Dia Cuatro: 6/13/09

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Today’s events were very strenuous and we worked extremely hard. You all should be proud of us. We are. Actually, I’m just kidding…sorry.
Today was actually our day of recreation. We started the day with an extra hour of sleep. Needless to say, I was very excited and grateful for that privilege. After breakfast, we toured the new hospital in Quimistan that was funded by Mrs. Martha and Mr. Gary. It was a excellent facility and I was very impressed with the work that had been put into it and its outcome. Although most of us will miss the grand opening on June 22nd, Mrs. Roxanne and Cecelia will get to see it.
Another treat of the day was that we were able to visit the two houses that had been worked on last summer. I, personally, was not on that trip but it was a great experience to see the work that my friends had done and see the grateful looks on the families’ faces.
After lunch, we attended some massage therapy sessions. We started the experience with some aroma therapy followed by a hot rock treatment and culminated the experience with a hydro-therapeutic massage. Translated in Honduran, this means: traveling through a cow pasture, scrambling up boulders on the side of the waterfall, and sitting at the base of the waterfall with the spray pounding on our backs. It was a very relaxing experience. We were all impressed by Mrs. Roxanne’s leap of faith off the second tier of the waterfall into the cold water below. There was some screaming but I think she rather enjoyed it. We did our community service of the day by collecting a huge bag of trash from the area surrounding the waterfall so that others could enjoy the wonderful view.
Throughout the day, many of us exercised the availability of a volleyball net, some better than others, but here in Honduras everyone is a volleyball star. A little boy staying in a house on the compound played with us, although I believe he thought us to be a little insane when we started making up our own additions to the volleyball rules, some of these rules being the use of feet and running in circles while the ball was on the other side of the court.
A college student from San Pedro Sula who was a part of the Quimistan Valley Scholars program joined us for dinner and a couple games of volleyball and soccer this evening. We learned that he was studying to be an engineer and was very grateful for the opportunity to further his education.
All in all, today was filled with many new experiences and team building. Although we did not strengthen our actual muscles with physical labor today, we did strengthen our bonds with the community and each other. And as Ardyn reminded us in her devotion this morning, that is one step toward agape love.

God Bless,
~ Lauren (17)

Dia Tres: 6/12/09

The only Spanish words I knew before I arrived in Quimistan were taco, burrito, and Ricky Martin. However, over the last few days I have learned a few more words and phrases. For instance, frijoles means beans and I’m pretty sure I will remember this word for the rest of my life. Between the refried beans at the majority of the meals and literally spending all day planting beans with a pole on the slope of a mountain, I believe I have had enough beans to last for an eternity. This morning Annalise, Lauren, Miss Beth, and I trekked through the jungle, or in my case rode on the back of a motorcycle, up the side of a mountain to plant beans for the community in Santa Clara. Unfortunately, the hard-working Hondurans that we worked with thought that we were too slow. Due to this, they only let us hand them beans. This taught me that the Spanish word for lazy is perezoso. While we slaved on the hot slope, the rest of the group finished digging the trenches for the foundation of the classroom and carried 350 bricks up the hillside to the house that is being built. As we are expanding our Spanish vocabulary, the children of Honduras are also learning a little bit of English. For me, the most rewarding part of the day was after we walked back to the truck and a little four year-old boy was waiting for us. As he saw our group he piped up and said, “Hello, how are you?” This “adopted” son was able to travel back to Quimistan with us. On the bus ride back to Quimistan, he fell asleep on me and everyone was silent as they watched him sleep. Although a few of us are learning a little bit of both English and Spanish, we are reminded that love is a universal language.

P.S. Feliz CumpleaZos is another word we learned today as it is Donald’s nineteenth birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD! 🙂
God Bless,
Cecelia (17)

Dia Dos: 6/11/09

Today dawned bright and exceptionally early, especially for those of us who were unfortunate enough to have gone without sleep. After a traditional breakfast and devotion we departed for the village of Santa Clara, a town much smaller and more secluded than Quimistan and undoubtably less accustomed to gringos. It was there that our work began. We split up into groups: Ardyn, Donald, Brian, and I pick-axed and shoveled the rocky ground to create footers for the preschool, Eric, Lila, and Sam planted beans in one of the fields, and the rest of us carried bricks from the kiln to the house being built (or as the case turned out to be, played with the kids, otherwise known as building relationships).Santa Clara is up into the mountains, so though the temperature was never cool enough to justify an end to my habitual complaints, it definitely wasn’t as hot as in past years. During the lunch break Ardyn demonstrated her beastly soccer skills which are, to say the least, impressivo. In the afternoon, Donald, Lauren, Roxanne, and I rode with Andrea, Maynor, and two doctors to another small town, Banderos, to visit a bimonthly health clinic there. The clinic was held in a one room school house which we learned had 54 students spanning six grades. The doctors had a list of names of patients, and with Andrea’s help I checked them in. There were about thirty names listed, but we also accepted about fifteen kids who were not on the list. There were two pregnant girls who looked no older than fourteen, a boy who had gotten his neck sliced by a wire in a bicycle accident, a man who had massive road burns on his legs when he was hit by a truck, and many others in desperate need of medical attention. After about three hours the small, hot room was inundated with impatient patients, and we had to start turning away those who weren’t on the list. All of those who received an exam were given bottles of the pills they needed, whether it be Tylenol or the sadly all too common tapeworm medication. During the often long breaks in the line, Andrea explained more to me about the Honduran culture than I have picked up in the last two years here. Even though we were all split into separate groups and we may not have necessarily been with our friends, we were all working toward a common goal, and not the soccer kind.
-Christa (17)

Estamos aqui!

We are here! After an easy flight and an always exciting drive to Quimistan (we had to put the door back on the van first), we arrived at Sister Martha’s compound mid-afternoon, safe and sound but very tired. We spent our afternoon and evening settling in and making plans for the next ten days. (Know how to make God laugh? Make plans!) Those plans include constructing a school in Santa Clara, planting beans for the school, conducting a Bible school for Martha’s Sunday School children and in Banderas, and distributing school supplies. We also met with Maynor as well as Andrea, a college student in Rhode Island who lives in Quimistan and will be our translator. Many of our team members are returning for a second, third, or seventeenth time, with two of our members here for the first time. We are all excited about doing God’s work here!
One final note: This trip blog will be done by a different team member each night. We will attempt to show in our words and pictures what has been accomplished as well as to give our personal insights into our mission here.
Blessings from Honduras,
Beth

JUNE MISSION TRIP DEPARTS

The HAF Summer 2009 mission season got off to a fun start as half the team left Aiken at 4:15 a.m. to meet a 6:45 a.m. flight out of Columbia.

The group included several interesting life forms, such as a parrot (Cecelia), a monkey (Annalise said she was a bear, but she looked more like a monkey to me ☺), an aquatic creature, possibly a shark (Krista), as well as Lauren and Donald, with Beth acting as “mother hen”.

They were to meet up in Atlanta with the other half of the team, including Brian, Eric, and Lila who all drove from Aiken; Sam and Roxanne, who flew in from Miami (I’ll let them tell that story); and Ardyn, arriving from Canada.

We trust their journey to Quimistan was safe, and pray that they enjoy their time in Honduras as they discover God’s Plan for each of them. The thoughts and prayers of friends and family at home go with them as they spread Christ’s Love to our Honduran neighbors. We anxiously await progress reports as the events of their trip unfold!

Vaya con Dios, team!

Tommy

Check Out the New Tile Roof

Finally the rains stopped for long enough to fire the kiln for making the roof tiles to protect Mrs. Amalia’s house. Check out this roof! Windows and doors will finish the home in fine style. It may be in the next Santa Clara Tour of Homes!

It’s interesting to look back at how the property looked before the family cleared away the monster rocks in the yard. This was quite a family and community project.

Allen

DENTAL TRIP CONCLUDES

After many hours of van, plane and bus riding, the 2009 dental team arrived home to Aiken safe and sound last night. A highlight of the trip was being treated to this glorious sunset as we departed Atlanta!

It took until yesterday, our last morning in Quimistan, to get our team together for our traditional group photo. But our team was really much larger than the group you see here. It included many who supported us from the sidelines with their prayers, gifts, talents and love, without which this trip would not have been possible. We thank each and every one of you for your part in this mission! We also thank our Team Leader, Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ, who directed and protected us throughout the trip. We pray that what we were able to do these past few days will glorify Him and provide some measure of hope, aid, and comfort to the people of Honduras.

Tommy

UPDATE ON MRS. AMALIA’S HOUSE

Five of our patients at today’s clinic were from Santa Clara. One of these was Mrs. Amalia. After they were all done, Mandy and I rode with them as they were taken back home. On the way, 5-year-old Ariel, one of Mrs. Amalia’s grandsons, was very comfortable on Mandy’s lap. The feeling was mutual, and I think she considered hiding him in her luggage for the trip home tomorrow, but decided he had better stay in Santa Clara for now.

When we arrived, Mrs. Amalia, even though she had just had a few teeth removed, walked down the hill to show me her new house, which she is very happy about and anxious to move into.

The roof tiles have been made and delivered, and would have been installed by now, except that the builder was pulled from the job for a few days to repair Santa Clara’s broken water system.

What a joy it was to see the near completion of the project that was started in January.

Tommy

PUEBLO NUEVO CLINIC

Our first dental clinic in Pueblo Nuevo was held today. (The new tin roof you see was financed by HAF.) Upon arrival at 8:00 a.m., the staff was present and the clinic was open. The dental chair was set up, but there was no running water and the only bathroom in the building was out of order. Dr. Constantino provided bottled water.

We were joined by Angie, a bi-lingual, senior dental student, who proved to be a very big help, even to performing some of the extractions.

To speed things up, the team fixed up an extra dental chair using a stool, with the patient resting their head upon an elevated cot.

Between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., we treated 35 patients with an approximate extraction of 100 teeth, some requiring suturing.

“Charlie and Randy’s Angels”

In the van on the way home, Charlie was heard to say, “That felt good. This is what it’s all about.”

Tommy

ANOTHER BUSY DAY IN QUIMISTAN!

Today was another very busy day, especially for Charlie and Randy, our 2 heroic dentists. The team completed all of the Agape Promises youth who came, plus a few other patients, and we shut down operations at the Agape clinic around 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow, the clinic will be held at a new location, in Pueblo Nuevo.

Interspersed through our hectic schedule were many opportunities for praise and celebration. It’s late, so I’ll let the pictures below show you a few of those.

Tommy

Donated flip-flops much appreciated!