Today is a work day and so we started in earnest with our project.  Before our labour, we got a tour of the workshops where the students are in the mornings before they go to regular academic classes in the afternoon.  We were impressed with the size of the shops and now with girls added to the classes, there is a whole new dimension.








There is one female shop teacher who is glad to have girls in the class. 










The technical courses are carpentry, electricity and welding.  And we also did a tour of the computer lab which is quite impressive and these students will have a high quality of computer skills when they graduate. 


The final stop was in the chapel to see the stunning and moving mural painted on the altar wall.  It was the vision of our ITSM director Lazaro and painted by a graduate//art student from El Hogar.  Lazaro spent time with us as he explained the mural and the meaning to him. 

The plan is to make raised garden beds as we did at El Hogar last year.  Erika has all the lumber cut and ready for us and tools necessary for the job.  First the ground needs working and turning the soil and the strong grass roots which  is hardest job.  Meanwhile others were working on the boxes to construct them.



 

The sun is intense out there and so we traded jobs and it was clear that the team was really looking after each other.

The other task is to sort and do inventory on the donations we have all brought with us.  Wonderful generosity of those who have donated and we have been able to leave behind loads of soap and deodorant and shampoo.  It was best to do the counting and sorting on the floor and we are thankful to Dave who has done a hug job of the counting! 

We had a wonderful evening doing crafts and activities with the Grade 7 boys.  

We were surprised at the few who were happy to do cross stitch which Becky had prepared  

Then there were puzzles and card games and colouring and skipping.  -

Ros had a cookie making session  with some of the boys which was a success.  They then shared their efforts with the rest of the kids.  

We loved the evening and so enjoyed the boys.  I think they enjoyed the activities and certainly always had a smile for us.

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Sunday, March 24, 2019
There was activity in our kitchen before 0600 hours as we scurried to get our breakfast cereal in preparation for our 6:30 departure for church!  We had two groups from our team going to church in two directions.  One group to our usual worship service at the cathedral at St Marry's in Tegucigalpa and the other group to a mission church in the country.  The van dropped the first group off at the start of our trek in from the highway halfway to Tegucigalpa and then carried on into town to take the rest of the group to the cathedral, and since it was so early, got to spend a few hours at El Hogar before church started.  They were accompanied by some of the kids who went to church with them and were part of the large Sunday School. 





There is a large Sunday School and it is wonderful to watch them all come in from their classes to the Eucharist at the end.

 Padre Gerardo who is the dean of the Cathedral walks once a month into a mission church in the mountains and invited us to go with him.  We were so delighted and enthused at this prospect.
We had a prayer before we started on our trek.








 We never quite understood how long, how far or how grueling the trek might be, but hiked in through trails, pasture land and farm properties, past some banana groves, valleys, dried up streams (it is well into dry season here) and stunning scenery with the mountains as backdrop.  

We met up with friendly people along the way, interesting birds and trees as well as even a caravan of horses and rancheros passing by.














 After several hours and 6.1 km, we arrived at the little school house which becomes a church on Sunday.







The Lay minister who actually does this every Sunday when the dean doesn't come also walked in with us.  The congregation was about 15 people and seemed a little shy at first but very welcoming.  We are the first visitors they have ever had outside their community in their 25 year history.  They are looking to actually build a church on the land adjacent to the school and it will start soon with all of the congregation being part of the build.  We gathered as a group for prayer together on the new land after the Eucharist and it was a touching moment as we thought of that parish going through a building program to build their church in their community.   





All the people kind of hung out until they saw us heading out of their sight down the trail as we left with an invitation to come back again when the church is finished. 




It was getting late and so all went out for lunch taking with us, Padre Gerardo and the lay minister as our guests.  The campus is still kind of quiet until all the kids get back for the weekend.  After dunner, we could see that the kids were returning in larger numbers and they were not far from our front door looking for us to "come out and play!"  SO the soccer ball and the Foosball came out as well as some puzzles and art work.

We had a lot of highlights to share about the day with each other in our devotional time.  Both of our worship experiences were unique and meaningful to us worshiping with our Christian brothers and sisters in another language and another culture. 

 We all felt rested this morning after a short night the day before and and welcomed breakfast when it came at 0830 with the weekend cook and a couple of the students.  There are special things that we look forward to and the local coffee and the plantain are some of those.  As well the eggs will be from the El Hogar farm chickens.  On the highway not far from here, we pass by El Indio - a coffee roasting plant.  Some days here we can detect when coffee is being roasted. 

There is calm and beauty in the early mornings here.  The air is so clear and no signs of smoky forest fires today.  It is very quiet, as the boys are up at the soccer field, probably practicing for the Honduran Episcopal soccer tournament being held in a few weeks.

So because the boys were busy, we spent some time sorting the crafts that we will take up to the girl's school this afternoon.

Eventually the boys started coming around, those who weren't doing laundry or studying and so there were games of Frisbee and Foosball and happily doing a puzzle.

The "casa de voluntarios" is quite comfortable here and our bedrooms are two bunkbeds to each room, each with a bathroom.  We understand that the house belonged to the original owner of the property before El Hogar bought it.  We have a nice common area where we can work and share.  

We had a long drive from the institute to Santa Lucia.  A long but interesting and educational drive looking at the sights and sounds of the city.  A bustling place on a Saturday.  We picked up some lunch for the 16 girls that are at their residence there and had a fair bit of time to do activities with them.  Puzzles and games and they especially loved the wool felting and cross-stitch.  It was a delight to spend the time with these teen girls.

The school is in such a picturesque village and we appreciated Erika's good driving on the hills and valleys and the traffic in the city.  The view from the girls' residence and common area is breathtaking and one picture or the other will be in this blog each and every year that we visit an post.  The air is a little hazy with smoke in this photo, but the view is still stunning.  

An early night for us as we have a very early morning tomorrow 

 

Friday, March 22, 2019

We have safely arrived.  We have all come from different parts of the country - from 

Burlington, P.E.I., Florida, Kansas, New Hampshire - but we all found each other in Miami before we boarded the last leg to Tegucigalpa. A full plane on the last leg to Honduras and we were grateful for just the 11 of us to organize and not the 38 teens from North Carolina who are here on their own mission team.  Can you imagine organizing them all! 

With this being dry season, we knew that there were a number of forest fires happening in the area, but not as bad as we expected and visibility was OK as we landed.  By the time we got all our luggage together, it seemed like forever, but Erika was waiting for us with Carlos, our friend who changes our money for us right there in the airport.  He says that he has been doing this for 29 years.  

Outside, Gustavo who drives us in the big bus was waiting for us to take us to Amerateca where we will be staying for the week at Instituto Tecnico Santa Maria.  Lots of room in the El Hogar bus for us all and our luggage.

It is the weekend and so we were rushed to the auditorium before we even unloaded luggage as many of the boys would be leaving to go to their homes for the weekend.  We got a rousing welcome from all the boys - all 75 of them, with even a couple of them speaking on behalf of the school to welcome us. How touched we are.

 There was then a parade of young men carrying our bags into the guest house where we will live together for the week.
Erika explained about the goals and the schedule of the week and we are anxious to get started.  

 Then it was time for supper and we will eat in the guest house.  The area where we ate in past years in the large dining hall with the boys, is now a study area.  But we like our space and it will be a time of learning and sharing this week here together for sure.  








The technical institute is 3/4 hour from the airport in the country and so it is peaceful and delightful to be back here again.  
It was an early night for most of us after a day of travel where most of our alarms went off  around 2:30 a.m. this morning.  We did have time for a moment to watch the sun disappearing behind the mountains.

The day ended as we shared the day's experiences together.

 We have spent a few days working on our famous St Luke's Easter eggs available for sale in time for Easter - March 31, April 7 and 14th.  These are all handcrafted, delicious fondant centre with the finest Belgian chocolate coating and for sale at the same price as last year - $6 for one and 5 for $25.  We know you will love them if you haven't tried them before.  

 It all starts at the mixing bowl with the best ingredients, and can get a bit messy with all that icing sugar flying. 






Hand molded into into the proper oval shape and that is no yolk!

We were pleased to have some of our alumni return to do the chocolate coating and packaging today. 





How did that chocolate get there?

A few little tasty rewards after the work is done and the eggs are coated!
Well  deserved, don't you think, after making and chocolating eggs-actly 327 eggs!  





Our supervisor Kerry watches over our day's work.  She generously comes each session we use chocolate in our eggs or our bark to guide and direct us in the proper temperatures and applications.  There are ways to work with chocolate to provide a superior finished product.  

Final packaging and ready for sale.  Starting March 31.  

When the day was done, and before we cleaned up the chocolate from the counters, the floor, the cupboards,(and from our faces where telltale signs of snacking was evident) we took some time for a group picture, very proud of our good work!  It was a very egg-hausting day, but so much fun and certainly team building.