How does a ministry respond to crisis? On June 28, 2009, Suzy McCall and the rest of the LAMB staff in Honduras faced that very question. In the early morning hours, the President was removed from his home and exiled to Costa Rica. Some called it a coup, most Hondurans agreed it was the proper response to a unanimous congressional vote upheld by the Honduran Supreme Court. In truth, to the children of LAMB and the impoverished families supported by LAMB’s CAP program it didn’t matter. Escalating threats of violence mattered. Fear and uncertainty mattered. Drastic reduction of foreign aid and mission teams mattered. To Suzy and LAMB, continuing their service to God mattered. This is what they did:
They celebrated. Aaron Joshue, whom doctors gave up on as an infant, had his second birthday party. Xiomara, who marched into a police station at age 10 demanding to go to school, graduated from 6th grade at the LAMB school at the Children’s Residential Home where she has lived for the last 3 years. Franklin, a beloved staff member, got married at the newly completed Church of the Good Shepherd at the Children’s Residential Home!
They mourned. Alonzo Salgado, who worked in LAMB’s offices in Flor del Campo as an intern, was shot and killed very near there by a couple of thugs who wanted to steal his cell phone. Alonzo came up through LAMB’s scholarship program, and his internship was the last step in becoming a lawyer. He and his wife, Ericka, were in Suzy’s youth group years ago when she first started working in Flor. They have a little girl, Alejandra, who is in LAMB’s day school, El Cordero.
They acted. Within a week of Alonzo’s death, Gladys, one of LAMB’s leaders in Honduras, was moved by the Holy Spirit to start Alonzo’s Movement -- a street-by-street, grassroots movement focused on young teenagers. Plans include a soccer league, tutoring, music and art, and, of course, evangelism and discipleship; it would be a highly relational ministry for young people who feel disconnected from their families and churches. One month later, Suzy writes: “Tomorrow, the "Alonzo Movement" is graduating the first 24 volunteers from the training program for reaching children and young people in the inner-city for Christ. God will turn our mourning into dancing!”
They cared. They arranged for Jorge’s (age 14) lifesaving kidney surgery and nursed him back to health. They arranged for treatment for an elderly lady with a broken pelvis and subsidized the brace which will allow her to walk. Suzy took in two abandoned newborns, each under 5 lbs.
They prayed. For peace in Honduras, for our own Jackson Greene, for St. David’s, for their children, for water at San Buenaventura, in thanksgiving for God’s gracious blessings and for Jorge’s miraculous (per his doctor!) recovery. They praised the Risen Lord and prayed some more.
They built. Two homes for homeless people, a new roof for Oralia – the last wish of a dying mother to shelter her young children, moved a elderly woman’s home to a safe location, installed a bell in the Chapel bell tower, painted the school at the Children’s Residential Home.
They worked. They continued caring for 60 bright, happy children at the Children’s Residential Home – children who came to LAMB broken, abandoned, and abused. They provide a good academic and Christian education to 300 impoverished children in Flor del Campo. They provide food for 20 desperately poor families in La Cantera, they continue training young people to take the Good News of Jesus Christ out into the world.
On November 29, God heard their prayers and provided a peaceful election day, with over 70% voter turnout and a clear winner, recognized by the US and other countries as legitimate. Now that the crisis is over, what will LAMB do? They will celebrate, mourn, act, care, pray, build, and work in the service of our Lord. Thanks be to God!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Missing Honduras
Just a quick note to say how much I miss Suzy, the children, the lovely ladies of La Cantera, the LAMB staff, Erika's family, and the beautiful country of Honduras. My prayers are with you all constantly.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Bom Bom
I was up early today and was reflecting on the concept of abundance. It is such a relative term and depends entirely on the lens through which you view your life and the life of others. That lens is ground on the mill of values. What are the values that bring your life into focus? The children at SBV, by our standards in the US, have very little. To an uninvolved observer, one might say they have little to nothing. They wear used clothes, take only cold showers, they have very little to call their own, their diet is nutritious but limited, they don't go on vacation and rarely have outings. No one in their right mind would say they live lives of abundance. But, spend one day with them and a different lens brings clarity to their lives and to your own. Look past the mended, mismatched clothes and see children who love one another abundantly. Children who clamor for "bom bom" (chewing gum) but always make sure that everyone around them, including the caretakers, have a piece. Children who know first hand the value of a safe home, absence of violence, 3 meals a day plus meriando (afternoon snack), the privilege of schooling, the warmth of a hug and the comfort of a smile. Children who unconsciously look out for each other - wiping the nose of a tiny child, keeping a too small boy from climbing a tree, walking hand in hand, sharing everything with each other because that is simply what they do - no need to exhort them to share. Children who remind me to give a child two bom boms tomorrow because he didn't get one today. Children who live in the tangible expression of the love and power of the Risen Lord. Abundant lives? You bet. My prayer is that we would all live such abundant lives. More on this later...
We have been driving around with the crutches for the man on the road but had not seen him for several days. We were so disappointed yesterday on our way home from SBV when we didn't see him - our last chance. Jose, our driver, went above and beyond the call of duty trying to find the man. He asked several people who all knew who he was talking about but no one had seen him. We tried one more time, going the opposite way of Flor, to retrace our route, certain that we would see him in the morning. We failed. He wasn't there. Wheeler suggested that we give the crutches to Suzy who drives that route often. Such a disappointment.
Is it possible to be in a heart breaking and heart warming situation simultaneously? This morning we went to Flor because it was the SBV kids' visiting day with their families. They load all the kids, except the teens who have visiting day on Wednesday, on the bus and take them to the school. Visiting day is every other month. Their families meet them there for a morning of reunion. Tables were set up on the soccer field so each family unit could be together. I walked in just as a father caught sight of his toddler son. The father's face lit up as he shouted with joy and scooped the child up in his arms. The children climbed the stairs to see who was there to visit with them. I was able to meet many of the families and learned who the siblings are. Some I knew but others I had never connected as hermano o hermana. (brother or sister.) For example, I had no idea that Dunia, Yessenia, and Fernando were siblings.
So I went from table to table taking family pictures. I will have them printed and send down with the next person headed this way. The families brought small picnics and some brought gifts. Most of them seemed very happy to be together. Two obvious exceptions were Evelyn and Yonibel. Evelyn looked miserable and Yonibel grudgingly shoved a card he made at his mother and then turned away. She thrust a little bag of food in his hand which he immediately gave to someone else. Janet and Bonnie noticed one woman holding her toddler son. It was a heart rending scene. She had brought nothing to eat or play with. He sat sadly on her lap as she stared miserably off into space. Bonnie and Janet rushed down to our van and got their lunches for them. Suddenly, the mother's face changed completely as a look of joy and relief washed over her. Amazing what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can do. Not to mention the loving sacrifice of lunch by Janet and Bonnie. They truly were the church today.
9 of the children had no visitors at all. Some appeared unruffled by this and others were devastated. Dunia, Christopher, Yessenia and Yonibel (whose mother left immediately) were really upset.There is a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) missionary who works with the children some. She always takes the children with no visitors on an outing. We had to coax Dunia and Yonibel to come with us. Yessenia refused. We joined the group today and had a blast! There are some universal truths in the world and one is that every kid loves Burger King, especially one with a big play structure in it! We tumbled out of the van and into BK. The kids went directly to the playroom, which we had to ourselves. Hunter, Meagan and I conveniently couldn't read the rule in Spanish that said only children 12 and under allowed in the play structure. We had so much fun but we all agreed that the twisty slide was too twisty for us. (I nearly threw up!) We played tag and generally charged around laughing, hooting and hollering. We ordered the HN equivalent to a happy meal for 39 lemps each. As soon as we got the meals, the children scrambled out of the play structure and sat down to eat. I offered to get them all an icecream cone (9 lemps each - about 50 cents) but noooo they wanted chocolate sundaes. (Who wouldn't?) 18 chocolate sundaes coming up! I noticed that Dunia hadn't eaten her hamburger. I asked her why. "Es para Fernando. El es enferma." She was saving it for her little brother, Fernando, who was home sick in SBV. Her drink? "Para Yessenia." She was saving her drink for Yessenia. All she ate of her lunch were the fries so she could share with her siblings who didn't come. Gina saved her hamburger for Seidy, also sick at SBV. Imagine that. These children go to Burger King as a major treat maybe once every two months and they save the most substantial part of their meal for someone else. These are the children who have "nothing" -- nothing but abundance in love for one another. Dunia and Yonibel left the restaurant laughing and smiling. Quite a change from the trip over. Thanks be to God.
As we were loading the kids into the van, Jose the driver became quite excited. Hunter and Janet looked up to see what was going on. He found the man we had been looking for! We were really far from the his normal route but, lo and behold, just as we were leaving for good, there he was! Alleluia! Hunter took the crutches over to him and showed him how to use them while Janet snapped pictures. (I, of course, missed the whole thing. I was rounding up children in BK.) Hunter said that he had no idea what to do with the crutches until H demonstrated their use. It was an unexpected gift to find him after we had given up. (Is there a lesson there?)
We dropped the kids off at El Cordero and said our final goodbyes. I absolutely hate that.
We headed up to the mountains to see the huge Jesus statue overlooking Teguci. It is in a beautiful park and we had a very nice, relaxing time. Great views of the city, lovely gardens, and even a shop. (I didn't buy a thing...only cuz I had no money with me.)
Back to Erika's for another great dinner - pepian (a type of squash that is delish) barbeque chicken, rice, and rice krispie treats! YUM. Then the traditional packing party with yards of bubblewrap and counting people and suitcases and weighing and all that stuff.
So, this is it. Tomorrow we get on the plane to come home...and plan the next trip to Honduras.
Thanks so much for following along with us and for joining us in prayer for the children and for Honduras. Now, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. THANKS BE TO GOD!
We have been driving around with the crutches for the man on the road but had not seen him for several days. We were so disappointed yesterday on our way home from SBV when we didn't see him - our last chance. Jose, our driver, went above and beyond the call of duty trying to find the man. He asked several people who all knew who he was talking about but no one had seen him. We tried one more time, going the opposite way of Flor, to retrace our route, certain that we would see him in the morning. We failed. He wasn't there. Wheeler suggested that we give the crutches to Suzy who drives that route often. Such a disappointment.
Is it possible to be in a heart breaking and heart warming situation simultaneously? This morning we went to Flor because it was the SBV kids' visiting day with their families. They load all the kids, except the teens who have visiting day on Wednesday, on the bus and take them to the school. Visiting day is every other month. Their families meet them there for a morning of reunion. Tables were set up on the soccer field so each family unit could be together. I walked in just as a father caught sight of his toddler son. The father's face lit up as he shouted with joy and scooped the child up in his arms. The children climbed the stairs to see who was there to visit with them. I was able to meet many of the families and learned who the siblings are. Some I knew but others I had never connected as hermano o hermana. (brother or sister.) For example, I had no idea that Dunia, Yessenia, and Fernando were siblings.
So I went from table to table taking family pictures. I will have them printed and send down with the next person headed this way. The families brought small picnics and some brought gifts. Most of them seemed very happy to be together. Two obvious exceptions were Evelyn and Yonibel. Evelyn looked miserable and Yonibel grudgingly shoved a card he made at his mother and then turned away. She thrust a little bag of food in his hand which he immediately gave to someone else. Janet and Bonnie noticed one woman holding her toddler son. It was a heart rending scene. She had brought nothing to eat or play with. He sat sadly on her lap as she stared miserably off into space. Bonnie and Janet rushed down to our van and got their lunches for them. Suddenly, the mother's face changed completely as a look of joy and relief washed over her. Amazing what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can do. Not to mention the loving sacrifice of lunch by Janet and Bonnie. They truly were the church today.
9 of the children had no visitors at all. Some appeared unruffled by this and others were devastated. Dunia, Christopher, Yessenia and Yonibel (whose mother left immediately) were really upset.There is a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) missionary who works with the children some. She always takes the children with no visitors on an outing. We had to coax Dunia and Yonibel to come with us. Yessenia refused. We joined the group today and had a blast! There are some universal truths in the world and one is that every kid loves Burger King, especially one with a big play structure in it! We tumbled out of the van and into BK. The kids went directly to the playroom, which we had to ourselves. Hunter, Meagan and I conveniently couldn't read the rule in Spanish that said only children 12 and under allowed in the play structure. We had so much fun but we all agreed that the twisty slide was too twisty for us. (I nearly threw up!) We played tag and generally charged around laughing, hooting and hollering. We ordered the HN equivalent to a happy meal for 39 lemps each. As soon as we got the meals, the children scrambled out of the play structure and sat down to eat. I offered to get them all an icecream cone (9 lemps each - about 50 cents) but noooo they wanted chocolate sundaes. (Who wouldn't?) 18 chocolate sundaes coming up! I noticed that Dunia hadn't eaten her hamburger. I asked her why. "Es para Fernando. El es enferma." She was saving it for her little brother, Fernando, who was home sick in SBV. Her drink? "Para Yessenia." She was saving her drink for Yessenia. All she ate of her lunch were the fries so she could share with her siblings who didn't come. Gina saved her hamburger for Seidy, also sick at SBV. Imagine that. These children go to Burger King as a major treat maybe once every two months and they save the most substantial part of their meal for someone else. These are the children who have "nothing" -- nothing but abundance in love for one another. Dunia and Yonibel left the restaurant laughing and smiling. Quite a change from the trip over. Thanks be to God.
As we were loading the kids into the van, Jose the driver became quite excited. Hunter and Janet looked up to see what was going on. He found the man we had been looking for! We were really far from the his normal route but, lo and behold, just as we were leaving for good, there he was! Alleluia! Hunter took the crutches over to him and showed him how to use them while Janet snapped pictures. (I, of course, missed the whole thing. I was rounding up children in BK.) Hunter said that he had no idea what to do with the crutches until H demonstrated their use. It was an unexpected gift to find him after we had given up. (Is there a lesson there?)
We dropped the kids off at El Cordero and said our final goodbyes. I absolutely hate that.
We headed up to the mountains to see the huge Jesus statue overlooking Teguci. It is in a beautiful park and we had a very nice, relaxing time. Great views of the city, lovely gardens, and even a shop. (I didn't buy a thing...only cuz I had no money with me.)
Back to Erika's for another great dinner - pepian (a type of squash that is delish) barbeque chicken, rice, and rice krispie treats! YUM. Then the traditional packing party with yards of bubblewrap and counting people and suitcases and weighing and all that stuff.
So, this is it. Tomorrow we get on the plane to come home...and plan the next trip to Honduras.
Thanks so much for following along with us and for joining us in prayer for the children and for Honduras. Now, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. THANKS BE TO GOD!
Friday, August 7, 2009
I have everything I need now
This was our last day at SBV. I always hate leaving on the last day. Bonnie and Janet spent the day at Flor with the ladies of La Cantera and with some of the school children. Bonnie's heart was really moved on Wednesday by all God's children, young and old, at Flor and she also wanted to sponsor a young school girl. She had asked David to help her with that and, as usual, he got right on it. He introduced her to Diana, an 8 yr old beauty. Diana lives with her grandmother who is terminally ill with cancer. Bonnie tutors a 9 yr. old girl in PA and hopes to get them writing to each other. Janet was really touched by going to visit Diana's grandmother and seeing their home. It is lovely to see people really bond with the wonderful people here.
Hunter, Meagan and I returned to SBV. Hunter (Cazador) spent the morning painting the hallway in the school while Meagan and I were scientists. We started the perc tests and also explored the plot of land next to ours. We hope there is water on that land since the owner has offered to sell it to us. I have no way of knowing but did observe it was much greener and lusher than ours. Surely that means something, right? Can you have that much foliage with no water at all? Say your prayers about that one.
After lunch, we did a little more work and then quit early to play with the kids. We had a contest for the kids to do the playground circuit. Carlos won with a time of 12 seconds to go up the ramp, across the bridge, across the monkey bars, over the bridge, through the tube, and down the slide. Gina, Yonibel, and Dunia were close with 13 seconds. Hunter demonstrated the course in 17 seconds and I was disqualified when I fell off the monkey bars. Well, it wasn't that I fell off, I just couldn't get my entire body back up on the platform. I could get my feet up but that part in the middle wouldn't cooperate.
At about 3:15, we went into Cabin 1 for a little program. The "medianas" (middle girls) did a cute dance for us. Then the middle boys did a great drama about not littering. Elias Hernandez, who has epilepsy and is quite disabled, was adorable trying to participate. The story was that people (played by Yonibel, the other Elias, Joel, Alexander) would just throw trash on the ground. Then Julio would come out and sweep it up, angry that he had to clean up for the others. The boys came back through throwing trash on the ground and Julio would pop out and exhort them, gesticulating wildly, to put the trash in the "basura" (trashcan)... A couple of these scenes were thwarted because Elias Hernandez would swoop in and "help" by putting the trash right in the basura before Julio could counsel the offender. It was so precious.
Next the little bitties got up to sing a couple songs and, true to form, Jocelyn was leading the pack, singing lustily with a huge grin on her face. Most of the others stood stock still staring at us. Not so different from the US!
Finally a couple of the girls got up to say thank you to us for coming, for helping at SBV and for loving them and giving them hugs. Gina, naturally, was one of them. Dunia (11 yrs) then spontaneously asked to give her testamony. Suzy told us later that she had never done that before. Dunia had fallen in love with Meagan, maybe that is what motivated her. Anyway, she told us that she and her siblings, Yessenia and Fernando, had lived in a terrible place in the city. They would roam the streets and no one looked after them. One day, their uncle "did something bad to them." Soon after, they met Suzy and came to live at Casa Hogar (SBV.) She is so happy to be there. "I have everything I need now. I have food, clothes, school, and people who love her." Dunia is so very dear. My heart breaks to think of how she had to live before SBV and my heart is filled with joy knowing that she is safe, happy, healthy, and loved now. Thanks be to God for all the wonderful people who care for those dear lambs.
On the way home we stopped by Suzy's house to see Aaron Joshue who wasn't there last Sunday. He really buzzes around on the tiniest wheelchair known to man. Tomasa gave him a buzz so he looks more grown up (at 22 months) than he did with longer hair. I must confess, I miss his full head of hair. Cesia looked beautiful as usual and Evelyn motored around in her little walker, despite being sick.
Tonight we went into Teguci to a really nice restaurant called El Patio. The food was plenteous and delicious. They loaded us up with appetizers - my favorite being the fried plantain. YUM. Then we all had "pinchos" or shish kebabs that were enormous. It was really fun - full of local color. They had this display as we entered of a man behind a plow pulled by two bulls. They were almost life size and made out of some natural material - kinda like the corn husks used for tamales. Meagan almost knocked the tail off of one! See the picture of her with one and notice how anatomically correct it is!
Tomorrow is the bi-monthly visiting day for the children. They are all bused into Flor to see their birth parents - if they show up. We are all going to Flor tomorrow to be a part of it. It is particularly important to us because several children, including Dunia and Elias Hernandez, never have anyone come to see them. Tomorrow, we will be their visitors.
I absolutely hate that tomorrow is our last day here. We were about to get stranded here indefinitely. We woke up to the news that the meteorologists were on strike and all the airports were closed. Officially I was very concerned and working with Suzy and David to come up with Plan B (bus to El Salvador, flight home) but inwardly I was jumping for joy. Sadly, oops I mean happily, the airports reopened this afternoon.
Sleep well... We will after our huge meal!
Hunter, Meagan and I returned to SBV. Hunter (Cazador) spent the morning painting the hallway in the school while Meagan and I were scientists. We started the perc tests and also explored the plot of land next to ours. We hope there is water on that land since the owner has offered to sell it to us. I have no way of knowing but did observe it was much greener and lusher than ours. Surely that means something, right? Can you have that much foliage with no water at all? Say your prayers about that one.
After lunch, we did a little more work and then quit early to play with the kids. We had a contest for the kids to do the playground circuit. Carlos won with a time of 12 seconds to go up the ramp, across the bridge, across the monkey bars, over the bridge, through the tube, and down the slide. Gina, Yonibel, and Dunia were close with 13 seconds. Hunter demonstrated the course in 17 seconds and I was disqualified when I fell off the monkey bars. Well, it wasn't that I fell off, I just couldn't get my entire body back up on the platform. I could get my feet up but that part in the middle wouldn't cooperate.
At about 3:15, we went into Cabin 1 for a little program. The "medianas" (middle girls) did a cute dance for us. Then the middle boys did a great drama about not littering. Elias Hernandez, who has epilepsy and is quite disabled, was adorable trying to participate. The story was that people (played by Yonibel, the other Elias, Joel, Alexander) would just throw trash on the ground. Then Julio would come out and sweep it up, angry that he had to clean up for the others. The boys came back through throwing trash on the ground and Julio would pop out and exhort them, gesticulating wildly, to put the trash in the "basura" (trashcan)... A couple of these scenes were thwarted because Elias Hernandez would swoop in and "help" by putting the trash right in the basura before Julio could counsel the offender. It was so precious.
Next the little bitties got up to sing a couple songs and, true to form, Jocelyn was leading the pack, singing lustily with a huge grin on her face. Most of the others stood stock still staring at us. Not so different from the US!
Finally a couple of the girls got up to say thank you to us for coming, for helping at SBV and for loving them and giving them hugs. Gina, naturally, was one of them. Dunia (11 yrs) then spontaneously asked to give her testamony. Suzy told us later that she had never done that before. Dunia had fallen in love with Meagan, maybe that is what motivated her. Anyway, she told us that she and her siblings, Yessenia and Fernando, had lived in a terrible place in the city. They would roam the streets and no one looked after them. One day, their uncle "did something bad to them." Soon after, they met Suzy and came to live at Casa Hogar (SBV.) She is so happy to be there. "I have everything I need now. I have food, clothes, school, and people who love her." Dunia is so very dear. My heart breaks to think of how she had to live before SBV and my heart is filled with joy knowing that she is safe, happy, healthy, and loved now. Thanks be to God for all the wonderful people who care for those dear lambs.
On the way home we stopped by Suzy's house to see Aaron Joshue who wasn't there last Sunday. He really buzzes around on the tiniest wheelchair known to man. Tomasa gave him a buzz so he looks more grown up (at 22 months) than he did with longer hair. I must confess, I miss his full head of hair. Cesia looked beautiful as usual and Evelyn motored around in her little walker, despite being sick.
Tonight we went into Teguci to a really nice restaurant called El Patio. The food was plenteous and delicious. They loaded us up with appetizers - my favorite being the fried plantain. YUM. Then we all had "pinchos" or shish kebabs that were enormous. It was really fun - full of local color. They had this display as we entered of a man behind a plow pulled by two bulls. They were almost life size and made out of some natural material - kinda like the corn husks used for tamales. Meagan almost knocked the tail off of one! See the picture of her with one and notice how anatomically correct it is!
Tomorrow is the bi-monthly visiting day for the children. They are all bused into Flor to see their birth parents - if they show up. We are all going to Flor tomorrow to be a part of it. It is particularly important to us because several children, including Dunia and Elias Hernandez, never have anyone come to see them. Tomorrow, we will be their visitors.
I absolutely hate that tomorrow is our last day here. We were about to get stranded here indefinitely. We woke up to the news that the meteorologists were on strike and all the airports were closed. Officially I was very concerned and working with Suzy and David to come up with Plan B (bus to El Salvador, flight home) but inwardly I was jumping for joy. Sadly, oops I mean happily, the airports reopened this afternoon.
Sleep well... We will after our huge meal!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
All 5 senses present and accounted for...
Testing the functionality of the five senses:
So, today Hunter, Meagan and I were working on the tests John McKinnon gave us to do on the land around the cesspits. (I feel like there is a different word for them but I can't think of it now...) At 9AM it wasn't so bad. In fact, the area just below them is lush and green with lots of thick vegetation. Something that makes you go, "Hmmmm." Anyway, we had to dig 4 holes, each 3 feet deep, to do percolation tests on the soil. It takes longer than you think to dig holes in the dirt here. In fact, all morning. I must confess that at 11:57 we declared Hole 4 deep enough at 31 inches. It was either 5 more inches of digging or lunch. No contest. While we were doing that, Bonnie and Janet were doing yeoman's work painting the hallway. They got an amazing amount of work done. It was hotter and more humid today and the school doesn't have as much cross ventilation as you'd like. Nevertheless, they made huge progress.
After lunch, Hunter joined the ladies painting while Meagan and I recorded several topographical data about the land below the cesspits. She began pacing off the distance by literally going heel to toe, heel to toe, arms akimbo to keep her balance. I gently (when I say gently I mean laughing) suggested that counting the strides was probably good enough. "Ah yes," she remarked, "it's much faster this way." Then we took a video of the area as we made very scientisty observations about the terrain, vegetation, etc.
The most entertaining activity was figuring out the slope from the cesspits down to the little ravine. John had given us detailed directions, complete with illustrations. Sadly, he did not account for our nuttiness. Happily, though, Wilmer and Pedro came to help. We started tying the string John provided about 6” above the ground. We had to tie it to trees along the way, ensuring the string was level. The first tree was no problem. The next tree, a bit challenging, after that we needed a ladder. The final tree had Pedro climb up the ladder and into the fairly flimsy pine tree, scaling it higher and higher till we got the string level-ish. The string was 17 feet above ground! I have NO IDEA whether we did this right or not. Tomorrow we will do the perc tests because the pre-soak was slow. “Huh?” you might ask. “Beats me,” I reply, “ask John.”
This evening David joined us along with Erika, Andrea, and Maria for Holy Eucharist and then a delish dinner of papusas! We had the first rain storm of the week during dinner and it was raining so hard on the tin roof we had to eat in silence! You couldn’t hear anything! Soon it stopped and we had a lovely evening.
Joey and Alyssa - I made an executive decision that the peluchas you gave me to bring down would go to the newest children to welcome them to LAMB. The last picture is of Manuel, 6, who is Mirza's brother and arrived this week. I will give the others to Suzy to have on hand when she gets the other babies from Social Services. I hope that is OK.
Electricity is on and off so I will wrap up now. I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. Oh, arrgghhh, we did not see the man along the road today. Pray that we will tomorrow. Hasta manana!
- Hearing - the sound of children laughing as Hunter tosses them up to "touch the sky": Check
- Sight - the quiet dignity and strength in the faces of the ladies of La Cantera: Check
- Taste - snarfing down vast amounts of Erika's delicious cooking: Check
- Feeling - a child running full speed into you to give you a big hug: Check
- Smell - working down by the cesspits in the full sun and heat of the afternoon: Check
So, today Hunter, Meagan and I were working on the tests John McKinnon gave us to do on the land around the cesspits. (I feel like there is a different word for them but I can't think of it now...) At 9AM it wasn't so bad. In fact, the area just below them is lush and green with lots of thick vegetation. Something that makes you go, "Hmmmm." Anyway, we had to dig 4 holes, each 3 feet deep, to do percolation tests on the soil. It takes longer than you think to dig holes in the dirt here. In fact, all morning. I must confess that at 11:57 we declared Hole 4 deep enough at 31 inches. It was either 5 more inches of digging or lunch. No contest. While we were doing that, Bonnie and Janet were doing yeoman's work painting the hallway. They got an amazing amount of work done. It was hotter and more humid today and the school doesn't have as much cross ventilation as you'd like. Nevertheless, they made huge progress.
After lunch, Hunter joined the ladies painting while Meagan and I recorded several topographical data about the land below the cesspits. She began pacing off the distance by literally going heel to toe, heel to toe, arms akimbo to keep her balance. I gently (when I say gently I mean laughing) suggested that counting the strides was probably good enough. "Ah yes," she remarked, "it's much faster this way." Then we took a video of the area as we made very scientisty observations about the terrain, vegetation, etc.
The most entertaining activity was figuring out the slope from the cesspits down to the little ravine. John had given us detailed directions, complete with illustrations. Sadly, he did not account for our nuttiness. Happily, though, Wilmer and Pedro came to help. We started tying the string John provided about 6” above the ground. We had to tie it to trees along the way, ensuring the string was level. The first tree was no problem. The next tree, a bit challenging, after that we needed a ladder. The final tree had Pedro climb up the ladder and into the fairly flimsy pine tree, scaling it higher and higher till we got the string level-ish. The string was 17 feet above ground! I have NO IDEA whether we did this right or not. Tomorrow we will do the perc tests because the pre-soak was slow. “Huh?” you might ask. “Beats me,” I reply, “ask John.”
This evening David joined us along with Erika, Andrea, and Maria for Holy Eucharist and then a delish dinner of papusas! We had the first rain storm of the week during dinner and it was raining so hard on the tin roof we had to eat in silence! You couldn’t hear anything! Soon it stopped and we had a lovely evening.
Joey and Alyssa - I made an executive decision that the peluchas you gave me to bring down would go to the newest children to welcome them to LAMB. The last picture is of Manuel, 6, who is Mirza's brother and arrived this week. I will give the others to Suzy to have on hand when she gets the other babies from Social Services. I hope that is OK.
Electricity is on and off so I will wrap up now. I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. Oh, arrgghhh, we did not see the man along the road today. Pray that we will tomorrow. Hasta manana!
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