Christmas at the Dump

Some of our friends from Tupelo, Mississippis decided they wanted to provie Magi boxes for those people at the dump that exist in such a desperate situation. They had a well thought out plan. They purchased and assembled the boxes and got them to where a container was leaving.
They made plans to come this week so they could be here to personally hand them to the people at the dump.

Best laid plans sometimes do not materialize, especially when anything in Honduras is involved. The container was not ready to ship.

They went and retrieved their boxes, repacked them into bags and put them in suitcases. Five people had their personal luggage and luggage with the gifts totaling fifteen pieces of checked luggage. I am sure that was fun checking that in and clearing customs.

We thought we would also provide a hot meal for the folks at the dump. We had the serving logistics figured out, but we did not have the cooking logistics worked out with the equipment we currently have. Especially since Marc and I were gone all day Tuesday to San Pedro Sula to get the group.

As the normal routine for feeding at the dump is making sandwiches on Wednesday, that is what we did. We provided more fruit than usual.

The people know us well enough now to know that there is always plenty of food. We made a plan to distribute the gift bags with as little chaos as possible.

Like I have already said, the best laid plans don't always work. It had to work better than if we had had no plan. More people than we have ever seen began to show up when the gifts were being distributed. It could have turned into a really bad situation.

After we cried because there were not enough boxes, it was quickly decided to have more boxes this year.

It was better that the children received something and we are sure that all the children did receive a gift bag. I saw little girls, just about our little Camille's size that were so dirty and hungry. We distributed the bags after the food was distributed. I saw little children just rip into their bags. Another little girl that was wearing plastic bags on her feet for shoes, went off by herself and opened her bag. She would take one thing out at a time and look at it and put it back into the bag before taking another item out of the bag. She was protecting her stuff. She knew if she spread it out on the ground, someone might take it from her.

While we know these gifts in no way relieved the misery of the people that live and scavenge in the dump, we hope we brought just a little joy into their lives for one day.

Terri

I know this post deserves some pictures. Right now, our internet is so slow it will not allow us to upload pictures. I will post the pictures later.

Camille Is Going To Get A Cousin

As I was frantically preparing for guests to arrive, one thing that absolutely had to be done was moving the store items from one of my bedrooms back to the store. I got Dilcia and Sandra and three of the kids to help me.

We were busy carrying armloads of things from my house to the store. My phone rang. It was Nicole. She said "Hi Mom, what are you doing?'' I said moving the store back to the store and she says can you be still a minute I have something to tell you." I was pretty sure I knew what it was because I have been praying about something for her and Matt for a long time.

I wasn't really being still. Nicole says Mom, I'm pregnant. That is not what I thought it was at all. I screamed with excitement and then hung up on her.

Sandra wanted to know why I screamed and I told her. She quickly ran up to the store and told Dilcia. Both of them ran back and hugged me.

So for those of you who don't know already, I am going to be Grammy again.

Terri

Help Is On The Way

We have been praying for help with the special education needs of Doris, Monica, and Rosita. One of our employees told us of an agency in town that could help the girls.

Yesterday, Sandra, the three girls and I headed to town to Teleton. I let the Sandra and the girls out and went to park. I was not allowed inside the building as I needed a letter with which I would be allowed to enter. Sandra had that letter and was already inside taking care of business.

Teleton will be able to tutor Monica and Doris and,hopefully, help with their education. They do this for free, our favorite price. The people at Teleton told Sandra they could not help Rosita. We needed to take her to Manos Felices, translated Happy Hands.

Without having real clear directions, we headed for Manos Felices. We finally found it. Sandra took Rosita in and I waited in the car with Doris and Monica. We will be able to register Rosita for classes in February. In the meantime, Rayner, one of the AIM students, will be working with Rosita and teaching her sign.

After leaving Manos Felices, I ended up in Comayaguela. Sandra said to me " Terri, close your window, all the way." I did. We wove around the one way streets and finally got back where we needed to be.

We are thankful for these resources. Please pray these agencies can help our girls.

Terri

Visiting Santa Katarina

A house in Santa Katarina

Some of graduates in their graduation dresses

One of the tiny school classrooms where children attend school

A shared pila with the hand pump

The site of the new feeding center

Yesterday we went to Santa Katarina. As we traveled south, I could tell the dry season was beginning already. Everything was dry and brown. What a contrast to when we last traveled that way, with it raining and flooding. We could not get to Santa Katarina in October. The people swam rivers to get to us.

We turned off the highway and the road was dry and dusty. Even as dry and dusty as it was, we had to cross water four times to get to Santa Katarina. The rivers were low enough that we could drive across. These were the same rivers that the people had to swim across in October. They were so hungry that they gladly swam the rivers just to get some food for their families.

As hard as the rainy season on these communities, the dry season is usually harder.

Our friend, Carlos, took us to the site where the feeding center will be built next summer. The people in the community have already started clearing the land.

Carlos then took us to his house. By Honduran standards, it was a fairly nice house with a concrete floor. There was only a small table inside the house. They sat us down and fed us chicken, rice, potatoes, tortillas, and coke. Hondurans are always gracious, even when they can't afford. It would have been the highest insult not to eat it, but I felt so guilty eating their food when most in Santa Katarina are starving.

There are eighty six houses in Santa Katarina, some don't look too bad and some are horrible. In these 86 houses, there are 600 people, 300 of them are children. What we saw in Santa Katarina looked like what we see on tv when organizations show pictures of starving children in Africa. Many of the children had thin, thin hair, streaked blond. Two sure signs of malnutrition. Also we saw many bloated, distended little bellies. We also more family units; mom, dad and several kids. These people are so far from town, they rarely see gringos. A lot of the children were afraid of us.

Not everyone has a pila. There a few pilas shared by all. The pilas have a hand water pump and everyone has to pump water in order to wash clothes. What a hard life. Don't we have a lot for which to be thankful.

After we ate our wonderful meal, we went to the school. It was graduation day. Fifth grade graduation. Graduation is a really big deal in Honduras. People don their finest clothes. The beginning of graduation was held until the gringos arrived. What an honor. We were in jeans and t-shirts. There were seven graduates. Seven. In a community with 300 children. How sad. None of these kids were 10 or 11 like we would expect fifth graders to be. Most were 13 or 14. There is no secondary school in Santa Katarina. For most of these young people, their education is over. The only way for any of them to continue their education is to walk for three hours and then ride a bus into Choluteca. Most parents, as much as they desire for their children to have a better life, could not afford the daily bus fare, much less the tuition, books, and uniforms.

Everyone was friendly and greeted us warmly.

I am still processing and reflecting on the things I saw yesterday. I am excited that we will be able to help this community.

Terri

An American Holiday in a Third World Country

Thanksgiving. A totally American holiday. It is one of my favorite holidays. It is a time to for family, friends, food and football.

Karen and I decided we wanted to fix an American Thanksgiving for the kids, our staff, and, of course, ourselves. We planned a menu as close to traditional as possible. Friday, when I went to the fruit market, I bought extra potatoes, celery, onions, and bananas. The saddest, smallest celery I have ever seen. Saturday I went back to town to do the rest of the grocery shopping. Even though a lot of Americans live in Tegucigalpa and, because of that, a lot of American items are imported, this is Honduras. In my mind, I prepared to make some substitutions or possibly drop something from our menu.

Since I have no Wal-Mart, I headed to PriceSmart first, vowing to not go back to town on Saturday until after Christmas. I was fairly successful finding the items I needed. I was just a little over confident, making my next stop La Colonia which was on the way home to Santa Ana. That was pretty much a bust and I then had to back track.

After finding most of what I needed, or suitable substitutions, I stopped a couple more places looking for Durkee's french fried onions for green bean casserole. I stopped at all the places that have American food and still could not find the Durkee's. I was so tired. I finally grabbed two bags of Funyums. I like to cook and am a pretty good cook. However, I am not a creative cook. I follow recipes exactly and do not make substitutions. Substituting Funyums for Durkee's french fried onions is way out of my comfort zone. Believe it or not, it wasn't half bad. Not as good as Durkee's, but not too bad either.

I came home needing just a few fresh items which I thought I would buy Tuesday or Wednesday.

I started cooking yesterday. Started cooking in my little kitchen with no counter space. None.
I set up a table so I would have work space. I was doing all kinds of things, but when I finally got ready to cook that first time, I found my propane tank was completely empty. I sort of acted like a helpless female and gave Milton some money and my car keys and asked him to go get the propane for me. I go get propane all time. That was the first of many challenges. I definitely felt the welcome to Honduras thing. A couple of things with which I am use to having are knowing the temperature of my stove and having one of those little buzzers to tell me when to take something out of the oven. Also, the electricity was flashing on and off, on and off. Not that you need electricity to cook with propane, but eyes my age need the lights on to read the recipes.

I just kept plugging along and getting more frustrated by the minute. After I finished all my bread, I happened to think about all the places I have lived and realized I had never baked at 4000 feet elevation.

I was constantly adjusting the temperature, some things looking not so done and some looking a little too done. I was convinced nothing would be edible.

Marc showed up last night with the last few items I needed and pizza. Yay! I sure didn't want to cook or make any more of a mess in my house. Pizza. Just what I needed. After I ate, I settled down and got many more things accomplished.

This morning, as is my tradition, I started bright and early. Things went much smoother today. Other than peeling the sweet potatoes and discovering they are white in Honduras, things went well. Karen was busy in her kitchen and we had kids running back and forth, hauling stuff from her house to mine and my house to hers.

At one point, I looked around at the food and thought " I may be cooking more food today than Ginger Freeman." No way. I am pretty sure I didn't cook that much.

With things going smoothly, I began to have the kind of fun I usually have cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

As food was finished, Marc and Tracy were running it up to the kitchen in Casa. Someone should have a video camera of all the activity.

With all the food in the kitchen, it was time to eat. Our kids were so excited. But each one had to tell what they were thankful for. We chose to honor our staff and let them go first. They went through the line, filled their plates, ate, and jumped up and went right back to work. That isn't really what we had in mind.

The kids ate and ate. And ate some more. Their little bellies looked like they had eaten watermelons. There was about 40 of us. We had fun. We will be eating off of this food for the rest of the weekend.

And there is not much football here. We may get the game tonight. And we may not. It is what it is.

While my mother and Karen's mother were not here, their presence was felt in a great big way as they provided the funds for us to provide the meal. Thanks to both of you.

Terri

Work Week

When the flooding was so heavy and many homes were being lost, Marc asked anyone that wanted to come the week of Thanksgiving to come and we would build some houses and enjoy Thanksgiving together. We had two takers on that offer, our friend Tracy from Charlotte and the dad of one of the AIMers. Both arrived yesterday.

Today they built a house for a lady named Sandra and her son. The house in which they had been living was in shambles. There was nothing in it but one bed. No food. It was on a steep slope. Several people worked on the house today. Even though it looked like it might be a difficult one to build, this house went up easier than first thought.

When Marc handed Sandra one of the home boxes from Columbus, Mississippi, she wept. Not just a few happy tears, she wept. I don't think she has ever owned that many things at one time.

It is hoped, two more houses will be built this week. For various reasons, I am missing all the fun this week. I have assigned myself to administrative and domestic duties this week.

Terri

Home Sweet Home

I thought Thursday was going to be a welcome to Honduras day before I ever left St. Louis. I got on the plane and went to sleep. About 30 minutes later I woke up and knew the plane was on the ground and I felt sure it was not on the ground in Miami. I thought I would for sure miss my connection. I turned on the phone to call Marc and tell him things were not very promising.

Before I got Marc's number dialed, Nicole called me. I could feel disappointment welling up from deep inside. I so wanted to be home.

When I complained to Nicole, she chastised me, saying, "Mom, don't you think God can answer the little prayers as well as the big ones." I guess she had a point. The longer we sat in St. Louis, the more I resigned myself to it is what it is. I was hoping to be home, but if I should be in a hotel in Miami, I could think of worse things. A warm bed, food and a bath tub isn't so bad.

Upon arriving in Miami, the stewardess said if you are the Tegucigalpa passenger go directly to the gate. At least there was hope. The Miami airport is not arranged in such a way that makes getting from one concourse to another an easy task. I was walking as fast as I could and carrying my laptop, which I probably should not have been carrying that soon after surgery. I walked right on the plane and found my seat. I had already figured out the plane to Tegucigalpa was delayed or I would not have been on it. It was further delayed. Many were grumbling. I was thanking God that I made my connection. And those cashews came in quite handy.

I was sure I would not see my luggage in Tegucigalpa until Friday. I was wrong again. Somehow, all of my luggage made it.

I was so happy to see Marc.

After hugging everyone at Casa de Esperanza, I came down here to my house and called it a day.

Yesterday, I took the time to notice what had been happening while I was gone. No one has ever accused Hondurans of being lazy.

The cottage has been stuccoed inside and outside. The electrical is installed. Plumbing well on its way. Part of the the flooring is in. As I walked through, the rooms are beginning to look like bedrooms. I could almost hear the happy sounds of chilren's voices filling those rooms.

And I am just glad to be home.

Terri