bar and really broke the rock better, but I could get better rhythm with the bar. So I used the bar and the shovel. The Hondurans were working circles around me. That is ok. At least my whole heart and my whole effort was in it, even if it was a slow effort.

We got a lot more digging done today than we ever thought possible. We might be ready to start pouring concrete by Friday. It was truly an exciting day as we began this project in a community that is so dear to many of us.

Terri

Isabell's House

You may remember about a month ago I wrote about a little girl named Isabell. Jen and Ashley came across this situation. Isabell is very malnourished, has cerebral palsey, among other things, and was curled into a fetal position. It is a very sad situation. Ashley has spent the last month in and out of the hospital with Isabell and, currently, is in the process of trying to get her to the states for some surgery. This is not an easy process. The parents have to sign that this is ok. When Jen and Ashley found Isabell she was living with her grandmother and we were not sure if the mother could be found.

Today Karen, Dorian, Richard (the preacher from Ojojona), Marc and I set out on a mission to find the mother. We were going to drive to the grandmother's house and ask if she knew where her daughter was. The house was quite a ways out of Ojojona and the road just climbed higher and higher into the mountains. As we were driving, Richard said stop, there is the mother. She and her husband were walking up the road toward the grandmother's house. She lives a very long ways away and was just coming for a three day visit. I do not believe that was a coincidence, do you? Richard asked them to get into the truck with us.

Two dirty little girls stood in front of the house as we drove up, wide-eyed with amazement as

a red truck came to a stop in front of their house. This little house is so far from town. It is certainly not the worst house we have ever seen, but it was bad. There were holes in the walls. There were two beds, each with one thin blanket. It must be cold in there at night with all those holes and the wind blowing. There is no running water. No wonder the little girls were dirty. There is no telling how long it had been since they had had a bath or had their clothes washed. The little girl that was eight had a mouthful of teeth that were rotting out of her mouth. I am fairly sure that none of the children have ever set foot inside a school building. We looked and there was no food. And no way to get anything except a long walk back to Ojojona.

The grandmother sat in the floor making pottery. The grandmother is probably fifty. I know I could not sit on a concrete floor all day making pottery. She sells her pieces to some of the shops in Ojojona for seven limpiras each. That is about thirty five cents. She makes and sells pottery in an attempt to eke out the most meager existence.

Karen asked if they had eaten at all today. They all just looked at the ground. When there is food, the eight year old little girl does all the cooking.

Tomorrow, Ashley will return to the grandmother's house. She will take Isabell with her. A lawyer and people from INFAH ( similar to DHS or CPS) will be with her. The mother says she will be there. They will attempt to get the mother's approval to take little Isabell to the states.

It is so, so sad everytime I see a situation like this.

Terri

Atlanta

We have already seen some groups come and go. A group from Atlanta was here last week. Five adults and 16 teenagers came to Honduras full of excitement and passion for the Honduran people. They spread joy wherever they went.

They built three houses, did a food distribution, and a dump feeding. They worked in the feeding center at San Miguel and loved on kids everywhere they went. I love to watch what some of the groups plan in order to minister to the people here. In advance, our Atlanta friends prepared a puppet show in spanish using a couple of Bible stories. They hauled their stage and their puppets all over town and performed for the children in several communities. Except for the two year old class at the daycare center, the puppet show was well received.

All week as they spread joy, I watched as their hearts were broken as they saw the needs here. As Friday morning dawned, they were not really ready to leave. It had been a short week. They touched the lives of the Hondurans, they touched my life, and I am sure their own lives will never be the same.

Terri

The Dry Season Continues

The dry season continues in Honduras. We see fires raging everyday and pray it is just the mountainside and not more homes. We are having to conserve water in as many ways as possible. We have run out of water a couple of times at Casa de Esperanza.

We were in Nueva Oriental earlier in the week. There is no running water in this community and the water has to be trucked in. The creek is a long way from the community and is dry right now. I could not help but notice how dirty some of the children were. When there is no water, what choice is there?

When we are in the communities, it is so dry and dusty. I know how dirty I feel when we get home at night. I know how thirsty I am. Imagine being dirty and not being able to take a shower or wash your clothes. Imagine looking at your little child and seeing her face and clothes caked with dirt and not being able to do anything about it. But right now every child in Nueva Oriental is dirty. Imagine being thirsty and not having water to drink.

Terri

More Honduran Experiences

Living in the United States, we take so many things for granted. I don't just mean hot water. Everyday is an adventure here and, as you know, we often have to smile and say "welcome to Honduras." The last couple of weeks have been full of those experiences.

The day after Easter the bank had no money. We were not trying to get a million dollars or anything, just a couple of thousand. At 10:00, they told us they might have money by 3:00. At 3:00 they told us try tomorrow.

This is a cash society. We have to get cash from the bank and buy groceries or pay bills. The electricity company comes to the property, reads the meter and gives a printout. I then have to go to any bank to pay the electricity. After we received the printout, I went to the bank the next day and was told I had to wait three days for it to be in the system. I went back a few days later and was told the same thing. I tried several times to pay this bill and it never was in the system. Trust me on this one. The next time it is read, both months will show up in the system.

Last week I went to the bank and paid my internet bill. I have a receipt. Now the internet company is saying we have to scan the receipt and email it to someone else so the provider will know it has been paid. We will have to do this every month.

Last month, when we fed people at the dump, the people were grateful were food, but the one thing every single person asked for was water. We decided it would be no problem to buy bags of water and give each person water as well as a sandwich and a banana. There is group from Atlanta here this week. Today, they are doing a dump feeding. My job yesterday was to buy bread and water. I knew there was no way any one store would have 250 bags of water. I stopped at the pulperia nearest Casa de Esperanza. I bought every bag of water they had. Twenty bags. I am thinking this might take all day. I drove a little further and stopped at the next pulperia and hit pay dirt. I bought 100 from that store. By the time I left Santa Ana, I had 216 bags of water. I was really happy I was not going to have to stop at every little pulperia all the way down the mountain. I went to Dispensa and was also happy that they had 25 loaves of bread and that I was not going to have to go all the way to Tegucigalpa.

I know it is hard to imagine not just sitting down, writing checks to pay your bills, and then mailing them. Or having to go to several stores to get a quantity of water. Or going to the bank several times to pay a bill or having to scan your receipt to the internet company. We can laugh about it and say welcome to Honduras. This is a way of live for people and perhaps they do not know any differently. But some of these people have to either walk a long distance to get to the bank or pay bus fare from their hard earned wages. If they get to the bank and cannot accomplish what they came to accomplish, then they have to pay that bus fare again. Some of these crazy things only hurt the poor people, those you can least afford it.

Terri

Pray, Terri

Yesterday morning was a big test day at school. I drove the kids to school and pulled up so they could get out of the car by the gate. I put the car in park and said bye. Fitto said "Pray, Terri. Pray. Exams. They are learning english just as I am learning spanish. I said I would have to pray in english. They all said that was ok. I turned the engine off and we all bowed our heads. I prayed for each one of them by name to do well, not only on their exam, but with their behavior and attitude as well. Then everyone jumped out of the car yelling goodbye.

When I went back to school at 12:30, the third graders, Brayan and Pamela, came to the car first. They did not have to take their exam. Brayan thought it was an answered prayer. Maybe his, not mine. The first graders had to take their test. Cindy said it was not too bad. Mario had no response. The second graders said they did not have to take their test either.

I thought it was really sweet that they wanted to pray before their exam and wanted me to be the one that prayed for them.

Terri

A Day at Casa

This week there is a group here from Belpre, Ohio. That is Jen and Karen's home congregation. Jen is leading the group. I wanted Karen to be able to spend some time working with the group and being encouraged by those whom she loves and love her. In order for her to do that, I spent the whole day at Casa.

Days at Casa de Esperanza begin early for the children. I began waking them slightly before 6:30. Cindy is alway the hardest one to get out of bed. Then we had a short devotional. I love listening to those little people sing and pray. They are so sincere and they remember to thank God for everything and everyone. Sometimes they have to open their eyes and look around the room to be sure they remember to call everyone of us by name.

After devo, is the time to dress for school and a few chores. To me, that is the most hectic time of the day. Those girls take so long to change out of their pjs and into their school clothes and they have so much fun doing it. Maryuri got a small toy stuck in her mouth, which I had to pry out. Nothing like a bit of excitement to get the day started. Cindy had pinkeye and did not have to go to school. After breakfast and making sure everyone's teeth were brushed, it is off to school for the the older kids. They love riding in the car to school. I locked the automatic windows. I am not sure how many times six kids could put the windows up and down on the way to school. They did treat the radio like my husband and my father-in-law treat the tv remote. They did not leave one station on long enough to know what was playing.

Then I walked the kindergarteners across the street. To them, this is as exciting as it was the first day of school. With the remaining four, we played outside. I pushed Maryuri on the swing. She will let you push her for hours, but it was not quite that long this morning. Some of the kids colored and Antonio dropped the color box. He had to pick them up and put them back in the box. He made that last a long time.

It was our day to take snack to the second graders. Dilicia had baleadas, which are similar to quesadillas, and pears. I drove Dilcia to the school and helped her serve the second graders. The baleadas were a big hit. Most of the kids had two and some had three.

When I walked over to the get the kindergarteners, I got there a few minutes before class was dismissed. I stood outside, peering in the window. I could see Francisco. It was amusing to watch him when he did not know I was out there. Suddenly, he looked up and saw me. He waved, smiled and said "hi Terri." Then he got up and walked over to Fernando's table and told him I was outside. They were so excited.

Remember how fun it was when you were five or six to walk backward. Once we got across the street, Monica wanted to walk backward. I walked backward with her. To her, that was funnier than walking backward herself. Oh, the giggles and laughter that came from that sweet child. Of course, we were the last ones back to Casa.

Time to go back to school and get the older kids. With all of this running back and forth, the morning passed quickly. I was ready for that naptime. Only problem, the boys are much harder to get to settle down than the girls. At least a couple of them did not quit squirming until almost 2:30. Naptime is over at 3:00. I was looking forward to sneaking in a little nap myself. Not to be today.

This afternoon, I played soccer. I made a few good kicks. I played basketball with a football. I lost. I loved on kids and they loved on me. They all love to be loved. I am loving these kids more every day. I was glad to be part of their day, all day.

Terri