Friday

 Hola, faithful blog readers. We wanted to let you know that we are all doing well. The internet connection was down at El Hogar last night so we could not write an update.

Today has been a busy day in transit, but as I sit on the plane thousands of feet in the air on my way back to Toronto, I thought I'd tell you a bit about our Friday, our busiest day of the week.

The day started off with a group of us attending the children's morning meeting, followed by a breakfast of beans and eggs. At 9:00 we all piled into the van together and as usual, saw bits of Honduran life and the lovely countryside, dotted with poverty everywhere.
  We drove to Santa Lucia, a town about 25 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa. A quaint village with cobblestone and steep streets.

A piece of property has been purchased, just at the edge of the village, and will be the new girls' residence when they graduate from El Hogar.


When we arrived, a group of boys from the agricultural school were there on a retreat, and who always love getting their picture taken.



The property that was purchased has a breathtaking view and we were in awe of the beauty and the silence in this serene location.
After some pictures of the residences, the view and of each other we got back into the van and headed down the same road to Valley of the Angels, an artisan village.

There, we had lunch at a pizzeria that came highly recommended by our trusty leader, Raul. Raul is our driver, project manager and friend.  He got us safely though the streets of Tegucigalpa and the countryside. He is so patient and puts up with our endless questions and we have learned much about Honduras from him.  Here at a cafe, while we are shopping, he is working on the many other aspects of his job.  As well as being the husband of La Directora Claudia, he is involved in all four centres of El Hogar Projects.We also got a bit of time to do some "chopping" (aka shopping) for Honduran souvenirs. Michael and Rick found some Honduran sombreros that they liked.  (Rick is storing his new one over top of his loved older hat worn on many, many trips to Honduras.  Will it be replaced by the new hat?

 Our timeline was tight though, because we had one more stop to make.

About 50 kids from El Hogar went to spend some time with kids at a school for the blind. When we arrived, El Hogar's popular marimba band was playing and our kids had their kids up dancing.

We wasted no time in joining them. It was wonderful to see the children from El Hogar making a difference for other children.

 Some of our girls gathering around their new friends below. All our children were amazing as we watched them overcome their shyness and reaching out to these children.

When the marimba band packed up, the director blindfolded three of our kids and three of their kids and had them pass a ball that made noise along the ground for the other team to try and stop. After a number of kids got to try, they had the El Hogar volunteers and teachers from the school for the blind give it a try. It is harder than it looks! 

Our new friends had one more surprise for us. We were lead into a multi purpose room where there was a mini concert. A gentleman who was visually impaired played the piano and the kids sang a number of songs for us, including a Spanish rendition of Do Re Mi. It was all very touching and overwhelming.

The day was not over yet. We arrived back at El Hogar for a late dinner and soon it was time for ice cream. Our Canadian friend Josh sent a donation to buy ice cream for all of the kids and staff to enjoy. It was a huge treat and all of the kids were very grateful. Thanks Josh!

It was a busy day full of experiences that all made us grateful to be a part of El Hogar. We will all leave with our hearts a little more full of love and hope.