Honduras Mission Trip

“Do people use blinkers here?” “Occasionally.”

2011-06-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

So today was our last work day. We went to SBV where Mario decided he wanted to put us to work doing some HARD labor. He needed us to dig out the side of the boys dorm and move the dirt around to the other side where it would get tamped down. We were also chiseling the walls to make them smooth. I started on the chiseling crew, and worked my way up to digging. By the end of the day I was on tamping duty. Everyone is tired tonight and has sore arms and legs.

Morning

Midday

End of the day

Those suckers are heavy!!

When we got home, Amanda drove Joey, Jan, and myself to the grocery store with her. On the way home, we got stuck in traffic, with people blowing their horns at anything they could think of. Amanda told us she had to get a louder horn put in her car because the other one wasn’t strong enough. We were watching people cut each other off, and Joey asks “Do people ever use blinkers here?” Amanda said “Occasionally.” It is almost shocking how we never got into an accident, however, we have had quite a few horns blown at us.

Tonight, we had fajitas…fresh fajitas! They were very good. I liked the chicken the best, others liked the pork, some liked the steak! After that it was a quick debrief, pack, and the kids are watching a movie. All in all, it has been a good trip. Few speed bumps, but nothing we couldn’t work out on the spot.

We also would like to mention that we had three high school graduates with us this year. Anna Bowman, Alex Ferrand, and Alyssa Sargent. Their picture is posted below. We hope they will come back and join us as their school breaks allow!

Our high school graduates

Look at Andrews swing set!!

Score! Score!!

2011-06-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

This will be very short! We are all exhausted! This morning we had an early start! We went to Flor to the God’s Littlest Lambs School. Flor is right next to La Cantera, which is the poorest of the poor in Honduras. In about a 10 minute drive, we went from middle class nice homes to mud roofs and mud roads (or rock roads, depending on which street you were on). But to see the kids very happy in school and loving their friends, it makes you realize that they are thankful for what they do have.

I did video some of their program which I will post after I edit it down a little!

We then went to SBV where some of us were sent to pick up the broken glass and metal that the kids could potentially get hurt on. Andrew, Jacob, and Jeremy stayed behind to fix the cabinet. By the end of the day, not only did we have a working game room but the kids love it. They would have played foosball for hours if we had let them. Pictures will be posted in the morning!

Tomorrow, we head back to SBV to work on the boys dorm and Andrew wants to build a swing for the kids!

Goats, Wasps, and roosters, oh my!

2011-06-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

We were back out at SBV today. We were determined to finish the ‘workout room’ which we have since learned is actually going to be a game room and a workout room. The boys really wanted to finish the foosball table and not only did they finish it, they did an excellent job on it. Mario, who is in charge of maintenance at SBV told us he wanted the entire workout room painted. This includes the floor. Not only that, but it is all the same color, and it is a bright orange. On top of that, half of this room is made out of corrugated metal. You can’t paint corrugated metal with a roller. It must be done by a paint brush. It took a long time to paint that. With Geoff and Joey’s help, I got the bottom half of the outside wall painted before lunch. We also had to move everything out of this room so we could paint the floor. This included a termite infested play pen, a cabinet that was made with rotting wood, 4 recliner chairs that were COVERED in dust, and the stairmaster that has no control panel and only one wheel. It also includes 3 non working air conditioner units and two broken children size pews. As you can tell by the grounds at SBV, they don’t throw ANYTHING away. They try to fix it, clean it, somehow reuse it. As Pamm told me tonight, for some people in Honduras, that is their livelihood. They take other peoples throwaways and try to fix it or clean it to sell it.

While we were at SBV today, there were three goats that kept wandering around. They were little baby goats and two were tied to different trees, and one was tied to a cement brick (which of course, had to make the joke “New Kids on the block!”). After the work was done, Mario untied the goats. Well, the goats decided we looked pretty interesting, so they approached us. One of them decided he was going to jump on me….until I got into my karate stance! It seemed to work, as he moved on to taunting Geoff.

We have also been having issues with wasps nests in the area we have been cleaning, so last night, Amanda asked Judith for some espuma de obispo. One problem with that request. Obispo is Spanish for Bishop. Avispa is Spanish for wasp. Amanda had asked for bishop spray! After lots of laughter, we finally got the wasp spray, which we promptly left in the van this morning. We will be taking care of the wasp situation tomorrow.

New kids on the block!!!

The roosters here don’t know how to tell time. The roosters don’t crow first thing in the morning. They crow ALL DAY LONG. And there is approximately 15 of them at SBV. That is pretty much all we hear!

We have had one solider down as Anna has been sick, however she is healing, and it is interesting to watch the youth make sure that she is okay.

We are headed to Flor tomorrow as the children at the LAMB school have prepared a program for us. Then we head back to SBV to keep on working.

Truth or Dare

2011-06-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hola from Honduras! Yesterday (Sunday) we had church at SBV with the children. It was kind of an interactive service where the children got to be a part of the sermon. I have some pictures posted below, as well as a video of the children doing the music.

After church, we took our traditional trip to Valle of the Angels where everyone did a little bit of shopping. Since we don’t have to buy for the art auction this year, it was more relaxed for us.

This morning, after a delicious breakfast, we went to SBV. Since we are a smaller group, we are taking on smaller projects. We moved and sorted a pile of wood into good wood and bad wood. We are also in the process of painting the shed. We are almost done. I predict we will have it completed by tomorrow at lunch. This shed used to be the schoolhouse, and now it is the ‘workout’ room. Sort of. There is a stairmaster, but no control panel. There are weights made out of tree limbs and coffee cans filled with cement. And there is a chin up bar hanging from the ceiling by some rope. Also, our boys are working on fixing a foosball table for the SBV girls. All we have is the top of the table. No legs and they are trying to put the sides of the table back on.

The kids attempted to make the work today as fun as possible by adding a game of Truth or Dare. We had some interesting dares. One of Andrews was to run in the shed yelling and shouting, Jeremy had to end every sentence with “Undelay Undelay” and Jacob had to stand in the closet for 30 minutes!

The five second rule does not apply when in Honduras!

2011-06-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

So, this morning started off early! Honduras is 2 hours behind Atlanta, so our clocks are off a little bit! Our room, consisting of Pamm, Jan, and myself, were all awake by 5:30. After a delicious breakfast of waffles cooked by Judith, we piled in the vans to head out to San Buena Ventura (SBV). My advice from last time still stands. Don’t try to drive yourself around here. And if you are sitting in the front seat, cover your eyes. As printed on a t-shirt, these rules still apply:

1) Blind curves are ideal for passing

2) Use horn in all situations

3) Green light signals start of the race
4) Red light means watch out I’m coming through
5) All garbage goes out the window immediately
6) When driving at night use at least one headlight must be out of order at all times.
7) In all city driving situations, jungle rules apply.

But there have been some new ones added:
1) It’s okay to look behind you while driving forward
2) It’s perfectly acceptable to fit 2 cars in a single lane
3) You should be able to see what is in the bed of the truck that’s in front of you.

Jeremy's new tattoo

Anyway, we got to SBV (safely, I might add!) and had field day with the kids. Our methods of organizing the kids into the “King size”, “Fun size”, and “Snack size” groups went nowhere. So, instead we opened up the Pamm and Anna Tattoo Parlor (By the way, Katie, Jeremy got a new tattoo – see the pictures!), the Joey and Amy Nail Salon, the “Andrew and Alex Minute to Win-It-Games” and the Geoff and Jacob Soccer/Whiffle Ball clinic. What was really interesting to watch were the kids watching Pamm and Anna putting the tattoos on, and so then they starting not only putting them on each other, but anything they could get their hands on, including the dog! The girls loved the Nail Salon, and I think each child tried every color of nail polish we had and then started painting the babies fingernails! We also had some of the boys painting some of the girls toenails!

Noriella got a tattoo.

Jeremy and Andrew sandwich him.

The kids love Pamm! She cheers them on no matter what!

So now Noriella gets her nails painted after 2 tattoos!

After a quick lunch, we went to Chiminike, which is a children’s museum in Tegucigalpa. It was pretty cool – I know there is a children’s museum in Atlanta, but we need one like this! You could do karoke, be on the radio, make up your own TV broadcast, watch what your nose goes through in a sneeze (which is gross and cool at the same time!), and there were a few other interesting exhibits as you will see in the pictures!

On our way home, we stopped at a ‘mall’ to get some ice cream and a plane literally flew right over our heads. It was creepy!

Airport held true to its name

2011-06-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Seeing as we have all been up since before the roosters, this will be short and sweet.

We all made it here safe and sound and only one of us got the full body screen (way to go Jeremy!). It is somewhat disturbing when the pilot can't pronounce the city name correctly, but nevertheless, the plane hit the runway, and he hit the brakes!

The rest of the day was spent laughing at various jokes including "Where's Jeremy" and the "Corner of Doom". Our rookies fit right in, and had a blast playing with the kids at SBV.

Tonight we played a few of our minute to win it games to get ready for Field Day tommorrow. As you can see, we have some interesting games!

Tommorrow is field day!! More pictures tommorrow!

Home sweet home

2009-04-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the team made it back to Atlanta safely. All of the bags made it this time and going through customs in Atlanta was a treat (and yes, that was completely sarcastic!). Go through the customs counter, pick up your checked luggage from this carousel, move it to this carousel, go through security again (yes, even if Atlanta is your final destination), pick up your baggage again.....I felt like I was running around in circles.

I will say it was nice to get home to my family, my dogs, my cat, and my own bed, not to mentioned a long HOT shower.

The kids were great in helping with shifting the luggage from one carousel to another. We all were tired ar the end of this journey, so it was nice to see the kids willing to jump right in and help with the luggage. Tomorrow I will post more pictures.

Signing off from ATLANTA!

Cottage 4 √

2009-04-11T05:14:00.001-07:00

Not only is cottage 4 done, but cottage 3 is done too!

When we left yesterday, all that was left was the high parts of Cottage 4 and the high windows of cottage 3. Thanks to Leonard and Renee, who worked while the rest of us had field day with the kids, both cottages were complete. I can't post pictures because my camera is packed to go home, but I will post them when I return to Atlanta.

The finished Cottage 4 (AKA Wheeler's Cottage!)!

While we tie-dyed, Leonard and Renee finished up Cottages 3 and 4 for us.

Speaking of field day (sort of), the kids had a GREAT time. The tie-dye was loved by all, and even though the shirts dried "crunchy" because of the salt, the color took extremely well. Each child was allowed to pick 2 colors between Verde, Rojo, Azul y Morado (aka Green, Red, Blue, and Purple). They all laughed when John and Casey did the Cha Cha Slide and tried to learn it. The Easter Egg Hunt was a big hit, and was interesting to see the kids helping each other to find the eggs. Each child was allowed to find four eggs, and they got onto each other (ok really just Fredrico) if they got more than the allotted four eggs, but if they saw a child had only 2 eggs, they would either help them find more eggs, or share theirs.

Carolyn tie-dyeing with the kids.

As a surprise to Wheeler yesterday, Cottage 4 was dedicated to him at 2:00 for his service to the LAMB institute and his dedication to being Grandpa to all of the children. A plaque has been made, and right before the children move in the plaque will be hung inside. The children should begin moving into cottage 4 in 2 weeks! The final touches are being put on the building, like the ceiling fans that our group carried down in suitcases!

Wheeler's dedication ceremony

The children's program was both entertaining and surprising as you see all of the talents the kids have. I have video and that about sums up that entire program!

Last night, the adults once again took over the dinner line and the table. The kids had to actually sit and have an intelligent conversation with us.....sort of.

We are coming home on Saturday, so we need to get this packin' ball rollin.

Signing off from Honduras.

Chickens crossing the road

2009-04-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

I literally saw three chickens crossing the road this morning on our way to San Buena Ventura. It was kinda funny!

Well, our plans to have Cottage 4 by lunch didn’t exactly go as planned, but with good reason. Our guys who volunteered to paint the high rise were making concrete this morning for the laundry room. So, we did everything we could, and all that is left is the REALLY high parts which will be done on Friday.

The Tinkerbell Twins

However since my group was moving so quickly we were handed a project that the Atlanta Crew wasn’t supposed to have time for. We finished the edging and trim on Cottage 3.

Tonight we went to the Maundy Thursday service at Cristor Redentor. Once again, I didn’t understand anything until Suzy translated the sermon!

The adults also got a big kick out of being able to be first in line for dinner for a change (and if you have traveled with these youth, you understand why we were so happy). We also managed to really embarrass them, which was great!

After that we planned for tomorrow’s field day. The kids will be broken into 3 groups. The nursery, the oldest, and the inbetween. They affectionately have been named snack size, king size, and fun size, respectively.

The St. Aidan's Team was able to spend a little time with Anita today. She really liked the photo album and stickers Karen sent and the letters the children sent.

After a long day, I am signing off. More after field day.

Keeping it moooooving......Day 2 construction

2009-04-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

All I have to say to start is 12 year old Geoff Ferrand kicked some butt today with the painting. On Monday, our team laid the first coat of paint on the exterior of Cottage 4. We were very proud that at the end of the day, the entire building had been painted with the exception of the trim….which we were told not to do yet. A word of caution told to us by our foreman “Here in Honduras, if you break a bone, they don’t fix it, they chop it off.” And with that, we decided not to attempt the trim on Monday. When we arrived today, we decided that the exterior of cottage 4 needed a second coat. By this time, Joey had moved over to helping paint the laundry room with Auburn, so it was Geoff, Karen and myself left to paint the second coat. Between the three of us, we had painted all four exterior walls by 11:20. After a brief discussion with Wheeler, he decided that since our group was moving along so quickly, that we got to not only paint the trim, but we also got to paint the windows and window sills. Since the building is a light peach, we are painting the windows and sills a burnt orange color. It is really pretty. See the picture of Joey on one of the sills (she came back to join us after the laundry room was complete). We should have this finished by lunch tomorrow. Oh, and Leonard decided he wasn’t scared of a few broken bones, so he is going up on the ladder for the high parts.

Stray cow came to keep things mooooving along.

After we rushed back so that we could all get medium warm showers quickly, we had a quick reflection as a needed distraction. We needed Wheeler to be out of his room because the group sharing the house with us was setting up the surprise party for his 89th birthday. Wheeler turns 89 later this month, and we spent the last two nights putting together a scrapbook for him. Wheeler is originally from St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roswell. He moved down here four years ago (he claims he learns one new Spanish word a year – he is up to four!). The other group created a “Mariachi” band that sang “Feliz Cumpleanos” where Wheeler danced with Bonnie. See the video…..Give it about 30 seconds and I move in between two of the members of the Mariachi band to get the filming….sorry, I can’t edit it here.

I will say that the kids are enjoying being with each other. Of course, they are all missing home, and the comforts of their own beds, but they are doing well hanging out with each other. Tommorrow will be our last day of work, as Friday is booked with the children's program and the second half of field day, which consists of tie-dyeing and an Easter Egg Hunt.

Signing off from Honduras.

A little taste of home….

2009-04-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

So today was our day off. I know what you are thinking ‘One days work and they are already taking a day off?’ Every group that visits We went to El Flor De Campo and took a tour of God’s Littlest Lambs School. This school is part day care, part school. The school is considered private, and a luxury. However, because the public school system doesn’t carry a ‘regular’ schedule, this school provides an academic year schedule. The teacher’s union for the public schools is very strong and the government doesn’t always pay the teachers. When the government doesn’t pay the teachers, the teachers go on strike. The children could be out of school for weeks or even months.

Below are pictures of our group standing on the soccer field and playground that they had worked on in years past.

Team picture....yes, that is me, way out to the side....

Our teens on the bridge of the playground that groups in the past helped to build.

After the tour of the school, most of the group went to tour La Cantera. La Cantera is extreme poverty and can hit a person extremely hard. There were a few of us who chose to stay behind because of the devastation. When the group returned, you could see somber looks on the faces of the visitors.

Our teens enjoying a little taste of home in Chili's....with a Spanish menu!

After the visit to LaCantera, we decided to stop at a medical supplies store to purchase crutches for a young boy in LaCantera, one for Anna Marina at Santa Buena Ventura, and a neck brace for another child. We also visited the pewter shop where Amanda, Bonnie, Renee, and Karen had quite a lot of fun stocking up for the art auction in November. Alex managed to find a Pewter Oscar, so he is now working on his acceptance speech.

We then found a Chili’s where the adults traded with the youth. We would eat lunch at Chili’s if they would go to bed at a reasonable hour (and by reasonable, we mean, like 11 versus 1).
After Chili’s, we went to Valle of the Angels. The way there was an interesting drive. And when I say drive, I mean more like race. Let me put it this way, if you come to Honduras for whatever reason, hire a driver. Don’t try to do it yourself. You won’t make it!

According to a t-shirt, these are the driving rules of Honduras.
1) Blind curves are ideal for passing
2) Use horn in all situations
3) Green light signals start of the race
4) Red light means watch out I’m coming through
5) All garbage goes out the window immediately
6) When driving at night use at least one headlight must be out of order at all times.
7) In all city driving situations, jungle rules apply.

Bonnie, Amanda, and Karen had a blast loading up for the auction here as well, and looks like we will have a great auction this year! The girls got matching “100% Gringo” shirts….Don’t ask….I don’t get it. Update on 4/15/09: Sam explained it to me....I get it now. Thanks Sam!

Tonight, we listened to Suzy talk about how she got the LAMB institute started. We combined with the other group staying here. It was shocking to hear the human (more like child) trafficking statistics.

We ended the evening with a discussion about La Cantera, and our general feelings overall. It is interesting to me that our kids can’t wait to get back to their iPods at the end of the day, but the kids we are here to visit and work for don’t even know what an iPod is. They are happy to have food on the table.

Tomorrow and Thursday we go back to work at San Buena Ventura.

Hope you are enjoying the pictures!

Signing off from Honduras.

Day 3 - First day of construction

2009-04-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how my power nap did nothing to keep me awake for later, this will be short but sweet!

We spent the day working around the children’s home today. Our boys, who have nicknamed themselves TNT (don’t ask me, I don’t understand), were on tamping duty behind the laundry room. They had it pretty close to done by 2:00. At lunch time, all of their hard work resulted in this picture:

Casey, takin' a nap.

Since they finished early, they got to help my group finish up the painting of cottage 4. And as you can imagine, with this many teenagers painting, a few paint fights broke out. I left here this morning wearing red and black. I came back wearing peach, with a little bit of red and black. Apparently, I was the target.

Don’t forget to check out Amanda’s blog at http://amanda-scott.blogspot.com/ for her side and pictures. Amanda was up in the new school today getting it ready to have tiled floor laid down next week by that visiting group.

We had an excellent dinner, followed by ice cream!

Tomorrow will be spent at LAMB, La Cantera, and Valley of the Angels.

For more details, check out the attached picture!

Signing off…and goodnight!

Go Georgia Bulldogs..….and a stray donkey?

2009-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

So, the air conditioner was up really high, so our room was really cold last night! Hopefully we have fixed that problem.

We started off the day with a great pancake breakfast, followed by a trip to Cristo Redentor for the Palm Sunday Service. The kids were so happy to see us and sat with us. The service was approximately 2 hours long.

We then came back to Erika’s for another great lunch where our final two teammates had flown in from Atlanta. It didn’t take Casey and Renee nearly as long to get through customs as it took us. Then again, there was only two of them.

After we loaded up our tummies, and the vans, we went to San Buena Ventura. Now, I will say that I am glad I was DJ, otherwise I would have seen the pass on a double yellow on a curve with a BUS coming the other way….oops, I don’t think I was supposed to see that. Field Day was a big hit. The kids loved Freeze tag and that they had to crawl through each other’s legs to ‘unfreeze’ their teammate. Plus, the kids loved Casey the Clown as you will see. Bonnie opened up the bag of embroidery thread to make friendship bracelets and was like a moth to a flame. She was SURROUNDED! But I think the biggest hit of Field Day for our group was when we taught Cindy, John’s favorite, to say ‘Go Georgia Bulldogs’. Check out the video!

Casey Before

Casey after

On the way home, the driver let us plug in our translator’s iPod and listen to whatever. As you will see from the video, our kids LOVED Soulja Boy. But it was odd….there was a stray…..donkey on the side of the road? I mean cats and dogs yes, but a donkey? Tomorrow we start our work on the director’s house, the school, and cottage 4. Look for some pictures tomorrow!

Drop and Stop (and keep on rollin’)

2009-04-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

So it is the end of a very long, but good, day! It is 10:41 at home, and 8:41 here, and all of us are exhausted from getting up at 4:30 or earlier. So, I will give you a brief synopsis on the day.

The Atlanta airport was interesting. We hadn’t been at the gate 15 minutes when a security guard approached a youth in our group because his backpack was zip-tied to a chair and the only way to disconnect it was with scissors, which of course, none of us had with us.

The flight was uneventful, and all but one of the bags made it. Luckily the missing bag was not someone’s personal items, and just donated items, so we will be fine without it until it is delivered. However, if you noticed, I titled this blog Drop and Stop. That would be the nickname of the Tegucigalpa airport. And I learned why. We weren’t that far off the ground and the wings weren’t level, we hit the ground hard and the pilot slammed on his brakes. It was well…..interesting to say the least. I think I could have done without hearing the plane tires squeal.

As you see from the pictures, we have A LOT of luggage. However, the youth were very helpful in getting the luggage off the carousel while the rest of the group worked their way through customs. All in all, it took us 45 minutes to get us all through customs, get all of the luggage, and get it outside where our ride was waiting for us. Not to mention, Anna falling off her suitcase, which kept us laughing for quite sometime….

So, the ride to Erika’s from the airport. Now, I don’t want to be offensive and say the driving is crazy, so I will go with living dangerously with no seatbelts!

Lunch was excellent. The guest house is gorgeous, plenty of space for us and the other group that is staying here.

We went and played with the kids this afternoon. As you will see from the pictures and the video, these kids have a lot of energy, and they don’t care who is it, as long as someone is chasing them. They ran to greet the vans when we pulled in, and you see John holding up one child who loves him. Auburn made a very quick friend, but one that wouldn’t tell us her name. I am sure we can get it out of her teachers.

As I sit here, and listen to the kids in the living room singing ‘Sanctuary’ it is time for me to sign off for the night. Tomorrow is a busy day with the first half of field day in the afternoon (the second half is Friday morning). Tomorrow will be field games and crafts.

I hope all is well. It is hot here and humid like it is in the summer in Atlanta.

Signing off from Honduras!

Top two pictures 1 - little girl going over the top to get away from "ít" 2- Alyssa and I standing in the new church that is in the process of being built.

Bottom 4 - 1 - top left- At the airport in Tegucigalpa. Seriously, looks like we moved there.

2 - John being greeted by a little boy who remembered him from last year.

3 - Phillip - on the way to San Buena Ventura.

4 - Auburn and her new found friend who really didn´t want Auburn to leave SBV yesterday!

Less than a week...

2009-03-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

Oh boy.....so those of you who have traveled with me, you KNOW I don't pack light. And the trip leaders want all personal belongings in a carry-on? What is the biggest size carry-on again?

So, it is Tuesday night.....I still have to finish planning field day...but luckily for me, all the materials are ready to go. Now I just need to get which games are being played when and who is running them.

But, that is beside the point. I have a feeling that even if I forget something and have to be without it for a week, that these kids have either been missing it a lot longer or don't even realize it exists.

I probably won't post again until Saturday night after we arrive (unless I get some time later this week!) Talk to you next time from Honduras!

Getting ready to hit the road

2009-03-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

So it is now a little less than three weeks before the second group heads to Honduras, and it hit me today how much I have left to do to get ready to go....

I have started putting stuff together that I am pretty sure I would forget otherwise. I think i now have collected everything on the "What to bring" list, although I am not sure I know where all of it is....my next chore would be to find the missing items.....

On the other hand, these people tend to do without most of the time, and somehow they manage. The first group just returned from Honduras yesterday and in talking to Father Keith this morning, you can see the twinkle in his eye when he talks about the kids down there, and the projects that they worked on. He, too, is a rookie like me.

I also followed Amanda's blog while she was there, and it was interesting to read the stories about their daily activities. You also can follow her blog at www.amanda-scott.blogspot.com. Amanda will be traveling with the April group as well, so there will be updates from more than just me!

As much as I have left to do, I am looking forward to traveling with new found friends, and strengthing the friendship. I hope you will follow us, and enjoy our journey being on the 'home team'.