Today half of our group left to go back to the United States. Now it is just Abby, Jeff, and Anna. After dropping Annie, Melanie, and Bob off at the San Pedro Sula Airport we went to Puerto Cortez and Omoa. The girls and Jeff went swimming. It was cool that we could swim and see the mountains at the same time. We returned for dinner and had fried chicken and rice.

Anna, Abby, and Jeff

This morning for breakfast we had eggs, ham, beans, and pineapple. Then we left to go visit people’s houses. We visited houses that were built by previous groups, and we delivered beans and rice and clothes. Again, we were amazed that small bags of beans and rice could bring such gratitude. We went back to eat lunch, enchiladas. After lunch we went to Compassion’s after-school program for children. There we all played with the children. Pablo (Bob) blew up balloons and blew bubbles. Annie and Jeff played football. Abby and Anna played volleyball. Melanie painted the girls’ finger nails and colored with them. Then we went to the Tijeras’ feeding. Gloria cooked fried chicken pies for them. At the end, we helped hand out cookies and tennis balls. We were all moved by how patiently the children waited even though we know many of them were hungry. They also helped their little brothers and sisters.  We hope that we have learned something from these children. Returning home we were greeted by the children of the compound. We played with them. Then Sandra’s children and grandchildren came over so we played with them also. For dinner we had whole fish and Anna’s and Abby’s special macaroni and cheese. 

Abby & Anna

With editor Pablo’s assistance!

Today Melanie went off to visit some people while the rest of the group went to Copan. The drive there was the scariest one we have had. We went over many bumps, and Abby hit her head a lot. Once there we bought out tickets and met our guide Tony. We were very impressed that our guide could speak 5 languages, having lived in Honduras all his life. We visited the Mayan ruins, and then went in the tunnels. The tunnels were actually not made by the Mayans, but by archeologists.

After touring the ruins we went to lunch. Then we went souvenir shopping. There were little kids trying to sell dolls to us. Anna bought one because the little kid was so cute. He got 20 lempira (approximately $1) for it. When he walked away, he was smiling really big then started jumping up and down happily. This is an example of how appreciative the people in Honduras are. Anna felt good that she helped the little boy and his family.  Giving is more blessed than receiving!

We arrived back at the compound for a dinner of beef and fried plantains. Then we walked downtown for ice cream. Rafael tagged along with us. We had an adventurous motor taxi experience on the way back. The adults rode together in Juan Pedro’s taxi and the girls and Rafael rode in Carlos’s taxi. The driver was not used to people from the United States looking as old as they are because he thought Abby, 14, was 25!  

Blog from Melanie

My day in Quimistan was busy and blessed.  What a joy to visit old friends!  Tony who lives here on Miss Martha’s ranch was my translator.  Those who have been on previous trips will remember some of these friends.  On the way to visit Alexis we met Ernestina walking up the street.  Her smile is just the same. Her father who is 98 lives with her.  Found that Alexis is living with her mother, so Ernestina got in the motortaxi to show us the way.  Alexis looked better!  Cecilia and Kenia are in first grade!  Since they were in school (praise the Lord) I returned to visit the girls in the afternoon.  Several times during the day, I stopped the motortaxi driver so a little handmade dress or beans and rice could be given to a family in need.  Tony and I had a delicious lunch at Shirley’s.  Shirley was there with her baby.  Visited with Jenny Suyapa and a compassion child, Wendy  Sanchez.  Spent some free time talking with Sandra and Gloria.  Then happened to meet Americus with her 3 sisters who were visiting Martha.  Seeing God’s love through old friends: a wonderful way to spend the day.  Thank you Lord for Your many blessings!

After a breakfast of pancakes and fruit, we headed out to Teo. We brought along Daisy from the AP program to help us with VBS.  The ride there was an adventure up the mountain roads. Once there the kids finished school while we got organized to start VBS. We had some time so we blew bubbles with the kids and played with a beach ball. Then we started VBS by having Anna and Annie do a puppet skit,which received a loud applause. After that, we divided into 3 groups. Anna and Abby did crafts, Jeff and Bob did games, and Annie and Melanie did music. The kids really enjoyed playing musical chairs, and Abby and, Anna enjoyed watching the kids color. They also liked espada, espada, escudo (better known at home as duck, duck, goose, but modified to fit the theme of VBS).  At the end we fed the kids a snack of bread and juice. We gave the children de-worming medicine, and Annie taught them how to brush their teeth. After brushing their teeth, they received fluoride.  Many of the kids didn’t like the taste of the fluoride. We took a break for a lunch of chicken sandwiches. Then Melanie, Jeff, Mayor, Daniel, and Daisy headed out to deliver rice and beans to some of the village people. Annie, Bob, Abby, and Anna stayed back at the school. There we played soccer and a version of dodge ball. Anna and Bob handed out silly bands, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, and paper to the children. Every time the book bag was open a swarm of children came. The children would tap our arms till they got something, even if they already had one of them. By this time, Anna had to move away from all the kids because they swarmed her into a corner. Luckily a very nice boy, Melby, would tell the kids to back up and be patient. At the end he got an extra big notebook because he was so nice. He used the silly bands to help teach us Spanish animals. After that the people came back from handing out beans and rice, so we left to come back to the compound. We played cards with Daisy, then ate dinner. Dinner was tilapia, rice, and vegetables. Anna and Abby bought macaroni and cheese at the supermarket the other day; and since fish is not their favorite, Sandra cooked it for them. It made them happy because it was American food. We were all tired from our busy day so we headed back to our house to relax. Just as we were about to post the blog on the internet the power went out, but within a minute the generator kicked on. 

Anna, Abby, Annie, & Bob 

After breakfast we went back to La Moñtanita. We had to finish painting. The children in the classroom got let out of school so we could paint their classroom. The teacher helped us paint. We took a break and gave the children de-worming medicine and then taught them how to brush their teeth and gave them fluoride. Annie helped demonstrate how to brush their teeth to 3 different groups of children. Abby and Anna played with the children. The boys made a game of running away from us whenever we approached. Sometimes Anna was able to sit by them, but when Abby arrived they ran away. While 5 of us were eating PB&J (Anna got a banana and jelly sandwich), Annie distracted the children by blowing up balloons. We then had to finish painting the room. Melanie, Anna, and Abby left to deliver beans and rice to some of the village people; and Bob, Jeff, and Annie finished painting. As we were leaving La Moñtanita, Anna and Abby saw their friend Louis, so we had to roll down the window and talk to him. We stopped at the supermarket to pick up more rice, which supermarket man carried out. We had some time before we left for dinner so Abby and Anna went to play soccer with Rafael, Carlos, Josephine, and Maria. We ate a dinner of fried chicken, french fries, rice, and beans at Gojita’s restaurant. The movie Tangled was played for us in Spanish with English subtitles. When we arrived back, Abby and Anna’s room smelled really bad because of our shoes–we figure that we are working hard because of the smell from our shoes! In spite of the humorous tone of this blog, we all feel that we are helping the people of Honduras.

Abby&Anna

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and then went to La Moñtanita. Driving up the mountain was scary; Hondurans drive differently than people in the United States. Once there, we started tearing down a rail at the school. The locals took charge of the work. Abby and Anna didn’t feel very useful so they got out a beach ball and played with the children. They were very rough and liked to hit the Americans in the face with the ball to see our reaction. After that, we ate our lunch of PB&Js. (Anna being special got to eat a chicken sandwich.)  We had extra sandwiches so we gave them to Brian, a little boy, and Maria, a little girl. We had more time to play with the kids so Paul, aka Bob, blew up balloons and wouldn’t give them to the children without them saying “balloon”; Annie blew bubbles with them; Melanie colored with them; and Jeff, Anna, and Abby played with the beach ball some more. The children got out of school so we started painting a classroom. It was very difficult because the walls were bricks. There were only 3 paintbrushes so Anna and Abby went to play soccer with some kids; even if they got injured they got back up and played. On the way back to the ranch, we stopped at Maria’s house for coffee and bread stuffed with pineapple. Driving down the mountain was worse than going up; we had to make a 7-point turn to get back down the road. We stopped at the supermarket and met supermarket man carrying our 100 pound of beans and rice. Arriving back at the ranch ,we saw Abner and Rafael. Before dinner we played with them. They ate dinner with us. Dinner consisted of pork chops, rice, tortillas, and vegetables. At the end we had ice cream. Rafael and Abner ate a lot of it so when we played  soccer with them afterwards, they were hyper. Anna and Rafael won the game in the rain against Annie, Abby, and Abner.  All of us put together bags of beans and rice to hand out in La Moñtanita and Teos. 

Abby & Anna 

                                          Maria, Abby, Rafael, and Anna

We woke up and ate a breakfast of pancakes. Then we left to go to Martha’s Sunday School. There Annie and Anna did a puppet skit in Spanish. Afterwards we played with the children and handed out beach balls.  We came back to Martha’s Compound for lunch. After lunch Abby, Anna, and Annie played with Rafael. We colored with him and blew bubbles. After that we left to go to the AP Promise school. There Annie, Abby, and Anna did the puppet show again. We all handed out food to the children there and played on the playground with them. We came back and played soccer with the kids on the compound. Then we had a dinner of eggs, fried plantains, and beans. We went to church. It was a very different experience. At the end, the three girls got a blessing to find the right Christian partner, and we think maybe a future fertility blessing also because the pastor’s wife touched our stomachs. 

Anna