I can see the mountains again


          Monday morning saw us off to the mountains again, this time to La Montanita a mountain top community above the electrical grid.  However the citizens are watching the progress of the electrical distribution grid slowly climbing up the mountain.  Upon arrival Juana graciously invited us to her home for delicious Honduran coffee and home baked donuts.  This was a wonderful treat and all enjoyed.

 
          After coffee and donuts the team set up our clinics. We had 104 children and 20 other village members go through our hygiene stations, each child going home with a new toothbrush.  
 
            During the eye clinic we examined 34 patients dispensing 38 pair of glasses.   

        One 88 year old man exclaimed with a BIG smile “I can see the mountains again!”   
          Following the eye clinic Maynor and Dr Tino examined and treated 45 patients – no twins this time. 
          While Maynor and Dr. Tino were conducting the medical exams, Kathy, Tommy, Alan, and Daniel returned to Quimistan to move the dental clinic supplies from the ranch to the hospital.  The only problem encountered was that one of the two dental chairs, kept in storage at the hospital, was found to be locked in the full up position.  Even with Alan’s added weight we could not get the chair down.   
          During dinner Maynor and Daniel went back to the hospital with a collection of tools to attempt repairs. Watch for updates in tomorrow’s blog entry.  After supper the team restocked the traveling stock of eye glasses.
         Tuesday while we await the arrival of the dentists we will finish moving the supplies from Maynor’s office and scrubbing down the equipment.  The dental clinic will be open for business Wednesday and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. plus Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Sunday Bible Studies


           This morning the team had the pleasure of attending the Tejeras feeding and bible study.  Two AP students assisted Sandra and Pastor Wilmer in conducting the program for 64 children.  The Tejeras “community” is a group of squatters’ huts alongside the main highway from San Pedro Sula through Quimistan to Guatemala.  Heavy trucks and buses zoom up and down the road.  The plot of land used for the program is located just at the highway’s edge.  The children walk along the side of the busy road to come to the meeting place.  After the bible study was concluded the team assisted in feeding the children – most likely their only hot meal of the day.    HAF also sponsors two other hot meal feedings during the week.

 

          The afternoon was spent with the Agape Promises children attending their weekly Sunday school activities.  The program is held at the El Porvenir Kindergarten in Quimistan.  The children are split into two major groups by age.  The younger children meet in one of the two classrooms while the teenagers gather in a circle on the lawn.  The little ones are very active and attentive in their lessons; while the teenagers, as almost they universally do, had a great discussion of the lesson presented.  After a hot meal the team enjoyed interacting with the children.  Some 69 children were present. Forty-five of the sponsored 50 AP students plus 24 additional friends and possible future AP students were in attendance.

  
          Tommy took time to take individual pictures of all the AP sponsored children.  A copy of each child’s picture will be given to them and also sent on to their sponsor(s).

Bible Study with Sister Martha


     Saturday morning was spent with the team visiting with their sponsored children.  Alan went shoe shopping with his two new girls (Edrai – 4th grade and Cesai – 3rdgrade).  Typical of women shopping for shoes we went into 6 or 7 stores and tried on 20 or more pairs of shoes.  Yes, we were successful.  After shopping for shoes we headed for a local department store for school supplies.   
     Kathy visited with Lenis and Ingrid, the two girls she helps sponsor.  She met them for the first time this trip and gave them some girly gifts.  After raising two boys in the states it is different to have two girls in Honduras.
 
     Tommy had a great visit with 11th-grader Sonia and her 2 sisters late morning through lunch, which included some time on Martha’s swings.  They then joined us at Martha’s Bible school, along with Tommy’s other sponsored child, 5th-grader Jessy and her family.  Jessy and family then returned to the ranch for a visit and some photos.  Even though the timing did not go as originally planned, it was all worked out in God’s timing, which worked it out much better, as it always does.
     During the late morning and early afternoon the team sorted eye glasses to replenish the traveling stock as Monday we will conduct another eye clinic.  Additionally the team gathered the supplies for the dental clinic to be held Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
     At mid-afternoon we journeyed across town to join Sister Martha’s bible school class.  This is one of the two weekly classes she conducts for some 260 children from nine different churches in Quimistan.  The bible study is conducted in a covered outdoor patio.  After the 90 minute animated lesson the children were feed a meal.  Sister Martha and her two teaching assistants held the children’s attention the entire time.

A rainy day trip to El Venado “The Deer”


     Our day began with a morning devotional and a great breakfast.  We left Martha’s ranch for the hour plus drive through Pinalejo and up and around several mountains to El Venado.  This small village is less than a mile up another hill from the Guatemalan border.  This was the second year El Venado has been on the HAF ministry list.  Once we arrived, the single male school teacher divided his 21 students into four groups according to age so that the HAF team of Alan, Kathy, Tommy, Daniel (our translator) along with Marleni and Lenis, (two AP student helpers) could conduct a hygiene clinic.  The children demonstrated correct hand washing technique.
   The children then “enjoyed” de-worming medicine, and then demonstrated tooth brushing technique, followed by a fluoride rinse, 
 
     After the students were finished 30 other villagers, both adults and children, joined the hygiene line.  A light rain fell the entire time.
     While we were conducting the hygiene clinic, Dr. Tino, ably assisted by Maynor and Itzamarie, (another AP student helper) opened their medical clinic just down the street.  They saw 35 patients during the morning, most of them leaving with one or more medicines to help with their ailments. All who could afford to do so left a payment of 5 Lempira (about 25¢) for this service.  
     Most of the patients were there to treat simple illnesses, usually for their children, but one patient brought excitement to the whole room.  As Dr. Tino was using the new fetal heart monitor, the mother-to-be discovered, along with everyone else, that she was carrying twins!  What a joy to be able to share this with the community.
     As soon as school was dismissed at noon the team set up the eye clinic and enjoyed sandwiches for lunch.  At 1:00 p.m. some 26 folks had their eyes examined and 25 pairs of glasses were fitted and distributed.  The trip home took and hour and a half due to the rain.

Team 3 is on its way.  Up early and will be on the road at 4:00 a.m. to the Augusta Airport for our flight to Atlanta and on to Honduras.  Say a quick prayer for safe travel.  More tonight from Quimistán.

Wound Down – coming home tomorrow

Since we finished the bookcase/tables project yesterday, we took on another job today. We refinished the entry door of the HAF office and scraped/cleaned the front window. We decided to also refinish the front door of the 90-year-old lady who owns the HAF office building. She is no longer ambulatory since she broke her leg a couple of years ago, which resulted in gangrene. She lives next door with her barely functional son. She had allowed us to use her fenced back yard yesterday to paint the bookcases and desks.

We all worked to sand the doors and paint them with varnish stain before lunch. Bruce, Tom, and Jim re-installed the doors and applied a second coat of paint late afternoon. Maynor, the lady, and her son were very happy, which made us happy too.

This afternoon Lorraine and Allen traveled to a nearby village close to the San Francisco bridge to see a moringa grove. Moringa trees are being promoted in under-developed areas because all parts of the plant can be eaten. They met the property keeper of the land. It turned out that the trees growing there were not moringas, but were gandul trees, which produce  protein-rich beans. They also learned about mazapan trees (also known as breadfruit) that produce a fruit which can be fried to taste like potatoes. The property keeper talked to the landowner, who is an international businessman, and learned that he planned to plant some moringa trees in that area soon. The owner’s opinion was that the combination of moringa trees, gandul beans, and mazapan fruit would provide important proteins, minerals, and vitamins. These plants could provide some of the remote villages additional ways to grow more of their own foods.

Good night and see you tomorrow!

A 6-Foot Board in a 3-Foot Taxi

Today we finished two small computer tables and two bookcases for the HAF office in Quimistan. Bruce and Jim started on this project yesterday while the other team members went to Laguna del Carmen. The first task was to visit the local wood/cabinet shop, which is outdoors under a rusty metal roof. Since our interpreter was with the other team members, Jim and Bruce signaled, gestured, and did everything required to communicate with the guy who was helping us. After 1.5 hours, all of the lumber was cut. Now we had to get it transported to the HAF office. The sides of the bookcases were 6 feet long. So, the wood shop guy called a taxi for us. Taxis in Quimistan are 3-wheeled vehicles sort of like 3-wheeled motorcycles. These things zip around all over Quimistan and are fun to ride in, since they have no doors. Bruce and Jim wondered how we were going to get the stack of lumber “in” this thing. The taxi driver stacked the lumber across the floor of the vehicle with about 3 feet of the bookcase sides sticking out on the driver’s side. Bruce and Jim sat with our feet on top of the pile of lumber. The driver did not let this load affect his driving speed. He zipped along looking like he was going to clip a pedestrian at the knees, or swipe an oncoming car. Luckily, we made the trip with no injuries. Bruce is considering buying one of these vehicles for Maxine to drive grocery shopping.

We all worked today to build the second bookcase and to paint everything with varnish stain. The lady next door to the HAF office building let us sand and paint our things in her fenced back yard. Lorraine had the idea to hang the newly-painted shelves on the lady’s clothesline while the paint dried. Everything looks great and Maynor is happy to have the much-needed office furniture, and he really likes the color of the paint which is caoba (mahogany).

 

Gloria’s Table

 Gloria, one our cooks, told us after lunch today that she needed a bigger table to use at the Tejeras feedings. So, Bruce and Jim made another trip to their friends at the local wood shop. They wondered how these guys would receive them since this was their 7th trip to the wood shop in the last 8 days. As usual, the wood shop guys stopped what they were doing and helped find and cut the needed lumber. The local taxi service was used again to carry the wood to the HAF  office.

After the table construction was finished, Jim and Bruce wondered how they were going to get the 5-foot-long table to Tejeras. Yes, a taxi was called again. Somehow the table, along with Bruce and Jim, was crammed into the back seat of the taxi. They rumbled down the unpaved road to the main road, and then to Tejeras. They delivered the table to Gloria at 4 PM just as she was setting up for the children’s feeding. She was all smiles as they left.

Gloria rewarded everyone for their efforts by surprising us with rum raisin ice cream for dessert.

It was a really busy day and everyone is ready for a bath and a good night’s rest.

Laguna del Carmen

Three of us spent the day in Laguna del Carmen, a village outside Pinalejo.  As far as natural beauty, this village is close to Eden.  The village lies on the side of a mountain about 3,000 ft above sea level with a breathtaking view.  In the area around the school, there are orange trees, coconut palms, mangos, and banana trees.

We continued to teach basic hygiene — hand washing, teeth brushing, de-worming, and fluoride treatment. We treated about 80 children.  I observed the teeth of several children with missing or broken teeth and significant decay. 

Dr. Tino treated about 125 adults and children.  This village has been so isolated that little health care was available.  Consequently, it appears the whole village turned out and most expressed their thanks for this service.

The needs of the village are evident by the most casual observation.  The most striking was the need for health care.  The village also needs a new kitchen at the school.  The orginal wooden kitchen was destroyed by termites, so they are building a new one of blocks.  The village is amassing the materials needed to construct the new kitchen.  But, one sticking point is sand.  It is needed for the cement to make the foundation, floor, and mortar for the blocks.  Sand is available in Pinalejo, but access to the village is so tough that the village hasn’t yet found anyone who will deliver a truckload at an affordable price.

Our efforts were not without reward.  A boy, who could not have been more than 10, scaled a coconut tree well past the cluster of coconuts and “kicked” a dozen or so to the ground.  He then slid down and, picking up his machete, proceeded to hack them open.  All of us, including Dr. Tino as you can see in the photo, enjoyed fresh coconut water (we call it milk, they call it water) and pulp.  We learned from our translator, Daniel, that there are three stages in the maturation of a coconut.  In the first, the nut’s outer husk is green.  At this stage, the milk is very sweet.  The beginning of the pulp inside is jelly-like and sort of sweet.  Maynor really enjoyed scooping out some for him to enjoy and Allen to sample.  At the second stage, the outer husk is yellow with dark spots.  Then, the pulp is sweet; the milk has given up its flavor to the pulp.  All of us enjoyed both the pulp and the milk of the ‘tree-fresh’ coconut. The third stage,which we did not get to experience, comes later when the coconut begins to germinate.  The milk and pulp form a “frothy” texture and is as sweet as honey, according to Daniel.

Tom