Wednesday, Day 5

Today was a busy day for all team members. Some members went to the technical school and some stayed at El Hogar. The drive out to the school didn’t seem to take very long with the new highway complete. The weather was sunny and 30 (we heard it was -16 at home.) En route we get a glimpse of life in Honduras.

Janice, Chris, Brandon, Stuart, Louisa, Geraldine, Rick, Alan and Darla arrived at the technical school just in time to attend a lovely chapel service.

The message from Reverend Gerardo was about making the right choices in life . We were treated to a yummy lunch of potato salad, tender beef, rice & homemade berry drink which we look forward to. Lazaro, the Director of the Technical School, was an orphan himself. He is now a mentor to the young men that attend the technical school. Lazaro, a very dedicated family man, has 4 well educated children who will only add to the strength and community of Honduras.  

On the way back Janice and Darla asked Raul if he would stop at the gas station next to the coffee plantation for the best cup of coffee. He agreed, but we didn’t realize that because the new highway is complete we would have to drive way past the gas station then make a u-turn and then go back towards where we came from to turn around again, but it was worth it!

Ros, Lynne, Melissa, Erika, Glen and Louise stayed at El Hogar and were engaged in a variety of activities including fitting each child for one or two pairs of shoes, nursing and completing several informal assessments on selected children.The shoes arrived on the back of two trucks from a local shoe shop.

Those that gave away the shoes stated many children wanted to keep their old shoes. We could see many children around the court yard, very proud of their new shoes. No complaints were heard from the kids, they accepted what they were given and some volunteers even received hugs.

During a meeting prior to this trip, four goals were set for the mission - personal development, learning more about El Hogar & Honduras, spending time with kids and completing work projects.  

The evening activities included arts and crafts, music and English lessons. Chris and Brandon organized an obstacle course throughout the campus. This was enjoyed by up to 20 boys whom they collected along the way.

Chris welded and reinforced the merry-go-round in hopes that it will support the dozen or so kids that ride it at one time.  

Geraldine was invited as a guest artist into the evening art class and was able to present a budding El Hogar artist with a sketch book and paints.  

 

The group feels all of our goals have been met. Many have expressed experiencing personal growth and learning.  The painting is all done, the desks are repaired, the wood is all stacked, the shoes are distributed and many cherished memories & moments have been experienced by all.

posted by Darla

Dia Cuatro, Martes

We woke with the sun and warm weather once again at 6:00am with a lovely wake-up call from future Tim Horton's Drive-Thru employee Alan who filled coffee and tea orders from the doorways to our rooms.(We sleep about 4 - 6 in a dormitory like room.)

Up and at 'em, we marched to the dining hall for breakfast of beans and eggs.  Who needs coffee in the morning when you have hot sauce!  (We've already gone through two bottles since Sunday).


We joined the children at their morning devotional. Heyser, long time teacher, brought his guitar to accompany the kids in song. It was a beautiful way to start the morning.

The children all sang along and even the most energetic ones sat still.

After good morning hugs and the kids went off to class, we split up into various work teams.  Some painted the remaining buildings (smurf blue!) on the campus.

Some continued restoring desks for use in the classrooms.

Some re-stacked salvaged lumber and have a future career at 1-800-GOT-JUNK1-800-GOT-JUNK.

Chris fixed the merry-go-round that seems to be in constant need of repair because it is a favourite activity.  He welded well into the night!

The children were very excited to have their favourite activity repaired the next morning.

The Monkey bars are also a favourite. 

Brandon, his eager assistant, was hard at work...

Lynn and Ros spent the day with one of the teachers, doing educational assessments on 12 kids.  Ros' had lots of opportunity to practice her Spanish and Lynn helped the teacher learn a new way to assess kids' reading level.

Louise spent the day in the Clinic.  She administered medications, treated cuts and bruises and kept up to date medical records.

When the work day was done, the fun began!  Louisa, Melissa and Glen had 8 students come through the music room to learn and practice keyboard.

Darla, Geraldine and her team did the crafts with the girls.

Alan, Janice, Stuart and Brandon worked with their student tour guides to help them learn English to give new volunteers a tour of the campus.

Erika asked to join a soccer game.  The boys reluctantly let her play and occasionally passed her the ball, but she mostly just watched from the goal, where they assigned her to stand.

In all the hustle and bustle, the kids always stop and ask for a picture!

Expect more adventures tomorrow!

posted by Erika

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Lunes, Day 3

 This has been a very full day.  We started with breakfast at 6:20 am then attended the opening exercises and worship at 7:00. 

 

 

Claudia, the director of the school led the opening exercises and worship for the 90 children.  She is an inspiring leader and mother for all the children, past and present. 

She announced that a well-known song writer in Honduras had written a song for El Hogar.  The lyrics came from words and phrases they had earlier collected from the children and alumni expressing how they felt about El Hogar.  It was very moving, in Spanish of course.  The group sang the national anthem, raised the flag, and Claudia and the staff led devotions.  She gave a talk to all the attentive children about their own ability to take charge and make changes in their situation and to make a better life for themselves and the country. 

At 8:00 we met with Claudia in what I am sure everyone will consider one of the highlights of the week.  She talked about the 24 new children this year.  They all come with a many bad experiences in their short lives.  They have no aspirations for the future and hope that their lives will improve.  Many have emotional issues from rejection and abuse.  She talked about how they work with all the children to show they are loved and have the power to create a future for themselves.  She talked about their successes and even their heart breaking failures.  Every day is an emotional roller-coaster and she relies on her strong faith to carry her through day after day and year after year.   

The meeting moved on to hearing about our tasks for the day and the week.  Lynn and Ros with help from Erika are using their teaching and translating skills to assess some of the challenging children and give the teachers seminars on strategies for teaching them.   Louise, a nurse, was asked to staff the clinic and make sure the children needing regular medication received it.  From 5:40 to 7:00pm each day we divided into 3 groups, some to teach English to school tour guides, some to teach piano to a group of 4 expected to play at a Friday event, and others to do crafts with 25 kids.  All this is in addition to our regular work projects.  Today we cleared out the repair shop storage room so it could be converted to a laundry,  

repaired and painted many desks, and patched and painted exterior walls on 2 buildings.

It has been a very full day, and one that fully defined for us what El Hogar is about and what our trip here is striving to achieve.

Posted by Rick