Greetings from Honduras at the end of our second full day here! We are all, I think, both physically and emotionally drained (but I mean that in the most positive way). This morning was the physical part -- we began with morning devotion at 7:00am in the courtyard. We join the 96 children and teachers in an enormous circle outside, and three students enact a bible story in the center. Today´s story was the Temptation of Jesus, featuring the narrator, Jesus (a boy fully draped in a white robe, sort of like Mary in the Nativity), and a terribly cute Diablo in a red cape with hood and horns. A discussion followed in which some of the students and teachers shared their own temptations. These fifteen minutes under the trees and the cool blue Honduran sky is a beautiful way to begin each new day.
Following a quick breakfast, our team split up and between us we helped in the classrooms, poured concrete, and finished painting the second floor of the dormitory. Priscilla, who finally left Honduras late this morning (at least we assume she did since she didn´t come back from the airport), "trained" Julie, Barbara and Martha in how she has been helping in the first grade classroom, where the wonderful teacher is working hard to teach basically four different levels of students. Two of us each day will help her provide some one-on-one with individual children. We are working in the same way in the Spanish and English classes. All of us feel as though our Spanish is getting quite a workout and rapidly improving, no matter where we started.
Meanwhile, there is always something to be done to maintain or improve the property that is El Hogar. One crew finished painting the second floor of the dormitory, unsure whether to be thankful or disappointed that the paint for the second coat never arrived. Another intrepid crew made significant progress laying concrete to patch a large section of the main play area, after laying the rebar yesterday. One teacher commented that he had never seen such "strong, tiny women"! Liz and I ended the morning helping to load about 500 ears of corn from the auditorium into the back of a truck to take to the Institute; fortunately a group of eager young boys showed up about halfway through to join in, enthusiastically yelling "americano" as they individually pitched the ears of corn with great force into the truck in their best Josh Beckett fashion.
After lunch under the mango tree we headed out into Tegucigalpa for a home visit. For five of us it was a new experience. With Raul and Claudia in the U.S., we were entrusted to Arturo, Cesar, and Suyapa (sp?), who did a marvelous job. We took a somewhat circuitous route because some streets are blocked off due to the teacher strike and accompanying protests, which enabled us to see even more of the city. We intended to go to the home of Jonathan and Brian, two new students, but when we arrived their mother was not home. We were startled when Arturo, Cesar and Suyapa came back to the van with two eager boys and said they were bringing one of them back to El Hogar with us! Visions of Christian missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti ran through our heads, until we understood that they didn´t mean today. Turns out we were taking Kevin and his little brother back to their house so Suyapa could talk with their mother, who had asked if Kevin could attend El Hogar. She wasn´t home either, so we returned with them to Jonathan´s home. We then did get to see the home where Jonathan and Brian live with their aunt, cousins and mother -- six people in one very small place with an outdoor latrine shared by the community. Their aunt welcomed us and graciously answered our questions. Then she asked Arturo if her daughter could come to El Hogar. She is 8 years old and attends the public school. Her mother is worried because the girl must walk alone through a dangerous neighborhood each day to get to and from the bus, and she is afraid of what might happen to her. Arturo told her to see Claudia next week. Then we left. It was heartbreaking to see the desperation in the mother´s eyes when she asked Arturo to help her daughter, and to watch the sad faces of Kevin and his brother from the windows of our van as we drove away, leaving them behind.
But there was more. We then stopped by the home of Tesla, a girl who has been with El Hogar for several years and lives in a very primitive situation. No one was home, so we didn´t go inside, but a neighbor permitted us to climb the rickety stairs to the rooftop shack with an outdoor cooking area and no sanitary facilities. It was overwhelming. We returned to El Hogar, thankful that the children there have a safe and loving home.
While we were gone, Ginger (now known by all the children as "la doctora") held her first clinic, ably assisted by Jenny. Today they saw thirteen patients who needed medical care and three who were treated with hugs and kisses. They will hold another clinic tomorrow. Then it was time for the afternoon workshops, and though the contrast sounds extreme, many of us had a lovely time receiving manicures from some of the little girls who are learning the beauty trade. However, we think we will pass on Thursday´s workshop featuring hair cutting by the boys. Simultaneously, Jill, Jean and Martha continued the very popular knitting workshop. This evening we passed out more silly bands, conducted more knitting with the girls, played games with the boys in small groups, and tried to avoid the boys zooming around the walkways and patios on one rollerblade each.
As you can imagine, we had a lot to reflect on during our team´s devotional this evening. We would like to thank our prayer partners for the wonderful, and much needed, notes that we received from you tonight. You, and our families and friends, are in our hearts.
Buenas noches,
Eileen
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