The eight day -- fun, siestas, and sadness

Dio numero ocho

Our last full day in La Paz has brought us to the end of an incredible and heart warming journey. For some of us it was the first time we had a chance to make new amigos, for others it was a chance to visit with extended family. Our day began very early today as we had to be ready for a government inspection so everything had to be in tip top shape. La Paz is in a valley in the mountains and it is currently the dry season... and there is dust and smoke everywhere. The Ninos de Amor work very hard to keep everything clean but go the extra mile to make sure that there is no extra fines when an inspector is coming. Edty is the main person in charge here when Mama Doris is out of town and she was in full commander mode to make sure everything was just right. We spent the morning cleaning with the children and then getting setup for Bible school in the Chapel at 9 am.

Today's lesson was on the 4th commandment "Honor thy mother and father" which is really interesting to do at an orphanage! Iliana lead them to have the kids call out any authority figure that they could and wrote them down. Then Robby Rojas led them in a lesson to discuss that even all these authority figures are subservient to God. The children did a presentation, then we had some coloring for them and handed out backpacks. We had time for some tug of war, the kids then had some lunch and played on the playground, with balls, or jump rope. What a fulfilling end to a wonderful week. After all the kids left bible study many of us had the chance for a little afternoon siesta. Some of us just used the concrete floor in the chapel!

We played with the kids some more and went for dinner at Chincha's. When we came back to the foundation the kids had a wonderful and moving presentation for us and we all received a CD of Punta music from Tecka. Tomorrow we leave in what is certain to be an emotional day. This will be our last post for this trip. Pray for our safe return and for the children at the Foundation, and all the people of La Paz. Perhaps one day we will have regular services here.

Hasta la vista from Team 1, 2009.

Our seventh day -- a free day to explore

Dia numero seite

Another Beautiful Day in La Paz! Soccer, helicopters, pizza, shopping and a sense of accomplishment. We got off to an early start this morning, we had been told to be up and ready by 6:00AM if we wanted to accompany the kids to school today. Some of the smaller children were to take part in some soccer matches, not a normal school day. Well, we got up, but either it was a miscommunication or a great joke, because the kids were not leaving early!
We had hoped to be able to cheer our kids as they displayed their skills, but unfortunately we had not anticipated the pre-game ceremonies, which included numerous speeches, a ten minute prayer and an eleven minute national anthem! Leaving before the first ball had been kicked, we rushed back to make sure that we didn't miss our ride.
We all headed out to the nearby military base in Comayagua (yes 15 of us in the communal pick up, very roomy compared to previous rides!). Rhonda had set up a meeting for us with some U.S. Military personnel stationed at the base. The base is a joint Honduran / U.S. Establishment and is an essay in contrasts. Let's just say that our glimpse of the Honduran Air Force left us.......er completely underwhelmed. Our guys on the other hand were everything that you hope for and expect. Great people who were extremely appreciative of the Girl Scout cookies that Rhonda's daughter had collected for them. Lots of photos and smiles and a warm feeling about what they do for us. The Blackhawks and Chinooks were pretty impressive too. Onward to Comayagua, the nearby metropolis, well city, okay it's a small town, but it does have a Pizza Hut! So what if it was only 10:30 in the morning, pizza was calling us! And we answered.
The food at the Foundation has been awesome and the service impeccable, but sometimes when you're miles from home, you need some comfort food. And pizza worked!
Having satisfied our appetites we then attempted to satisfy the need to shop! That didn't take too long, no galleria mall, no Macy's, Target or Gucci stores. Yep, we found a couple of tacky tourist shops, easily recognized by the fact that they were willing to take U.S.$'s! Yes even here in deepest Honduras, the mighty greenback works! There were some interesting sights in this small town, Stephanie was a little unnerved, at one point asking Rhonda if she was trying to get us killed! A lot of panhandling, strange smells and four heavily armed guards at the Western Union! The ice cream was good and the experience well worth it!
Back at the Foundation in the early afternoon, we were able to begin to feel a sense of accomplishment. The swings were set in concrete, the see-saw was..... er painted ( loose term, I'm not sure that even a blind man would be pleased to see it!) and the tether ball was put in place! Within a couple of hours our sense of achievement was complete: we all witnessed the children playing on the 'playground', our 'playground'.

Day 6 - the end of VBS

Dia Numero Seis

Welcome to day six in Honduras! Today was our final day of Vacation Bible School. And a beautiful day it was. We started our day walking the kids to school and painting the slides. We had a fabulous breakfast of eggs with peppers and tomato and fried bologna with tortillas. The kids showed up promptly at 9:00 and we spent the day discussing the Prodigal Son. The kids really enjoyed when Robbie wrote the word “sin” on flash paper, lit the paper with a match and it disappeared-just like our sins in God's eyes. We put the pictures we had taken 2 days ago into frames and decorated them. The activity was tug-o-war, which the kids already knew how to play. Of course, it was boys against girls. And of course, the girls won! Then we did the kids against the adults. Kids won. And we always end the day with candy!

Today was also American day. That meant we cooked hot dogs and hamburgers, thank you Rick and Marc-they were great! AJ and Rhonda make rice krispy treats. The kids sat at our table with stars and stripes plates and cups and we served them. They seemed to really enjoy the meal. After we cleaned up from dinner, we all went into the chapel that was filled with 150 red, white and blue balloons and streamers. We spent a great deal of time running with balloons, beating each other. It was fun but way hot! The kids got bubble gum and bubbles. After most of the balloons were popped, the kids from the foundation put on a program for us to thank us for coming to help and love them. They sang “Proud to be an American” in English. The kids also sang some other songs and then presented us with a gift as they said we were their heroes. It was very touching. We spent the next hour dancing with the kids. Even though it was a school night, Doris called the school earlier and got the morning kids excused from school so they could stay up late with us. After the kids went to bed, we went to the chapel, set up the projector and watched an old episode of “The Office”.

It was a great day. It will be very hard to leave...

Day 5 -- a day for miracles

Dio numero cinco

Well, today is day five of our trip, and it's been eventful so far to say the least. Right now, we're winding down our busy day. We have just finished our dinner and also said goodnight to all the kids. All of us are gathered round the dinner table in the porch, and everyone is talking about what ingredients make the best hamburger. Wait, no, now they're talking about the best deep fried foods. The candidates are snickers and pickles so far.

Today's VBS lesson was on the miracles of Jesus. We spoke to the children today about the many miracles he performed and acted out a skit on the feeding of the 5000. The children made pescado out of noodles. The early morning group got a chance to speak to some kids from St. Luke's Lutheran School through Skype. The 2 slides and the base for the see-saw were cemented in today and tomorrow everything gets assembled and painted.

This trip has really brought together the members of our group. However, it's truly difficult to describe what it's like out here by using words only. Sure, I can tell you about what we did today, how VBS went, and the like. But can I can't tell you what it feels like to sit with 14 of your best friends at the end of a hard day in Honduras singing Don McLean “Miss American Pie.....”. I can't tell you what it feels like to get a giant hug from one of the kids here at the foundation, nor can I tell you of the feeling of pure joy you get when you interact or play with them. Only people who have been here can understand the overwhelming poverty of this place, and understand the hope that the foundation brings to children who live here.

But, I was asked to write about today, so that's what I'll do. Plus, Rick really wants to go to bed and he can't until I finish this blog and he posts it. We'll see how long I can draw this out.... muah ha ha ha.... So this morning we woke up, and walked the kids to school. Then we got ready for the first round of VBS. VBS in the morning was for the older kids and it went good. For lunch we had fresh fruit. We had pineapple and watermelon. Afterwards we walked the next group of kids to school. Then we had the second round of VBS. It went good too. After picking up the kids from school, we went to eat dinner. We were supposed to have hot dogs and hamburgers, but we had rice and pork instead. The food was awesome. Afterwards we played with the kids until bedtime. And that brings us to now. All the lights outside are off, and Rick and Rhonda are waiting for me to finish. So I'm going to stop now because I value my life. See you all when we get back!

P.S. New pictures will be up tomorrow! You can always watch us live (when we are broadcasting) on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/children-of-love-foundation

Tomorrow is "American Day" so look for the red white and blue

Day 4 -- Into the groove

Dia numero cuatro


¡Feliz Navidad! It's Christmas in the arid heat of La Paz as we Americans teach our beloved Honduran children about the birth of Christ. Today's Vacation Bible School involves opening the greatest present of all (a small nativity set symbolizing Jesus' birth) and a ridiculous amount of Spanish Christmas music that was very out-of-place in this environment, but led to copious amounts of laughter by both Hondurans and Americans.
For lunch, the amazing Mama Doris made us some very tasty, yet intentionally mispronounced, quesadillas with pico de gallo. We happily chowed down as the wind blew. While we ate, the kids giggled, and the resident chickens wandered around our feet; better than any restaurant.
After lunch, I was fortunate enough to go along with David, Matt, and Marc Jr (aka Winston), as well as two of the men who help out at the Foundation, to the banana plantation about 25 miles outside our gates. The four Americans road in the bed of the pick-up truck, just absorbing the scenery and the 60 mph+ speeds. After winding through the mountains and waving to every Honduran walking along the road, we were greeted at the plantation by about 25 Hondurans picking and sorting coffee beans. Onto our mission, we followed our bilingual, machete-wielding guide Zias into the plantation, which was less a farm and more a dense forest of coffee bean and banana trees balanced on a 45 degree angle on the side of the mountain. Despite the lack of an actual path, us four very different Americans dove into the trees behind our guide, on to slide down the slippery slope of the mountain, chop down banana trees with Swiss army knives, and snack on fresh-as-it-gets bananas while sitting on rotten logs. After climbing our way back to the truck, we careened back down towards the Foundation along with about 100 bananas. By the time we returned to La Paz, we were windblown, but thankful to be alive and smiling.
After some chilly showers and excellent dinner of ground meat, rice, and yucca, we joined the kids for the nightly devotions and songs, made much more entertaining by some can-can dancing and hokey pokey. So do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around, 'cause THIS is what it's all about.

Day 3 - VBS Begins

Dia Numero Tres

Hola! We made it 6:30am through another day in Honduras! It started off by waking up to the fire alarm sounding bell at which is conveniently right next to Steph, Ili, Danica, and my room. We all walked down to the table in the back and drank coffee and ate some Honduran cookies. Soon after, a couple people in the group walked the younger kids to school about ten minutes away from the foundation. The rest of us took cold showers, played with the older kids, or did other things. Then we had an amazing breakfast which included tortillas, black beans, sausage, and fried plantains. Today was our first day of VBS, we have it two times per day. One for the older kids, and one for the younger kids. Our Bible lesson was that God keeps His promises. When el ninos got there we played musical chairs and they loved it...including me. After we finished playing that, Danica did a wonderful job reading the prepared Bible lesson in Spanish. Next we did a rainbow craft, and the highlight of the day was definitely the water balloon game. We had fruit for lunch, and soon after some of us walked the older kids to school. After the younger kids came back from school, we played with the jump ropes we brought from back at home. Then we had another VBS for the younger kids. Afterwards we played with the kids and they had a blast taking lots of pictures with my camera. We had dinner and then had our group Bible study get together. Now a couple of us are still up and enjoying the cool weather with a couple of snacks including puppy chow!!

Day 2 -- Our first full day

Dia Numero Dos

Waking up to roosters crowing whose inner time clocks seemed to have missed the whole 'daylight savings' deal was the start to quite an eventful day. The children made us a lovely pancake breakfast which was well equipped with personal syrup bottles to top it off. Many of us were woken up, however despite the many cups of coffee (Rick Betteridge taking in a grand total of six), with our first shower experience. Needless to say, there wasn't much water wasted due to the extremely cold temperature. After getting cleaned and digesting our food we were able to travel to the Honduran farmers market. Here we ran into a bunch of uncommonly seen objects; for Matt Bretzke it was the very low strung ceiling tarps, and for the rest it was the massive pile of fresh raw meat and babies laying in the merchandise on the table. We were also greeted with head turns and stares, being the epitome of U.S. Tourists. Back to the foundation we went after having stopped at the local grocery store to pick up beverages. We got to play with the kids outside and bond with them before heading out on a very dangerous (for us) journey to the river. Talk about 19 people in the back of a pick up, 25 in total, going through pot holes and up mountain sides. Now add speeds reaching up to 60 mph and you get a bunch of Americans holding on for dear life for about 40 minutes. Once we reached the river the children that joined us eagerly stripped down to their bathing suits and jumped in. Meanwhile the engineers in the group decided to reform the river with rocks to make it easier to cross. Relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery wrapped up another wonderful time with the children. Then it was back on the road and to the foundation for some rest and grub. They accommodated our American ways with some grilled cheese and what tasted like liquid banana laffy taffy soda. We mapped out our next day here in Honduras, aka the start of VBS, and sang songs with the kids before they went to bed. Capping out our night on the roof, tomorrow comes another eventful day!

Day 1 -- the arrival

Dia numero uno

We are leaving for the airport as early as 5am in three groups. One group meets at St. Lukes Church at 5am. The other two groups leave from homes and all arrive at the airport by 5:45 am.

All 14 members of our group are through check-in with no bags over 50 lbs and on our way to security. We only have a couple people needing to get some carry-on bags looked through, myself included, but did not have to leave anything behind and most importantly we did not get any snacks confiscated. We catch our first flight of the day from Orlando to Miami 7:20 am. Then we started our short layover in Miami waiting for our flight to San Pedro Sula that would be leaving at 1:00 pm. We had some time to wander the Miami airport and find breakfast/lunches and even time to take some naps on the floor outside our gate. Now loaded onto the plane in Miami we are headed out of the country and to Honduras. The flight is in between the two and three hour mark and quite uneventful, thank goodness. Off the plane and going through customs at San Pedro Sula airport. We are happy to see that all of our personal bags and extra bags with VBS supplies have arrived and we walk into the main terminal area and are greeted by several of the kids from the foundation and they sang a couple songs for us including, “How great though art” and “God bless the USA”. We rode back on the bus with the children, so we had the privilege to play/get to know the kids on the near 4 hour drive from the airport to the Children of Love Foudation in La Paz, Honduras. As we pull closer to the foundation we see that there are fireworks being shot in celebration of our arrival. After getting the bus unloaded and room assignments figured out we hear the bell for dinner and everybody goes running since we have not eaten for several hours and are excited about the first meal in Honduras. We sit down to homemade tortillas and pico de gallo. Then plates with rice, chicken and potatoes are brought out and set down in front of each of us. The food is gone very fast, because of the good taste and the hunger that had taken over. Shortly after the kids are called over for prayer and we join in and listen to their prayers and songs and we get hugs from every kid and they tell us goodnight and then they are sent off to bed. We are finishing the night with some quick plans for the next day some prayer and setting up for our linked worship service in the morning. We are now free to wander around the grounds of the foundation and take in the amount of stars in the sky and the different smells, sounds and sights around us as we turn in for the night.

P.S.  Steve:  Thank you for sending the router!!!!

Day -1... getting ready...

Excitement.

Worry.

Joy.

What are we feeling?  All these things and more!  Can't wait to get started on our trek to La Paz!  I can't wait to meet all the kids!  

Thank you Lord for blessing us with the ability to be with these wonderful children.

Rick

Where are we going?

If you have ever wanted to see where the Children of Love foundation is located click here.

This will show you an overview of the location in Google maps.

If you need to call, from the U.S. dial 011 504 774-2073
In Honduras, dial 774-2073

For non-emergencies, send an email to childrenoflove@stlukes-oviedo.org and the group leader will direct the message to the appropriate individual.