Abundantly Blessed...: Honduras part 3

On Wednesday morning Bobby took us to a ministry that empowers Honduran women with job skills - sewing, nail tech, computer, and business/money management. He takes groups to Mi Esparanza on each trip so that we can purchase souvenirs while donating to a very worthy cause at the same time. The girls & I picked out necklaces, gifts for grandparents, and headbands. Since each piece is signed by the artist (sewer), we got to meet the sweet lady who made the girls headbands.

After Mi Esparanza we headed out to the most talked about part of the trip - the dump. There are no pictures on our camera because Bobby asks that we don't take any for our safety as well as to maintain the dignity of the families who live there. Bread & Hope for Honduras have been ministering to the people in the dump for a while... and we had heard a few stories to prepare us. However, you can never be fully ready to see people in such poverty. As we drove up the hill into the acres of rotting trash, our bus was not recognized by the men scavenging for anything that could bring them recycling money or put food in their stomachs. Our school bus was a few minutes in front of the pickup truck from Hope that serves them rice & beans twice a week. When they looked through the unlocked back door of the school bus at our boxes of supplies (fans & a coffee pot for the daycare, food to make our lunches), the tempation was too much. They swung open the back door as the bus was still in motion & about 20 men started tearing into whatever they could reach. Bobby's assistant & veteran of many dump trips, Ali, dived to the back & wrestled away what was in her reach. I was near the back of the bus & climbed over a few rows to pass anything I could grab further to the front. Thankfully within just a minute or two the guys in the truck behind us were able to get between the bus & the men & get the door closed. Several fist fights broke out among the group of men - some of the dump workers mad & angry at the others who had taken from a group that has consistently fed & tried to minister to them. A couple of days later we heard from Mark with Hope for Honduras that on his next trip to the dump many apologized for what happened & said that they tried to get back what was taken but it was long gone. It was heartbraking to see how very desparate the men working there were... and even more sad to look around once we got off the bus & see pregnant women & children not older than 3 or 4 digging through the trash barefooted. We didn't stay long after that incident. Anna & Mae did briefly get off the bus but said that the smell was too much for them (it was bad, but the breeze that day made it managable). I think they were just shaken up by what had just happened & were ready to get back in the now guarded bus.

Above - this is a school across the street from the dump that a ministry began for the children who live & work the dump. They actually pay the parents to let the children attend because the families are dependant on their children's contributions. Bobby said that they have just graduated their first class & sent several on scholarships to college. Below - a bathroom/shower/clothes washing building that Bread & Hope were able to build just outside the dump for the families there to have access to running water & sanitation.

The family that we built the house for the day before works daily in the dump... the mom was invited to visit with us on the bus & Bobby showed her the bags of rice, beans, & corn meal (a couple of months worth?) that Bread was donating to her family as a house warming gift.

After a couple more hours on the bus, we arrived in Campemento where we would stay the rest of our week loving on these cute babies... We got there at snack time & you could immediately see why the daycare is providing such loving care to these kids. So far in the week I'd only seen children eating junk food from little shack convenient stores - think a level BELOW twinkies & candy. The daycare kids ate fruit for snack time each day - here they are with apples, and other days we saw them eating watermelon. Doctors on previous trips said that their nutrition makes a huge difference in their health as compared with other kids in the village.

All of the kids call us "tia" & "tio" for aunt & uncle. Some were shy, but those who have been there a while were quick to hug, climb on the guys, & ask to be held.

We brought several things for the girls to share with the kids - the first day it was slap bracelets. This is Anna with Veronica - her "favorite". She wanted to sneak her home in a suitcase.

That afternoon we checked in at our 5 star Honduran "motel". A few notches below a motel 6 in the states, but the sheets were clean. We gave them a huge A for effort at making our 3 towels (which they never replaced all week, even if we tried leaving them on the floor) into something like swans. It was practically just like Disney we said. Tom has a huge smile about the A/C unit in the room also - a huge perk.

The next day was more daycare time for the girls, and the first build day on the block homes for the guys (and some of the brave ladies who worked right alongside the men - it wasn't a good place for the kids though so Lana & I didn't take part).

Anna, Mae, Kylee, & Katie spent many hours playing on the swing sets when the daycare kids were not with us (napping, etc). The four of them got along SO well the whole week - we were so proud of how they treated each other.

We spent the morning sorting donations that we all had brought over in our extra suitcases - medicine, crafts supplies, toothbrushes, etc.

At lunch time Lana & I helped make & deliver the sandwiches for the home building crew. Bread is putting up 15 by 15 foot block homes made with a block machine that compacts dirt, clay, & cement into something like cinder blocks. Families help clear their home site then have to dig their own 9 foot deep latrine hole next the the home for an outhouse. Tom & Charley spent 2 days hard at work filling the machine with loads of dirt & wheelbarrowing loads for block down a hill to the plots being developed.

On Friday we spent the day crafting with the kids at the daycare. The four girls had pooled all of their saved allowance money for months before the trip & spent it all on supplies from Hobby Lobby - playdough, rainbow scratch off, waterpaint, bracelet making, stickers, etc. The kids loved it & our girls did great helping & encouraging them.

Jemma, one of the college students in the group who did an amazing job translating all week, got to gift her sponsored child with her fall wardrobe that Jemma had brought from home. That cutie loved & modeled every tshirt & dress she got - so fun to watch her joy, and Jemma's joy at giving them to her. Our sponsored children are not in places we can visit, so we asked Darrell (from THCC, who helps run the daycare) if we could start sponsoring one of the daycare kids as well. He assigned us a precious 2 year old girl - and we pray that we could be able to personally bring her gifts & clothes on future trips.