Sorry there was no blog last night. The internet was down and there was just no access for the day. Of course, the fact that we locked ourselves out of the guest house for a few hours was not a factor! More to come.
We are all well and happy and healthy. We will get to the blog this evening, so stay tuned.
We think of you all at home. Hot and sunny here!
Love from the Team.
Wednesday continues... today we went to the technical institute which is about an hour's drive from El Hogar. It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains with many spectacular views of the peaks and valleys. We saw many cows, horses, chickens and donkeys en route. They are working on expanding the 2 lane highway into 4 lanes, so there was a lot of construction along the way which delayed our trip. We also passed a housing development by Habitat for Humanity, built after Hurricane Mitch destroyed so much of the area in 1998.
The technical institute is a beautiful oasis which houses the boys ages from 13 up to 18 or 19. They are trained in various trades such as mechanical/welding, electrical and woodworking in the morning and attend classes in the afternoon. They are hoping to open the auto shop as soon as appropriate tools are donated. There is already a large enclosed workshop containing half a dozen used pick-up trucks awaiting repair.
Rick delivered a suitcase full of carbide tool bits, new verniers and calipers, donated by Andy from St. Luke's, which will be a welcome addition to the machine shop. Lazaro and the machine shop supervisor accepted these gifts on behalf of the team.
The chapel at the institute has a magnificent mural depicting Christ, painted by a former student, Joel of El Hogar, who is now the art teacher here.
We were treated to a lovely lunch and then our charming tour guide, Maynor who is a student at the Institute, took us on a tour of the boys residence, their washing area, the computer room, the graduation hall and the display room for the many wooden and metal artifacts which the boys have manufactured.
We also toured the original hacienda belonging to the man from whom the land was purchased by El Hogar. While there we met three American teachers who are volunteering their time for the entire school year from February to November to instruct the boys in English and math. They are thoroughly enjoying their experience at the institute.
We boarded our Nissan Urvan for the drive back to Tegucigalpa and on the way we passed a coffee bean processing plant and the pungent smell encouraged us to buy coffee and lattes at the first Esso On the Run that we saw on the drive back.
The day would not be complete without mentioning the progress being made to remove an unused concrete reinforced cistern located adjacent to the children's play area. We have nicknamed it the "Cistern Chapel".
After playtime and crafts with the students this evening we served up S'mores for the snack. It was a hit!
Hasta luego, Melissa, Darla, and Glen
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