Our March 11-16, 2011 Mission Trip to Honduras!
Friday,
March 11, 2011
6:40AM and we were still packing our last items trying to fit
everything into our bags. We all met at BBTS at 8:30AM we were on
the road to the airport by 9:00AM just as planned. We were
fortunate and our group was offered 1st class check-in for the
second year in a row. Susan mentioned we were a mission group and
they moved us to the front of the line. We all checked in,
cleared security and were at our gate with plenty of time to
spare. Note- wear socks when going through security - ask Rick
why. We had a slightly bumpy ride and there were 2 crying babies
onboard but the flight was fine. We arrived in Honduras, cleared
immigration, retrieved our luggage and we found 10 girls from the
home waiting for us in the airport. We loaded our luggage into
the mini-bus and left for the Retreat Center in Santa Barbara.
The ride took a little longer than expected due to friday rush
hour traffic but we made it in about 90 minutes. The Retreat is
AMAZING! We were so happy to see the completed building,
lanscapped grounds and beautiful interior. We were each given a
room, Cecie held a prayer service and then we settled in for
dinner and an evening of games with the girls.
Everyone played cards, Dominoes, Jenga, Ants-in-the-Pants, and a
version of vertical Twister (hoops). It could have gone on all
night, so it was difficult trying to get everyone to quiet down
and head off to bed.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Saturday morning we awoke to the sounds roosters, bird songs and
the sound of coffee being ground in the kitchen. The climate is
beautiful in the mountains above San Pedro Sula. The air was
clean, cool and the view of the mountains calls out to you. As
everyone awoke we had breakfast of eggs and tortillas prepared by
Juana and her daughters, who live in the Retreat Center. After
breakfast we had morning prayer and then we went for a walk in the
local pueblo *Pueblo Nuevo*. To our surprise, the town was very
clean, new houses are being built and everyone gave us a welcoming
Hola. Now on the negative side, we should have known to take
sunblock and hats with us. The sun was strong and everyone came
back a little red. After the walk into town we stopped by the
river behind the retreat. The girls caught tadpoles, some played
soccer along with Eric and Try and the rest of us just sat on the
ground and talked. It's nice to see that the art of enjoying
outdoors hasn't been completely lost in this world of distractions
and electronic isolation.
Everyone returned to the Retreat tired, hungry, hot and fulfilled.
We had a delicious roasted chicken lunch, loaded the mini-bus and
departed for San Pedro.
We made 2 stops at the local grocery store to buy cake, soda, a
pinyata for the birthday party, about 10 lbs of candy to fill it,
refreshments for the apartment.
At the home we were greeted by 50 girls anxious to see us. We
tossed our bags into the apartment and spent the rest of the
evening having fun with the girls on the playground. We danced,
played soccer, basketball, ate cake, opened presents, destroyed
the pinyata, and spent time catching up on the past year. The
girls like hearing about our families, our work and about of
lives. We all received too many hugs that we could count. Even
Cecie took a turn dancing once we managed to find some music from
the 70's *Earth Wind and Fire*. The night wound down, we shut
down the party, returned to our apartment and had a group
discussion about the experiences of the day.
Sunday,
March 13, 2011
We woke to the sounds of music selected by Rick to help motivate
everyone to get up. The songs ranged from slow jazz and grew to
heavy metal until everyone was awake and moving. We had breakfast
prepared by Miriam and then we left for church. We arrived early
and the girls arrived a bit later and took seats among us. The
service was very lively and everyone enthusiastically sang and
participated in the service. The homily was in spanish but even
if most of the group couldn't understand the words they were
captivated by the enthusiasm of the delivery. Rick and Cordella
later explained that the homily was about being present in both
mind and body. It's not enough to just show up. You must walk-
the-walk as much as you talk-the-talk. It was very touching when
Barry join others at the altar for a birthday blessing. The
service ran almost 2 hours and then we departed for lunch. We had
lunch at La Cebollinas, a place we have eaten on past trips. It
was a very nice restaurant and they even sang happy birthday for
Barry and gave him a balloon motorcycle.
We stopped to buy paint on the way back and then returned to the
home. We felt we had been away from the girls way too long so we
quickly changed and began our projects. Some of our group
gathered on the playground to paint a movie screen on the new
wall. The girls helped and we paid close attention so as not to
get paint on any of the girls. We only had a few splatters.
Others in our group did coloring, helped the girls with homework,
made cards or just sat and talked with the girls. Rick assembled
a small chair with some of the girls. The day went by quickly and
everyone enjoyed fellowship and the "ministry of presence". We
had dinner and then prepared to watch a movie on our new screen
(Step-up 3).
Everyone enjoyed the movie, in english with spanish subtitles.
The girls helped setup and clean up after it was over. We
returned back to our apartment and shared our experiences from the
day.
Monday,
March 14, 2011
Monday arrived way too soon. It was time for half of the group to
head back to Miami. It's always a mad dash to pack, take care of
last minute conversations and then say good bye to all the girls.
It's always emotional saying good bye. The group loaded the van,
exchanged email addresses, facebook names and several of the girls
made cards which they handed out to members of our group. The van
left for the airport by 11:00 and Rick went along for the ride to
see that everyone got off safely.
Back at the home, Rick returned and the remaining members of the
group helped the girls with their homework, drew chalk pictures on
the ground and walked the girls to school for their afternoon
class. Some of the girls go off-site to public school while
others go to school at the Holy Family Bi-lingual school on the
grounds of the home. It was fun visiting the public school 2
blocks from the home. We had a chance to meet the girls' friends,
see parents dropping off their children and pop into a few
classrooms to say "HELLO!".
The day went by quickly and it was time for dinner. Mariam and
Paola made a delicious grilled chicken. We had seconds and then
prepared for another movie night (Rango). The little girls
enjoyed the movie while most of the big girls sat in groups on the
playground and chatted. We managed to shut everything down by
8:30PM to the delight of the nannies, as it was a school night.
The girls helped clean up, put everything away and we returned to
the apartment exhausted from a long day.
Tuesday,
March 15, 2011
By all standards we got off to a late start. Rick was downstairs
by 7:00AM to see the Holy Family school line-up and head into the
classrooms. On the playground one of the classes practiced a
dance routine in preparation for a Fathers Day celebration they
will hold Friday morning at school. In all the classes they were
practicing songs and reciting poems for Fathers Day. For the girls
who didn't have class until the afternoon Rick and Eric assembled
a small rocking chair with them. Troy helped Paola study for her
algebra exam and Cordella made cards in the kitchen with the rest
of the girls.
After lunch the day began to get hot for the first time on the
trip. The girls returned from school and others left for the
afternoon session. Rick checked with Mayra who said it would be
OK if we took some of the girls to Diana's house where there is a
swimming pool. It was a great idea and the girls all had fun.
Diana's house is about 20 minutes from the where the girls live.
Rick and Paola hooked up speakers and an iPod to play music, we
had some inflatable toys and everyone enjoyed a few hours of pure
relaxation and fun. Seeing the girls have fun like this makes it
difficult to believe the difficult background/history each one has
and it's absolutely a miracle seeing first-hand how much they have
been healed. It's a combination of the support from the groups
who visit, the dedication of the staff and blessings we share from
this life. After everyone had enough, the sun started to go down
and the little girls started to get sleepy. We loaded the bus
went back to the home and arrived in time for dinner.
After
dinner we setup the movie equipment for one more show. A rain
storm and strong wind made it difficult, as we had to keep moving
the equipment to keep it from getting wet but the show went on.
This time we showed Home Movies. Rick compiled videos and photos
from our past trips which the girls loved. It was funny seeing
the bigger girls when they were younger. We have them on video
telling us how old they are and doing what little kids do when you
point a video camera on them. Some of the videos were 7 years old
so it was a lot of fun. The photos brought back memories of the
groups who visited in the past. Everyone has memories of the time
we visited and the things we did on each trip. Mayra later
explained that watching home movies from past years is about the
most favorite thing we could do with the girls. They don't have
family photo albums or piles of memorabilia from years gone past
like we all take for granted. To be able to see ourselves with
the girls throughout the years and see them grow is such a joy for
them and for us. We also looked a bit younger back in 2005. No
one wanted it to end but it was a school night so we shut
everything down and put it away one last time.
We began saying out good byes knowing tomorrow we would be leaving
and some girls leave for school very early in the morning so we
might not get to see them before they leave. We returned to our
apartment, packed a bit and then turned in for the night.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Our last day. Rick was downstairs by 6:00AM to make sure he was
able to escort the girls to school. Cordella and Eric managed to
make it down in time just before the bus left. It's fun riding
with the girls to school. It gives us a chance to see the morning
routine as the city wakes up. The girls go to different schools
depending on their abilities. Some go to a technical
(vocational) school while others go to regular public school. We
exchanged notes on bus and took pictures in front of the schools
as we said good bye.
Back at the home there were other girls getting ready for school
and others waiting for us since they didn't have school until the
afternoon. As usual we tried to pack in as many activities as we
could before it was time to leave. In between packing , we would
run down stars and assembled another rocking chair, drop off
donations, settle our bills, say good byes and exchange cards. We
managed to finish everything and we were on our way to the airport
by 11:45 for our 2:00PM flight. It was a quick 20 minute ride to
the airport. We said good bye and thank you to Danilo until next
year. We know they staff at OLR are happy to see us each year,
but we also know how much extra work we cause and that we keep
them up late and away from their families due to all the
activities we plan.
In the airport we checked our luggage (1st piece free, 2nd $30),
paid departure tax ($38), cleared security and then we had time to
browse the new duty free section added to the airport. San Pedro
Sula airport has gone through many changes since our first trip in
2004. They have added a new food court, duty free shops, extra
security, a money exchange and modernized it. Much like Honduras
and the rest of the world, things keep changing. Some, most, for
the better I guess. In some ways we long for the simple days of
the past.
Reflections
The conversation that I had with the girls on this trip, that
stands out most in my mind, was about the future. I told the
girls to think about themselves in the future. Think about that
person as a best friend who is waiting for them somewhere in the
future. And then I asked them what they were doing now, to help
that friend. We discussed how going to school, exercising, making
friends, making good choices, saving money could help "us of the
future". I told them that I was there in the future waiting with
"them of the future". I explained how I try to do many things for
Rick of the future so he will be happy and thank me (Rick of the
past). I hope he will be healthy, happy and surrounded by good
friends. I think the girls understood what I was trying to tell
them. Several of them joked about it during the trip - Yorleny of
tomorrow and Maribel of next year. I also tried to demonstrate
how simple choices such as turning left or right at the bottom of
the stars will cause a different future to unfold. We had fun
trying to see how this worked. We would decide to go left as
opposed to turning right, and then it was exciting to see who we
encountered. Afterwords we laughed about how it turned out and
realized that the future would have been different if we had
walked in the other direction. Simple choices make a difference -
now imagine how much of an impact the big choices can have. A
different future is only minutes away, not years. All of our
little choices add up and bring about the future we will find
ourselves living in. With luck, and the good Lord willing, we
will be together a long time enjoying each others company and
watching with excitement as each day unfolds.
FIN
