Saturday, April 12, 2008

Farewell

Yesterday was our last full day of work and we really earned the big bucks! We hung massive amounts of chickenwire which also means our ironwoman crew worked over time. We ran out of the thin wire so needed to make the nails out of thicker wire - much harder for the nail makers and the nailers. More walls needed scraping and of course, more concreta and mescla to mix, shovel, wheelbarrow, and hand up to the workers on the roof. One of my favorite things about being here is that you can be authentically who you are - the trappings of your life in the US are completely irrelevant here. In fact, they are really meaningless. I guarantee no one here has any idea what a Technical Advisor Enablement Manager is (neither does my Dad...) and, frankly, no one really cares. What matters is the kind of person you are. It is really liberating. However, it also involves giving up the US you which can take some effort. It also affords the opportunity to see the authentic person in everyone around you. Turns out (I think I may have said this before) we are all much more alike than we are different. I am coming to understand that this is what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God.

Today was our last day. We spent the morning touring Tegucigalpa - a typical 3rd world capital. Busy, noisy, poor, crowded. We went to a political history museum and the cathedral. Interesting and beautiful.

We had lunch and spent the afternoon at SBV with the kids. I was in denial most of the afternoon. I simply could not think about having to leave them. I spent alot of time with the teenaged girls - mostly giggling and teasing each other. They took great pleasure in telling me that I am "gorda" - fat! Humph. After lunch the children put on a program for us. Julio gave his testimony about how he and his siblings had been abandoned by their father, had to beg for food, and severely beaten by various men. He and 7 other siblings and cousins are now at SBV, thanks be to God. He went on to express his gratitude to God, LAMB, and all of us for bringing them there and providing all that they need. His story is heartwrenching, made almost unbearable by his racking sobs as he was telling the story and afterward. Normally, he is a happy kid, eager to help and hang out with us. To see him suddenly break down was heartbreaking. Next was Josselyn, a teenaged girl. She is the only child who asked to come to LAMB. She arrived at the gate at the former location and asked, "how does a child get to live here?" Once she explained why she was asking, LAMB took her in right away. Her father abandoned them and her mother, part of a gang, forced her to sell drugs and steal things to avoid vengence from the gang. Her step father "did what ever he wanted to her" and beat her. She too was crying as were we all. Again, she is a terrific kid, very mature and responsible. She is very studious and has a plan laid out for her life. I just can't imagine how these children endure such horrific circumstances and turn out to be so dear. It only emphasizes the blessing LAMB is to them and how critical it is to support them.

After the program, we played with the children. The girls and our teens tie-dyed T shirts. The Honduran girls had never seen tie dyed shirts and really enjoyed it enormously. The boys and younger kids played with water balloons, animal shaped water guns (extrememly popular with the boys!) and generally ran around playing. We had a blast! Sadly, the whistle blew and it was time to go. It was so very hard to say good bye to these children I love so much. I told them I hope to come back in August. That is about the only way I could leave - with my next trip in mind. The girls asked me to be the Chidren's Home director to replace Ester who left suddenly right before we came. Boy, was I tempted! I can't wait to get back.

Tonight we had Eucharist, dinner, and then the packing extravaganza. It takes higher math to figure out how to pack heavy things, fragile things, keep bags under 50 lbs but full enough to keep the contents from shifting around too much. We will see how successful we were when we get home!

The vans pick us up at 4:45 AM! YIPES!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Wire cutters and the playground

Elias helping me cut wire:
The kids painting the playground wall:

Perfect 10

I forgot to tell you about something that happened yesterday. I was working with the chicken wire at the top of the wall. I was standing on a plank laid across two cable spools. I needed to get off so I walked to the end of the plank and stepped on the corner of the spool assuming it was solid. It was more like a diving board! My hammer flew out of my hand and I was flung up off of the corner. I landed on my two feet in a crouch at which point I stood straight up and threw my arms up, head back, to complete my dismount! Two Hondurans were in the room, along with Carolyn and Joey. Carolyn and Joey were laughing hysterically and the Hondurans were hyperventilating thinking they were present when a gringa killed herself! Carolyn and Joey agreed that I stuck the landing and gave me a perfect 10! The Honduran workers looked at me with caution the rest of the day.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

9 fingernails are enough...right?

So today I split my day between being an Ironwoman and a Chickenwire Queen. It is very interesting how one makes do in Honduras. The Ironwomen make the rebar. I mean make it. We start with a long rod of steel which we cut into pieces of a defined length. There is an old plank with big nails sticking halfway out to make a form to bend the lengths of steel into C shaped pieces. You stick the steel rod in between the nails and bend one side with some long tool with a little notch at the end, then you bend the other side. Meanwhile someone else is cutting skinny pieces of wire into short lengths. The third iron woman takes the C shapes and the thin wire and attaches them to two long pieces of the thick steel (rebar?) which is used to reinforce the concrete. Surely this works differently in the US?

As Chicken Wire Queen, our job is to nail chicken wire onto the adobe walls in preparation for the mortar/plaster. This is an improvement over the way we did it earlier in the week when we didn't have chicken wire. Back then we would place nails along the wall and wrap wire around them to create a large checkerblock pattern. The original CW Queens, Karen and Pamm, alertly discerned that chickenwire is not terribly expensive and much more efficient for the plasterers. They initiated an effort to go buy several rolls of chicken wire and several hammers (also very scarce here.) Fortunately, Bonnie manages our ministry budget so well that we had the money to buy the supplies. So, armed with chicken wire and hammers, all we needed were the "nails" to attach them to the wall. The nails are actually U shaped pieces of metal. Can you guess where the nails come from? Yup, the Ironwomen. We cut lengths of steel, place in the form and bend it. One nail at a time. Happily, Fr. Jamie became an honorary Ironwoman and innovated a new process to speed up the cutting and bending. Meanwhile, we were working hard to stretch the chickenwire taut as we nailed it in place. It is alot harder than you would think. The good news is I am much better at hamming (Hunter's word for hammering) than I was during my first Habitat build. But, not that much better... I slammed the hammer onto my left index finger. (I want you to know it is excrutiating to type F, R, T, and G.) Fr. Jamie offered to do last rites on the nail later tonight.

Tomorrow is our last full day of work. We really want to get all the chickenwire up in cottage 3. There is a real sense of urgency because we need to get the walls plastered and the roofs on both cottages before the rains come.

Dinner time.

Hasta manana!

Amanda

Pictures from the week





Just when you thought you had heard everything...

Wednesday April 9

Our day started extra early so we could make it to the LAMB Institute school in Flor del Campo in time for the children’s weekly assembly. There are approximately 300 children ranging from daycare for babies to 4th grade. They all assemble on the concrete upper playground each week for a program. Several groups of children will perform for the rest of the school and visitors. This week we were treated to a puppet show by several of the kids! The audience is very well behaved with the requisite amount of squirming, whispering, and giggling you would expect from so many children. They, of course, are all adorable. This was the 4th assembly I have attended. I thought I had it down as far as what to expect and what the overall experience would be like. Naturally, I was wrong. One of the teachers stood up and showed a picture of a little girl named Emily. She went on to explain that Emily is a little girl in San Francisco (yes, our San Francisco, CA) who is very sick and needs expensive medical care (they said a $1500 treatment of some sort.) The teacher explained that Emily really needed the children’s help so they would be collecting money to send to Emily. She asked them to see if they could bring in one or two lempiras for Emily. (note: exchange rate is about 19 lemps per dollar) Then she led the children in prayers for Emily. Take a moment to think about that. These children come from poverty most of us can’t even imagine and yet they are collecting money and praying to help a child far away. The children were not shocked or baffled by the suggestion. They are being taught to give to and serve others just as we teach our children to do so. The joy and privilege of giving is not reserved for the affluent. Here is a picture of the children praying for Emily:



Next we headed into La Cantera. There really isn’t a way to describe the entire experience, certainly not in this forum. I am not sure I can even put all of it into words. The people there are the statistics of extreme poverty. We see the impoverished on TV, in magazines, in books but there is something very different when you are invited into their homes, learn their names, get to know them. Suddenly extreme poverty has a face, a name, 2 children in the yard, an aspiring student, a hopeful entrepreneur about to begin a micro business. We met the family whose home had been destroyed by fire and is being rebuilt as a joint venture between LAMB and the local government. We met the family for whom one of our teams had built a house 3 years ago. There are 11 people living there. Finally, we visited Sonya. We all gathered in her courtyard (remember, all these terms I use very loosely) on a hot, sunny morning. She was very concerned about our comfort and didn’t want us to burn in the sun. She invited us into her home and was insistent that we sit down. Once we were comfortable, she began to tell us about her family and her work. (She makes from scratch 1000+ tortillas a day to sell on the streets) Suddenly, Sonya broke down in sobs. We learned that her mother, sitting on the sofa next to us, was gravely ill. (We think she has congestive heart failure and an ovarian cyst.) She is scheduled to have surgery later this month but that is very uncertain. The doctors have told Sonya that her mother is not expected to live. They can’t affort all her medications. Sonya was bereft. By this time we were all crying. It was impossible not to be deeply moved by their pain. Fr. Jamie laid his hands on her mother and gave her a blessing. Then David told us that Sonya had an urgent request of our team -- would we please pray for her mother? We all joined hands while Fr. Jamie led us in prayer and assured them both that they would continue to be in our prayers. We left La Cantera in silence, all of us unable to speak, stunned by the entire experience.

We made our way to the nursery to see the precious babies there. It was restorative to see and play with them. A hug from a baby can be so comforting. From there we had lunch in a Honduran restaurant and then off on our shopping trip. Bonnie and I cleaned ‘em out. I have to say that it was only because we were buying items for the Art Auction to raise money for LAMB that we were able to do this. After La Cantera, I don’t think I could have done souvenir shopping for myself. As it was, it was a bit surreal.

Tomorrow – back to SBV for another day of hard work!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Dust -- whatever


Tuesday April 8

Today was a full day of very hard work. We learned a new skill today. (I am using the royal “we” here since I didn’t actually do this work.) The cottage walls, made of the adobe blocks and mud mortar, need to be made fairly flat and smooth to prepare for the plaster. As you can imagine, making adobe bricks is an inexact science and placement is not as precise as you would like! So, several members of the team, kids and adults, spent the day chipping and chiseling the lumps and bumps off the walls. This is exceedingly difficult and messy. The “wall scrapers” were completely covered with dust – and I mean completely. Brown hair became gray, facial features were indistinguishable, clothes layered with dust and more dust. It is also really hard work, especially as the scraping moves up the wall towards the top. Not only are they struggling to knock off the chunks of adobe, but dust and adobe are raining down in their faces. Nevertheless, they did their work with dedication and good humor! The other work was more of the same – mixing mescal (mortar) and concrete, delivering wheelbarrows and buckets full to the plasterers and the concrete beam makers, sifting sand, making rebar, tearing down and rebuilding scaffolding as the work progresses from one room in the cottage to another. All this is done under the guidance and supervision of the Honduran workers. They are so patient and kind as we stumble and bumble around. We get to thinking we have really mastered a task only to see a young Honduran zoom past us with heavier loads, zipping up the most rickety ladders you can imagine!

We still had time throughout the day to play with the children. Our teens are so impressed with how well behaved the children are! The children are so affectionate and are always ready for a hug. They are well cared for and loved at San Buena Ventura but the staff is always busy and not always available to give a hug. That, I believe, is one of the most valuable things we bring to Honduras – the unconditional love and affection we shower on the children. I spent about 30 minutes during lunch with the 4 yr old boys in their room. We had brought 15 Hot Wheels cars and a Hot Wheels track. They were delighted with that as any self-respecting 4 yr old boy would be. Pretty soon we had just about all the boys in there playing with cars. Except for the language, I could have been in the US with a roomful of little boys playing with cars.

So yesterday I mentioned that a trip with teens is very different than with adults. And so it is and continues. There is A LOT more energy, noise, giggling, and silliness. But I am here to tell you, the future of our nation and the world is in good hands. These teens are terrific – hard working, good natured, kind, loving and a whole lot of fun. Thanks be to God!

Something else I neglected to mention yesterday was my reunion with the kids. What a joy it was to see them again, especially so soon after the last trip. We hugged each other, hooted and hollered, laughed, and teased each other mercilessly. The smaller children were equally delightful. Elias, the 4 yr old boy our family sponsors, came running up and jumped in my arms! He asked where Billy was and was disappointed to learn he wasn’t with me. I spent quite a bit of time with the teenage girls teaching them American teen slang. We struggled over “whatever” - I had a hard time putting it in context for them and they worked hard to pronounce it with the right inflection but they finally got it. Of course, the lesson included making the W with thumbs and index fingers. Now, whenever they walk by at a distance I am likely to get a W or an L on the forehead (“loser”) flashed at me! The US teens, by the way, observed my lessons with great hilarity. There must be something surreal about watching an adult of a certain age teach Honduran teens how to act cool like American teens…. Carolyn, one of the US girls, proclaimed my efforts cute!

Tomorrow is LAMB day – we go into Flor del Campo to the LAMB Institute school, visit the nursery, and tour La Cantera. After lunch is…you guessed it… Help Honduran Economy afternoon! I can hardly wait to do my part!

Hope all is well there. I can only hope that your days are as fulfilling as ours are here.
God Bless,
Amanda

Monday, April 7, 2008

Rain!

Today was our first work day! Well, half day. We got to sleep in (wasted on me because I was so worried about the rooster...) and got to San Buena Ventura in time for our instructions for the day and a tour of the property.
I was amazed at how much progress has been made since I left just a couple of weeks ago. The chapel roof structure is in place. We were a bit alarmed at the worker perched up on the wall welding the steel roof frame. The only protection his eyes had was his hand shielding the sparks! I shudder to think of the disaster if a spark got into his eye... Again we are reminded of the differences in techniques and lack of OSHA here. The playground has gone thru an amazing transformation (see picture below )
I can't believe how much work has been done since we left! All we need now is the equipment and supplies to build the play structure. It is easy now to visualize how great the playground will be.


It started to rain while we were having lunch! It is extremely unusual to have rain this time of year. It was very pleasant listening to the light rain on the tin roof while we ate. It sprinkled on and off the rest of the day - not enough to stop work but enough to cool things off.

Having 9 teenagers along makes for quite a different experience. They are great kids, very enthusiastic and open for just about anything. (at times herding cats comes to mind...) They had a great time with the children who were delighted to "school"them at Memory. Apparently the SBV children play it (we called it concentration) alot. Some of the children would coach our teens to pick up certain cards to make a match -- psych! No match! Much laughter shared by all.

The boys really worked hard - shoveling gravel onto the bed of a truck and then shoveling it off at the worksite, chiseling chunks of adobe off the walls to make for a smoother surface for the plastering, mixing concrete and hauling the buckets up a rickety ladder to fill the roof form, and tamping! Tomorrow they will spend serious time tamping the rest of the playground area.

The girls also worked hard on various tasks - mixing the mud for the plaster, making the rebar, sifting the sand, and more.

We sorted all the donations this evening and then played a game organized by Katie, the youth leader. It has been a long time since I did a youth activity with teenagers. What I missed in rooster decibels I experienced in teen decibels!

Going to bed early because tomorrow will be LOTS of hard work!

(P.S. Note that Wheeler has finally agreed to use a cane at SBV!)

BREAKING NEWS...ROOSTER GONE!

I woke up in alarm at about 6:30 realizing I had not heard the rooster! Apparently our nickname, Fricassee, for the rooster was prescient.

Sunday April 4

Today was travel day and travel and travel and travel. We all (19 of us, 9 of whom are teenagers) met at the Atlanta airport along with a zillion other travelers, spring breakers, and assorted people wandering around. Conspicuously absent were airline, airport, and security personnel! We wormed our way through the international check-in gauntlet, each of us hauling massive amounts of luggage. I had my carryon bag, roller board to carry on, a large green suitcase and a HUGE FUCHIA suitcase (large enough to house a small family) which was about typical for our group. (Although, I confess, I won the biggest suitcase award.) Imagine maneuvering the serpentine route with all that luggage times 19! Anyway, we got checked in and through security and at the gate a mere 3 hours after arriving at the airport. I was upgraded to first class as I was boarding along with Karen and Bonnie. Needless to say, it was a pleasant flight to San Pedro Sula. Karen thoughtfully sent a drink to Fr. Jamie sitting in the bulkhead row in coach. I also wanted to share the joys of first class with the only priest in our group so I sent him one of my brussel sprouts! Neither of us shared our cheesecake.

We arrived in San Pedro Sula to a hot, humid tropical afternoon. We continued our 14 hour luggage hauling extravaganza. Remember, we had already hauled it around the Atlanta airport. Next we hauled it (57 pieces plus 19 carry-ons) through customs. Then we hauled it across the airport to the bus terminal to get luggage tags from the bus company. Because of our flight delay we watched the early bus leave without us (no problem – we knew this would happen and had arranged for seats on the late bus.) Once our luggage was tagged again and bus tickets in hand, we hauled the luggage back across the airport to hang out for a couple of hours. When it was time to catch the bus – you got it – we hauled it back across the airport to the bus. (I can only imagine how comical we looked to the locals doing this back and forth repeatedly…) We took a bus to the large bus terminal to wait for an hour (WOOHOO! No luggage hauling!) and then caught the nice bus (sort of like a charter bus in the US with TV, bathroom, A/C) for the 3.5 hr ride to Tegucigalpa. Wheeler, David, and the van drivers were there to meet us. We hauled the luggage from the bus to the trucks and let our Honduran hosts load it on. A short drive (15 min) to Erika’s and a minor luggage hauling under the covered porch to be hauled and sorted another day.

We had a Honduran version of spaghetti (no sauce – noodles and ground beef) which the boys snarfed down. A quick briefing on tomorrow’s schedule, Compline, and bed.


(I am writing this Sunday night but won’t be able to upload it till Monday…)

Kids are doing well, everyone is exhausted but excited to get going tomorrow.

Hope all is well back there!

Amanda

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Mission work in Honduras

This is my first attempt at a blog! I will update the blog every day (or sorta every day depending on how tired I am!) while I am in Honduras.