Saturday, April 21

How the week has flown by and we find ourselves packing up to leave today.  It is an emotional time for us, as we leave behind friends and memories and unfinished work.  All of us have had our own unique experiences.  We had time to spend with the children before we headed off to the airport.  And time to take our official and traditional team picture at the El Hogar logo.  (Be sure to click on the pictures to get the full size)

We were called to gather with the children who had grouped together in the large play area.  They had an opportunity to say their thank yous to us - through their teacher Arturo and with special cards they had made for each one of us.  Ros responded for our group in Spanish.

At the end of all this, the children (all 100 of them) gave us hugs and we were touched and overwhelmed.  For all that these children have endured in their lives, they have so much love to give away and we were recipients of that. 

We got a chance to sing one of our silly songs for them, since last night's 'talent' show was cancelled due to the long day that they had had.  We had been practicing and all in Spanish so were glad to finally be able to sing!

Heather listens as Ros tells Guillermo Jose that she is part of the family that will be sponsoring him from St Luke's.  He seems very happy.











Some of the dear little faces that we have grown to love this week.

We were happy to have a little visit with Mirna, Jorge's mom who had come into El Hogar to work here on Saturday.  She was so thankful to us for his sponsorship and is so very proud of her son.  He is doing well in school and was happy to pose for us in these pictures

It seemed like an easy job to get all our suitcases onto the van this time, having left behind all the donations of clothing, medicine, uniforms, school supplies, etc. 

Jefferson, one of the teenagers who lives at El Hogar, opened the gates for us as we left this wonderful place for the last time - at least for this trip.

THE NEXT PART OF OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS HERE!  Erika, Heather and Jane have departed on their American Airlines flights ahead of us and the rest of us prepare to depart on Delta a little later.  If you have heard about the Tegucigalpa airport, you will know that it has one runway with a mountain at the end of it!  As we were sat at the end of that runway, the winds had changed direction and so we could not depart until the winds had changed back again and favourably for our take off.  They didn't seem to alter at all and so finally all the cargo was taken off for a lighter plane and the passengers were eventually asked if there were 35 volunteers to come off and take a later flight.  For a free hotel and $400 Delta airline dollars, we decided as a team that we could do this as we had one day to spare before having to be back home and we were not going to make our Atlanta connection anyway.  This meant that 5 of us who had been bumped up to first class had to give up our lovely seats that we enjoyed for 2 hours sitting on the tarmac and at the terminal gate.

When we got off, we found out that we were going to receive $600 Delta dollars AND a 4 hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula, the capital city and the next major airport!  Not quite what we bargained for, but we were all together and would make the best of it. Seeing more of Honduras appealed to us in that drive, except by the time we got on the road, the sun had set and so we drove over those beautiful mountains in the dark! 

Waiting for our van to head to San Pedro Sula

There was a meal waiting for us all and a very comfortable bed in the Crown Plaza Hotel when we got to San Pedro Sula.

Flying out of San Pedro Sula gave us a chance to see a flatter and more fertile Honduras and this seems to be where the big crops are grown - bananas and pineapple.







Erika and Heather made it home on time, as you will have read Erika's Friday entry into the blog from her flight (Be sure to check it out with more pictures).  Jane got stuck in Miami with some sort of airline work stoppage issues and so she didn't get home to Cincinnati until the next day as well. Our travel day on Sunday was uneventful and just long - 16 hours in transit and home finally safe and sound.

We have had a week of hard work, doing what we can to update, repair and build.  There is always much to do at each site and they rely on volunteers to do much of this work.  We were also building relationships, with each other as a team and with the children and teachers.  They need our attention, our love, but we get so much back in return.  We were witness to God's transforming love in these children, knowing their stories and their difficult beginnings in life.

GOD SO LOVED....

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

                   - Amy Carmichael, Missionary to India